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150th birthday bash for city planned April 4
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Tickets for Turner Hall Party

Advance tickets are $10 at Turner Hall, the Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ruf Confectionery. Tickets will be $12 at the door. Make checks payable to Monroe Chamber of Commerce.

MONROE - History will meet fun April 4 in Monroe.

Monroe Main Street is putting on a party to celebrate the city's sesquicentennial. The Village of Monroe was officially incorporated April 4, 1858.

"We wanted to have a day, a Friday or Saturday night, where everyone could come down and enjoy themselves," Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Industry Executive Director Patty James said. "It just worked out that the exact anniversary of incorporation was a Friday."

The party will be from 7 to 11 p.m. at Turner Hall. Highlighting the festivities is 176 Keys, a dueling piano act. The two piano players work together to provide a high-energy show in which the audience is as much a part of the entertainment as the performers.

"It's going to be a very upbeat celebration," James said. "The Dueling Pianos Show personifies the atmosphere."

The players take popular songs, requested by the audience, and encourage singing along and other participation. James said the players requested information about Monroe so they could incorporate some of it into their lyrics. Other lyrics will be comical, and even include light-hearted roasts of audience members.

Also part of the party will be a 6-foot tall birthday cake, courtesy of Swiss Colony, people dressed in period costumes from the 1850s through today, vintage items from the Monroe Historical Society and Monroe Genealogical Society on display and souvenir items for sale.

The food will be part of a spread that Turner Hall could have put out in the 1850s, James said.

James said she hopes 400 people come to the party, which is the kickoff of a year-long celebration of the city's 150th birthday. No matter the size of the crowd, James said it will be a good time.

"This is all a big experiment," James said. "But we're hoping it will be successful."