Buehler and Cleaver preview bicentennial year
RIDGWAY- As we enter the year of 2024, this marks Ridgway’s bicentennial year.
There are plenty of activities planned for this occasion, including concentrating on Ridgway’s 200th year during the Ridgway Fireman’s Carnival and the Fireman’s Parade.
Coming up this June, a time capsule will be unearthed that was buried in Ridgway on June 23, 1974. Inside the time capsule were clear directions for it to be opened 50 years later.
Roberta Buehler, who is the executive director of the Ridgway-Elk County Chamber of Commerce, and Jack Cleaver, who is the chairman of the bicentennial committee, are still planning on what to do with the capsule once it is unearthed.
“We are going to see what is available and see if we can have the capsule on display with time and space permitting,” Buehler said.
Cleaver mentioned that they may expand on the historical tour of homes for the bicentennial year.
The two are optimistic that the bicentennial will be incorporated within the Ridgway Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous as things are moving in the right direction for this to materialize in April.
“This town is based on the timber industry,” Buehler said.
A symbol of the Ridgway landmark emerged in the fall with a bicentennial medallion, which was created locally by Stacie Johnson-Leske of Your Fired Pottery
The medallion features Founder Jacob Ridgway, the Elk County Courthouse, and lilies to symbolize Ridgway as the "Lily of the Valley.”
Ridgway has a rich history, and Cleaver said that this is the perfect time for the Ridgway community to re-familiarize themselves with that.
“Knowing our history and following that history establishes a feeling of pride,” Cleaver said. “I think that’s very important.”
He spoke upon this history by mentioning the story of Jacob Ridgway, a man who was one of Pennsylvania’s richest men at the time, traveling from Philadelphia to an undiscovered area in what would eventually become the town of Ridgway.
Both Buehler and Cleaver are open to suggestions from the community on how to appropriately celebrate the bicentennial year.
Exciting times are on the horizon for the Ridgway community this year.