Whitehall sesquicentennial kickoff program is Sunday

Whitehall’s 150th birthday party will officially get underway this weekend.

The kickoff for the “150 Years of Welcome Home” sesquicentennial observance will be held Sunday at the Main St. bandstand (Whitehall Memorial School in the event of inclement weather). The event marks the day in early September 1873 when the Green Bay & Minnesota Rail Road, as it was called then, laid the first tracks through what would become the village of Whitehall.

Sunday’s program begins with an ice cream social at 5:30 p.m., with the Whitehall Future Career and Community Leaders of America serving cookies and ice cream and benefitting from the free-will donation. Members of the Whitehall High School band will entertain during the social. Some chairs will be provided, but persons planning on attending may want to bring their own bag chairs or lawn chairs.

Beginning at 6 p.m. will be an hour-long program that will feature brief portrayals of early Whitehall citizens by area residents dressed in period attire. The area vocal chorus the Stout Hearted Men will perform songs from the late 19th century between the representations

Two ongoing features of the sesquicentennial began earlier this summer. Brochures detailing the 13 sites on “Whitehall History Lived Here,” a self-conducted tour of historically significant buildings and homes, are available at a number of businesses and offices in Whitehall; a digital version can be found on the website of the sesquicentennial’s sponsoring organization, the Whitehall Area Historical Foundation, at www.whitehallhistorical.org.

Also available at area businesses, the Whitehall Public Library and on the website are application forms for a program that will create honor lap quilts for area military veterans. The quilts will be presented to recipients on the next Flag Day, June 14, 2024.

The Flag Day program is one of a number of sesquicentennial events planned for next year, starting with a local genealogy workshop on March 2. The other offerings will include a garden tour, 1860s-rules baseball tournament, historic harvest day and an artists’ and authors’ fair. A schedule of events is available on the WAHF website.