- Utah began its yearlong celebration for America's 250th birthday with Gov. Spencer Cox and Marie Osmond.
- Osmond highlighted Utah's unique contributions and honored military families' sacrifices for freedom.
- Cox emphasized the misunderstood "pursuit of happiness" and urged a return to patriotism.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah kicked off what will be a year of "celebration and service" Tuesday leading up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence next July.
Performer and philanthropist Marie Osmond introduced Utah's governor and lieutenant governor to a crowd of several hundred outside the Capitol, noting that although Utah's entrance into the union came more than 100 years after its founding, the Beehive State is "proud to be a part of that ongoing story, adding our own unique chapter shaped by the strength and character of our people."
"Utah's beauty is breathtaking, but it's the people who make it truly special," Osmond, a Utah native, said. "Utahns love families deeply, and that love extends outward, building strong, close-knit communities. Our communities helped raise my kids, from teachers who help them learn, to church leaders and coaches who taught them values and hard work to friends and neighbors who extended friendship."
Osmond grew emotional while speaking with KSL.com inside the Capitol after the public ceremony, saying she hoped to honor the sacrifices made by military service members and their families to protect the union.
"I've seen what these families go through. I see their sacrifice," she said. "They deserve our respect. They give up so much for the word 'freedom' that we enjoy ... and I love them, and I honor them. So really, today, I was there for them too, because they deserve that. Especially with all this going on, we should be very grateful."
Osmond comes from one of the most well-known Utah families and now has ties to the first family — her nephew married the sister of first lady Abby Cox. Osmond introduced Gov. Spencer Cox as a "long-lost cousin" as the governor took the stage in front of the Capitol steps.
The governor quoted from the Declaration of Independence, the document from 1776 that outlined "certain unalienable rights" protected by the new nation.
"Among those rights are life, that's the easy one; liberty, that's the fun one; and the pursuit of happiness, which is the one that we've gotten wrong for a long, long time," Cox said.
He went on to speak passionately about how he believes the "pursuit of happiness" has been misunderstood by Americans.
"The pursuit of happiness was never about feeling good as it is now believed to be today: 'Happiness is whatever my truth is, or whatever makes me feel good,'" he said. "The pursuit of happiness meant responsibility. ... It was about giving up your personal pleasure to make sure that we lived in a better place. And you see, they also knew that the Constitution was not perfect, that this American experiment was not perfect, but that we were trying to build a more perfect union over time, that we would get it wrong, that we would figure it out."
The nation faces myriad problems, Cox said, including political violence driven by tribalism and factionalism. He urged Utahns to return to an "old era of patriotism," driven by the knowledge "that responsibility is built here, that we must be better human beings, that there is nothing more un-American than hating our fellow Americans."
Asked for her advice on bringing Americans together, Osmond said she would "rather slide down into a vat of rubbing alcohol on razor blades than talk politics," but added that she hopes Americans "can accept each other's differences like we used to."
She praised the One Voice Children's Choir, which performed at the event, saying music "helps you feel words more powerfully."
"I love music because sometimes you can sing things better than you can say them," she said, "and I think that it touches people's hearts in a different way."
Osmond graduated in 1976, the year of the American bicentennial, and said she feels privileged to live to see the semiquincentennial.
"I said to my kids the other day: 'Do you realize how blessed you are to be alive right now?'" she said. "This is really a culmination of all the cool things that are supposed to happen, and you're going to witness it, and so we can all make a difference."
Cox closed by calling Utah "perhaps the last best hope" to show the rest of the nation what patriotism should look like.
"We get a year starting July 4 until next year to celebrate what made this country so unique, so special," he said. "We can get us back on course, and we can make sure that 250 years from now, another group just like us will be assembled here today celebrating 500 years of the greatest nation in the history of the world."
Utah's celebration is part of similar nationwide celebrations as part of America250. A full list of events and ways to volunteer can be found on Utah's America250 website.
