(Amber Renee Dixon) How Southern Nevada is recognizing the United States' 250th anniversary.

(Maria Silva) Why are you proud to be an American?

-Just the freedom to go anywhere we want to go and do what we want to do.

-That's this week on a special edition of Nevada Week.

♪♪ -Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt and other supporters.

-Welcome to this special edition of Nevada Week.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

July 4, 2026, marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

And in honor of the milestone, we're showing you how Southern Nevadans are observing America at 250.

While some are using art, music, and, of course, fireworks to express themselves, another local man is using his camera to capture the images of the men and women who served our country.

Maria Silva joins us now with his very special story.

Hi, Maria.

-Hi, Amber.

This beautiful project, titled 250 Faces of Service and Sacrifice.

Some of the veterans featured, World War II veterans, some no longer with us, which is why this project is even more meaningful.

The photographer behind the camera was raised here in Nevada.

He's even known as "Henderson's photographer."

And when he was searching for a way to celebrate America at 250, he knew exactly what he had to do: honor our veterans and their families.

[camera shutter clicking] Dean Whitaker's story is amazing.

Dean Whitaker was a 19-, 20-year old navigator for the B-17s and a bombardier.

-World War II Veteran Dean Whitaker, one of the veterans featured in the photography project 250 Faces of Sacrifice and Service.

-Smile.

Lookin' good.

-Photographer Mikel Conrad's inspiration for his patriotic and heartfelt project started with a gift from his favorite uncle, Thomas Jefferson Montgomery.

(Mikel Conrad) My uncle, Uncle Tom, he was celebrating his 80th birthday about six, seven years ago, and he gave me the 600 slides from when he was in Korea.

He served in Europe, so it was during the Korea time, that conflict.

And I made a book for him out of those slides for his birthday, and he had memories of most of the images in there, probably about 80%.

And so understanding that and his vision of what he saw and the stories just was phenomenal as a family member, and so I thought there's more stories out there that inspired me to look around and find other veterans who've got those same stories.

-Stories like Lorraine's, a 100-year-old Army veteran.

-Her smile is just contagious.

She was a nurse reserves.

There's a name for it.

I don't remember the name.

But so she served here in different, in different areas in the Southwest because the Army took all the other nurses.

So she was part of that corps but serving here.

She just turned 100 not too long ago.

Unbelievable woman.

She was a pilot and flew some of those World War II test planes.

Back in the 50s, women were not pilots.

Mikel considers 250 Faces of Service and Sacrifice more than just a photography project, calling it a national tribute.

His motto... -Because behind every flag, behind every anthem, behind every moment of peace, there's a face.

Let's make sure they're not forgotten.

I want people to look at their sacrifice and see their weathered hands and see how they built things.

Many of these people that came back, these gentlemen--especially World War II, Korea, and Vietnam--they were school boys when they went over, and they came back weathered, learned.

A lot of them gained education and a trade while they were in the military, and they came back and they built the things that we have today.

-The theme of family-- -Those are a couple I photographed.

Both served in the Marines.

- --also an important part of this project.

-The gentleman is an ROTC commander at one of the high schools here in town.

His daughter is in that program.

The military genealogy tree is just amazing to see how many family members have such a great genealogy of military service in their family, and that's important to understand.

-The longtime photographer, no stranger to making sure the stories of our veterans are preserved and documented, serving as a photographer on UNLV's Veterans' Voices: We're Listening oral history project.

And he continues to travel with veterans to Washington, D.C., as part of Honor Flight.

-I'm part of Honor Flight, Southern Nevada.

I'm the photographer who goes with them every six months to photograph the history and the stories, the behind-the-scenes.

I'm kind of the fly on the wall on that flight, because I want to capture the emotions and what these veterans are feeling and what they went through and suffered inside.

Many of them don't talk about it.

It's hard.

And you talk about PTSD.

All these guys, they didn't know back then what it was, but they had it.

They had a form of it or they had that.

And so it's nice that on Honor Flight they get to have a little bit of closure.

