Anniversary committee sponsors postmark contest

Auglaize County's 175th Anniversary Committee invites middle

school students throughout the county to submit postmark designs commemorating Auglaize County's upcoming milestone.

The committee will award a prize of $100 for the design selected to appear on the commemorative postmark early next year.

"The committee is looking for as many ways as possible to celebrate the anniversary,” said Rachel Barber, committee member and county historical society administrator, “Inasmuch as February 14, 1848. is the actual day that the state legislature approved the creation of the

new Auglaize County, we thought that a special postmark would be an interesting way to honor the event."

Post offices throughout the county will hand cancel mail with the

special postmark on February 14, 2023, for patrons who request it.

Contest rules are as follows:

1. All submissions must be in black and white. Designs may be created

by hand or on computer. No work will be accepted in pencil, crayon, or colored marker. All work should be submitted on white paper.

2. The design cannot be larger than 4 inches wide or 2 inches high.

3. It must include the date February 14, 2023.

4. All students-public, private, home-schooled-entering the 5th through 8th grade as of this Fall are eligible to submit a design. Each student is limited to two submissions.

The deadline for the competition is June 30. Please submit entries to the Auglaize County Historical Society, 206 W. Main Street, Wapakoneta, Ohio 45895. Include the following: name of student, grade as

of Fall 2022, home address, and telephone number for parent or guardian. The committee reserves the right to reject all entries.

The Auglaize County Commissioners established the 175th anniversary committee in mid-2021, appointing representatives from local

historical societies and communities to plan a multi-month commemoration of the milestone. The committee has met monthly since July 2021. Auglaize County was established as Ohio's 84th county by the State Legislature on February 14, 1848.

Some of the committee's plans include concerts, lectures, a traveling exhibit, special additions to the Fair-including an industrial

showcase-recognition of family farms, events at the courthouse, etc.

Members of the committee include

Barber, Lori Bellman, Genevieve Conradi, Dennis Dicke, Luann Everett, Dennis Gaertner, Don Harrod, Jim Lee, Esther Leffel, Edee Marshall, Mary Mathews,

Sharon Schnell, Jeanne Shaw, Marilyn Shaw, Lisa Watercutter, and Charisse Zuppardo.

For more information about Auglaize County's 175th anniversary,

contact Barber, auglaizecountyhistory@bright.net or 419/738-9328.