The St. Clair County Bicentennial Committee has sent a budget request to the county commission for various projects.

St. Clair County Distract Court Judge Alan Furr, chairman of the Ashville Museum and Archives Board of Directors, said the organization’s request is for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

At the committee’s meeting on June 6 at Ragland Town Hall, the Bicentennial Marker Committee presented a depiction of the 18×24-inch metal plaque that will commemorate St. Clair’s bicentennial. According to Furr. there will be two plaques manufactured so that one can be placed in the northern division and one in the southern division courthouses.

“We also decided to hold a birthday celebration on Tuesday, November 20, 2018, to commemorate the date of the creation of our county and to unveil the Bicentennial plaques,” Furr said.

The celebration in Ashville will be at 10 a.m., followed by a separate event in Pell City at 2 p.m. The consensus concluded to have two cakes prepared with the bicentennial logo to be served during the event.

Committee Member Elizabeth “Liz” Sorrell, a direct descendant of Littleton Yarbrough, presented Furr a brick which was made onsite during the construction of St Clair’s first brick courthouse.

“I’ve added the brick to the replica brick mold which was constructed by Dr. Robert Harris using measurements from the original brick-mold,” Furr said. “These items will be available for use in our local exhibit at Moody, as well as a being a part of our display at local festivals and used during talks made by our Speaker’s Bureau to various organizations. 

A St. Clair County Bicentennial History Project was discussed at the recent meeting as well, in order to engage fourth grade students in a county-wide competition. Dr. Robert Harris is seeking approval from the St. Clair County and Pell City school superintendents. The committee would judge the projects, awarding first, second, and third place awards. 

A concern considered was the need for local archives and museums to begin considering items that could be loaned to the committee to create our “local exhibit” section for the Alabama Traveling Exhibit. These items would be secured in exhibit cases and monitored during times when the exhibit is open to the public to ensure safekeeping, Furr said. 

The exhibit will be hosted in the Moody Civic Center for three weeks in March and April of 2018.  

“I know this is a group of wonderful people who will work very hard to make this happen,” Furr said. “I appreciate everyone’s willingness to serve their community.”

The St. Clair County Bicentennial Committee’s next meeting will by in Springville. For more information, email committee chairman Alan Furr at alanfurr@yahoo.com. For more information on the the exhibit itself, go to www.makingalabama.org. For more on the Bicentennial celebration activities throughout the state, go to www.alabama200.org.