Noel Szydlyk, Director of the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay spoke to members of the Marshall County Bicentennial Committee Monday at the Museum.
As a signature event of the 2016 Bicentennial celebration, the torch relay is designed to inspire and unify Hoosiers. Nominated torch carriers in each county will pass the torch, connecting communities, counties, regions and generations to ignite our state’s future.
The torch relay begins on September 9, 2016 in Corydon, the state’s first capital and touches each of Indiana’s 92 counties before ending in Indianapolis. The route is approximately 2,300 miles. The torch will travel six days a week for five and a half weeks and be accompanied by a caravan of vehicles.
In Marshall County the torch will come in on US 6 from Nappanee on October 4th. It will be with our county from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. and travel to US 31, down to Plymouth and then to Culver.
Beginning on May 1st people can begin the process to nominate citizens from the county to be torch bearers. Nominations will be open until the end of the year. Nominees must have a connection to Marshall County, although they could be a former resident and nomination can be posthumously done to honor an important person. Nomination forms will be available on the torch relay website or at the Marshall County Museum. Each county can have up to 20 torch bearers who will be given a uniform to wear. Szydlyk said if a county wants more they would be responsible to purchase the extra ones.
The Bicentennial Torch will travel by various modes during the 5 ½ week including a RV in Elkhart, a boat, Amish buggy, horseback, tractor and various types of automobiles. Torch bearers will need to be at least 14 years old although plans are for a children’s torch that may be used for schools or community centers.
Counties are encouraged to create their own Bicentennial Torch Relay celebrations. They can be a minimal or grand as the counties want to coordinate. They only stipulation is that the event must be free.
