A Jersey Shore town of 3,200 people raised $120,000 from their own pockets and threw a four-day bash for America's 250th birthday — the kind of grassroots celebration the corporate press can't seem to stomach or even understand.
Monmouth Beach residents didn't wait for a federal grant or a corporate sponsor. They volunteered months of planning, collected from their neighbors, and delivered a parade, a community barbecue, a beach day, historical presentations, and a fireworks show between June 11 and 14. The New York Post reported that town officials partnered with the local historical committee and even painted the crosswalk at the center of town with the stars and stripes — a display that caught fire nationwide, with city leaders across the country contacting Mayor Somers for the plans so they could replicate it next year.
"We had so many people working hard for this," Somers, 63, told the Post. "We had a committee that put in extensive hours every week for months, and then we took up a volunteer collection from the townspeople, who were more than generous."
The celebration didn't sanitize history, either. Visitors learned about the Lenape people who originally inhabited the area. Local historian Greg Kelley gave a town presentation. A man in 1700s colonial dress read the Declaration of Independence to a rapt crowd. That's the full story of this country — not the cherry-picked narrative the lecturing class prefers.
Naturally, someone complained. Somers confirmed there were "party poopers who grumble about walking or driving over the American flag." His response: "It's a symbol, not an actual flag, and perfectly within the bounds of respectability."
Meanwhile, TMZ spent July 4th publishing a gallery of celebrities in red, white, and blue bikinis — Kylie Jenner, Tini Stoessel, and Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher among them. That's the extent of what passes for patriotism in the celebrity press: skin and hashtags.
The contrast tells you everything. One outlet covered working Americans organizing, fundraising, and celebrating their country's founding without a dime of outside help. The other pointed a camera at famous bodies in themed swimwear and called it a holiday tribute.
Somers told the Post the weekend was about more than the festivities — it was about the community itself. "There was no trouble at all, everyone had a blast, and I'm very, very proud to be an American."
No corporate sponsor. No DEI consultant. No apology tour. Just 3,200 people who decided their country's 250th was worth celebrating the old-fashioned way — with their own time, their own money, and their own two hands.
The question isn't why Monmouth Beach did it. The question is why so few other places bothered.
