The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bicentennial engages folks
Surveys point toward interests gathered into events for year-long celebration of A.L. best
Avon Lake is preparing to mark 200 years of lakeside living with a full year of events.
The city’s Bicentennial Committee put together a lineup of six core events aiming to celebrate the history and identity of Avon Lake.
A survey went out to residents in September to gauge feedback on how the community wanted to mark the bicentennial.
“After we talked to individuals, we started talking to community groups and to build awareness and tell them we’d like them to be involved,” said Bicentennial Committee member Barb Cagley. “And our call to action at that point was to fill out the survey.
“We wanted them to not only fill out the survey, but we wanted people to get volunteers.”
In working through the planning process, Cagley said the committee examined the different facets of what makes up a city with the goals of creating a celebration that appeals to as many people as possible from
students to lifelong residents.
The first of six core events kick off with Independence Day fireworks July 3 at Weiss Field, 33401 Webber Road, and the events culminate with the July 4, 2019, Jubilee extravaganza.
At the Jubilee, Cagley and fellow committee member Ted Esborn, who also is the city’s economic development director, are envisioning all four of the city’s major parks involved for a full day of events that draw on the creativity of residents from sunrise to sunset.
The scheduled events are:
• Fourth of July 2018 —
July 3
• Bicentennial Beer Festival — Sept. 22, Miller Road Park, 33760 Lake Road
• Church Choir Performance — Jan. 4, Avon Lake High School Performing Arts Center, 175 Avon Belden Road
• House Tour — May 4 and 5
• Historic Bike Crawl — June 4, 2019, Artstown Mall, 33483 Lake Road
• Fourth of July Jubilee — July 4, 2019
The Bicentennial Committee will host the first Beer Festival at Miller Road Park drawing on the success of the city’s annual Wine Fest.
“Mayor (Greg) Zilka contributed a lot to the idea of a beer fest,” Esborn said. “And I know for him, he looked at the wine fest as a
really successful event and said it would be neat to do that with a beer festival.”
Scheduled from noon to 6 p.m., people will have the opportunity to come sample a number of different craft beers from local breweries and enjoy live music and food trucks.
Esborn added the Beer Fest will include a business picnic and a chance for local businesses to rent a tent and join in on the fun with the community.
“We wanted to have at least one of our events be one where we could really involve businesses, and not just the business people who live here, but I mean, recognizing the employees of our city businesses are unique stakeholders in the city as well,” Esborn said.
Additional plans in the
core group of events include a community church choir performance involving four area churches, a two-day event that will take guests on tours of historic and current homes.
“We feel the bicentennial’s not only history as yesterday. We really want to capture all the aspects that make up Avon Lake,” Cagley said.
The Bike Crawl starting off at the Artstown Mall will have stations throughout the city with performers and storytellers engaging participants in the history of each location.
Esborn and Cagley both stressed they are opening up the process to see other events outside the core group emerge, driven by the community and encouraging people to get involved.
“From early on, probably even before we had those six core events identified, we knew that we wanted to empower people in the community to take their ideas for events and kind of run with them,” Esborn said. “And we are creating a process where they say, here’s the event, we want it to be part of the bicentennial.”
A number volunteers will be needed for events and anyone interested is encouraged to contact the committee at avonlake200@gmail.com or to visit the official bicentennial website at www.avonlake200.org.
The committee is collaborating with Heritage Avon Lake who have provided a number of historic pictures and residents are encouraged to get involved in sharing their nostalgic memories and photos of Avon Lake’s past.