A murky sky and chill weather was not nearly enough to keep the Windham community from assembling for a special dedication ceremony hosted by the Windham Historical Society at the Brick Chapel last Wednesday evening in Windham. The WHS invited the community to gather for a ceremony commemorating the recent projects they had undertaken the last year.
WHS President/Founder Lynnea St. John welcomed all who attended in the front hall of the Brick Chapel, and presented the special guest host for the evening, Marilynn Sessions, who serves as President of the Hope Town Board of Directors.
“It is wonderful, any time I get to drive back going down State Route 303 and seeing my old house just brings back great memories,” Sessions said.
St. John officially introduced the three historical projects that the WHS had worked on, including the monuments and the street clock. She added that all three projects, which are located on the Township green, are now under the management of the Windham Township Board of Trustees; Chairman Dan Burns, Vice Chairman Rich Gano and Brian Miller.
“These projects did not happen overnight, they came together, piece by piece with the help of many people and with the support of a grant that allowed us to bring several ideas to life all at once,” noted St. John.
St. John thanked all those involved in the WHS’ efforts in making these historical projects a reality.
In the case of the monument replica commemorating the founding of Windham, St. John explained how several members of the WHS visited Mike Paul’s property where the original monument is located and agreed that they needed to have it restored. The monument replica was done by the Milano Monument Company of Cleveland, OH.
Sessions then introduced Ohio State Representatives Heidi Workman and Steve Demteriou.
Workman offered some brief remarks, extending her congratulations to the WHS for its efforts and emphasized the importance of it.
“The historical societies of our communities are the staple and the lasting monument to the history that comes before us and those who build our communities, so it is an honor to be here and celebrate with all of you,” Workman said.
Sessions turned it over to George Belden, distinguished author and editing professional, to lead the crowd outside to the Township green where he formally presented each monument.
Belden first presented the replica of the monument from Mike Paul’s property, which sat in front of the Brick Chapel.
The monument was engraved with the names of the four original founders of Windham who hailed from Beckett, MA, Elijah Alford, Oliver Alford, Ebeneezer Messenger and Nathan Messenger.
“The monument was built and dedicated on the location of those first two cabins. Mike Paul, who is the current owner of that property, was aware that it had been vandalized badly, and he was very enthusiastic about the historical society’s willingness to restore it,” he noted. “The original monument has been repaired, it is now protected from vandals, and this replica was manufactured by the Milano Monument Company as a commemoration.”
Belden added that all the historical projects were funded by the One-Time Strategic Community Investment Grant fund, which was given to WHS because of the hard work by St. John.
On the other side of the Brick Chapel’s driveway, Belden showed another monument that the WHS worked on, which was a boulder with a plaque representing the site of the time capsule that was buried in celebration of Windham’s 175th anniversary/.
“This plaque, which is worth reading because some of the names on there are very special, names the citizens who contributed to that event, the 175th anniversary and the building of the Gazebo which today is used as the backdrop for about every civic event in Windham,” he said.
Belden took the crowd to the Gazebo, which is located on the Windham Township Hall’s green, and has been used a backdrop for celebratory photos, including prom pictures for high school students, and has rested on the site where Windham held its bicentennial celebration in 2011.
Belden told the audience about the final project being celebrated when the WHS recovered lost school photos from 10 graduating classes of Windham High School from 2002-2011. Thanks to the WHS’ efforts, those photos would now soon be displayed at the school.
Belden stepped aside for St. John, who oversaw the official unveiling of the Township’s new street clock, which was ordered from the Verdin Company from Cincinnati.
St. John highlighted the efforts of the Maplewood Career Center Electrical Students led by instructor Joe Svonavec, who performed the installation of the street clock. According to St. John, the Maplewood Career Center students went above and beyond to complete the project.
“They originally offered to run the electric wires underground from the corner of this Township building all the way across and all of the way,” she added. “We thought that there was going to be a machine digging the pathway, that didn’t happen so the boys were out here with shovels and digging all that way until the very last day.”
St. John added that former Windham Village Administrator Ryan Wagner lent a helping hand, as he used his ditch witch to assist in the project and Township workers Kevin Wert and Rusty Maoirca also assisted with the equipment to bring the clock to the Township Hall’s green.
St, John spoke of how she originally encountered State Representative Demetriou, as she was introduced to him when her son Ted invited her to a social gathering years ago. She explained that she informed Representative Demetriou how the WHS needed a grant to fund new projects. She acknowledged that she was unsure if she would ever hear from him but heard from him a few days later. She said that she listed several of the things that the WHS hoped to accomplish and he pressed her for other projects of interest that the WHS wanted to become involved in.
“We are not greedy here at Windham, we would have been happy with $10,000. But we ended up getting $28,000 with Steve’s continued help and encouragement, ,” she said.
Representative Demetriou was invited by St. John to share a few words.
He lauded the WHS for how prudent it had been in making sure to make the most out of the OTSCI grant that he assisted with being awarded to Windham.
“I think Heidi and I would welcome the Historical Society to show how far you stretched $28,000 because I can tell you other organizations and the government is not as judicious with our taxpayer dollars as you are,” he said. “Much bigger numbers get carelessly tossed around in Columbus.”
He applauded St. John for her tenacity and conviction for not just asking for his help to find new funding for the WHS but for being diligent and following up on the status of the grant days after their conversation.
St. John concluded the ceremony by officially unveiling the street clock on the Township Hall’s green and read the dedication inscription to commemorate the street clock’s introduction to Windham.
