Every kid who grew up in the Philadelphia area from 1967-1994 has the Sunday morning jingle, "send your pictures to dear ol' Captain Noah" permanently etched in their brains. Dear ol' Captain Noah gathered quite a collection of paintings and drawings over the years, which he shared with the whole Delaware Valley during his much anticipated weekly segment.

It is in that same spirit that GovGab is anxious to announce our own form of picture-share, but with a more modern twist.

With the Independence Day holiday approaching, USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov want to know, "How do you celebrate the Fourth of July?" Submit photos from your backyard BBQ, fireworks displays, baseball games, picnics, parades...whatever it is you do to celebrate Independence Day, we encourage you to share it.

 Anyone 18 years or older, of any nationality, living in any country is welcome to submit pictures of their holiday experiences to our specially created Flickr group.

At the conclusion of the holiday weekend, selected photos will be posted on GovGab, along with special editor posts covering various 4th of July events.

Photos will be reviewed to be sure their content is appropriate, and you're submitting with the understanding that they might be shared on GovGab, USA.gov, or GobiernoUSA.gov.

Just think- it is only in the past few years that we've been able to have such an instantaneous sharing of information...let's use it to have some fun and celebrate together.

Shoot, even Captain Noah required postage...

Again, to submit your photos: here is the link to our Fourth of July Flickr Group.

En español

Did you know that there are over 34 million Spanish speakers in the United States? I'm one of them, and as co-manager of GobiernoUSA.gov, I'm committed to ensuring that Spanish speakers have easy access to official government services and information online.

The Hispanic population reached 45.5 million in 2007, which means that this group represents 15.1 percent of the total U.S. population. In addition, the Hispanic population tends to be younger compared to other groups. Unfortunately, this rapidly growing group of Hispanic youth is lagging behind in educational attainment.

We help thousands of Spanish speaking people every month through GobiernoUSA, but we recognize the need to do more to reach people who may not know about our site, particularly Hispanic youth. To that end, we recently established a partnership with ASPIRA, an organization dedicated to the education and leadership development of Hispanic youth.

Visitors to ASPIRA's site can now find links to official Spanish language government resources for education, money, employment, health, and other topics. ASPIRA is also providing government information in English on its site. We will also be supporting the organization’s educational outreach programs and activities, ensuring access to the government resources most useful to Hispanic youth.

You can expect to see more partnerships like this in the future. All of us at USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov are working hard to make sure that people everywhere have access to the timely, relevant, and official government information that can help them easily find the answer to their question. As government becomes more open and collaborative, you'll start seeing our sites show up in more places online and helping people find what they need.

What sites do you think should feature official government information from USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov?

Last night my colleague Leilani Martinez, a Bilingual Web Content Manager for GobiernoUSA.gov, attended the Latino Inaugural Ball.  Here's her report...

Yes, I admit it, as a Hispanic and as a long-time resident of D.C., the capital not only of the U.S., but also of all kinds of receptions and networking events, I’ve attended many Latino social networking events since I first moved here over 10 years ago. Fortunately, I’ve not only attended many of them, but I’ve also helped organized quite a few. But nothing compares to the celebration I attended on Sunday, January 18, at Union Station here in Washington, D.C. The Latino Inaugural Gala 2009 was a festivity like no other as Latinos this time came together to celebrate a night of history in the making as the voices of Hispanics everywhere were heard in unprecedented numbers in this presidential election.

The party felt at times more like a “Premio Lo Nuestro” event, the Hispanic equivalent of the Grammy Awards, than an Inauguration Ball as top-notch Latin artists were the center of attention…and to be honest, the red carpet occupied most of my time and energy as the GobiernoUSA.gov official correspondent for the night.

