- 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 14, 2019, & 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 21 — Boone County is holding listening sessions to get community input for its bicentennial celebration. Here’s a news release about the May 14 listening session to be held in the Centralia City Hall Community Room at 114 S. Rollins St., in Centralia. Here’s a link to the news release about the May 21 session to be held in the Activity and Recreation Center (ARC), meeting room C at 1701 W. Ash St. in Columbia
- The release states:
“Local artist/educator Stacy Self (Wildy World) will be creating a large mural in the shape of Boone County that depicts 200 years of Boone County history. Self, well-known for her work creating murals as community collaborations, will divide the entire space into pieces, each representing distinct geographic sections of the County. For each piece, she will seek community input about what is unique and important about that area. Based on that input, Self will design the artwork and then the community will be invited to return and paint its portion of the mural. After all pieces are complete, they will be joined to form the “map” of Boone County, which will be on display during 2020 in the Boone County History & Culture Center. At the close of the Bicentennial Year, the pieces will be given to the communities that created them, where they will be displayed for posterity.” For more information, contact Janet Thompson at jthompson@boonecountymo.org or 573-886-4309. - 5-8 p.m. Saturday, May 18 — 155th Birthday Party for John William “Blind” Boone in the historic Boone house at 10 N. Fourth St. The free event will include food and music and an opportunity to see the stunning restoration of this Victorian home.
- 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 23, 2019 — The Mayor’s Task Force on the Bicentennial Celebration will meet in the Walton Building at 300 S. Providence Road. The task force is planning the celebration of Columbia’s 200th anniversary. The meeting is open to the public. The task force was launched in February of 2018. It announced three goals for its plans: diversity, creating a lasting tribute to the 200 years of Columbia’s history and having a fun celebration.
- 1-4 p.m. Monday, May 27, 2019 — History Comes Alive. This free, family friendly event is in its third year. Held at the Columbia Cemetery, the event features actors portraying well-known Columbians. This year’s roster includes agricultural entrepreneur Henry Kirklin, architect Mary Louise Hale Lafon, suffragist Helen Guthrie, businessman Jefferson Garth, educator and legislator David H. Hickman and entrepreneur Frederick Niedermeyer. This event is sponsored by Friends of the Historic Columbia Cemetery, a nonprofit.
- June 19-June 21, 2019 — Missouri Preservation annual conference in St. Joseph, Missouri. Each year, Missouri Preservation, a state nonprofit dedicated to education, advocacy and assistance, holds a conference. The conference highlights preservation efforts and provides education and networking opportunities. Anyone can attend. The conference costs between $75 and $230 depending on how much of the conference you plan to attend. Register here. The organization’s full name is the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation and it is headquartered in St. Louis.