An extended celebration of the nation's 250th birthday is planned in Cuba City, Wisconsin. The small town is dubbed the "City of Presidents."
What began in 1976 as a bicentennial project lives on today, and will be celebrated the second weekend in July.
Resident Donna Rogers says, don't let her town's location tucked among farm fields in southwest Wisconsin, or its size — 2200 residents — deceive you.
This is the City of Presidents.
Rapid City, South Dakota makes the same claim, but Rogers says that doesn’t diminish Cuba City’s pride.
She points to gleaming red, white and blue shields — one for each president — sitting high on light poles along Main Street. They were first placed there in 1976, to celebrate the nation’s 200th birthday.
At the time, they were made of plywood. But today, “They're made out of the same fabric as stop signs are. So they're maintained a lot better,” she says.
The parade of signs was the vision of the elementary school principal at the time.
“Joe Gaiman — with a lot of help from our Lions Club and our students at the Cuba City High School,” Rogers says.
She admits in 1976 she wasn’t particularly tuned into the project.
“I was raising three little boys and working at John Deere, so I didn't really pay too much attention to community service at that time,” she says.
But a few years later, Gaiman asked her to help keep the initiative alive, and Rogers couldn’t say no.
“He lived by the 'City of Presidents' theme — what people do for their community lives long after they’re gone,” Rogers says.
The small committee created an endowment fund, “And now we can maintain our Veterans Park, our City of Presidents water shield, our shields on Main Street, and of course our presidential courtyard, “ Rogers says.
She makes sure the city’s small presidential museum — which came to life in 2002 in a restored red caboose — is kept in tiptop shape.
“And in our caboose, we have the pen that President Bush used to sign his shield,” Rogers says.
That’s George W. Bush. He didn’t plan on stopping in Cuba City while campaigning in Wisconsin for a second term.
“So that's where we got to say a big 'thank you' to journalism — and it might have even been National Public Radio — but anyway, first the Telegraph Herald put it in there that 'President Bush bypasses the City of Presidents.' So lo and behold, then Milwaukee picks it up, Chicago picks it up. And now we get a call that President Bush is coming back to the City of Presidents,” Rogers says. “So that was a very, very big deal for us in 2004."
Actually, Bush’s opponent, John Kerry, stopped by two months earlier, but of course, he wasn’t President.
The banner that waved behind Bush at Cuba City High School still hangs in city hall.
A few years ago Joe Gaiman, the school principal who was so instrumental in the town’s presidential identity, died.
Rogers says she, and the town, were determined to pull out all the stops when the nation’s 250th and Cuba City’s 50th City of Presidents anniversary rolled around.
Planning started eight months ago for the festivities happening July 9-11.
“On the 9th, we’re having a mac and cheese fest,” Rogers says she learned the dish was a favorite of our nation’s founding fathers. “ I Googled it. I hope Google is correct.”
And there’s a parade, which she says is going to be epic. Rogers' husband built the float. It incorporates the presidential shields, 250 U.S. flags, not to mention the flags of all 50 states.
“And then, on the back of the float, my husband found a big, big electrical spool, covered it with siding. So, it looks like it's got cream colored frosting on it. Then we have two smaller spools on the top of it. And then we got 250 toilet paper roll candles,” Rogers says.
Thanks to crafty elementary school students and their art teacher, the results looks like a giant 250th birthday cake.
“High school students are gonna help with the face painting, the chalk art contest. We have a high school student that's gonna be our Statue of Liberty. So, our schools, they get the kids involved," Rogers says.
She says Joe Gaiman’s vision of community service lives on in the town’s dedication to its “City of Presidents” title.
“You know, like this big event we're having July 11th, it took me one month to raise $13,000. The community was just awesome,” Rogers says.
