The City of Ravenna will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America by hosting a community picnic through the support of America 250 Ohio, an organization that recognizes a multi-year commemoration of the State of Ohio’s impact on the nation’s story, on July 11 in downtown Ravenna.
“One of their ways to engage the community was a community picnic so in the month of July, they are encouraging community picnics throughout Ohio so we thought that it would be a great way to celebrate America’s 250th,” Ravenna Clerk Council Chelsea Gregor told The Weekly Villager on Jan. 15.
America 250 Ohio operates under the umbrella of America 250, a national organization which honors the 250th anniversary of the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence from Britain’s rule. In addition to Portage County, all other 87 other counties in Ohio will also host a community celebration in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday.
According to Gregor, the City of Ravenna will close Main Street for the day and the community will come together for a community photo in celebration of the special day. She added that the City will also feature a time capsule for residents to store treasured antiques, feature artwork from Bill Starcher, a local three-dimensional artist who creates most of his work from tires, have a large supply of chalk for children to draw on the streets and have a musical performance throughout the day from an artist that is yet to be determined.
“We are getting food donations so that we can provide a picnic for the community. Our plan is hot dogs again,” Gregor noted. “We have confirmed that Sunshine Cupcakes will also be donating a sheet cake as they did before. Ravenna 7 Movie Theatre will be donating popcorn and we will be having slushies throughout the City of Ravenna.
Although the community picnic is still six months away, Gregor said that the city will invite local businesses, schools, faith communities, community organizations and individuals to come to City Hall for a planning session on Jan. 28 at 12 p.m.
Ravenna Service Director Tim Contant added that the community picnic is not just a celebration of the nation’s history but also another chance for Ravenna’s downtown area to be on full display for visitors.
“Hopefully this not only brings our residents out from within our community but also visitors can see what we have to offer downtown,” he said. “It is exciting, and I feel that this is going to be a great event for the City of Ravenna — our whole community and we are excited about it.”
When it comes to putting on a celebration, Gregor highlighted the lengths that the city has gone to in celebrating the few annual community festivities, such as Art on Main Street, Balloon-A-Fair, and the Ravenna Rocks Concert.
Although small in population, Gregor said that Ravenna always has plenty to offer in terms of attractions and sights.
“We have lots of unique and great items,” she noted. “We have our new bookstore, which is really popular, we have great architecture and history. So we are very lucky that we have the layout that we do. A lot of cities don’t have that. This is a really great way to have people stop and take a look and have people appreciate the historic nature of this community.”
Contant said that Ravenna’s national pride is also displayed through the city’s colors, red, white and blue. Also the colors of the American Flag. Those colors will be displayed throughout Main Street on the day of the picnic.
“We are going to have a lot of red, white and blue aspects downtown,” he said. “Obviously our American Flags will be on our light poles. All of our flower beds will be decorated with red, white and blue flowers this year. A lot of our employees are very excited about helping out with getting those flowers and keeping them watered, as well as putting the flags up. We also will have a Memorial Day banner up at that time; our veterans will be displayed on our flagpoles and it will be a very prideful event as well.”
In addition to celebrating the nation’s anniversary, Gregor said that the community picnic is also an opportunity to enlighten the younger generation of Ravenna about the nation’s history and what they have to thankful about because of past accomplishments and what there is to look forward to.
“I think it is really good for the younger generation to see the community celebrate and come together and for the city to host and celebrate this memorable year for everyone,” she said.
