This year in the United States, we are celebrating 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on who we are, as a people, in our local communities. For the ICA it brings back memories from 1976 when Town Meetings were held in every county in every state of the union to celebrate America's 200th birthday. Two Archives Town Meeting pages are available here: ICA Global Archive – Town Meetings <https://icaglobalarchives.org/collections/awakening-local-communities/town-meeting/us-5000-town-meetings/>. We have been pondering what today’s efforts at grassroots reflection could look like in 2026. One step the ICA staff and Global Archives volunteers have taken is to design a “do-it-yourself” Facilitation Guide to allow people interested in having a significant Vision and Action Planning event happen in their community in two-hours. The Facilitation Guide is very flexible to allow individuals to modify for their needs. Here is the Guide: - Guide for reading on screens: Word Doc <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jSVr41SV85vmUfdcYoPlvMREadJqTdTT/edit> | Adobe PDF <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XtNrLrcwbbAq1eC8dE1eY8lnV5jYNLvD/view> (continuous pagination) - Guide for printing: Adobe PDF <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZIF1Yz8Bwi4rsaxqhipjH7bBj89x2vdJ/view?usp=drive_link> (booklet pagination; use “short edge” double-sided printing) Since every state has an America 250 Commission, ICA took another step—to contact the Illinois 250 America Commission, and to offer this Facilitation Guide, as well as Facilitator Training for community leaders to use the Guide. A colleague of the ICA, who is a commissioner on the Illinois 250 Commission, has been working with the Chicago 43rd Ward Alderperson to create a resolution to celebrate the 250th Anniversary by hosting “a collaborative town hall where the community and their elected representatives are able to come together and discuss a collective vision for the future of their communities and the City of Chicago as a whole.” At the last Chicago City Council meeting, they passed the resolution! Here is a copy of the Resolution: Chicago City Council 250 Resolution <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aWQ2qG9AhB_4CZfOn_sGJLHQ9OuSGv-E/view?usp=drive_link> Here are additional materials developed with the assistance of AI NotebookLM that give visual and audio information to assist anyone willing to take the challenge of leading their community in this process: - Cinematic Video: IL America 250 Explanatory Video <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s_J2X_okawWwbbTqqUkpoIorklAAIwgH/view?usp=drive_link> - Infograph: IL America 250 Infographic <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pk9IJXZBKOVz7KK_ymh1bzZPAbcIKg4H/view?usp=drive_link> - Facilitator's Blueprint: IL America 250 podcast ep "The two hour blueprint for community consensus" <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z7sIIOsscr8feA8E6D-SMQAb9FfeFHTr/view?usp=drive_link> Would you like to have something like this happen in your area? Would you be willing to contact your state’s America 250 Commission? Who are others you know who might be interested in making this happen in your area? What other thoughts, suggestions do you have to create momentum for community meetings to happen locally and nationally during 2026? We are looking forward to hearing your ideas and reflections. Rory Gilchrist Program Manager rgilchrist@ica-usa.org Karen Snyder Troxel Archives Coordinator ksnyder@ica-usa.org
