Norris sets 75th birthday bash for May 18, 2024
Now that Norris has solved the mystery of when the city’s official birthday is, plans have tentatively been set to hold the city’s big 75th-anniversary party on Saturday, May 18, in the downtown area.
That’s nearly a month and a half past the actual three-quarters-of-a-century birthday, but Larry Beeman, who is heading the celebration committee, said that date was chosen for a variety of reasons, including avoiding possible spring break conflicts in April, as well as the possibility of bad early spring weather.
“We wanted to make sure we could have a date that would allow for the largest number of people to be there for the community picture, and it made sense to move it later into May,” said Beeman, who is also a former Norris city councilman.
“As of now, that’s the planned date, but things could still change between now and then,” he said. “It’s still more than a year away.”
While most of the birthday celebration will take place in and around the Lions Club Pavilion next to Norris Middle School, on the south side of East Norris Road, the community photo will be taken in the grassy commons area north of the road, Beeman said.
Planned for the event will be live music, lawn games, food trucks, antique cars and more, according to a flyer posted on the Norris 75th Anniversary Celebration Facebook page.
The crowd photo will be similar to the one taken during the 50th anniversary celebration, and which is posted on the wall inside the meeting room of the Norris Community Building, where the City Council convenes. On Beeman’s recommendation, the City Council on April 10 voted unanimously to accept April 7, 1949, as the city’s official birthdate. That move came after Councilman Chuck Nicholson reported that he had researched the state archives and found that then-Gov. Gordon Downing had signed the legislation establishing Norris as a city on that date, two days after the bill had been passed by the legislature.
Beeman said during that meeting that he felt comfortable with the April 7 date, which had also been used for the city’s 50th birthday party.
Beeman brought up the issue during the March City Council meeting. He had taken the role of chairman of the 75th Year Birthday Recognition Steering Committee, created by the Norris Historical Society.
According to what he has found, he said, the state legislature passed the bill giving Norris a city charter on April 5, 1949, which some people have considered to be the official establishment of the city.
But Beeman said in March that the governor most likely signed the legislation on April 7, which would have made the legislature’s bill final.