(Missourinet Lebanon affiliate KJEL Radio contributed to this story)
Missouri will be celebrating 200 years of statehood during Tuesday’s Bicentennial events at the Statehouse in Jefferson City.
Governor Mike Parson and state park and DNR officials visit southeast Missouri’s Bollinger Mill in Burfordville on August 2, 2021, as part of the Bicentennial tour (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)
The formal ceremony will begin Tuesday morning at 9 on the Capitol’s south lawn, and will be livestreamed on Missouri2021.org. Governor Mike Parson, Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul C. Wilson, state Historical Society of Missouri executive director Gary Kremer and Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin will deliver remarks. The U.S. Postal Service will be unveiling the Missouri Statehood stamp as well.
Missouri Poet Laureate Maryfrances Wagner will be reading a poem during the ceremony. Music will be provided by the Missouri National Guard’s 135th Army band, along with the Missouri Choral Directors Association all-state festival choir.
There will also be several other events in Jefferson City on Tuesday, as part of the Bicentennial.
Governor Parson will be attending a U.S. Naturalization ceremony at 10:45 a.m. It will take place inside the Capitol’s first floor Rotunda. There will also be a Bicentennial tree dedication on the Capitol lawn at 1:30, and a big turnout is expected for the Missouri 2021 ice cream social event at Jefferson City’s Central Dairy.
“What better way to end Statehood Day than with our state’s official dessert – the ice cream cone — at an ice cream social with fellow Missourians,” U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-St. Elizabeth) says. Congressman Luetkemeyer’s district includes Jefferson City.
Congressman Luetkemeyer writes extensively about Tuesday’s events, in his weekly bulletin to reporters. He notes that following Tuesday morning’s 9 o’clock ceremony, the first floor of the Missouri Capitol will be open to visitors to leave notes in the Bicentennial Time Capsule. The congressman says those notes will be read on August 10, 2046, when the capsule will be unsealed and open for public viewing.
Former U.S. Sens. Kit Bond (R) and Jean Carnahan (D) are scheduled to be in Jefferson City on Tuesday. Mrs. Carnahan also served as Missouri’s First Lady when her husband, the late Governor Mel Carnahan, served from 1993-2000.
As for Governor Parson, he’s been promoting the August 10 event at numerous stops across the state. The governor is also promoting the upcoming Bicentennial Inaugural parade, which will take place on Saturday September 18 at 10 am in Jefferson City.
“And the Bicentennial parade will be kind of like none others: it will be about the history of Missouri for different regions of the state,” Governor Parson tells Missourinet Lebanon affiliate KJEL (FM 103.7).
The governor also says the grand marshal for the September 18 parade will be World War II veteran Edith Harrington, who lives in northern Missouri’s Macon. Ms. Harrington served as a nurse during the war.
Governor Parson also says sports fans will see something at the September Bicentennial event in Jefferson City that’s never happened before.
“You’ll have the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Blues and the Kansas City Chiefs, all their world (championship) trophies will be on display at the same time for the first time ever,” Parson says.
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