The long-awaited Callaway 200 Bicentennial Bash 2.0 is almost here. After three years of planning and rescheduling, the time has finally come to celebrate the history of Callaway County.
"We really wanted to focus on our community and all of Callaway County," said event committee member Blaine McQuaid Pestle, "and have something that would be accessible to everyone. It's going to be something special and portrays Callaway County in the best light."
Though Saturday, Aug. 28, will be the grand finale of celebrating Callaway history, the event will be kicking off with the Fiber Art Wall Hanging Project at the Fulton Street Fair. The deadline to participate in the project is June 8 at 4 p.m. at the Museum, 513 Court St.
The designs will be on display at the Fulton Street Fair on June 26 at the Brick District Playhouse Cafe, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., where a special beverage and treat will be available for the occasion. There is no cost to enter and forms along with guidelines can be found on the Kingdom of Callaway Historical Society's website.
Photos will be taken and posted on the website to give viewers the chance to cast their vote for their top 10 designs. A panel of Callaway 200 judges will then select their own top 10. All 20 designs will be on display at the Vintage Tractor Drive and Family Farm Day at Wise Brothers.
From 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 28, Wise Brothers will kick off the Bicentennial Bash finale with a Family Farm Day and the KCHS' 15th-annual Tractor Drive. Registration for the drive begins at 7:30 a.m., tractors must be registered in order to participate. To commemorate Callaway's 2oo years, the goal is to have 200 tractors - running or not - present.
The drive will start at 9 a.m. and go until noon, when a fried chicken lunch will be available. Family Fun Day will feature a viewing of the 200 tractors, displays of Callaway history, the KCHS official quilt, entries from the Callaway 200 Fiber Art Wall Hanging display, homemade ice cream and a candy combine.
After a much-needed nap from the morning activities, head out to Callaway Electric Cooperative at 4 p.m. to relax, celebrate and enjoy local food and beer trucks.
Starting at 6 p.m., Dave Wilbert will open the show with a few country music tunes and then hand it over to the band Shenandoah at 7 p.m. for a night of celebration that should include one of its many hits: "Any Ole Stretch of Blacktop," "Mama Knows" or "Sunday in the South."
"We really tried to tie in the history of Callaway County and really celebrating those 200 years," said Pestle, "and then being able to providing something that is fun for the community to do that's free and affordable."
For more information or updates, visit callawaymohistory.org, callaway200.com or the Callaway 200's Facebook page. For the tractor drive, call Bryant Liddle at 573-220-0080, and for the Wise Brothers call Harrison Backer at 573-575-8661.