Bicentennial Committee

CITY OF MINERAL POINT BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, January 20, 2026 – 6:00 PM City Hall 1. Call to Order. a. Present: Mike Christensen, Lauren Powers, Christina Kubasta, Dick Poad, and nine additional members of the community. Cory Bennett and Frank Beaman were not in attendance. 2. Lauren Powers motioned to approve the minutes from December 16, Mike seconded, motion passed unanimously. 3. Welcome to Org Reps; introductions a. Org Reps introduced. Orgs included the MP Archives, UCC Church, MP Historical Society, AMP, Odd Fellows, Lions Club, & Train Depot. Approximately 25 organizations had been invited. 4. Status of website, calendar a. The Chamber has added a tab to their website (www.mineralpoint.com) for the Bicentennial. Our slogan, “Cut by Stone, Built by Community” is included on the website, as well as an email address for questions and ideas related to the bicentennial. Additional information is coming to the site, such as a calendar of events and a donation button. Funds will be collected by the Chamber’s new 501(c)3 foundation. 5. 2027 tentative timeline of events a. Mike shared a draft schedule with the committee. The goal is to highlight the bicentennial with a full weekend of festivities, built off of what Mineral Point already does well with some additional pieces throughout. This group is trying to coordinate events to minimize competition between organizations and to provide an opportunity for organizations to collaborate on events. This timeline of events is not all encompassing; that is, organizations can still do their own events throughout the year. Such events are encouraged to utilize the bicentennial logo on all events to help promote the event to bring visitors and locals to each celebration throughout the year. b. There are several events planned for 2027 that still require organizations to pick up and sponsor. Org Reps were encouraged to take these events back to their organizations to decide how best they could get involved. c. Communication between committee and all org reps was discussed. Meeting dates and locations are listed on the city’s website, the Chamber newsletter, and soon to be the web page on the Chamber’s website. Mary from the Democrat recommended a monthly column could be included to provide updates on the planning to the community. Mike has been notifying one or two representatives from approximately 25 organizations before each meeting. d. We lightly discussed different ideas for funding the committee through sales. 6. City Decorations a. Dick Poad updated the group on ways the city can be decorated for the months June through December 2027. Families will be able to sponsor a banner to be hung on High St and Commerce St street lights. Order forms will be available once the bank account has been set up for the committee through the Chamber Foundation. b. The committee will organize sales of bunting for businesses that wish to purchase them. This will be structured the same as holiday garland sales each Christmas season. Businesses can choose to purchase and can either install the bunting themselves or pay a contractor that the committee will choose. 7. Anthology update a. Lauren shared updates from Frank. Themes from the bicentennial were shared, and each was quite charming. If anyone still wishes to contribute a submission, they should do so in the coming months. Presales will be available later this year with the release scheduled for January or February 2027. 8. Time Capsule a. It is encouraged for an organization to take on the idea of creating a community time capsule. There can be multiple time capsules if additional organizations would like to do their own. 9. Business Sponsorships & Grant Opportunities a. Business sponsorship models will be shared later this year, and grant opportunities were discussed. 10. Adjourn; set next meeting date and location a. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 6:00 PM February 17. Location is pending and will be communicated well in advance of the February meeting.