COMMUNITY ANNIVERSARIES: A TIME TO LOOK AT THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

By H. William Lawson, Director, The Mahoning Valley Historical Society, Youngstown

Local History Notebook, September / October 1996

With the bicentennial of Ohio statehood only seven years away, many counties, cities, villages, and townships in the state are coming upon their own two hundred-year anniversaries. Such is the case in northeastern Ohio, where settlement of land from the old Connecticut Western Reserve began in the summer of 1796 under control of the Connecticut Land Company In that year, four communities, Cleveland, Conneaut, Poland Township, and Youngstown were surveyed and/or settled by the Americans or European immigrants. Today, these four communities differ in size, population, forms of government, and economic base. Yet, all are involved in activities that are designed to draw attention to the positive aspects of their communities, from within and from without, as they mark two hundred years of progress and look forward to the next century. This essay revolves around activities in the Mahoning Valley. Once the southeastern gateway to the Western Reserve, the region later became an important center of heavy industry for a growing nation. In the post-industrial era, a new identity, focus, and role for the community is still being developed. Therefore, the timing could not be better for Youngstown-area residents to look back at their heritage, celebrate their current way of life, and look forward to the future.

The Poland Township and Youngstown Bicentennials are augmented by the fact that Mahoning County is celebrating its sesquicentennial (150 years) in 1996. In the spring of 1994, the mayor and city council of Youngstown and the Mahoning County Commissioners jointly chartered the 1996 Anniversary Commission Celebrating Youngstown and Mahoning County for the purpose of organizing a proper celebration and observance of the city's and county's anniversaries. The residents and public officials of Poland Township organized their own bicentennial commission to plan the township's celebration.

The Board of Trustees of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society (MVHS), which has operated in Mahoning County and the city of Youngstown since 1875, were honored by an invitation from the organizers of the 1996 Anniversary Commission to be directly involved in the planning and implementation of events and programs celebrating the city's and county's heritage. This involvement was facilitated by the MVHS Trustees agreeing to allow the director of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society to work on behalf of the 1996 Anniversary Commission as part of his job responsibilities with MVHS. The Commission would, in turn, compensate the Society for the hours that the MVHS Director spent working on the anniversary celebration. The MVHS Director assumed the title of executive director of the 1996 Anniversary Commission, and the day-to-day responsibilities of the Commission. This arrangement took effect in October 1994.

At this writing, Youngstown and Mahoning County are in the midst of an ambitious schedule of programs and events to commemorate this milestone year in the history of the community. For those individuals, historical societies, and museums in other communities that are now actively involved with preserving and interpreting their own local history, or are soon to be engaged in a bicentennial celebration, knowing what situations to work for or avoid might be invaluable.

Now is the Time!

The time to start planning a community anniversary celebration is once someone realizes that the date is on the horizon! Seriously, if there are five to ten years between now and the anniversary date, the planning process should begin now. For most communities, the most intense and important work will occur in the final two to three years. If the assigned organization or commission has the luxury of additional time to do the preliminary planning, organizing, and scheduling, it should be appreciated and used wisely.

In the case of the Youngstown bicentennial, everything that happened between the first orientation meeting and the kick-off of the celebration occurred within a three-year time period. The chartered and assigned commission did not really get down to business until the fall of 1994, a mere eighteen months prior to the kick-off. An oft-repeated phrase at various committee and general meetings of the 1996 Anniversary Commission, that was so predictable it could have become part of the written agenda, was "if we had more time, we could."

Build the Foundation First!

It has been said that it takes a whole village to raise a child. The same is true of planning and implementing a successful, meaningful community celebration. Everyone who is involved has some form of ownership in the celebration, whether they are an officer of the commission, paid staff person, committee member, event volunteer, performer, cash or in-kind service contributor, a family attending an event, a newspaper reporter, or a municipal employee who helps to set up, tear down, and clean up. Of course, not everyone who is eventually involved with the program can be in the decision making process. It is imperative that the governing body, be it a commission, non-profit corporation, or steering committee, have strong leadership and broad representation from all facets of the community. The backgrounds of the membership should include elected public officials, business executives and managers, school teachers and administrators, community volunteers, social service agency heads, religious leaders, local artists, public employees, and historical society trustees and/or staff. The selection of commission members should fall into the hands of an organizing committee or body of elected public officials, thereby adding legitimacy to the appointment process.

