Following years of legal battles over his final resting place, the town of Jim Thorpe will celebrate the life and legacy of its Native American Indian namesake this weekend. The 20th annual Jim Thorpe Birthday Celebration will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The scheduleFestivities will kick off with a Native American Indian tribute featuring Don Wild Eagle at the Jim Thorpe Mausoleum on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.At 11 a.m., the Jim Thorpe High School Olympians cross-country and track teams will carry a lighted torch from the mausoleum to Jim Thorpe High School Stadium. After lighting the torch for the Carbon County Special Olympics track and field competition there, the runners will proceed through town to Josiah White Park at the train station where they will light the Olympic torch.Upon arrival at the park at noon, special medals will be awarded to the cross-country, track, and cheerleading teams as well as to their coaches. In addition, state Rep. Doyle Heffley will read a proclamation by the Pennsylvania House declaring Saturday, May 16, 2015, "James Francis Thorpe Day" throughout the commonwealth. A large birthday cake will then be presented, cut, and available throughout the weekend.GuestsSpecial guests scheduled to participate in the festivities this weekend include Jim Thorpe's grandson John Thorpe; Jim Thorpe's great-granddaughter Chenoa Gwynn; Sitting Bull's grandson Ernie LaPointe; and retired Sports Director Chuck Gentile and his wife, Wanda, from the United States Army War College in Carlisle.Throughout the weekend, there will be free musical performances; Native American folklore, dancing and drumming; craft and food vendors; Buster the Clown; a large Chinese auction; train rides; and more."I feel that it's so important to recognize the accomplishments of our namesake Jim Thorpe, the man," said event coordinator Anne Marie Fitzpatrick. "We have taken great pride in honoring him with this event for the past 20 years.""This year's celebration is especially momentous not only because it's the 20th year that we have had the opportunity to tell people about our namesake, the greatest athlete of all time but because the court has finally ruled that his body will remain right here where it should," added Ray Brader, event co-coordinator. "We hope that everyone who can will join us this weekend to participate in the awareness of his legacy."James Francis Thorpe and his twin brother, Charles, were born in a one-room cabin in Oklahoma Territory on May 28, 1888. A member of the Sac and Fox tribe, his mother named him "Wa-Tha-Huck," which means "Bright Path." That is certainly what lay ahead of him for his athletic career.Following the devastating loss of his twin brother to smallpox and pneumonia at the age of 8, Jim Thorpe went on to attend Carlisle Indian Academy near Harrisburg. While there, he excelled at football, track and basketball.Olympic starIn 1912, he became the star of the Olympic games which were held in Stockholm, Sweden breaking record after record as he earned gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon. In addition, Thorpe also took fourth place in the high jump, seventh place in the long jump, and played on the baseball team.Presenting the gold medals to Thorpe, King Gustav V of Sweden proclaimed, "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world." In his usual modest way, the quiet athlete responded, "Thanks, King."Soon after the Olympics, however, it was discovered that Thorpe had played two seasons of professional minor league baseball in North Carolina for about $2 a game before the Olympic games. Because of this, he was no longer considered an amateur athlete and the International Olympic Committee stripped him of his gold medals.Thorpe went on to play professional football and became the first president of the American Professional Football Association known today as the NFL. He also played professional baseball for both the New York Giants and the Boston Braves.Stricken with cancer and financially ruined, Thorpe died of a heart attack at his home in Lomita, California, on March 28, 1953. He received a Roman Catholic funeral Mass and was buried in Shawnee, Oklahoma.After discovering that his home state refused to erect a suitable monument to honor this athletic hero, Thorpe's widow, Patricia, began looking for a place that would. She soon came across the towns of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk.The town's nameMauch Chunk is a Native American term meaning "Mountain of the Sleeping Bear." The area came into prominence when coal was king and helped to fuel the American Industrial Revolution. However, the area was now in a period of economic decline.At the time, Joe Boyle, editor of The Mauch Chunk Times News, had organized an effort to revitalize the towns. This campaign was known as the "Nickel a Week Fund," asking residents and businesses to donate a nickel a week to the effort.Thorpe's widow approached Boyle with the suggestion that uniting the two towns, bringing her husband's body there, and renaming the consolidated town "Jim Thorpe, PA" would be a fitting tribute and memorial to her husband as well as a drawing card to attract guests to the area. The two towns united in 1954. On Memorial Day 1957, Thorpe was finally laid to rest above ground in a 20,000-pound red granite mausoleum paid for by the special nickel fund.In October 1982, Thorpe's amateur status was reinstated. Posthumously, Thorpe's family was presented with replicas of his gold medals in January 1983. In 2000, ABC's Wide World of Sports named him "Athlete of the Century."Following years of legal battles between a few of Thorpe's family members and the borough of Jim Thorpe, the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled in October 2014 that Thorpe's body will remain in the town that bears his name.Today, Jim Thorpe annually welcomes thousands of guests while continuing to honor the great athlete's name and legacy.For more information about the Birthday Celebration, sponsored by Jim Thorpe Tourism Agency and Carbon County Chamber of Commerce, contact Event Coordinators Brader and Fitzpatrick at Nature's Trail at 570-325-9281 or at

amnt1@ptd.net or visit

www.JimThorpe.org.