CROTHERSVILLE
Crothersville’s history and patriotic spirit will be on display in the coming months.
Town council members recently approved April to be designated Crothersville History Month.
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Then from June 9 to 11, the 41st annual Red, White and Blue Festival will be celebrated.
Crothersville History Month has been recognized since 2011, honoring the founding of the town in April 1858.
This year, the Crothersville Historical and Cultural Arts Association is presenting an Arts in the Ville craft show April 16 and a history dinner theater April 22. Both events will be at Hamacher Hall, 211 E. Howard St.
Brenda Holzworth, president of the association, said a fact about Crothersville will be placed on the town’s Facebook page each day in April.
Hamacher Hall also will be open during the Red, White and Blue Festival for people to look at Crothersville artifacts and also to purchase drinks and cool off in the air conditioning.
With the festival, organizer Sherry Bridges said one main change is moving the parade up to 1:30 p.m. June 11. In the past, it has been at 4 p.m.
“Four o’clock is the heat of the day, and we can get more stage activities for the folks to come,” Bridges said.
The parade route will remain the same, going from Bard Street to U.S. 31 then heading down Moore and Preston streets and ending at Oak Street. Those streets will be closed from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. that day.
Returning for the third year in a row, Brady Amusements will have rides every day of the festival.
“They do an awesome job on providing the rides,” Bridges said. “They are probably one of the safest ones we’ve had probably in 10, 15 years.”
Bridges said she hopes to have a group or organization sponsor a kids zone for about four hours June 11. A possibility is having kids do some type of craft for the bicentennials of Jackson County and Indiana, which are being celebrated this year.
“We tried this in the past,” she said of kids zone. “That one group lasted for about a year and figured it was too much work. We would sure like to have something for the kids this year.”
Also for the third straight year, Zambelli Fireworks will present a fireworks show behind the Bard Street Park shelter house at 10 p.m. June 11. Bridges said the area from Oak Street to Vonda Court will be closed from 9 to 11 p.m. that day for the show.
New this year will be a pork burger eating contest, which will consist of people eating as many of the popular Crothersville FFA pork burgers as they can in a matter of minutes.
“That’s something fun that we’ve got planned,” Bridges said.
At least two other projects celebrating the bicentennial could be conducted during the festival.
One is contributing pictures for the Bicentennial Legacy Project, which is being coordinated by the Indiana Bicentennial Commission.
“Every festival, every fair, every community that does something for Indiana’s birthday, they are going to put this in a book with pictures of what your community did, and they will publish that book,” Bridges said. “Then 50 years from now, all of our great-grandkids can see what we did in Crothersville for Indiana’s birthday.”
There also is the Bison-tennial Public Art Project. Led by the Indiana Association of United Ways, the project involves decorating 5-foot-by-8-foot fiberglass bison and placing them in communities across the state. Bison are depicted on the Indiana state seal.
“Jackson County is trying to get five of them,” Bridges said. “They are like $2,500 apiece, and they are looking for local painters to paint that any way you want it. I would love to see a little red, white and blue on a bison, especially the one that’s going to sit in Crothersville for a little bit.”
Other groups and churches in town also are planning bicentennial activities, some of which will be conducted around the time of the festival.
Bridges said the committee is still discussing activities for the festival, and the public is invited to share ideas at the next meeting at 6:30 p.m. March 23 at the Crothersville Library.
“Not everything has to be held on the school grounds,” Bridges said. “You can fill the town with different things.”
For the duration of the festival, Preston Street from Main Street to Oak Street will be closed along with Howard Street from Jackson Street to Preston Street. That will be from 9 a.m. June 9 to midnight June 11.
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Crothersville celebrates
April 1 through 30: Crothersville History Month
April 16: Arts in the Ville craft show, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hamacher Hall, 211 E. Howard St.; the annual event provide an opportunity for vendors to reserve space and sell their arts and crafts; cost is $10 for a single space; for information or to reserve your space, call Linda Seals at 812-793-2322
April 22: History dinner theater, doors open at 6 p.m. at Hamacher Hall; the event will feature historical sketches from Crothersville’s past in celebration of Crothersville History Month and sketches about Indiana to celebrate the state’s bicentennial; cost, which includes a meal, a show and music, is $15 for adults and $10 for children 10 and under
June 9 to 11: 41st annual Red, White and Blue Festival, daily on the Crothersville Community School Corp. grounds; share your ideas for this year’s festival during a committee meeting at 6:30 p.m. March 23 at the Crothersville Library, 120 W. Main St.; look for updated information soon at crothersvillerwb.com
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