The Indiana Bicentennial Torch makes its way to Pulaski County tomorrow afternoon. It’s passing through each of Indiana’s 92 counties before ending up at the Statehouse in Indianapolis next week.
Pulaski County Bicentennial Coordinator Krysten Hinkle says the torch will arrive in the county from the south. “We’ll pick up the Torch at the Cass County Line on U.S. 35 at three o’clock,” she says. “It’ll travel north into Winamac. It’ll pick up on the Panhandle [Pathway].”
After that, the torch will pass in front of Eastern Pulaski Schools before entering the Winamac Town Park. “At the town park, the torch will be in a canoe in the river around the horseshoe, over the swinging bridge and at roughly 4:15 we’ll be having a proclamation and an opening ceremony for the TorchFest on the courthouse lawn, with the torch present,” Hinkle says.
After Circuit Court Judge Michael Shurn reads the proclamation and local singer Taylor Smith sings “Back Home Again in Indiana,” the torch will continue its journey north on U.S. 35 and reach the Starke County Line around 5:00 p.m. Carrying the torch will be 12 current Pulaski County residents, as well as representatives of three posthumous selections.
However, the festivities won’t end when the torch leaves Pulaski County. Hinkle says Pulaski County TorchFest will continue throughout the weekend in Downtown Winamac, “It’s a three-day festival, and it’s basically celebrating the Indiana Bicentennial, Pulaski County spirit, culture, history, and also the torchbearers themselves because they were honored to become torchbearers based on community service, acts of heroism, acts of professional distinction, things like that.”
Hinkle says the event will include lots of live entertainment, kiddie rides, and a beer garden. She adds that there will also be a Made in Pulaski County Expo to coincide with National Manufacturing Day. “We’re having an expo in the middle of TorchFest where people can walk through and see a wide variety of products that are actually made here in Pulaski County,” Hinkle says. “And that ranges all the way from honey and popcorn to spring-making equipment and hoists from Galbreath, just all the different things that are made here in Pulaski County. And I think a lot of even our residents don’t know the extent of the products that are made right here in Pulaski County.”
TorchFest attendees will be able to take a look at a time capsule Pulaski County is planning to bury on Statehood Day, December 11. Hinkle says residents will also have a chance to add their own items that may be of interest to future generations.
