As soon as the last of Friday’s Fourth of July fireworks fade into the summer night, the countdown to America’s 250th birthday begins. We’ll give you all a moment to process this, as it seems to your Editorial Team, at least, that 1976’s Bicentennial was like eight summers ago.

A 250th anniversary doesn’t attract the same kind of attention that the Centennial or the Bicentennial did; it’s like the American history version of turning 55. You got a party for turning 50 and you’ll get another one when you turn 60, but you probably won’t get much for 55. We expect there will be local celebrations on July 4, 2026, but we don’t yet know much about what they’ll be.

Nevertheless, your Editorial Team thought this would be a fine week to explore the state of patriotism in Kingston and Ulster County in 2025. We have our own thoughts on this, but first we’ll explore what the person on the street thinks. We sent reporter Mia Altamuro out to gather some opinions on local patriotism today. In hopes of getting less inhibited answers, we didn’t take anyone’s name. Check out some excerpts:

“I think people are quite patriotic, and as a measure of engagement, if you engage in county politics, city politics, that’s kind of a style of patriotism.”

“I think people are passionate about the country. I think there are different viewpoints about how the country should be, the direction of the country. People are genuinely passionate about what they think is right.”

“I think that there are a lot of people fighting against the rising autocracy, and certain things in this country, and fighting for democracy and for the rights of others and for equal treatment and for human rights is probably one of the most patriotic things you can do, and so I think that the patriotism is actually quite healthy here, because we are continuing to fight for life, just ideals.”

“I think it’s good in this area. I’d say there’s a good involvement in terms of political activity, and if you look at how many people voted in the last few elections, even local elections, it seems to be up. That’s a reflection of patriotism.”

“In Ulster County, it’s high. I think people are politically aware and involved.”

“Well, we went to the [June 14] No Kings Day, and we were really impressed with them. You know, just the turn out for that. A lot of young people.”

“A lot of people who are fighting for the resilience of our democracy are embracing the American flag right now and trying to re-empower it not as a tool of one party or the other, but of something that should represent all of us collectively, regardless of where we’re from [or] when we came here. We’re all American.”

“If we’re talking about the definition of what a democracy is, it’s to voice your opinion when you don’t think the country is going the right way. Or if you think it is going the right way, the most important position is citizen in the country, so I think the citizens are making their voices heard.”

And finally:

“I could give a sh-t about the state of patriotism, first of all. I’m not a nationalist, and I don’t care about patriotism. I care about humans and interdependence, so I appreciate that there are other people who care about that, I wonder why, what about it [patriotism] is important to them and what about patriotism is more important than caring for humans? It’s like nationalism is borders and government and people are people and community and caring for each other.”

That last one notwithstanding, it would seem patriotism is pretty strong around here these days. It’s one of the most broad of terms: one person’s patriotism is another person’s treason, especially in these deeply polarized times. In other places, people might define patriotism as obedience to the authorities — allegiance no matter what the circumstances or the results of that allegiance may be. In our community, according to what we’ve heard and seen, patriotism is defined as participation, whether that be attending demonstrations, working as an advocate or speaking up about the issues.

For most of us, the most impact our patriotism has is when we vote. Both nationally and locally, voting numbers have been on the rise. In 2024, Ulster County cast 98,534 votes for presidential candidates. (We are omitting blank and void ballots.) That’s up a little bit from 2020’s 97,420 candidate votes. It’s up substantially from 2016’s figure of 84,535; the number for 2012, the most recent presidential election in which President Trump did not run, candidate votes totaled 79,626. Over the space of 12 years, voter turnout for president has risen almost 20 percent. Say what you want about the guy, and we know you will, but Trump’s emergence can be said, we think, to have made a significant upward impact on voter engagement in Ulster County.

While many who vote may not think of themselves as political in the traditional (or any) sense of the word, we think the very act of casting a ballot says the voter hasn’t surrendered to hopelessness for this county’s — and this country’s — future. It could be that the real enemy isn’t the party you don’t like. It’s apathy. If that’s the case, then your Editorial Team reckons the strength of patriotism here is perhaps stronger than it’s ever been. That’s something very much worth celebrating this Friday and every Fourth of July.