Quick—who has 200 birthday candles handy?
August 10 will mark the 200th anniversary of Missouri’s entry as the 24th state of the United States. Our friends at Kansas City, Missouri Parks and Rec are inviting everyone to celebrate Missouri’s Bicentennial at the François Chouteau & Native American Heritage Fountain in the Northland on July 24th. The free event will take place from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the fountain site, 3904 Chouteau Trafficway (located between I-35 and M-210 Highway). “The Chouteau Fountain site is a fitting location for the bicentennial celebration,” says Dick Davis, Chouteau Fountain Founders chairperson. “French pioneer Francois Chouteau is widely acknowledged as Kansas City’s founding father, having established the area’s first fur trading post on the bluffs of the Missouri River some 200 years ago.”
The fun-filled festivities include Native American dancers, fiddlers, and dulcimer players, fur-trapping re-enactors, recognition of Missouri’s 200th Anniversary by state and local dignitaries, the unveiling of the fountain’s newest bronze sculpture, and the debut of a play, Tartuffenthrope!, by Kansas City playwright Philip “Blue Owl” Hooser.
The celebration is supported by the City of Kansas City, KC Parks, Northland Neighborhoods Inc., and Missouri’s Bicentennial Committee. For more information, visit www.kcparks.org/mo200kc.