The Moniteau County Historical Society celebrated the county's 175th anniversary earlier this week at its meeting.
Moniteau County will officially turn 175 this Friday. The county was founded on Feb. 14, 1845, in a bill signed by Gov. John C. Edwards.
Historical Society president Stephen Weicken said he's contacted the offices of Gov. Mike Parson, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and the Moniteau County commissioners to see if there'd be any interest in a commemorative proclamation recognizing and celebrating the milestone anniversary. Besides this, the group hopes to celebrate the county's 175th with various events throughout the year.
The Historical Society also spent some time discussing its scholarship fund at Monday's meeting. The group found success "passing the hat" to collect donations at its annual dinner meeting last November, managing to raise the entire $250 for the scholarship award by the time the meeting had adjourned. However, the group decided it should perhaps work in some further efforts to fund scholarships for area students beyond this amount, either to offer a larger award or recognize multiple winners. The group agreed, in addition to passing the hat at the annual meeting, to host a program meeting specifically to help add to its scholarship fund. This meeting will take place in May, with a grant-funded dinner for a freewill donation preceding the meeting.
The group also discussed preparations for opening the Moniteau County Historical Society Museum for the season, which begins in April. Starting during that month, the museum is open every first and third Sunday of the month, alternating weeks with the Maclay Home in Tipton. The Historical Society purchased seven mannequins for $500, which will be used for display in the museum's exhibits.
Members of the group contacted area schools to let them know about the field trip tours the Historical Society offers at the museum when it's open.
The group also discussed its upcoming chili dinner fundraiser. After some discussion, the group agreed the chili, soup and pie dinner will take place March 14, starting at 4:30 p.m. at the the Historical Society's regular meeting room, with proceeds going to the organization's operations.
The Historical Society's next regular meeting will take place March 9, and will include a program from historian Jeremy Amick prior to the meeting.
This article was edited Feb. 19, 2020 to correct the date and place of the chili, soup and pie dinner.