Plans are being made to celebrate America’s 250th Birthday in Marion County. An initial organizational meeting was held over the weekend where a number of possible activities were discussed including a 1776 Dinner on July 3rd, a Reenactment Event at Foundation Park, a patriotic concert at Carillon Park, Commemorative America 250 Coins, a traveling exhibit highlighting information about DAR, SAR, and the Genealogical Society among others, an art and essay contest for students, and the placement of a time capsule.
One of the co-chairs of the effort Mark Decker says even though Illinois wasn’t a state yet, there are still ties to the Declaration of Independence.
“We didn’t exist back then as a county, but we were part of the state of Virginia, and we do have connections to the signers of the Declaration,” Decker said. “In addition to that, we also have ten Revolutionary War patriots who are buried in Marion County. The county didn’t exist back then, but they ended up migrating back to this area after the war. They finished their lives here and are buried back here.”
Decker says Marion County’s name also ties back to the Revolutionary War.
“General Francis Marion was a Revolutionary War general. When we were created, Zadock Casey was the state representative in Mt. Vernon. He carried the legislation to create Marion County. His dad served with General Marion, and that’s why he chose to give that name to our county, because his dad had such high respect for Francis Marion.”
Decker says there were seven representatives of various organizations at the first meeting. Anyone with an interest in helping is invited to the next meeting of the group on Saturday, January 31st, at ten am at the Bryan Bennett Library in Salem.
