WHO:   A committee comprised of more than 25 community volunteers has teamed up with  city staff to plan Bicentennial events and activities giving residents, business owners and visitors an opportunity to celebrate the city’s rich heritage and history all year long.

WHAT:   The St. Charles Bicentennial will kick off at the end of March with an opening reception and weave its way through some 200 happenings slated for our fair city throughout the course of the coming year.
       The Bicentennial Kick-off Reception will be held at the Foundry Art Centre.  Tickets are $40 per person or $75 per couple (cash or check), and are on sale at the Greater Saint Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau (stop by 230 South Main Street – 8a-5p, M-F – or call the Bicentennial Hotline at 636-255-6154 for more information or to purchase tickets by mail prior to March 24 (advance tickets are required). 
       The evening will include heavy hors d’oeuvres focusing on our French, Spanish and German heritage.  Live entertainment will be provided by Crossover, a dynamic seven-piece band.  Citizens with the longest St. Charles ancestry will be recognized by Mayor York and the St. Charles City Council at 8 p.m.  A Bicentennial tree sculpture designed by Wayne Trinklein depicting the city tree – a Red Bud – will be unveiled at 9:30 p.m.

Event participants are invited to wear clothing symbolic of the passing of time from 1809 until the present day.

WHERE &    Foundry Art Centre – 520 North Main Center (see ticket information above).
WHEN:        Friday, March 27 – 7 to 11 p.m.

ALSO:   Volunteer organizers have relayed personal invitations to some 30 families with long-standing ancestral roots, as these individuals will receive special recognition at the event.  Anyone with confirmed geneology records indicating their ancestors/family members were land owners in St. Charles city anytime prior to 1809, should contact the tourism office directly for more information; please call the Bicentennial Hotline at 636-255-6154.