I love this country. I say that without hesitation and without qualification. I love what it stands for, what it aspires to be, and the people, generation after generation, who have sacrificed to keep it free. I love that I get to be part of an organization that has been woven into the fabric of American life since 1921. And I love that in 2026, all of us get to celebrate something most of us will never see again: the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

This is not just a national moment. It is a personal one. As a Miss America ambassador, a community servant, and the founder of an initiative that spends its time honoring the elders who built this country, this anniversary means something deeply specific to me. 

The people I serve through SMILE are America's living history. The veterans in senior communities across North Carolina fought for the freedoms we are celebrating. The women who raised families and built businesses and held communities together during the hardest decades of the twentieth century, they are the 250 years. They are the story.

So here is how I am celebrating and how you can too. In North Carolina. In your community. Starting right now. 🇺🇸

"The best way to honor 250 years of freedom is to spend this year in service to the people who protected it."

🇺🇸 MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT

Miss America and America250 | A National Alliance

The Miss America Organization has officially partnered with America250, the nonpartisan organization established by Congress to lead the commemoration of the nation's Semiquincentennial. This is not a sponsorship. It is a national alliance built around the values both organizations share: service, leadership, and community.

As part of this partnership, Miss America ambassadors across all fifty states will participate in "Our American Story", a year-long storytelling initiative capturing personal narratives from Americans of all backgrounds. These stories will contribute to a living archive of the American experience, with many housed in the Library of Congress and shared across film, broadcast, and digital platforms.

Miss America ambassadors will also contribute volunteer hours to America Gives, an initiative to make 2026 a record-setting year of volunteer service nationwide. And through Signing the American Promise, an augmented reality experience developed by 51 Steps to Freedom, Americans across the country can symbolically sign a living version of the Declaration of Independence.

From a 250th Celebration Special Edition Sash to historic participation by all state and national ambassadors in the Salute to Independence Parade, Miss America is leading with purpose. As Robin Fleming, CEO of the Miss America Organization, shared:

"This partnership with America250 allows us to honor our shared history while elevating the voices that will define our nation's future."



WHY NORTH CAROLINA IS SPECIAL IN THIS MOMENT

First in Freedom | North Carolina's Revolutionary Legacy

North Carolina was the first colony to officially vote for independence. On April 12, 1776, months before the Declaration of Independence was signed, North Carolina became the first colony to officially authorize its delegates to vote for independence from Britain through the Halifax Resolves. That is why North Carolina's state flag reads "First in Freedom" and why our state holds a particularly significant place in the story of American independence.

From the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge in 1776 to the signers of the Declaration who called this state home, North Carolina's revolutionary history is among the most consequential in the nation. 2026 is our year to tell that story, loudly, proudly, and in every community across this state.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

🇺🇸

America 250 Events Happening in North Carolina

North Carolina has been planning this for years and the events happening across our state in 2026 are incredible. Here are the ones to know about:

HOW YOU CAN CELEBRATE — STARTING TODAY

Practical, meaningful ways to honor 250 years right here in your community

📖 Record a senior's story — for "Our American Story"

Sit down with a senior in your community, a grandparent, a neighbor, a veteran, and record their story. Ask them about their life, their memories, what they have seen this country go through. Miss America ambassadors are collecting these stories as part of the "Our American Story" initiative with America250. These narratives will be preserved in the Library of Congress. Your neighbor's story could become part of the permanent American record.

🇺🇸 Visit a historic site in North Carolina

NC has more revolutionary history than most people realize. Visit the Halifax State Historic Site where the Halifax Resolves were adopted. Explore Moores Creek National Battlefield. Walk through the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park. This state was first in freedom. Go see where it happened.

🤝 Volunteer 250 minutes in 2026 - Sign my 250 for 250 pledge

America250's America Gives initiative is working to make 2026 a record-setting year of volunteer service. Pledge 250 minutes — just over four hours, to a cause you care about this year. Visit a senior community. Clean up a park. Serve at a food bank. 250 minutes for 250 years. That is the challenge. Sign Pledge Today

✍️ Sign the American Promise

"Signing the American Promise" is a year-long augmented reality experience developed by 51 Steps to Freedom that invites Americans to symbolically sign a living version of the Declaration of Independence. It is free, it is powerful, and it connects you to the foundational document that started everything 250 years ago.

🎵 Attend a patriotic concert or community event

From the NC Symphony's Stars & Stripes concert to local Fourth of July celebrations, North Carolina has dozens of America 250 events happening this year. Show up. Bring your family. Let your kids see what it looks like to celebrate where we came from while looking forward to where we are going.

🏠 Host a neighborhood 250th gathering

Keep it simple. A cookout. A potluck. A block party with red, white, and blue everything. Invite your neighbors. Community is the most American thing there is. You do not need a permit or a parade. You need a grill, a flag, and a willingness to get to know the people who live on your street.

WHY THIS IS PERSONAL

What America 250 means to a girl who has spent twenty years in Miss America

The Miss America Organization was founded in 1921. It has been part of the American landscape for over a century, through wars, through social change, through every major chapter this nation has written since the roaring twenties.

When I compete at Miss North Carolina this month, I am not just competing for a title. I am walking into a legacy that is woven into the story of this country.

I have been part of that legacy for twenty years, since I was a seven-year-old Carolina Princess. And in this year, the year America turns 250, the full weight of what this program represents feels different. Heavier. More meaningful. More urgent.

Because the values that Miss America has always stood for: scholarship, service, leadership, and the empowerment of women to lead with purpose, are the same values that 250 years of American history have been building toward. The women who compete in this program are not performing patriotism. They are living it. In the communities they serve. In the classrooms they fund through scholarships. In the stages they stand on with conviction and grace and the belief that their voice matters.

That is what the Semiquincentennial means to me. Not fireworks, though I love those too. It means showing up for the country that gave me the freedom to build everything I am building. It means walking into a senior community and singing for the veteran who made that freedom possible. It means taking a Girl Scout by the hand and saying: this is your country too, and here is how you serve it.

"Patriotism is not a feeling. It is an action. It is the decision to show up for the people who showed up for you — and to build something worth inheriting."

America is turning 250 this year. Two hundred and fifty years since a group of people signed a document that said: we believe something different about what human beings deserve. We believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We believe it enough to fight for it. We believe it enough to build a nation around it.

That belief has been tested and stretched and challenged and defended for two and a half centuries. And it is still standing. Not because of governments or institutions alone, but because of the people in every generation who decided it was worth protecting.

The veterans I visit through SMILE are those people. And every American who volunteers 250 minutes, records a story, visits a historic site, or simply teaches a child what the Fourth of July actually means, is those people too.

Happy 250th, America. I have never been prouder to serve you. 🇺🇸🤍

"The best way to celebrate 250 years of freedom is to spend this year making sure the people who fought for it know they are not forgotten."

With love, gratitude, and a whole lot of red white and blue,

Taylor, Miss Mount Holly 2026

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