Members of the Marshall County Bicentennial Committee gathered this week to continue working on a variety of events and projects to celebrate Indiana’s 200th birthday in December of 2016. Although the state’s birthday is quite a ways off the celebrations will begin early in 2016.
Linda Rippy from the Marshall County Museum said they are waiting for approval of a placement project as a legacy project by the Indiana Bicentennial Commission. There are already five legacy projects approved in the county.
Kurt Garner with the Wythougan Valley Preservation Society is currently working on the steps leading up to the driving tour for 2016 which includes the districts in Bourbon and Argos on the National Registry. The travel booklet will have all the National Register Districts listed in Marshall County, about 30 of them. Included in the booklet will be a little bit of history on each district listed in the National Register.
The By-Ways Commission in the northern part of the state has decided to create a passport geared toward an education theme. Garner said each by-way will have a spread in the passport and in each county there will be a location to get your passport stamped for the by-way you are on. This project is geared toward fourth grade history. In Marshall County there will be a stamp for the Michigan Road By-way and the Lincoln Highway.
Another project for the Bicentennial is being spearheaded by Don Harness from the Marshall County Church Orchestra. Plans are for a bicentennial concert similar to the celebrations at the Lincoln Center with a mass orchestra with a host to narrate and several individual acts.
Harness will use the Marshall County Church Orchestra for the nucleus and hopes to have two or three times that many in the mass orchestra. He will be looking for individuals to join even if they haven’t picked up an instrument in decades. They will rehearse March, April and May and have the concert in June or July in 2016 at the amphitheatre.