It's nice on this project I'm doing they get to see a little bit of closure, a little bit of recognition.

-Many of the brave veterans featured in the project sadly are no longer with us, including Mikel's Uncle Tom and Dean Whitaker.

-It just breaks your heart because there's such great treasure that we have, and we need to remember that treasure on there and what they've given us on through that.

-And as we prepare to celebrate 250 years of independence, Mikel wants us all to reflect on this: -When we see the flag and we sing the anthem, when we see the fireworks, we need to remember why we have those celebrations.

It's just not about the parties.

It's not about the fun and the drinking and the eating and all that stuff.

It's about our families coming together, and we're able to come together because of men and women who have served this country for 250 years and have given us the different freedoms, you know?

As you look back at some of the battles that our country has gone through, not a perfect country.

But yet we've sustained, and we've given people the freedom to choose what they like to do.

♪♪ -And speaking of honoring our veterans, an America 250 monument now stands at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, located in Boulder City.

In early May, the Sons of the American Revolution, Southern Nevada Signers Chapter unveiled the monument honoring veterans from the Revolutionary War.

This monument, designed in the likeness of the Washington Monument, reads in part, "Celebrating our country's 250th birthday by honoring America's first veterans."

Well, the tradition of celebrating America's independence with fireworks dates back, listen to this, to the first recorded organized Fourth of July celebration in 1777 in Philadelphia.

When it comes to celebrations and celebrating major milestones with fireworks, there is no question about it, Las Vegas sure knows how to do it right.

America 250 celebrations here in Southern Nevada kicked off in June with firework shows up and down the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas.

We got a firsthand look at how these impressive fireworks displays are set up on a Strip rooftop.

Check it out.

-When you see that first push of fireworks coming up, it's, it's, you always get the jitters.

-Before that initial burst fills the Las Vegas sky... ...Jonn Massirio, Lead Technician with Fireworks by Grucci, and Tex, Anna, and Oscar are hard at work on the rooftop of the Treasure Island... (Jonn Massirio) So you go to these right here.

-...putting the finishing touches on yet another impressive fireworks display.

-On rooftops here, we're allowed to do 75-millimeter shells, which definitely add to the effect.

You can imagine we're on the rooftop this high.

Now we're sending the shell another 280-300 feet here, right?

So those bursts are well above the Las Vegas Strip where everybody could see the full visual.

-A project of this magnitude takes months of planning and several days to set up.

(Oscar) Same thing, drop it in.

-The amount of time and effort that the office staff, both in Virginia and New York, put into planning of this show permitting, getting the site inspections done, this is all the lead-up to this massive event.

-Beautiful.

This one is ready to go.

Good job.

-For more than two decades, Grucci, The First Family of Fireworks, has worked its magic, illuminating the Vegas sky.

LVCVA spokesperson Heidi Hayes shares why this America 250 celebration really is an only-in-Vegas, must-see event.

(Heidi Hayes) Vegas goes big.

What do you expect from us?

This is a big celebration for our nation, and we really wanted to be part of it.

So we thought, fireworks.

And not just one night of fireworks.

Let's do eight consecutive Saturday nights of fireworks.

-Each Saturday, fireworks will be launched from three new rooftops.

Tourists and locals alike, treated to an impressive eight-minute synchronized show, all culminating in a spectacular Fourth of July synchronized display launched from nine rooftops across the Las Vegas Strip, expected to be the largest summer fireworks show in the nation.

-Very patriotic.

The music is going to be what you would expect for something as monumental as our nation's 250th birthday.

-This America 250 celebration, Vegas-style, really is all about teamwork and some fun collaborations.

-So iconic now.

It's only been here a few years, but everyone knows Sphere.

And so they're going to have complimentary Fourth of July programming, American-themed programming every Saturday night.

So as you see the fireworks at the different properties, you can also look at the Sphere and see everything that they're doing as well.

-From the world famous Las Vegas Strip to one of the world's marvels of civil engineering, Hoover Dam, America 250 being celebrated in very patriotic ways all across Nevada.

