City plans 150th anniversary parties A parade, city dinner are among planned events By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle It was in 1853 that the city of Green Bay was founded on the east bank of the Fox River, across from Fort Howard. It's fair to say that those founders predicted great things from the new city. It's probably not accurate to say they ever saw it becoming famous for sports and toilet paper. Next year marks Green Bay's 150th anniversary - that's a sesquicentennial, for those of you who remember when Wisconsin had one in 1998 - and plans are already in place for at least three events to mark the occasion, said Mayor Jim Schmitt. The first is a dinner in February, probably at the Lambeau Field Atrium. "We're inviting not only the four living ex-mayors but representatives of the families of other past mayors to come," Schmitt said. "We'd like to see as many past city employees as possible." He said he saw the dinner as an interactive event. "We might serve the appetizer, then have a short program on the first few decades of Green Bay history, with music and dancing from the period, then serve the next course and then go to the next period of history," he said. He also hopes to have a new city seal ready in time for the event. "We might even have Green Bay flags to give to people at the dinner that they can go home and fly," he said. Green Bay history events also would be part of the June 25 "Kids Day" ceremonies, the second year of that event. And Schmitt said a parade would be held Aug. 14, called the "Pride of Green Bay" parade, that he wants to see become an annual event. "We'll probably fold the annual Kiddie Carnival parade into that," he said. "We'll have a political section, a military section, we'd like to have the Packers participate. Everything Green Bay is proud of should be part of that parade." His office is seeking volunteers to work on various aspects of the celebration. For more information, contact the mayor's office, 448-3005.