The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Historical Society hosting annual festival
Constitution Day Festival set for Painesville Twp.
Lake County next week will celebrate the creation and ratification of the United States of America’s most important document, in what’s continuously evolving as a traditional post-Labor Day community event.
For the last two years, Constitution Day Festival has been held at the gazebo in Downtown Painesville. However, this year the event has been relocated to Lake County History Center at 415 Riverside Drive in Painesville Township. The event runs 11 a.m.
to 2 p.m., Sept. 14. Admission is free and open to all.
The event precedes Constitution Week, which is observed Sept 17 – 23, and commemorates the 232nd anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States of America.
The fête was born when Lake County Commissioner Ron Young, then a state representative, attending church, found himself distracted by political divisiveness, and, as a result, became increasingly frustrated with how the country was seemingly in a constant state of discord.
“And it remains so,” he said. “One of the things I wanted to focus on was something that could unify us, unify the country, and the Constitution occurred to me because it is the bones of America, the structure of the nation, that holds things together. That’s the main thrust of this festival. We need to work together to make things happen, to effect change.”
The family-friendly day of fun and festivity will include Gatling gun and musket demonstrations; George Washington, Samuel Adams, Abraham Lincoln and Betsy Ross re-enactors; reenactment of America’s first Constitutional Convention by Rabbit Run Theater; tavern spirits of the Revolutionary War Period by Debonné Vineyards; and American folk music by Hal Werner, president of the Heritage Club of Northeast Ohio.
The center’s museum and Pioneer Village will be open to visitors also, with children’s activities available. Vendors and concessions will also be on-site.
The Deepwood Singers and Special Olympics Dancers will also perform.
General parking will be at Riverside High School, with a shuttle available for attendees.
A special Founding Fathers Lunch will be served from noon to 2 p.m. Reservations are required by Sept. 7 and can be purchased online.
Constitution Day Festival is sponsored by Remarkable Lake County, OH, the Heritage Club of Northeast Ohio, Laketran, the League of Women Voters of Lake County and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
“A lot of community players are involved with this,” said Amy Kapostasy, executive director of the Lake County Historical Society. “And we were thrilled when they called us and asked to bring the event to this location.”
Young, noting the growth of the event, said his fellow commissioners, Jerry Cirino and John Hamercheck, fully support the festival, and added that he hopes it will continue to evolve as a uniquely recognized Lake County holiday.
“In the past, the fest was a bit too structured and educational in its approach, so we wanted to create an atmosphere (that was) more upbeat, with singers and dancers and food and drink,” Young said. “This is based on unity, and unity, it and of itself, well, it doesn’t ring too exciting, so that’s why we wanted to blow it up a bit.”