America turns 250 and New Jersey is ready to celebrate

I remember 1976 like it was yesterday.

The whole country was red, white and blue from January straight through to the Fourth of July and beyond. Tall ships sailed into New York Harbor. Fireworks exploded over every town in America. People dressed in colonial outfits and meant it without any irony whatsoever. There was a feeling in the air that summer that is genuinely hard to describe to anyone who was not there — a sense that despite everything going on in the world, we were proud of this country and happy to show it.

America 250 is coming on July 4, 2026, and I find myself hoping we can get even a little of that feeling back. Because our country could use it right now. A moment to set aside what divides us and remember what we actually share — our founding principles, our history, the core ideas that made this the country people still cross oceans to reach.

Monmouth County is leading the way in New Jersey

If you are looking for a county stepping up for America 250 in New Jersey, look no further than Monmouth. The MonmouthNJ 250 Committee has been planning events for years and the calendar is filling up fast. There is a Stars and Strides Flag Day 5K at Bell Works on June 14. A countywide parade in Middletown tied to the anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth — one of the most pivotal battles of the entire Revolutionary War — is on the schedule. And now comes the crown jewel: America's 250th Birthday Gala at Bell Works in Holmdel on June 25, starting at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour, dinner, live music and dancing. Proceeds benefit the Friends of Monmouth County Parks.

The setting alone makes this event worth attending.

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Bell Works — a building with a story all its own

I have had a connection to that building going back to the 1980s when I was on 97.5 WPST and workers from Bell Labs in Holmdel would call in and make requests. I was always sending songs out to the gang at Bell Labs. It was one of those stations where you felt the community listening, and that building was part of it.

The building itself is extraordinary. Designed by renowned architect Eero Saarinen and completed in 1962, it features a quarter-mile long interior atrium and that stunning mirror-glass curtain wall that makes it look like it belongs in a different era entirely. Bell Labs was where some of the most important technological innovations in American history were developed — the transistor, the laser, information theory, Unix. It was a building that housed genuine genius.

Purchased in 2013 and reimagined as a mixed-use community called Bell Works, it now houses offices, restaurants, shops and event space. And if the building looks familiar beyond just the Holmdel address, there is a reason. It serves as the exterior and grand atrium of Lumon Industries in the Apple TV Plus series Severance. Once you know that, you cannot unsee it.

Why this moment matters

America 250 is not just a party. It is a chance for this country to look at itself honestly and still find things worth celebrating. The founding fathers were visionary men who built something truly remarkable. The principles they wrote down should be honored and we all should still be fighting to live up to them.

Monmouth County, with its deep Revolutionary War roots and now this stunning celebration at Bell Works, is giving New Jersey a proper way to mark the moment.

Get your tickets. Wear something red, white and blue. And remember what it felt like in 1976 when the whole country celebrated together. (Or ask your parents and grandparents! 😊)

We could use that again.