Montgomery County residents are being asked to celebrate the county’s bicentennial birthday on Wednesday. The day will mark exactly 200 years from when the state legislature officially established the county and named it after Revolutionary War General Richard Montgomery.
The Bicentennial Committee has been meeting since early 2021. Now the committee is asking the county be filled with ringing church bells. The committee is encouraging churches with bells and other organizations to ring them for two minutes at 12:21 p.m. to celebrate the county’s birthday.
The courthouse chimes also will ring during the celebration.
Residents can also get into the bell ringing spirit. All are encouraged to visit the county government center at 1508 Constitution Row to ring the Liberty Bell in the center’s rotunda between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Bicentennial Selfie Booth will be set up at the center too for anyone who wants to take a photo of the occasion.
“The committee wants to get as many people ringing bells as possible,” committee member Tom Klein said. “Ringing bells should will also help those within hearing distance to stop and pause in honor of our county’s birth.”
Any residents who ring a bell are being asked to post to social media with the hashtag #Moco200years.
There have been many occasions this past year that residents have had an opportunity to become aware of the landmark birthday. The committee partnered with many existing events to celebrate the bicentennial. Small towns and Crawfordsville events were included in the celebration. A selfie booth was taken to many events where people could get a photo with the Bicentennial logo. The committee has passed out several hundred bicentennial coins, coasters, T-shirts and ornaments throughout the year. The Sugar Creek Canoe Race had bicentennial medals and their T-shirts had the bicentennial logo on it.
The committee also sponsored a photo contest with the winning images made into postcards which are for sale to the public at the Montgomery County Visitors Bureau.
The Bicentennial Committee members are: Sue Lucas, Crawfordsville Main Street; Heather Shirk, Montgomery County Visitors Bureau; Stacy Sommer, Crawfordsville-Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce; Sarah Storms, Montgomery County Community
Foundation; Kathy Brown and Janna Bennett, Carnegie Museum; Diana McCormick, Athens Art; Dianne Moore, county historian; Jill Coates Matthews, Lane Place; Don Mills, Montgomery County Councilman; Jennifer Andel, Montgomery County Auditor; Mindy Byers, Montgomery County Deputy Auditor; Jennifer Purcell, Montgomery County Recorder; and Tom Klein, Montgomery County Administrator.
“The committee has worked hard to help us celebrate the bicentennial,” Klein said. “We need to thank all those on the committee for their dedication and efforts.”
