September 21, 2016 at 4:19 p.m.

Heritage festival kicks off celebration


By RAY COONEY
President, editor and publisher

The celebration of Indiana’s bicentennial in Jay County will kick off this weekend ahead of the torch arriving Tuesday.
Jay County Historical Society’s Heritage Festival, themed “Happy 200th birthday, Indiana!” is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Jay County Historical Museum in Portland.
“It is exciting, because we’re the first big celebration during the bicentennial week, right before the torch comes in,” said historical society co-president Kay Locker during a break from making caramel corn Tuesday in preparation for the event.
The Heritage Festival, for which there is no admission charge, will begin with the singing of “Happy Birthday” to the state as part of the opening ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Also in celebration of 200 years of Indiana being a state, children will have the opportunity to create a bicentennial button. They can also make cardinal, the state bird, out of felt.
Several new mannequins in the museum are dressed in clothing from various time periods throughout the last two centuries. Jay County’s bicentennial quilts will also be on display.
Scheduled entertainment for the festival includes Indiana Square Dancing at 1:15 p.m. Saturday followed by Jay County Community Band at 2:45 p.m. and Indiana Ramblers at 5 p.m. Big Rivers Johnny Cash Tribute band will play at 1:30 p.m. Sunday with Harmony Band to follow at 2:45 p.m. A full schedule is available at www.jaycountyhistory.org.
The PBS documentary “Now Entering … Portland” will be shown throughout the festival.
There will also be a variety of re-enactors on hand throughout the event, including several from Hartford City’s Civil War Days event with three camps set up outdoors.
The historical society is looking forward to pleasant weather after high winds destroyed tents and forced the festival indoors last year. The National Weather Service is calling for mostly sunny skies and highs in the mid 70s for the weekend.
“We’re excited about the good weather,” said Locker. “We have new tents that are up out here replacing the ones we had last year. It looks like we’re ready for a festival.”
PORTLAND WEATHER

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