Happy Birthday America!

Today we celebrate our nation's birthday. Just 231 and still going strong! Not bad for a country that, back at its beginning, was considered a misguided upstart with little hope of survival. But if America is anything, it is the land of opportunity where anyone can, like Horatio Alger, pull himself up by his bootstraps and make something of himself! It's the American dream, the promise of hope and opportunity that continues to draw to our shores the weak, the poor and the persecuted.

In tribute to America and all she stands for, France presented the magnificent statue Liberty Enlightening the World to the United States in 1886 to commemorate our nation's centennial. The most recognized icon of the United States, the statue stands on Liberty Island at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor, welcoming visitors, immigrants and Americans returning to our shores. Issued by France, the stamp shown is a magnificent portrayal of Lady Liberty in all her grandeur. Available at County Stamp Center for just $2.71, click the post title to order.

Crafted from copper by French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, the underlying structure of the sculpture was engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower. The Statue of Liberty's typical green color is caused by the natural oxidation of the copper. Her seven point spiked crown represents the world's seven seas and continents. In her left hand she holds a stone tablet bearing the date of our nation's birth, July 4, 1776. In her right hand she holds aloft a flaming torch signifying enlightenment. The flame is covered in gold leaf. At 151 feet 1 inch tall standing atop a 154-foot foundation, Lady Liberty towers above the ships that ply the harbor beneath her gaze.

Lest we forget what America represents to the world, today particularly, we should remember the words of Emma Lazarus' poem, The New Colossus. Written in 1883, the poem was engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the statue's pedestal in 1903.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"