SIDNEY — Planning is underway for the celebration of Sidney’s Bicentennial. The community will observe the 200th anniversary of the City’s founding in 2020.
Sidney Mayor Mike Barhorst is expected to appoint the committee that will undertake the planning of the celebration within the month. It is anticipated that there will be some activity each month during the year-long bicentennial observance.
“I have had a number of conversations with Shelby County Historical Society Executive Director Tilda Phlipot over the course of the past couple of years,” Barhorst said. “I think that it is quite possible that we can have a series of monthly events that appeal to the varied interests of not only our citizens, but visitors young and old who may wish to participate in our celebration.”
“It will have been five years since the Vietnam Traveling Wall was here. I thought that it was too soon to bring it back this past year,” Barhorst said. “That changed for me when I met a Vietnam veteran from Illinois at the Wall. He had tears streaming down his face and I asked if I could be of assistance. He pointed to two names on the wall who were his buddies. ‘I knew that I’d never be able to get to Washington to see the wall there, but I could afford to come to Sidney,’ he told me.
“On another day, I had a similar conversation with another out-of-state veteran. It was then that I realized that many Vietnam veterans are over seventy years of age, and it wouldn’t be long before they, like the veterans of World War II and Korea, will all be gone.”
In addition to the traveling Vietnam Wall and the Field of Flags, the mayor said it would also be the year the Biennial Civil War Living History Weekend would be scheduled to return to Sidney.
“With a Fourth of July celebration, the Traveling Wall returning in August and the Living History Weekend in September, we already have events for a quarter of the year!” Barhorst said.
Those who are interested in being considered for appointment to the committee are encouraged to contact Barhorst, preferably by e-mail ([email protected]).
