ALTAMONT – This August, the Effingham County Fair will host a Freedom Truck to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Freedom Trucks are mobile museums that teach the history of the founding of the United States. There are six, double-wide, 18-wheelers traveling the nation this year in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.
The trucks have interactive games, a plethora of information, digital copies of the Constitution to sign and display on a screen, portraits of 50 people who helped shape the nation and more.
“I was thoroughly impressed,” said Effingham County Fair President Phil Hartke.
Hartke and his wife visited a Freedom Truck in Manchester, Ind. in April to see what they were all about.
“I wanted to see it first-hand to make sure that it was all that it claimed up to be, and it exceeded our expectations,” said Hartke. “It’s really going to be an attraction that, I think, would call people from 50 or 60 miles away.”
The Freedom Trucks were inspired by the bicentennial American Freedom Train that ran in 1975 and 1976, said Freedom 250 Spokesperson Julie Friedland. Over 7 million Americans visited the train during its national tour of the 48 continental United States.
“A team member for Freedom 250 saw the VA 250 mobile museum, and thought it would be powerful to create a mobile museum for all Americans, so that we could bring the story of our country to families across the country – especially those who don’t have the option to get to D.C. for our 250th birthday,” said Friedland.
Hartke will hang an American Flag on each post in the food court and the grandstand in honor of the nation’s anniversary. He also will hang a 15-foot by 25-foot American Flag on the west side of the grand stand.
“I’m excited. I think this is gonna be one of the best draws that the Effingham County Fair’s ever put on,” said Hartke. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.”
There will be no extra charge to enter the museum, and people can come-and-go as they please. Although the museum is scheduled to set up on August 1, the official opening of it will be on August 2. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on August 2 through August 8 at the Effingham County Fair.