This Tiny Jersey Shore Town Just Showed America How to Celebrate the 250th
What happened
You don't need a big city budget to throw a celebration people will remember.
With just over 3,200 residents, Monmouth Beach turned America's 250th anniversary into a four-day community celebration that is now drawing attention well beyond New Jersey.
The borough didn't stop at a parade and fireworks. Volunteers spent months planning the event, residents donated nearly $120,000, and the town unveiled a stars-and-stripes crosswalk that quickly became the weekend's biggest attraction.
Now, Mayor Tim Somers says officials from around the country have reached out asking how they can recreate the patriotic landmark in their own communities.
"We had so many people working hard for this," Somers told The New York Post. "We had a committee that put in extensive hours every week for months."
The celebration featured a patriotic parade, beach events, family activities, historical reenactments, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, and presentations highlighting Monmouth Beach's Native Lenape history.
For Somers, though, the biggest success wasn't the crosswalk or even the fireworks.
It was seeing an entire town come together.
"I love this town," Somers said. "There was no trouble at all, everyone had a blast, and I'm very, very proud to be an American."
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