Ceremony set for start of Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay

CORYDON (AP) –  A celebration marking the start of the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay is set for the small town that was the state’s first capital.

Organizers say the torch will be lit during Friday’s ceremony on the grounds of the original state capital building in the southern Indiana town of Corydon.

The relay with some 2,000 torchbearers is set to travel more than 3,200 miles through Indiana’s 92 counties and 260 cities and towns before ending Oct. 15 at the Statehouse in Indianapolis.

Scheduled speakers at the torch ceremony include Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and former Indiana first lady Judy O’Bannon, whose late husband, Gov. Frank O’Bannon, was a Corydon native.

Indiana marks its 200th anniversary of becoming the nation’s 19th state on Dec. 11.

The torch will travel up State Road 15 to downtown Warsaw for a ceremony in Central Park on September 29.