INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Governor Mike Pence hosted more than 500 4th-grade students and 200 statehouse guests at the Indiana State Capitol to recognize Indiana’s 199th Statehood Day on Dec. 11, 2015. The event served as the formal launch of a year-long celebration of the Hoosier State’s bicentennial. Indiana became America’s 19th state on December 11, 1816.
Pence read a resolution outlining the state’s focus on children in the bicentennial year. The resolution called on Hoosier leaders to pursue policies and programs that will ensure Indiana children born in 2016 will have the best opportunities available to them throughout their lives.
Community leaders across the state are leading legacy projects to be completed over the next year. Each of Indiana’s 92 counties has submitted legacy project proposals, ranging from new public parks to museum exhibitions.
Elsewhere around the state, at 12:00 noon, city and local officials raised their official bicentennial flags simultaneously, marking the start to Indiana’s 200th year of statehood.
In the coming year, Hoosiers can look forward to hundreds of unique celebrations, including:
• Bicentennial Torch Relay — Patterned after the Olympic Torch Relay, Indiana’s version will pass through all 92 of the state’s counties, covering 2,300 miles over a five week period. Festivities will vary from town to town, as communities celebrate the torch in their own special way.
• Bicentennial Gala – The State Fair Coliseum will be the site of a formal gala on the eve of the bicentennial. Guests will be treated to Indiana food and drink, entertainment and VIPs.
