A celebration 200 years in the making
City will begin planning 2018 bicentennial anniversary this year
The city of North Royalton was founded in 1818 and will mark this major milestone with a celebration next year for the bicentennial. Submitted image
NORTH ROYALTON – The 2018 North Royalton Community Festival will be unlike any other and will be a major cause for celebration.
Next year, North Royalton celebrates its 200th birthday, the city’s bicentennial.
You better believe an occasion of this magnitude requires some serious planning.
In fact, the city will begin gearing up for the celebration early this fall. Community service clubs, which meet quarterly with the mayor, have already been kicking around ideas and suggestions in anticipation of the anniversary, which will possibly be a week-long affair next year most likely between Aug. 12-19.
Mayor Bob Stefanik said the committee will start forming in earnest shortly after this year’s community festival, which is this Aug. 18-20.
“We have already started forming the committee by talking about it at our quarterly meetings, and we’ve got the ball rolling. We will be reaching out to the other organizations in the community in early fall. Our next service club meeting will be after home days,” he said.
Stefanik said there have already been some really great ideas brought forward.
It has been suggested the city do a family picnic reminiscent of the old farmer’s picnics of yore that eventually became the community festival we know and love today. A citywide street sale among businesses has also been pitched, and a bicentennial ball with dinner and dancing is also being tossed around.
“I definitely would like to see this kicked off with a bicentennial ball. We’d really like to do that and make this a week-long celebration in conjunction with the Community Festival, but, of course, nothing is set in stone, these are all just ideas right now,” Stefanik said.
The committee will spearhead planning efforts and decide what will be on the agenda, but it will be gleaming input from the experts when it comes to honoring history.
“We’ll definitely be talking to the seniors in the city that have a wealth of information about the old North Royalton, as well as our historical society,” the mayor said.
North Royalton was founded in 1818.
Knight Sprague built the first town hall on the village green in 1827. He and his brother David moved here from Royalton, Vt. and offered one gallon of whiskey if the township could be named after their hometown. Undoubtedly, the offer hit the spot, and the rest is history.
Picnics or home days celebrations can be traced back to 1884.
North Royalton’s last major historical milestone celebration was its sesquicentennial, 150th anniversary, in 1968.
Ward 3 Councilman Dan Langshaw, as a member of the historical society, said he views the 200th anniversary celebration as a bridge between the city’s past and future, honoring the city’s rich history and how far North Royalton has come as a community.
He envisions some historical reenactments paying tribute to those early settlers who laid the groundwork for the community, maybe an old-time baseball game or tournament as was part of the home days celebrations of the past.
“It is my hope that through all the fun celebrations, residents will take the time with their families to learn how our city was born and how we became the city we are today,” he said, “while we also christen a new chapter in our city’s history with the unveiling of the new and improved City Green.”
Langshaw is referring to the two-level pavilion that is being designed for the footprint of the former city hall. This project will likely include an electronic sign for the City Green as well as a wrought-iron and brick fence for the North Royalton Cemetery.
Ward 6 Councilman Dan Kasaris thinks a time capsule would be a fitting addition to the festivities.
“We will be celebrating 200 years of our history, our culture and our city,” he said. “I would like to see a time capsule created at Memorial Lake Park or on the City Green so that in another 100 years, it could be opened and our grandchildren’s children could see how life was in the 21st century.”
Next year, North Royalton celebrates its 200th birthday, the city’s bicentennial.
You better believe an occasion of this magnitude requires some serious planning.
In fact, the city will begin gearing up for the celebration early this fall. Community service clubs, which meet quarterly with the mayor, have already been kicking around ideas and suggestions in anticipation of the anniversary, which will possibly be a week-long affair next year most likely between Aug. 12-19.
Mayor Bob Stefanik said the committee will start forming in earnest shortly after this year’s community festival, which is this Aug. 18-20.
“We have already started forming the committee by talking about it at our quarterly meetings, and we’ve got the ball rolling. We will be reaching out to the other organizations in the community in early fall. Our next service club meeting will be after home days,” he said.
Stefanik said there have already been some really great ideas brought forward.
It has been suggested the city do a family picnic reminiscent of the old farmer’s picnics of yore that eventually became the community festival we know and love today. A citywide street sale among businesses has also been pitched, and a bicentennial ball with dinner and dancing is also being tossed around.
“I definitely would like to see this kicked off with a bicentennial ball. We’d really like to do that and make this a week-long celebration in conjunction with the Community Festival, but, of course, nothing is set in stone, these are all just ideas right now,” Stefanik said.
The committee will spearhead planning efforts and decide what will be on the agenda, but it will be gleaming input from the experts when it comes to honoring history.
“We’ll definitely be talking to the seniors in the city that have a wealth of information about the old North Royalton, as well as our historical society,” the mayor said.
North Royalton was founded in 1818.
Knight Sprague built the first town hall on the village green in 1827. He and his brother David moved here from Royalton, Vt. and offered one gallon of whiskey if the township could be named after their hometown. Undoubtedly, the offer hit the spot, and the rest is history.
Picnics or home days celebrations can be traced back to 1884.
North Royalton’s last major historical milestone celebration was its sesquicentennial, 150th anniversary, in 1968.
Ward 3 Councilman Dan Langshaw, as a member of the historical society, said he views the 200th anniversary celebration as a bridge between the city’s past and future, honoring the city’s rich history and how far North Royalton has come as a community.
He envisions some historical reenactments paying tribute to those early settlers who laid the groundwork for the community, maybe an old-time baseball game or tournament as was part of the home days celebrations of the past.
“It is my hope that through all the fun celebrations, residents will take the time with their families to learn how our city was born and how we became the city we are today,” he said, “while we also christen a new chapter in our city’s history with the unveiling of the new and improved City Green.”
Langshaw is referring to the two-level pavilion that is being designed for the footprint of the former city hall. This project will likely include an electronic sign for the City Green as well as a wrought-iron and brick fence for the North Royalton Cemetery.
Ward 6 Councilman Dan Kasaris thinks a time capsule would be a fitting addition to the festivities.
“We will be celebrating 200 years of our history, our culture and our city,” he said. “I would like to see a time capsule created at Memorial Lake Park or on the City Green so that in another 100 years, it could be opened and our grandchildren’s children could see how life was in the 21st century.”