Ready to make history one mile at a time? Walk or Run 250 Miles to Celebrate America’s 250th!

Lace up your sneakers and get moving in the free Run America 250 Challenge: a country-wide virtual walk/run event celebrating 250 years of American history!

Between July 4, 2025 and July 5, 2026 we’re challenging you to walk or run 250 miles—anytime, anywhere. Whether you’re hitting the trails, the treadmill, or your neighborhood sidewalk, every mile brings us closer to honoring America’s incredible journey since 1776.

How you hit 250 miles is totally up to you! From grocery runs to evening dog walks, teeing off on the golf course to exploring scenic trails, every step counts.

Registration for the Run America 250 Challenge opens July 4, 2025, and it’s completely free to join! Sign up by April 30, 2026, to start working toward your 250-mile goal and a commemorative medal.

To log your miles, make sure you’ve downloaded the RaceJoy app. This is how we’ll track your progress so that you can get your well-earned medal! Use the app’s GPS feature to log your miles in real-time, or enter your miles manually into the RaceJoy app. This will help make it easy for you to track your progress and help you reach your goal!

Register Here!

Give Me Liberty: Virginia & The Forging of a Nation will explore the unique and essential Virginia people, events, and sites that helped bring liberty and democracy to a nation. Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this exhibit will highlight the complex, diverse, and inspiring Virginia history which is, in fact, America’s story.

Give Me Liberty will provide context for the coming of the Revolution in Virginia and brings visitors into the core of the action from 1774 through 1776, highlighting how the American Revolution was a war, and more than a war.

Give Me Liberty: Virginia & The Forging of a Nation is the signature exhibition of Virginia’s 250th Commission. This exhibition is curated in partnership with the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation (JYF) and presented by VA250, Virginia’s semiquincentennial planning commission. Central Rappahannock Regional Library is honored to host this exhibition with sponsorship from Tour Stafford.

Celebrate America’s 250th Birthday with this Civil War period story of love and family that stands the test of time based on Louisa May Alcott’s American classic, Little Women. Follow the adventures of sisters, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March. Jo is trying to sell her stories for publication, but the publishers are not interested. Her friend, Professor Bhaer, tells her that she has to do better and write more from herself. Begrudgingly taking this advice, Jo weaves the story of herself and her sisters and their experience growing up in Civil War America. Little Women embodies the complete theatrical experience, guaranteeing a musical performance filled with laughter, tears and a lifting of the spirit. Running for 6 weeks, including a special student matinee: March 18-April 26, 2026.

Celebrate Easter Sunday in style with a delightful twist on tradition at Potomac Point Winery. This year, we invite you to immerse yourself in the scenic beauty of our vineyard while enjoying an exquisite Sunday Brunch at our bistro. From Brunch Boards & Savory Favorites to Baked Carrot Cake donuts & Limoncello Mascarpone Cake!

Among the special offerings, our “Orange Peep-sicle Mimosa” stands out as a must-try. This playful yet sophisticated cocktail combines the effervescence of traditional mimosas with the sweet, nostalgic charm of Easter Peeps, creating a unique and memorable beverage that’s perfect for toasting to the day’s joy and togetherness. Book your bistro reservation today.

Presented by Kathi Lynn Austin of the Freedom Forge Foundation and Jerrilynn Eby MacGregor of the Stafford County Historical Society. During the American Revolutionary War, James Hunter was one of the largest producers of arms and supplies to the Continental Troops. Born into a well-established mercantile family near Glasgow, Scotland, James Hunter arrived in America in the mid-1740s where he began, over the course of the next three decades to, along the Rappahannock River near Falmouth, construct and refine what would soon be called “…the greatest Iron Works that is upon the Continent” as his business grew into arguably the largest manufacturing facility in Colonial America.

Despite his involvement in helping to build the foundations of America and ensure patriot victory during the Revolutionary War, Hunter’s Iron Works and his gun-making subsidiary, Rappahannock Forge, are almost forgotten to this day. The Freedom Forge Foundation, headed by Kathi Lynn Austin, looks to preserve and interpret the original site of the Iron Works on a local, state, and national effort by commemorating a previously overlooked Revolutionary War hero whose innovative spirit and defense of liberty and justice of all gave rise to America’s Defense Industry.

Kathi Lynn Austin is a collateral descendant of James Hunter and the current Director of the Freedom Forge Foundation. She is an internationally recognized expert on arms trafficking, peace and security, and human rights, having served with the United Nations Group of Experts on the DRC and Liberia, as well as Chief of the Joint Mission Analysis Centre for the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions in Timor-Leste and Burundi.

Jerrilynn Eby MacGregor is the author of They Called Stafford Home, among other works related to the rich history of Stafford County. A life-long Staffordian, Jerrilynn continues to heavily contribute to historical and genealogical studies of the people and places of this County. She is a secretary of the historical society and a frequent lecturer on various historical topics to numerous regional historical organizations.