Peoria County is 200 years old in 2025! We are celebrating with all the Bison sculptures popping up all over the county! Why Bison? Not only is it a fun play on words - Bison - Bisontennial - Bicentennial = 200th anniversary. To quote the Peoria County website, "They're strong and bold - just like us". This project not only helps celebrate our 200 years but also honors Bison that were once native to Illinois. Thankfully with conservation efforts, we can still see these strong, bold, beauties close to home at Wildlife Prairie Park!
I love this project because of a few reasons. One, the collaboration of local businesses and local artists to display these life-sized sculptures is so awesome! Two, there's family fun involved which is what we are all about over here at Macaroni KID. The first family fun thing is the Bison Trek. It is a FREE program in which you and the fam load up the car, maybe with some road snacks and good tunes, and Trek to all of the Bison locations. You take a picture with the Bison and you can earn digital badges and prizes from Wildlife Prairie Park. Visit the website: https://bisontrek.peoriacounty.gov to find out more!
The next Bisontennial family fun is painting your own Bison at Fired Up in Peoria Heights! You can put your own personal spin on a bicentennial Bison which will also come with a commemorative tag. The cost is $20 and with that, you can enter your bison design into a contest later this summer. The winner will see their mini-bison design put onto a large-scale bison. The sculpture will be revealed at the bicentennial celebration in October.
Here are a few on the Bison sculptures you will see on your trek!
 Artist: Discover Peoria Team |  Artist: Megan Couri |  Artist: Mariah Donnerand Haley Naylor |
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When visiting events and local businesses, be sure to tell them Macaroni KID sent you... and don't forget to tell all your friends!
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