By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–Meeting for a short session Monday evening, the Henry County Commission gave its blessing to the committee which is planning the Bicentennial celebrations for Henry County, the city of Paris, and the 125th anniversary for the courthouse.
Monday’s meeting was by telephone conference, with some commissioners gathering at the county 911 building in person and others meeting over the phone.
In his report, Commissioner (and County Historian) David Webb said Henry County will be 200 years old in 2021, the city of Paris will be 200 years old in 2023 and the courthouse will be 125 years old in 2021.
Co-Chairs Webb and Carl Holder are heading up the committee which is in the early stages of planning for the celebrations. Webb said members include Paris Vice Mayor Jackie Jones, others representing the school systems, Henry County Archives, Paris-Henry County Heritage Center, and the media are forming to begin the celebrations beginning in November, 2021 (the 200th anniversary of the county) through September, 2023 (the 200th anniversary of Paris).
Webb said, “We want to celebrate our community over a two year period involving many organizations, clubs, schools, and individuals to generate ideas, carry out events and projects, have fun, and leave a lasting legacy.”
A logo will be developed for use in advertising, social media, public relations, etc., he said, and full financial plan to fund traditional bicentennial events and projects will be developed.
“One of the ideas is to select 200 of the most significant artifacts from the Paris-Henry County Heritage Center, Henry County Archives, and Henry County Historical Society’s collections to tell our community’s story in an exhibit spanning prehistory with local American Indian artifacts to the present,” he said. “One project the Archives is beginning to work on is to select 200 individuals who have had a significant impact on our community and write biographies of those characters. We also want this to be a time for a Henry County homecoming whereby former citizens are invited to return to their roots.”
The committee will ask later for seed money to get started, an estimated $2,500 each from the city and county, he said. “We plan to have fundraising events, including the possibility of selling Christmas ornaments, etc., and we will ask organizations to sponsor events and projects as well.”
The goals of the celebrations are to remember the past, celebrate the present, leave a lasting legacy, and prepare for the future of Paris and Henry County, he said.
In other business, the commission approved several budget amendments. At a meeting earlier in the afternoon, the non-profits organization committee approved payment of $96,245 to 20 local non-profit organizations.