The patriotic display unveiled during a very special ceremony on Memorial Day.

-In thinking about America 250, there's no better symbol of America grit and tenacity than Hoover Dam, and we really wanted to showcase that in a way that's never been done before.

So there's an American flag the size of a football field draped across the dam, and also red, white, blue lighting.

And we just love the fact that that's just such a symbol of America.

-Hailing from one of the U.S.

founding states... -We're actually from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the outskirts of Pittsburgh.

-...we met Karen and Tom Schott, who were pleasantly surprised that their trip to Hoover Dam included this patriotic display.

-Wow!

You know, that's the biggest flag I've ever seen.

So, yeah, it was pretty, pretty nice to see that, yeah.

-Watching Karen and Tom from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, enjoying the beautiful America 250 display, you definitely felt the pride.

Why are you proud of being American?

-Just the freedom to go anywhere we want to go and do what we want to do.

And not too many people telling us what to do, just a few.

-It's just freedom.

It's just being able to, like he said, do what you want to do when you want to do it and, you know, enjoy it.

-You will be able to check out the Fourth of July fireworks spectacular on the Strip every Saturday until July 25.

Well, fireworks, not the only amazing spectacle that had people mesmerized and looking up towards the sky.

The Thunderbirds soared over Southern Nevada as part of the LVCVA's America 250 celebrations.

From their home base at Nellis Air Force Base, the Thunderbirds took off and flew over the Las Vegas Strip, neighborhoods, and Hoover Dam.

The Thunderbirds' next stop, Washington, D.C., for Salute to America 250 celebrations.

-How very cool.

You're going to be joining us again later in the show with another example of how Southern Nevada is being represented on the national stage.

Thank you, Maria.

In the meantime, what does America mean to you?

How do you tell its story, and what do the next 250 years look like through your eyes?

Those are the questions the Clark County Public Arts Office asked local artists, and their responses are on display now at the Clark County Government Center.

-You know, I hope someone comes here and sees something they didn't expect.

-UNLV Associate Professor of History A.B.

Wilkinson juried Expressions of Clark County: America's 250th Anniversary Showcase.

That means he reviewed the submissions and selected which to exhibit.

(A.B.

Wilkinson) There were a number of pieces where I really did take some time to think about, wow, what is this piece saying?

How might people interpret this piece?

You know, would it ruffle any feathers?

There are some really fun pieces, too.

I like the Uncle Sam hat mirror.

-Titled Sam's Vanity, you can imagine yourself as Uncle Sam.

I want you to visit the Clark County Government Center.

Clark County says the installation's goal is to invite the public to reflect on the nation's complex historical past and create discourse in the present as we imagine a more perfect Union in the future.

Wilkinson says some of the submissions that helped him accomplish that came from immigrants.

-That see themselves as American and then really talk about what the founders saw for America.

And so it's very interesting to me that immigrants in some ways encapsulate what it means to be a citizen of the United States in some ways even better than some of us who have been here many generations.

-And when the County first approached Wilkinson for this project, he says he felt conflicted, not about evaluating other people's work, but about how to represent his own relationship with America.

-As a person of African-American ancestry, Native American ancestry, and European ancestry, I, personally, within just my own family's history have different people coming from different regions of the world and contributed to the United States in different ways.

Wilkinson is actually a slave name.

So when my students say Dr.

Wilkinson, it's a title of honor, being a doctor, but it's also a reminder that my people were enslaved.

And so for me curating a little bit of art myself became a way for me to kind of work through some of those feelings around America 250.

And then last, my partner, also who has some pieces here displayed, she's of Southern Paiute ancestry, Nuwu.

And so even for her to approach America 250 means something different to her as well.

-Wilkinson's partner is Fawn Douglas, an artist, activist, and enrolled member of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe.

(Fawn Doublas) When it comes to celebrating here in Clark County, America 250, of course they have to know about Southern Paiute history.

