Here’s how Oregon is celebrating America’s 250th year of independence

Bigfoot is officially helping Oregon celebrate the country’s 250th birthday. 

This September, the Dallas Area Visitors Center will host its second annual Bigfootstock, a one-day festival rooted in local folklore and the town’s rural identity that brings together educators, agritourism businesses and tribal partners. 

“Through storytelling, cultural exchange, and educational experiences and of course music, the festival highlights the voices and traditions that shape our region and reflect the broader American story,” said Sarrah McMaster, treasurer of the Dallas Area Visitors Center.

The quirky, family-friendly event is one of 80 projects across Oregon that received a grant from the America 250 Oregon Commission, which over the course of four rounds awarded nearly $250,000 to groups highlighting the state’s unique traditions, cultures and history ahead of the 250th anniversary of American independence. 

Gov. Tina Kotek in 2024 signed a law creating the commission, tasking it with coordinating the state’s celebration of the country’s 250th birthday. 

The commission recognized early that there isn’t a single correct way to honor the country’s 250th year of independence.

Instead, it adopted seven broad guidelines to give local organizations the freedom to honor the state’s heritage and culture in their own unique ways, said Kerry Tymchuk, commission chair and executive director of the Oregon Historical Society. 

“There’s projects that honor veterans, there are projects that promote civics and history education, there’s projects that honor Oregon’s tribes, of course, who were here long before 1776,” Tymchuk said. “Oregon’s official state motto is, ‘she flies with her own wings,’ and this proves that right. There’s just so many unique ideas that the commission was proud to support.”

A nonpartisan, bipartisan celebration across Oregon

The funding was split equally between rural and urban organizations, Tymchuk said, adding that the commission worked hard to ensure it was a nonpartisan and bipartisan celebration. 

In Umatilla County, the Heritage Station Museum is collecting letters from community members to place in a time capsule that will be stored in its climate-controlled collection until 2076. 

The museum received $3,000 from the state commission to buy archival paper, marketing materials and boxes to place in local libraries where community members can submit their letters and materials for the time capsule’s closing ceremony in September. 

“We’re actually creating an index so that we’ll know who contributed, and that way in 50 years if someone wants to look back and see if their ancestor put anything in there, they’ll be able to look that up,” said museum executive director Shannon Gruenhagen. 

At the Oregon Art Center in Portland, a $3,000 grant will help cover the cost for a curator to put together an exhibit featuring art from its teachers, student artists as well as award-winning artists that have been featured in the gallery before. The grant will also pay for the center’s 100th birthday celebration during a free event on Sept. 3 with live music and catered food. 

“Our mission is really to make art accessible, and this grant certainly has helped us make this big milestone for us even more impactful for our community,” Oregon Art Center coexecutive director Emma Wallace told the Capital Chronicle. 

Several groups received grants to honor veterans, including the Central Oregon-based nonprofit Warrior Impact. The nonprofit is using its $4,000 America 250 grant to cover the cost of a spot in one of its retreats meant to help veterans and first responders experiencing post-traumatic stress. 

Warrior Impact offers free rafting, hiking and horse therapy retreats led by fellow veterans and first responders to help people find purpose and process their trauma. A third of participants come from out of state, said Matt Bassit, the nonprofit’s founder and president. 

“We’re completely volunteer based, so we’re very efficient with the dollars we have, but it’s still costly,” Bassitt said. “The more we can raise, the more we can actually build this thing into a world-class organization.”

Other groups are using grant funding to highlight Oregon’s Indigenous community, including the Oregon Children’s Theatre in Portland. The theatre is using its $3,000 grant to support the writing process and hiring of actors for its new musical, “The Mountain & The Raven.” 

Native creatives, including play director Jeanette Harrison of the Native Performing Arts Network and Taya Dixon, a resident artist at Hillsboro’s nonprofit theatre company Bag&Baggage Productions, will help develop the musical. Dixon is writing it alongside Oregon Children’s Theatre Producing Artistic Director Jenn Hartman Luck. The musical will premiere in 2028. 

“We want to celebrate Native voices and experiences through this project,” Hartman Luck said in an email. “Our goal is to tour this show, ‘The Mountain and the Raven,’ across the state of Oregon, bringing this important story about identity, land, grief, and acceptance, to young people in many communities. Especially to many communities that really don’t have the opportunity to come to Downtown Portland for theatre experiences.”