Strike up the band — it’s bicentennial parade time
Ever since Holmes County’s early days, grand parades have been a central theme for celebrating special occasions. Thus, when the bicentennial committee wanted to create something special to honor the county’s 200th anniversary, a huge parade seemed perfect.
Whether it’s 76 trombones and 110 cornets or loads of floats, local and state government officials, bands, and local businesses and church groups, it’s time to strike up the band and prepare for a Holmes County parade like no other before.
Melissa Patrick, Holmes County Historical Society member and chairperson for the Holmes County Bicentennial Celebration Committee, said they are working hard to prepare plenty of special events for the upcoming Holmes County 200th anniversary bash this summer, and one of the big pieces of that celebration is getting the community involved.
The kickoff for the bicentennial celebration will be June 29, and it will be a featured part of Thunder Over Holmes County in Millersburg, where there will be a fireworks display.
“We have people coming together from all over the county to work on this and make it something special,” Patrick said. “We have a great committee, from the chamber, to Early American Days, to the Antique Festival, farm bureau and churches. We have people from the villages and historical society and a whole big group developing ideas.”
One of the events in the celebration will be the Holmes County Bicentennial Parade, which Patrick hopes will be filled with plenty of Holmes County flavor. The route will be similar to that of the Holmes County Antique Festival, which runs through Millersburg on Jackson Street.
“We wanted to kick off with something really special, and we want to create a really big parade,” Patrick said.
While creating a massive parade is a major undertaking, Patrick said the committee felt it was an appropriate way to go because nearly every major celebration in the days of yore was celebrated in style with a grand parade, many of them taking place along Jackson Street in Millersburg.
“Any time you look back at anything important, like the dedication of the new courthouse, that’s how they celebrated,” Patrick said. “What better way to celebrate than to fall back on some of those things we have done as a county.”
She said finding bands to play for the festival is difficult because schools are out of session during the summer, but she would love to see plenty of music peppered throughout the parade.
“We’ll have to be creative,” she said of finding musical groups.
She said it would be awesome to see area bands, church groups and others providing music in the parade.
In promoting the celebration, the committee had a bicentennial logo created just for the occasion through the Chamber of Commerce.
The logo is customizable and free to use for any company or group wishing to place their name on the logo for promotional purposes.
“We’re a one-time committee, and we’re not interested in this event being a moneymaker,” Patrick said. “We want to give this logo to anyone who wants to incorporate it into whatever they want to. We’re here to create an experience and remember the history of Holmes County.”
Along those lines the committee is in the process of creating a historical video featuring plenty of blasts from the past 200 years. That will debut during the day of Thunder Over Holmes County.
They also are developing plenty of other components of the celebration and plan to continue the celebration by initiating the 200th anniversary theme into many other annual celebrations throughout the year.
Should they receive the funding requested through the county’s bed tax grant program, Patrick said they would like to provide time capsules for each individual community to make and place within their own area.
“We want each community to be a part and feel that exciting level of the bicentennial,” Patrick said.
She said they will have free items to give away like lapel pins that people can take as commemorative items.
It is being designed as a celebration throughout Holmes County because bicentennials are a rarity and worthy of honoring and celebrating.
“We want big bands, elected officials and a huge gathering because that is what would have taken place at any special function, dedication or special ceremony back in the day,” Patrick said.
She said the first step in creating something special comes from the community, which is invited to participate in the Holmes County Bicentennial Parade. It is free to enter and will begin at noon on June 29, with lineup starting at 10:30 a.m. and registration required ahead of time.
Entry forms can be found on this page of today’s Bargain Hunter.