Centennial Dance to kick off celebration

The South Amherst Historical Society will be hosting a ‘Centennial Dance’ social event to celebrate South Amherst’s 100th anniversary in 2018.

To kick-off the celebration of the village that was created in 1918, it will include live music by the Half Naked Monkeys Band, dancing, raffles and historical displays, Vice President Zoltan Zoltai said. The dance will welcome all at 6 p.m. Jan. 27, at the South Ridge Hall, 110 W. Main St., with an advance ticket cost of $10 and $15 at the door. Ticket cost includes food and beverage, according to the historical society.

The historical society encourages all guests to wear vintage early 1900s clothing to turn back time and celebrate at the restored sandstone South Ridge Hall with exterior details that compliment the Village’s history, Zoltai said. The South Amherst Historical Society is proud to offer this fun event in a quaint country-vintage charm location, he said.

“We’re the historical society,” Zoltai said. “Everything we do tries to have a historical context to it. Before social media, people got together like this under the same roof with something like social dances that gathers people together.”

Zoltai said a social community dance is something you don’t see often anymore, so, that’s why they decided to make it part of the centennial celebration.

“We want to stick to the theme of old school with something you may have seen over 100 years ago,” he said. “We added a band to the event to make it a bit more modern.”

The event will include historic photos of the village, memorabilia, old newspapers articles, hats, shirts, and any other historical items relevant to the village and its history, Zoltai said. It will also offer Centennial reusable cups with seal of 100th anniversary and prizes, he said.

The Centennial Dance will be the starting event of the village’s year-long celebration and will have volunteers from the historical society or others from the community to make the events possible, according to Zoltai. He said the historical society will accept anyone to help and would appreciate younger kids in the community to get involved, as well. Zoltai said they encourage younger generations to get involved because the historical society has developed its mission of keeping history going.

For all who are involved with in the South Amherst Historical Society and are volunteering their time to help celebrate the centennial, Zoltai said he is proud to be a non-profit because it shows how much work they have put in overall in their organization.

Other events to celebrate the village’s centennial (some dates undecided):

• During South Amherst Historical Society public meetings, which are on every third Wednesday of each month, it will be inviting the public to share history, have a show and tell with historic artifacts and also take donations to take care and preserve of artifacts.

• Vicky Russo, an Amherst Village resident is turning 100 and could be the oldest living resident in the area currently, Zoltai said. The historical society will be having a meeting on the third week of March to share history of South Amherst and her experiences.

• There will be a placement of the Ohio Historical Marker that will go at the South Amherst Town Hall, 103 W. Main St. in May or June.

• There will be a creative historical float in the Memorial Day parade, May 28.

• 2019 calenders that include photos of the Village of Amherst will be coming out in August.

• A car show honoring the village will be held in the end of September.

• A Halloween day parade float.

• Ice Cream social near November or December.

For ticket sales and further questions, call 440506-0711 or visit the South Amherst Historical Society on its Facebook.