And we're able to present that with some of the basket work, some of my artworks, and some other things that really draw towards our language retention and who we are in the contemporary.

And it's so subtle but so beautiful.

-And in the contemporary, Douglas says she's working to reclaim her culture.

-This right here is a reclamation of language.

I've created a language flash card deck.

It's Nuwu Umbuhgah, learning how to speak Southern Paiute.

-This part of the exhibition pairs Douglas's language flash cards with the designs found in these Southern Paiute baskets from the Clark County Museum.

Some of them date back to the 1890s.

-Literally, this is my people's DNA, because when they're making baskets, it's not just like putting some water and making the things go.

You're using your teeth.

Sometimes you're cutting yourself with an awl or whatever.

So there's literally blood, saliva.

There's parts of my ancestors' DNA that is woven into each of these baskets.

So to be next to it is like to visit a relative.

-For Douglas, reclamation also includes owning some of the land the Southern Paiute people once inhabited.

She and Wilkinson co-founded Nuwu Art on Maryland Parkway in the historic Huntridge neighborhood.

They're also expanding into downtown Las Vegas.

-The Nuwu Art Gallery + Community Center is land back.

It's us purchasing back Southern Paiute land and really doing what we want to with it.

-And it's that kind of progress that Wilkinson says this flag represents.

-When Barack Obama was elected as President, I was actually waving that flag in the street.

-The flag is one of several pieces he curated for his own contribution to the exhibition.

-This is a pocket Constitution that I use in class while teaching at UNLV.

Railroad spikes that are pulled from very close to the Moapa Paiute reservation.

They represent manifest destiny, kind of the growth of technology to the West, but also land dispossession of Native American and Indigenous peoples.

And then, of course, the shackles.

I do believe that they may have been from a plantation in the South or they were used with convict labor after the Civil War.

-Wilkinson says deciding how to represent the United States' complicated history was difficult but considers the process worthwhile if his exploration of America at 250 or those of the other artists presented here leads to learning and the pursuit of improvement.

-Expressions of Clark County: America's 250th Anniversary Showcase concludes on Thursday, July 16, with a reception that's open to the public.

Now, parades will be a part of several Fourth of July celebrations, including here in Southern Nevada.

Both the Summerlin Council Patriotic Parade and the Boulder City Damboree Parade are embracing the America 250 theme.

And of course, a parade wouldn't be much of a parade without a marching band or two.

Maria Silva joins us again.

And, Maria, there is a local high school marching band that is going to be performing in one of the country's largest parades.

-Yeah.

I just love when we can actually shine the spotlight on our CCSD students.

And this is pretty special.

The Foothill High School Falcon Marching Band, one of 50 marching bands and, listen to this, the only one from Nevada invited to perform at the Fourth of July parade in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the United States.

But that's not their only performance.

In fact, they have performances in not one but two of our nation's founding states.

We caught up with the band before they headed off on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Inside the Foothill High School Theater... -One, two, everyone.

♪♪ -Director of Bands Travis Pardee and these talented students who make up the Foothill High School Falcon Marching Band are hard at work... [horns] ...practicing patriotic songs.

(Travis Pardee) Well, we're going to Philadelphia, so we have to play "The Liberty Bell" march by John Philip Sousa.

♪♪ There's a piece called "Anthem for Freedom," which is based on the "Chester" theme, which is a kind of a New England idea.

And there's a piece called "Salute to Freedom," which has some famous Americana in it.

♪♪ And then there's a piece called "Appalachian Journey."

♪♪ -What started out as an invitation from the City of Philadelphia to perform at the Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade quickly turned into the Wind Ensemble booking another important performance at the historic Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Delaware.

-It's one of the older concert venues that's been continuously open in the U.S., I believe, and so it's pretty exciting.

It's a neat-looking venue.

It's old, built in the 1800s.

And these kids don't see that here ever, so it's fun to take the kids to perform in venues that are 150 years old.

Let me hear flutes and clarinets.

One, two, flutes and clarinets.

(Emeline Jones) I play the clarinet.

