Cape Girardeau's bicentennial celebration to be incorporated into other events

Cape Girardeau's bicentennial next year won't be marked with one big blow-out, but instead a yearlong celebration that is incorporated into several community events such as the Fourth of July LibertyFest and the Christmas Parade of Lights.

Instead of having a big party, the bicentennial committee decided this would be a way to keep costs down while spreading the celebration throughout the year, said city public information manager and committee member Tracey Glenn. Glenn spoke to area business leaders at First Friday Coffee at the Show Me Center.

"There are a tremendous amount of events in our community," Glenn said. "We asked the planners of those events to incorporate the bicentennial."

The city of Cape Girardeau was actually incorporated on July 23, 1808, but platted on Feb. 3, 1806, the date on which the city is basing its bicentennial.

The planners of several events said they had agreed -- and were happy -- to include the city's bicentennial into their plans. But they also said the specifics of how the city's celebration would be included has yet to be determined.

"We're still in the beginning stages of our plans," said Diane Sides, director of university relations at Southeast Missouri State University and chair of the Academic Hall centennial committee. Starting in January, the university is kicking off a yearlong celebration of Academic's centennial.

But any talk of Academic Hall's 100 years of existence should include the city's bicentennial, she said. Academic Hall played an important role in the development of Cape Girardeau, she said.

"It was such a grand structure," she said. "It caused a lot of things to happen. People came and saw the building and decided Cape Girardeau was a town they wanted to be in. ... You can't talk about Academic and you can't talk about the university without talking about the city of Cape Girardeau."

The "United We Read" program will feature prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle's novel, "The Gold of Cape Girardeau."

Central High School librarian Julia Jorgensen, an organizer for the program, said the Civil War-era book set in Cape Girardeau was chosen partially because of the city's bicentennial.

"It's most appropriate because it centers on Cape Girardeau and history at the same time," Jorgensen said.

She said the book discussions will be taking place throughout Cape Girardeau in the month of February, with Swingle leading one discussion and students leading others.

The bicentennial will also be a prominent part of the Fourth of July Libertyfest and the downtown fireworks display and the Christmas Parade of Lights, said Old Town Cape executive director Tim Arbeiter.

"It's a perfect match," Arbeiter said. "A big part of our mission is historic preservation. And our downtown sits on the original city plat. We want to help make the community aware of the 200 years of life this city has had and celebrate. Plus, it's a good opportunity to get people together and have a lot of fun."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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