Partying Like It's 1872 at the Courthouse Grand Ball Saturday

The Effingham County Museum will host a full day of activities on Saturday in celebration of the renovation work performed on the historic courthouse's second floor, activities designed to both educate and entertain.

At 10:30am, local historian Phil Lewis will present a program in the first floor meeting room entitled "Looking for Lincoln".

At 3pm, singer-songwriter Chris Vallillo, a roots musician who "makes the people and places of unmetropolitan America come to life in song", will present a concert on the second floor. Tickets for the Vallillo performance are $15 each.

At 7pm, Grand Ball ticketholders will meet President and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant. In 1872, when the historic Courthouse was fully occupied for the first time, Grant was serving as President of the United States. Re-enactors Scott and Peggy Whitney have performed as General or President and Mrs. Grant since 2000. They have made approximately 350 appearances in the past 16 years in Milwaukee, Chicago, Galena, Springfield, St. Louis, Ohio, Maine, New York and many places in-between. Tickets for the Grand Ball are $30 each.

A combination ticket to both the Vallillo concert and the Grand Ball are $40/person.

Guests in period costumes will actively participate, while those in contemporary dress may be seated in the periphery of the dance floor.

For more information, phone Delaine Donaldson at 217-821-2796.