The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ohio's bicentennial bash officially kicked off Saturday in Chillicothe, the state's first capital, marking the day the state joined the Union.

If you didn't make the trip to Chillicothe, you didn't miss the party. It continues through October with events throughout the state. For complete details, go to Web site.

Highlights include:

•The Path to Statehood: Bicentennial Wagon Train (June-July)

An old-fashioned wagon train will move northwest along the National Road (U.S. 40), from the Ohio River to Worthington to the Indiana border, re-creating the journey many early pioneers experienced in settling Ohio and points. Information: Web site.

•Inventing Flight: the Centennial Celebration, Dayton (July 3-20)

Dayton will celebrate its role in the birth and development of aviation and aerospace with a major program that will be scattered around town, from downtown Dayton to the U.S. Air Force Museum near Fairborn.

The event will include an air show, international blimp meet and programs that honor the men who started it all--the Wright Brothers. Information: Web site.

•Columbus Celebrates Ohio's Bicentennial (July 3-4)

On July 3, Columbus' riverfront will host a daylong celebration that features a parade, entertainment, and a gallery hop in Columbus' Short North neighborhood. The celebration will move to outlying communities the next day with more fireworks shows that night. It is expected to draw 300,000 visitors.

•Celebration of Lake Erie Heritage: Ohio Bicentennial Tall Ships (July 9-20)

What Tall Stacks is to Cincinnati, Tall Ships is to Lake Erie's towns. The event, in ports from Cleveland to Toledo, will bring to Lake Erie the largest gathering of Tall Ships in Ohio since the 1800s. They will range in size from 45 to 200 feet, and be available for tours.

•Tall Stacks on the Ohio River (Oct. 15-19)

Cincinnati will celebrate the steamboat era with 20 riverboats from 15 cities and 11 states for five days of cruises, races and on-shore activities. The celebration has been expanded to include a music and arts festival.

New exhibits this year include "The Passage to Freedom," which examines the work of slaves in building--and escaping on--the steamboats of America's inland river system; and "You Are the Ohio River," a biology and ecology program. Information: Web site.