The Bell Tower Festival and Jefferson’s Sesquicentennial celebration begins tonight with even more activities planned for tomorrow.

Jefferson Matters: A Main Street and Chamber Community Events Team Chair Philip Heisterkamp encourages everyone to enjoy the fundraising meal tonight with musical guest 2B Unplugged under the newly purchased additional sun shades that were from a donation and grant.

“The Greene County Community Foundation supported us with a grant for the sun shades and our seed money for that was given by Home State Bank. So they came with 25-percent down, the grant funded the rest of it. So we were actually able to pay for the materials.” 

As far as tomorrow’s festivities, the vendors, the brew station and the carnival starts at 5pm. Heisterkamp is pleased to bring back the carnival to the festival with a company from Collins, Iowa. He talks about the range of rides.

“Anything that you can imagine (such as) spinning things, things that make you go fast for a little while. Yes, there’s even a thing called a gyroscope, where you get strapped in and you get topsy-turvy every direction. He (the owner) messaged me a while back and said he sold a ride and he got a new one, and it was a 20-foot drop ship. It’ll take you up and drop you 20 feet straight up and down from the ground.”       

Tickets are $1 each and most of the rides cost three or five tickets. Then the open ceremonies will be at 6pm on the south plaza stage of the Greene County Courthouse grounds, where Chuck Offenburger will be acknowledged as this year’s Tower of Fame recipient. Also at 6pm will be a hands-on activity at the library with cereal art and New York artist Michael Albert, along with Ironside axe throwing. Finally, at 6:30pm will be a bags tournament and wrapping up the evening is a musical performance by Brad Morgan.