Bicentennial celebration deemed successful
A parade featuring more than 170 floats representing private industry and various public and private civic organizations parade through downtown Bellefontaine Sunday in honor of Logan County’s Bicentennial. (EXAMINER PHOTOS | NATE SMITH AND REUBEN MEES)
Thousands of people lined Main Street and Columbus Avenue on Sunday afternoon as the feature parade of the Logan County Bicentennial celebration made its way into the history books.
The Honda Transmission Manufacturing float featured a patriotic red, white and blue 200th birthday cake.
The parade, which involved thousands of local residents representing more than 170 registered units and marching bands from all five local high schools, was one of the largest parades in recent history.
A horse painted with a LOCO 200 slogan trots in the parade.
The 200th anniversary parade and celebration was even bigger and better than the sesquicentennial celebration of 1968, those who remember that event said as they watched the 170-plus units pass.
A group representing the Hilliker YMCA marches on Columbus Avenue.
Scott Martin, who at age 12 marched with the bicycle repair shop float of his father Hugh Martin, returned 50 years later as owner and operator of his own business, Blue Jacket Taxi.
“This is much bigger than the sesquicentennial,” he said.
Members of the various Boy Scouts troops make the turn from Main Street onto Columbus Avenue.
Jerry and Joanne Ritter, who watched the parade from east Columbus Avenue, said they were also together watching the 1968 parade.
“We were watching it together downtown just like we are today,” Mrs. Ritter said.
“This is better than it was then,” Mr. Ritter added. “It’s good to see all the community participation and the commissioners’ involvement.”
Zanesfield Mayor Bo Johns and his daughters ride on a float with a replica of the village’s Simon Kenton Memorial stone.
All three Logan County Commissioners disembarked from their vehicles at the head of the parade and made their way to the steps of the Logan County Courthouse where a brief ceremony was conducted.
A Logan County Veterans to D.C. truck makes its way along north Main Street Sunday as part of Logan County Bicentennial parade festivities.
The Rev. Ron Irick prayed and the National Anthem was sung by Katy Leib as a color guard of Bellefontaine Police Department officers waited to post the colors.
The Rev. Ron Irick joins the Logan County Commissioners to lead a prayer prior to the posting of the colors by a Bellefontaine Police Department color guard.
The commissioners were impressed by the turnout and participation.
“This has been fantastic,” Commissioner John Bayliss said. “We are all elated at the way people participated and turned out to watch. It’s great to see the community come together for an event like this.”
A young member of Dance Fusion completes a flip in front of the crowd gathered on Main Street to watch the parade.
“I’m thrilled that we had such a great turnout to celebrate our county’s history and heritage,” Commissioner Joe Antram added. “The weather was perfect; when we needed to reschedule, I was afraid we would lose participation, but that definitely was not the case as the 170 entrants and the huge crowds all along the parade route testify.
“The one thing that made me most happy was to see so many young Logan County citizens taking part. There were so many performing groups, scouts and other activities. These young people are the future of our county,” Antram said.
Members of the Logan County Genealogical Society dressed as a pioneer first family.
Organizers Samantha Jackson and Todd McCormick said they were very pleased with the turnout and the decision to postpone the event from a rainy weekend earlier in September.
“I think it went great. I was very pleased with the turnout and it went better than I could have imagined,” McCormick said.
“It’s been very good and we’ve had a lot of positive comments,” Jackson added.
Riders with the Logan County Chapter of the Ohio Horseman’s through downtown. Council ride through downtown.
The parade was one of multiple events planned to mark the 200th year of Logan County history.
A pennyfarthing bicyclst cruises through downtown.
The yearlong celebration began with a kickoff in March, as March 1, 1818, is the official date of the county’s birth. There were several other bicentennial-themed events throughout the summer and a traveling exhibit created by the Logan County History Center that visited several annual events.
Parker Hubbard, dressed as the nationally syndicated cartoon character Abe Martin created by his great-great-grandfather Kin Hubbard, leans casually against the Bellefontaine Examiner float.
The parade was originally scheduled for Sept. 9. While the parade was canceled that day because of rains, a free concert and raffle of three bicentennial engraved Henry rifles went forward as planned that day.
A tractor driver with a bicentennial message from the Logan County Farm Bureau makes his way past the Logan County Courthouse.
The commissioners also plan to unveil new statues at the entrance to Memorial Hall in connection with Veterans’ Day and will host an open house and rededication for the Logan County Courthouse after renovations are complete there, Bayliss added.
A miniature version of the the Piatt Caslte Mac-A-Cheek is pulled along on a trailer.
“We are cooperating with local veterans groups to unveil the statues at Memorial Hall, which will be replicas of the ones that were there originally,” the commissioner said.
“We are also in the early planning stages for an event to celebrate the reopening of the courthouse.”
BICENTENNIAL BANDS
Performing for spectators on the north side of the Logan County courthouse following their parade up Main Street from the Logan County Fairgrounds were the marching bands from Indian Lake, Benjamin Logan, Bellefontaine, West Liberty-Salem and Riverside high schools.
