Baseball, Parades, Hot Dogs, Fireworks and the 4th of July

Community parade

Main Street USA is about to burst into patriotic life with baseball, parades, hot dogs, fireworks – the whole shebang.

What a great time of the year and a terrific holiday to commemorate.

The 4th of July really doesn’t have all the baggage that so many holidays do. There’s no worrying about buying gifts and whether you got the right color or size or style. There aren’t religious issues to try to navigate.

It’s really just about celebrating all that makes us proud to be American. I’m not trying to be jingoistic here. We all know that there are certainly challenges that the United States still needs to resolve. But it’s also true that this is a great place to live and work and raise families and run businesses.

It brings to mind a famous line Winston Churchill’s. He said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.

This experiment with self government by the people, despite all its messiness and crises, seems to have worked out pretty well for the past couple of centuries.

That’s why the 4th of July is such a universally loved holiday. Whether we’re celebrating with a backyard barbeque, heading to the beach or eagerly anticipating the first fireworks explosions in the night sky, the 4th is an All-American, star-spangled celebration.

National Life celebrates the 4th of July, too, because we share so much of the rich history that will be commemorated this weekend. We’ve been there when young men set off for the Gold Rush fields, when soldiers went off to war and when families marked milestones both happy and sad. We’ve always held to our vision to bring peace of mind to everyone we touch and our mission to keep our promises.

We’re happy to do what we can to celebrate independence. We sponsor the fireworks in our hometown, along with the parade down Main Street – and up State Street! We sponsor the hometown baseball teams – go Mountaineers and Lake Monsters! And we celebrate the families and communities who benefit from our core values to Do good. Be good. Make good.

So, as you gather up the hot dogs and bunting and get ready for the parade, we wish you a Happy Independence Day.

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