As someone who experienced our country’s celebrations during the 1976 bicentennial (although I was only 5 years old at the time), it doesn’t seem that there’s much fanfare and promotion surrounding this weekend’s special Fourth of July.
I continued my five-year tradition serving as holiday parade grandstand announcer/judge for the town of Munster’s parade and festivities. Despite the weather, it’s reassuring to witness patriotism and smiles being shared by all ages.
I sometimes wonder if my own expectations for what I’ve anticipated for the 2026 year-long observance could be shadowed by the ingrained, cherished memories from half a century ago when I had a front-row seat to the parade and pageantry displayed this same month at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in 1976.
Though I was only 5 years old at the time, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, ironically, also celebrated its own fifth birthday that same year, the young mind and imagination of a child is a powerful tool.
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Our parents, Chester and Peggy, took my two older siblings, David and Pam, and me for our second visit to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom to experience the “Spirit of ’76” theme celebration of our country’s bicentennial.
From themed parades and special costumed characters to branded gift merchandise, the Disney team carried on the tradition of Uncle Walt, who died at age 65 in 1966 and never saw his architectural dream and blueprint plans for his Florida “sister” theme park to Disneyland in California become reality.
Long before the bicentennial year, Disney ensured his original theme park in Anaheim, California, included a “Main Street U.S.A.” with patriotic themes when it opened in July 1955. When designing the Florida Magic Kingdom, Disney made sure the property included an entire section dedicated to United States history, branded as Liberty Square and anchored by the animated Hall of Presidents attraction unveiled for the theme park’s opening day in the Sunshine State on Oct. 1, 1971.
Our mom purchased U.S. history-themed souvenir trays and bowls at Walt Disney World in 1976, featuring the illustrations of newspaper artist Ken Haag, who died in 1996.
My most vivid recollections, at least from the vantage point of being a wide-eyed 5-year-old plucked from the middle of an Indiana cornfield, continue to be the impressive patriotic-themed Magic Kingdom afternoon parade featuring bands, floats and favorite characters in the guise of famous names of history.
One float, shaped in the image of an American eagle, featured central Disney characters Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy, as captured by my mom’s Kodak flashcube camera, in the costume guise of the “Spirit of ‘76” marching trio of an injured fife player with a bandage, a drum player and a flag bearer, first depicted by artist Archibald M. Willard in his 1876 oil painting.
While a scan of websites reveals the Disney properties in Florida and California are doing some select observances for the 250th birthday of the U.S.A. (special fireworks, key parade floats and characters in patriotic costumes), it isn’t on the scale displayed in 1976.
Today’s recipe, in the spirit of the occasion, is a historic old-fashioned molasses cookie from the Walt Disney Resorts recipe files, and I share it in homage to actress Margaret Kerry. Kerry, originally from Springfield, Illinois, died June 11 at age 97 and forever holds the claim to fame as being the model and likeness selected by Walt Disney for his illustrated and animated design for his Disney trademark fairy Tinker Bell, also featured in the 1953 animated film “Peter Pan.”
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is a weekly radio host at WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected] or mail your questions to From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
Neverland’s Molasses Cookies
Makes 2 dozen
Ingredients
Margarine (for greasing cookie sheets)
1 stick margarine or butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light or dark molasses
1 egg
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease two cookie sheets with a little margarine.
2. Put the margarine in a large mixing bowl and cream it until it’s soft and fluffy by rubbing it against the side of the bowl with the back of a spoon.
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3. Add the sugar and molasses and break the egg into the bowl, mixing thoroughly.
4. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together into another bowl and add mixture a little at a time to the mixture in the first bowl, mixing well.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl, shape it into a round, and wrap it in waxed paper or plastic wrap.
6. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.
7. Place the unwrapped dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin until it’s about 1/8 inch thick.
8. Cut out the cookies and place them on the cookie sheets with a wide spatula, making sure not to place the cookies too close to one another.
9. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.
10. Remove the cookies from the sheets with the wide spatula and place them on wire racks to cool.