At 5:30 pm I got to the event, and after registering as a media representative, I sat down for a couple of minutes to study the media advisory and tip sheet. The list of confirmed artists was impressive. So I realized right away that I needed to be ready for the long list of celebrities and politicians who were set to walk down the red carpet…as ready as I could be with my Kodak Zi6 video recorder, Canon digital camera and BlackBerry World Edition. My strategy was not to try to compete with Univision, MTV Latino or CNN en español, but to befriend them. However, I was also determined that I was going to do whatever it took to take a great shot of Jennifer Lopez, better known as J. Lo (especially after the twins!), Alejandro Sanz, a singer from Spain, and my personal favorite, and of course, Shakira. So before the red carpet started I decided to walk around and mingle with my media colleagues. I joked with them and for a moment, I actually thought that we were all a big happy family until the red carpet started. One of the first person to walk down was Geraldo Rivera, followed by Angelica Vale, a very famous Mexican actress, David Archuleta (the kid who almost won American Idol), Lila Downs, and many others. Things were pretty under control until the infamous couple came around. We all started to jump over bags and get on chairs (me included!) as there was no way we were going to miss the opportunity…not only because it was J. Lo and Marc Anthony, but also because all these artists were there talking about and celebrating the election of President Barack Obama.

After the red carpet was done and after finally realizing that I could barely walk due to how numb my feet were from working all those hours, I turned around and saw a sea of people, a very diverse group of people all dressed up and so excited about being there. I took the opportunity to ask people to share with me their stories and their thoughts. A young invitee, Carlos from NY, told me that he took the train down to D.C. to come to this Gala as he wanted to be part of this celebration (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfX5oGeJUkc). His companion Amy was convinced that the trip was so worth it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG5-Q190Xr4). It was at that time, when stories like those were shared with me by some of the attendees, that everything came full circle. Don’t get me wrong I’m still very proud of myself for getting those shots of J. Lo and Shakira, but what made it all really meaningful was the fact that this was a night where we all came together– community leaders, activists, politicians, celebrities and regular people – just like you and I - for one purpose: to celebrate a historic moment the Latino way...

See other videos taken at the event:

Chris, co-producer of Mambo for Obama Ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvbACw4P6x4

For all videos, visit http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=1DB84BE6C8D75B0A

For all pictures, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/34401844@N04/

I had no idea that it's been around for two decades already, but this is the 20th anniversary of National Hispanic Heritage Month. My life is filled with friends and coworkers who have been really generous in teaching me about the differences and similarities in their experiences as Americans with Mexican, Puerto Rican, South and Central American backgrounds. In celebration of them, I wanted to share with you some favorite National Hispanic Heritage Month websites:

Headed up by the Library of Congress, a group of government agencies created the National Hispanic Heritage Month homepage. It's filled with images and stories of Hispanic culture, politics and life in the US.

Each year, the National Register of Historic Places features historic properties, national parks and trails that are important to Hispanic history in America.

Some health issues affect everybody about equally, regardless of who you are or where your ancestors come from. And some health problems are more common in certain ethnic groups. The Medline Plus website from the National Institutes of Health has a great section on health issues that affect the Hispanic community.

My go-to place for numbers, the Census Bureau, has National Hispanic Heritage Month stats and facts about the Hispanic experience in the United States.

Even if you can't get to Washington, DC to visit in person, the Smithsonian Latino Center has a website filled with colorful art and engaging history exhibits.

The Information Please Almanac people have their own National Hispanic Heritage Month page with quizzes, a list of notable Hispanic Americans, a collection of American English words with Spanish origins and a lot more.

I'm a foodie, and I love eating—and trying to cook—foods with a Latino flavor. From plantains to paella, quesadillas to empanadas, they're all covered here, and categorized by country.

My favorite Hispanic website is created just a few doors down the hall from my office. GobiernoUSA.gov is the government's official web portal filled with links to the government's online resources in Spanish. The site isn't just a translation of its sister site, USA.gov. It features unique resources created especially for the Hispanic community, whether you're new to the U.S., just visiting, or you're running your own business.

I get to work on the production of GobiernoUSA.gov's public service ads. It's helped me remember a lot of the Spanish I thought I lost between here and high school. And it's given me an even greater appreciation for the creativity and the spirit of America's Latino community.