By Lou Hunsinger, Jr.

As we get ready to celebrate the 250th anniversary of this nation’s birth, it might be interesting to look back just 50 years to remember what things were like during the nation’s Bicentennial in 1976.

It was a time when institutions, both private and public, went out of their way to observe this monumental occasion. The federal government and state and local governments put in great effort to ensure this milestone was properly and comprehensively celebrated.

Locally, a special committee of business, community, and government leaders was established to oversee the local festivities. I remember this well because my father was on the committee as Director of the Williamsport Emergency Management Agency, and volunteers from his organization would be heavily involved in crowd control, security, and traffic control at the various commemorative events. The most notable of these was the huge Bicentennial Parade held in downtown Williamsport on Saturday, June 5, 1976.

It was a huge parade featuring a plethora of organizations and churches. It was greeted by huge crowds throughout downtown Williamsport on a beautiful, sun-splashed day.

Unfortunately, Bicentennial Day itself, July 4, 1976, was not blessed with good weather. It rained throughout the day, and there was real doubt that we would be able to celebrate this grand occasion with fireworks, but about 5 p.m., the skies cleared, and a fabulous fireworks display was held. My family and I saw the fireworks from a vantage point at the Zafar Grotto, where my father was a member.

During the bad weather, we were able to see on television the glorious sight of the “Tall Ships” in New York harbor, which is one of the enduring images of that Bicentennial for many people, including me.

Other notable Bicentennial events happened locally that summer. Late that spring, the Bicentennial Wagon Train proceeded through Williamsport and Lycoming County. It consisted of several Conestoga wagons and horseback riders and proceeded from the West to the East, ending at Valley Forge.

But even more spectacularly and interestingly was the visit of the “Freedom Train” to Williamsport on July 14 and 15, 1976. It was a traveling exhibit featuring 10 display cars that included such national historic treasures as the flag flown at Iwo Jima, George Washington’s copy of the Constitution, a copy of the Gettysburg Address, and a moon rock, to name a few.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people saw this train locally. I, along with dad and the rest of the family, had the privilege of riding this train down from Lock Haven. It was my first train ride, but what a debut!

A Bicentennial Pageant was held in late July at Bowman Field. It featured hundreds of participants and support personnel putting it on, from carpenters to musicians, to actors, to dancers, and a host of others. The pageant dramatized key incidents in the early history of Lycoming County, from the “Great Runaway” to the question of where the seat of Lycoming County was to be located, to the arrival of Moravian missionaries in the area. I was privileged to have appeared in two of the skits. The entire production was directed by my high school drama teacher, Mrs. Miriam Hunter, who was supported in her task by a host of writers, seamstresses, and other people. I believe it was presented on three different nights and was well attended. It was quite a thing to be a part of, and I don’t think we will see it’s like again.

In the country and the world at large that summer. Gerald Ford was President of the United States, succeeding to that office upon the resignation of the disgraced Richard M. Nixon. Milton J. Shapp was the Governor of Pennsylvania, and Daniel J. Kirby was the Mayor of Williamsport.

Twenty-nine attendees at the National American Legion Convention held that July in Philadelphia would eventually die from a disease eventually called “Legionnaires’ Disease.”

Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination and would be elected President in the November 2 election.

At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the world became familiar with the name Bruce Jenner, a U.S., who won the decathlon, and Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who won a gold medal in gymnastics.

In music, the big songs that July were “Afternoon Delight,” “Kiss and Say Goodbye,” “Silly Love Songs,” and “Sara Smile,” just to name a few. Disco and Punk music were in full swing.

Some of the top movies playing that summer were: “Rocky,” “Taxi Driver,” and “All the President’s Men.”

That year, there seemed to be a real sense of celebration and pride in observance of the nation’s 200th anniversary. It seemed like everyone was involved in a common effort and celebration. People on both sides of the political divide were celebrating our nation’s greatness and, in their own way, evaluating what America and its ideals meant to the rest of the world.

This year, of course, there is still a sense of celebration about this milestone birthday, but it is marred by doubt and division about what our celebration of freedom means to us and the rest of the world.

In a bid to put things in perspective, it might be best to remember the words of Abraham Lincoln in his First Inaugural Address on the eve of the Civil War.

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”