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Indiana Bicentennial Celebration 2016

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Legacy Projects > Bicentennial Zingers: A Salute to Indiana’s 200th Birthday Bicentennial Zingers: A Salute to Indiana’s 200th Birthday

The Electric Consumer print magazine is accessible to 250,000 Hoosiers each month. For 2016 the “Bicentennial Zingers,” a monthly salute to Indiana’s 200^th birthday, replaces our usual “Electrical Zingers” column in the publication. Electric cooperative mascot Willie Wirehand hosts the column in recognizing or commemorating both significant and interesting but perhaps overlooked bits of Indiana history and culture. Each month, we select something relevant to the month from Indiana history to highlight and illustrate. Over the 12 months we hope the column will be culturally inclusive to most all Hoosiers, and celebrate the state’s early history and the more recent achievements of Hoosiers and folks closely tied to Indiana.

Q&A with Legacy Project Coordinator Richard G. Biever

What do you consider a key accomplishment of your Legacy Project?

Bringing special light to Indiana historical nuggets, or "zingers", that many people may
not be aware of, especially when it comes to Indiana's leadership in electrification of
town and country. Bicentennial Zingers replaced our regular "Electric Zingers" column in our magazine, Electric Consumer, the publication of Indiana's electric cooperatives. In this column, our mascot, Willie Wiredhand, would provide, through whimsical illustrations, electrical safety or energy efficiency tips. We turned this column in 2016 into an Indiana history feature, using Willie to highlight Indiana history!

Describe a highlight or most memorable moment related to your Legacy Project.

One highlight would be when a fourth grade teacher contacted us and thanked us for
our Bicentennial Zingers, noting how he used it alongside his Indiana history lessons to
share Indiana history with his students.
Another was simply being selected as a "Legacy Project."

How/where are you preserving information and artifacts related to your Legacy Project?

The feature was printed each month in our magazine, Electric Consumer. Digital
versions of each issue are on our website and each month's zinger can be viewed
separately under the "Bicentennial Zingers" menu.