It has a lot of keys, a lot of buttons, but it's not as complicated as it looks.

-And junior Emeline Jones can't wait to take center stage at The Grand Opera House.

-I'm super excited to see it, because I did see a picture of the said Hall, and it was very beautiful, so I'm very excited to perform in it.

-During this practice session, you definitely felt that excitement.

♪♪ -For students like sophomore Mickey Johnston... (Mickey Johnston) This is the euphonium.

It's a low brass instrument with four valves.

It's the best instrument in the band.

Don't say that anywhere else, but... -Being a member of this band, extra special.

-I've got history from my family in it, and I've got, I guess, family in the band, even though they're not blood related.

And I just like being able to play something.

Our band, we just get to do so much fun stuff.

And just for being in it, it's so much fun.

I love being in the band.

There's so many opportunities I would never get before.

-In the 25 years Mr.

Pardee has served as director of bands at Foothill, he's made sure his students get to experience these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

-We've done some cool things: Macy's Parade; Rose Parade; St.

Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland; National Memorial Day Parade in DC.

We've, we've done some pretty special events: Played Carnegie Hall.

We did Pearl Harbor.

We did, we did the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France.

-For students like Angel Calderon... (Angel Calderon) It's a French horn, and this is what I play for concert season.

But usually in marching band I play something called the mellophone.

-...who ended up in band, well, by chance.

-It wasn't even my first plan.

Art was my first plan, but then all the people already took it up.

And I feel like it's just been a huge blessing.

-He's more than ready to perform and celebrate America at 250.

-I find it really cool, and especially the fact that it's obviously the America's 250th anniversary.

It gets our band recognized around the world, basically.

I feel like I've done enough to be confident, and I obviously have an amazing teacher and amazing students with me.

-And when these students proudly march in the parade in Philly... -The beat is not in the knee, my single ladies.

Yes, okay?

The beat is in the heel-- down, down, down.

-Not all songs will be patriotic ones.

-We will likely do a patriotic medley called "A Salute to Freedom," and then we're probably going to do "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars, which has nothing to do with the 250th anniversary.

But, hey, here we are.

It's America.

Bruno Mars is a great American performer, so that's what we're doing.

♪♪ -Fresh off their epic performance with Bruno Mars on the Las Vegas Strip... -We marched right behind Bruno Mars, so it was just like a huge thing, because it's like marching right behind a celebrity that is very big now to our state.

So I was really excited, and it was very fun.

I had a lot of fun with it.

-...this award-winning marching band will no doubt make memories they will treasure for years to come.

-I think it means a lot, because I get to play for my country, which is, it makes me happy because I'm glad that we're able to even have this country.

-I feel a lot of pride with it, because being in this program has been like the biggest blessing for me.

I love this program.

It's an amazing program.

It teaches you not only music, but it also teaches you that you have a family within.

So I think it's very fun that we get to go places, not only, but just to have a family to go with.

♪♪ -Bravo!

And the band's performance, by the way, in Wilmington, Delaware, happened July 1.

The parade in Philadelphia is Friday, July 3.

And, Amber, I can't say it enough, so proud of these talented students.

-Yes, bravo.

And I know that it is summer, so they're not in school, but are they getting some history lessons while they're on the East Coast?

-Yeah.

The band director tells me this is something that's really important when they go to any trip.

He wants to make sure that they get to visit the area they're at.

In this part, I mean, they're in Philadelphia, right?

So they're going to visit the Liberty Bell, and then they're also heading off--it's not all work and no play--they're also going to head off to New York City.

I can tell you, a lot of the students, really excited about New York City.

-Oh, I'm sure.

All right.

Maria Silva, thank you for bringing us such rich histories of how Southern Nevadans are honoring this holiday, this 250th anniversary of our country.

-It's been my honor.

-And thank you for watching and joining Nevada Week.

For more programs connected to America at 250, including Ken Burns' American Revolution series, go to vegaspbs.org.

And we'll see you next week on Nevada Week.

♪♪