Parade, reenactments, music

will celebrate county’s 150 years

 

 

Phelps County ’s 150-year history will be celebrated June 2 with a parade starting at 11 a.m. followed by oral history presentations, music and living history re-enactments in and around the Courthouse, the Old Courthouse and the Phelps County Museum .

“Anyone who likes local history is going to love this,” says Larry Stratman, chairman of the celebration committee.

Theme of the parade will be “A Step Back in Time” and various businesses and organizations will sponsor floats and other entries depicting the decades from the 1850s to the present.

Stratman said the parade will include representation of the five incorporated Phelps County communities, Rolla, St. James, Newburg, Doolittle and Edgar Springs, as well as these other places that once had post offices: Arlington, Beulah, Blooming Rose, Clementine, Craddock, DeCamp, Dillon, Duke, Elk Prairie, Flag Springs, Flat, Hinkle, Jerome, Macedonia, Norman, Northwye, Relfe, Rosati, Royal, Sands, Seaton, Spring Creek, Vessie, Winkler, Yancey Mills.

June 2 will be the day of Summerfest, so the parade won’t run the typical route. It will stage at Rolla High School , then go down Eighth Street to Rolla Street to Main Street to the pedestrian bridge.

After the parade, a ceremony will take place in front of the Courthouse. Various dignitaries have been invited to speak. At the ceremony, sesquicentennial flags will be presented to the mayors of the five cities in Phelps County .

Bob Priddy, known for his radio broadcast and books titled “Across Our Wide Missouri,” will be the featured speaker.

After the ceremony,  oral histories of the university, Lucy Wortham James and the James Foundation, the Phelps County Regional Medical Center, the grape and wine industry, the railroad and other institutions will be given by professional and amateur historians.

Reenactments are planned, including Union troops putting a Southern sympathizer on trial.

There will be a tribute to veterans.

Lots of music is also on the schedule.

Commemorative T-shirts, blankets (throws) and coloring books will be available for sale. A bookstore will be set up, too.

The county was chartered in November 1857. The centennial celebration was held June 2, 1957.

If you would like to have an historic entry in the parade or if you would like to represent one of the Phelps County Communities please contact Larry Stratman at 573-458-6121.

If you want to help with some of the costs, mail your check to Phelps County Sesquicentennial Committee, 200 N. Main St. , Rolla , MO 65401 .