Huge celebration in Mount Pulaski for 175th on July 4 weekend

[June 24, 2011]  MOUNT PULASKI --  Mount Pulaski's Founders Day Festival will kick off Thursday, June 30, for five intense days of celebration of the community's 175th anniversary. The city, on a small hill surrounded by central Illinois prairie, was founded by Jabez Capps, George W. Turley and Dr. Barton Robinsons in 1836.

Highlights will include more than 25 live musical performances, many from groups who appear nationally. The entertainment is billed as "The best four-day, live music schedule this side of the Mississippi River." A professional sound stage will be brought in for the event.

Also scheduled are many entertainment acts for adults and children, living history demonstrations, Revolutionary and Civil War firearms loading and firing demonstrations, and bow and arrow demonstrations.

Artist Marilyn Daleburn of Prospect Heights will mount an exhibit of her needlepoint replicas of presidents' homes at the Mount Pulaski Historical Museum on the south side of the square throughout the festival. Visitors will receive an informational brochure.

Daleburn, who is remarkable for her knowledge of presidents' homes, has created more than 125 houses, but due to space limitations will bring only a select few. They will include the homes of Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, Kennedy and unique structures such as the home of John Tyler. She will also bring her recently completed replica of New Salem.

Contests include gun shooting. Only guns of pre-1836 will be approved and only adults can register for the competition. A tomahawk throw and horseshoe contests for all ages will also be held.

Catered meals will be available, as will several catering wagons. The United Methodist Church will serve homemade ice cream and pies, and St. John's Church will provide a corn dog tent. Pizza Man and Buff's Restaurant will be open during the entire weekend. Bar service will be provided by Mount Pulaski American Legion Post 447.

Historians Paul Beaver and Guy Fraker will give lectures, and the Mount Pulaski Courthouse and Mount Pulaski Historical Museum will be open for tours.

The 175th Anniversary Committee will host dinners and entertainment in the Alumni Tent for Mount Pulaski High School classes from three generations on three separate evenings. The deadline for purchasing tickets was June 15.

Free golf cart shuttle service will be provided from parking lots at the American Legion, high school, Frazier Park and Mount Pulaski Grade School.

Professional photographers and videographers will be on-site for the festivities.

Lodging options throughout Logan County are available, including Lincoln and Atlanta. More information on hotels can be found at www.abe66.com.

Thursday, June 30

• Festivities will begin with a reception scheduled from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield. First Citizen Award recipients will be honored. Bus reservations at no charge are available. Reservations can be made by calling Salt Creek Attic at 217-792-5117.

Friday, July 1

• A golf outing for adults will take place between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Lincoln Elks Country Club.

• The famous Wall Dogs painters will work on a mural at the southeast corner of Cooke and Lafayette streets between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Work will continue from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday. All ages are welcome, and special activities will be available for children.

• Children can look forward to "Carnival Time" in East Park from 1 to 6 p.m. Friday (and again Saturday). Entertainment will include bounce houses, cotton candy, snow cones, games, hot dogs and bottled water, and the swimming pool will be open. (On Saturday, face painting and balloon making will be provided by Twinkles Co.)

• Ag equipment demonstrations and lectures on new farming techniques will be presented from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday (and from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday) at a site just west of Mount Pulaski Cemetery, near the Elkhart blacktop. Interested people of all ages can depart from the downtown Information Tent.

• Midwest Bluegrass Festivals will provide entertainment from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Friday on the Courtyard Bandstand. Illinois Rail will perform at 1:30 and 3:45 p.m.; The King Family will take the stage at 2:15 and 4:25 p.m.; and Mackville will play at 3 p.m.

• St. Thomas and St. Patrick's churches will provide a fish fry in the air-conditioned General Food Tent from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday. Meals are $10 per person.

• Adults can taste wine from Illinois wineries from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday in the East Courtyard (and from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Saturday, 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday, and 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. Monday).

• The Kevin Turner band will perform in the air-conditioned Alumni Tent on the east side of the square from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday's alumni event will honor graduates from the 1930s through the 1960s. The tent will open at 5 p.m. with a social hour. Dinner service will begin at 6 p.m. and live entertainment will begin at 9 p.m.

• Children's activities will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday on Youth Avenue, on the north side of the square.

• Living history demonstrations are scheduled in the Courtyard from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday (and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday).

• An Abraham Lincoln interpreter will be on the downtown square from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday (and from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday).

• On the Washington Street Stage, 176 Keys Dueling Pianos will play from 6 to 8 p.m.

• Teens can sign up for "Pulaski's Got Talent," which will take place on Youth Avenue from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. A comedian and DJ will provide entertainment at the same location from 9 p.m. until midnight on Friday and Saturday.

• Sumthin' Different will play on the Lafayette Square Stage from 8 until 8:45 p.m. Friday, and Grove Daddies will play there from 9:15 p.m. until midnight.

Saturday, July 2

• Saturday's activities will begin with a pancake breakfast sponsored by First Christian Church in the General Food Tent from 7 to 10 a.m.

• Harry Hild's Band will play on the Washington Street Stage from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Parade recognition of descendants of the city's founders will follow on the stage between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Jennifer Wernsing will sing the national anthem.

• The "Life on the Hill Parade" will wind from Wayne Street up Washington Street to Maple Street between 10 and 11 a.m.

• Living history demonstrations are scheduled in the Courtyard from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday (also 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday).

• Adults can taste wine from Illinois wineries from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Saturday in the East Courtyard.

