INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana is preparing to kick off a yearlong celebration leading up to the state’s 200th birthday next December.

An event scheduled for Friday at the Statehouse in downtown Indianapolis will feature the unveiling of an Olympic-style torch that will visit all 92 of the state’s counties as part of bicentennial events.

Former Indiana Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman co-chairs the Indiana Bicentennial Commission. She says the panel that’s overseeing the state’s bicentennial celebrations wants “all Hoosiers engaged” in those events.

The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette reports that Indiana is spending more than $50 million on bicentennial-related activities.

Most of that funding is for several construction projects, including a new state archive building and a bicentennial plaza at the Statehouse.

Indiana became the nation’s 19th state on Dec. 11, 1816.