Cumberland Stages America 250 Parade as 30 New Shops Signal Downtown Revival

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 27

Bands, Army vehicles and a city banner rolled down Baltimore Street on Friday as Cumberland marked America’s 250th birthday with a parade aimed at uniting a politically mixed community.
Main Street manager Melinda Kelleher said organizers wanted an event that could bring residents together despite divisive national politics, tying the celebration to a broader downtown revival that has added 30 new shops.
Local historian Al Fieldstein cast Cumberland as a longtime American crossroads, citing the National Road, early railroads and a route once walked by President Benjamin Harrison during an 1889 celebration.
Politics still surfaced along the route, with a liberal retiree calling the White House "complicated" and a Frostburg University Turning Point USA activist saying her conservative campus group has faced few problems.
The event fit into a wider America 250 push playing out in small towns and at the National Mall, even as some state-level participation has become politically contentious.