• Antique firearms and bows and arrows will be demonstrated on the Washington Street Stage between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

• A tomahawk throw will take place behind the Lafayette Square Stage between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

• Music from Midwest Bluegrass Festivals will return to the Courtyard Bandstand between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday. Chris Talle Trio will play at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.; Bluegrass Blondies will entertain at 11:45 a.m. and 2:45 p.m.; the Pickin' Chicks are scheduled at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.; and Rural Kings will play at 1:15 and 4:15 p.m.

(Saturday events continued)

• Ag equipment demonstrations and lectures on new farming techniques will be presented from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at a site just west of Mount Pulaski Cemetery, near the Elkhart blacktop. Interested people of all ages can depart from the downtown Information Tent.

• An Abraham Lincoln interpreter will be on the downtown square from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday.

• Children can enjoy "Carnival Time" in East Park from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday. Entertainment will include bounce houses, cotton candy, snow cones, games, hot dogs and bottled water, and the swimming pool will be open. Face painting and balloon making will be provided by Twinkles Co.

• An Old Settlers Tour, featuring frontier family gravesites from Revolutionary War days onward, will take place at Steenbergen Cemetery from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday (and again from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday).

• Historians Guy Fraker and Paul Beaver will give a program at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall between 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday. At 1 p.m., Fraker will speak about the Illinois 8th Judicial Circuit through Mount Pulaski. At 2 p.m., Beaver will give a talk about Abraham Lincoln in Mount Pulaski. The two will form a panel from 3 to 4 p.m. to discuss their topics and field questions from the audience.

• An old-fashioned gun registration will take place for adults at 1:30 p.m. at Frazier Park. An old-fashioned gun shoot is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. off Spring Street between Cooke Street and Route 54.

• A children's scavenger hunt is set for 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday on Youth Avenue.

• Chris Vallillo will perform ballads and tell stories in the General Food Tent between 2 and 3 p.m.

• PACE will serve a Polish sausage dinner in the General Food Tent from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Meals are $10 per person.

• A style show will be presented from 5 to 6 p.m. on the Courtyard Bandstand.

• Magician Mitch Williams will perform around the square from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and on Youth Avenue on the north side of the square from 8 to 9 p.m.

• A reunion dinner for classes from the 1970s through the 1980s will be in the Alumni Tent from 5 to 9 p.m. The tent will open with a social hour. Dinner service will begin at 6 and live entertainment at 9.

• The Horn Dogs, who are Quincy music teachers, will perform on the Lafayette Square Stage from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

• Chris Vallillo will play 1800s ballads and tell stories on Youth Avenue between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

• On the Lafayette Square Stage, 176 Keys Dueling Pianos will appear from 9 p.m. until midnight.

Sunday, July 3

• Living history demonstrations are scheduled in the Courtyard from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday (and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday).

• A community choir will perform during a heritage service by the flagpole in the Courtyard between noon and 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

• A community potluck dinner will take place in the General Food Tent from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

• Vonderlieth Living Center will host seniors in the air-conditioned Alumni Tent between 1 and 3 p.m. A movie will be shown, and attendees can reminisce about the history of Mount Pulaski.

• An Old Settlers Tour, featuring frontier family gravesites from Revolutionary War days onward, will take place at Steenbergen Cemetery from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

• Midwest Bluegrass Festivals will take to the Courtyard Bandstand again Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m. New Heir Bluegrass will play at 2 and 4 p.m.; the Templeton Family will perform at 2:40 and 4:40 p.m.; and New Blood Bluegrass will play at 3:20 and 5:20 p.m.

• Adults can taste wine from Illinois wineries 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday in the East Courtyard.

• Zion Lutheran Church will serve a pork chop dinner in the General Food Tent from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday. Meals are $10 per person.

• Classes from the 1990s through the 2000s will have their reunion dinner in the Alumni Tent from 5 to 9 p.m. The tent will open with a social hour. Dinner service will begin at 6 and live entertainment at 9.

• A community band will present a concert on the Washington Street Stage from 6 to 7 p.m. Sunday.

• Sojourn Band will play on the Lafayette Square Stage from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, and Highway J will perform there from 9 p.m. until midnight.

Monday, July 4

• On the Fourth of July, a flea market will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in East Park.

• Adults can taste wine from Illinois wineries from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. Monday in the East Courtyard.

• Living history demonstrations are scheduled in the Courtyard from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday.

• VFW members will serve a chicken dinner in the General Food Tent from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday. Meals are $10 per person.

• Midwest Bluegrass Festivals bands performing on Monday will be Curreykorn at noon and 2:30 p.m., Flat Mountain at 12:50 and 3:20 p.m., and The Sterlings at 1:40 and 4:10 p.m. They will all appear on the Courtyard Bandstand.

• The Wall Dogs mural will be dedicated at the southeast corner of Cooke and Lafayette streets at 8 p.m. Monday.

• The Fireside Relics band will play at Frazier Park from 7 to 9 p.m. The park is off Spring Street, north of the railroad tracks between the high school and Route 54.

• The Founders Day Festival will conclude with a fireworks display at Frazier Park between 9 and 11 p.m.

The yearlong anniversary celebration will continue with the annual Mount Pulaski Fall Festival on Sept. 8-10. Christmas on Vinegar Hill is scheduled for Nov. 18-19.

For updates and more information about the celebration, visit www.mtpulaskiil.com and http://www.mtpulaski175th.net/.

[By NANCY SAUL, Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County]