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PITTSTON &mdash; If you are not aware of what #AMERICA250PA stands for, it&rsquo;s up to Exeter native and resident Cassandra Coleman to make sure you do.
				The United States will celebrate the nation&rsquo;s 250th birthday in 2026 and in 2018 PA Gov. Tom Wolf appointed Coleman as executive director of America250PA for the commonwealth to plan, encourage, develop and coordinate the commemoration of the United States&rsquo; 250th birthday.
				Coleman made a stop at the Greater Pittston Chamber of Commerce Mid-Winter Breakfast at the Gramercy Restaurant and Banquet Hall on Friday morning to inform and ignite interest in the America250PA movement.
				Officially known as the Semiquincentennial, all 50 states will take part in the celebration in 2026. Coleman&rsquo;s mission: to engage citizens of Pennsylvania from all 67 counties to get involved in the biggest birthday party the country has ever seen.
				America250PA is in partnership with the Washington, D.C.-based national commission, America250.
				&ldquo;Folks know about the project but don&rsquo;t much about it, so the challenge for me is how do we explain the project in a digestible manor in 15 to 20 minutes,&rdquo; Coleman, who spoke in front of 140 business people, said. &ldquo;As I travel around the state, it has been so rewarding the response I have been getting once folks now what we are doing.&rdquo;
				The goal for Coleman over the next year is to continue with the awareness campaign as she speaks to various groups and agencies across the commonwealth.
				&ldquo;We will be going out to speak and show our presentation and show our video, so folks know we&rsquo;re here and we want to have impactful programs and we want them as partners in these
				communities.&rdquo;
				Coleman admits the awareness program has been slow-going since 2018, but feels now that it&rsquo;s 2020; it&rsquo;s more relatable when you talk about the year 2026 when the celebration will occur.
				&ldquo;Folks now say yes, it&rsquo;s 2020 and 2026 will be here before you know it,&rdquo; Coleman said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re still working through our strategic plan and we&rsquo;re working through developing and building program initiatives; we want to make sure we have an educational impact, we want to make sure we have a preservation and historical impact across the commonwealth and our big focus is on the next generation.&rdquo;
				Coleman said most project initiatives would be based off of EPIC (Educate, Preserve, Innovate, Celebrate), which will create an educational impact, a preservation and historic impact across Pennsylvania.
				A Direct Effect Innovation Challenge by America250PA was created where teams of students from Pennsylvania colleges and universities competed to design and launch the integrated marketing strategy and campaign strategy for the America250PA initiative. Wilkes University was chosen to have the winning concept under the tagline: &ldquo;Pennsylvania First and Foremost.&rdquo;
				Six past and present Pennsylvania governors are honorary co-chairs of America250PA: Dick Thornburgh, Tom Ridge, Mark Schweiker, Ed Rendell, Tom Corbett and Tom Wolf.
				Coleman, 32, is no stranger to the local and state political arena having most recently served as director of Wolf&rsquo;s northeast and central offices, one of only four territorial appointees in the state.
				She served as finance director and deputy campaign manager Wolf&rsquo;s election campaign as well as deputy finance director for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
				Coleman started her political career being appointed mayor of Exeter at the age of 20 when her grandfather, the late Joseph Coyne, passed away. At the time of her appointment, she was one of the youngest mayors in U.S. history. She was reelected mayor twice before leaving office to join the Wolf administration.
				For more information on America250PA, go to www.AMERICA250PA.org or contact Cassandra Coleman at CColeman@America250PA.org.

Coleman brings America250PA to Pittston Chamber breakfast