One of the first and easiest things that a newly arranged group of people can and will do is brainstorm! This is something that absolutely should not be discouraged, because therein lie the elements that will eventually come together to make a special and exciting community celebration. Also, though it is still early in the whole life of the project, the need for operating cash or in-kind services will surface as soon as the first press release or form letter is mailed! Acquiring seed money from a foundation, bank, or government body to defray these initial costs is a good way to keep the momentum going. Otherwise, a generous organization or business that can provide free administrative support will be invaluable at any stage of the project.

Who is in Charge?

A vitally important issue that is best resolved early on in the process is the question of exactly what type of organization the governing entity of the celebration will be. After much deliberation on this matter, the 1996 Anniversary Commission Celebrating Youngstown and Mahoning County was incorporated as a non-profit entity under the laws of the State of Ohio and sought tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. As an autonomous corporation, the commission follows the same rules as all other charitable and educational organizations, along with any specific tenants stated by the incorporaters in the articles of incorporation. This process involved a substantial amount of time and money to complete, but it gives the commission the freedom to control the election or appointment of officers, staff, or statutory agents.

Other options that avoid the need to incorporate are for the commission or committee to be a subsidiary of an existing government entity or non-profit corporation. The government entity plan would work best in a smaller community where the township trustees or village council are major supporters of the project and the bureaucratic structure would not provide an obstacle to cash flow. A non-profit historical agency or museum is a viable choice if the institution has the complete confidence of the project organizers and the resources available to manage the project directly. In this scenario, the board of trustees of the existing non-profit has the ultimate authority, and the anniversary commission members would serve as an advisory committee to the board. It is imperative that the non-profit board maintain control of the project, especially in relationship to finances. To do otherwise would create a situation where the incorporated agency acted as a "money funnel," and would likely provoke an audit and/or penalties for unrelated business income from the Internal Revenue Service.

Once the commission is organized, and the members are in place, a division of labor must occur. Sub-committees should be formed to reflect the goals and objectives of the overall commission and to further develop the program ideas that are accepted as feasible and important to the overall celebration. For the Youngstown and Mahoning County celebration, the 1996 Anniversary Commission formed the following committees:

• Executive/Steering--includes all of the officers and chair-persons of the sub-committees who are responsible for regular oversight of committee and staff activities and approval of motions and resolutions on behalf of the general commission membership

• Arts--charged with providing information and developing programs that promote Youngstown's and Mahoning County's large and important body of resident visual and performing artists

• Education--responsible for developing programs that augment the bicentennial/sesquicentennial celebration themes by giving local school children increased knowledge about their community's history

• Finance/Fund Development--assist the staff in identifying funding sources for the commission and monitor cash flow and expenditures, ensuring that projects stay within their budgets and payments of invoices are made on time

• History/Ethnic Heritage--develop programs that highlight the rich diversity of people who have lived or are currently living in Youngstown and Mahoning County and draw attention to the unique cultural mix created by the many national origins of local residents

• Legacy--charged with developing a project that will carry the bicentennial/sesquicentennial theme into the future for the community

• Neighborhoods and Communities--assigned to develop methods of disseminating information about the celebration and its programs and events to smaller communities within the county (i.e. clubs, neighborhood associations, churches, civic leagues, fraternal organizations, etc.)

• Promotions--through the cooperation of local and regional electronic and print media and the development of an advertising campaign, inform as many people as possible of the plans for the bicentennial/sesquicentennial celebration in 1996

• Special Events--plan community-wide events and programs that carry the commemorative and celebratory themes of the commission; this committee is further divided into sub-groups with specific responsibilities related to the individual events

• Sports and Recreation--charged with recognizing the influence of recreational and organized sports on the social fabric of the community and develop a program to tie the anniversary commission themes into local sporting events

• Townships--called to organize a parade to kick off the 150th Mahoning County Fair, in which all the county's townships, and cities, and villages are represented.

More important than anything else related to the organization and management of an anniversary commission is the assurance and understanding that one person, along with an assigned oversight committee, has full-time responsibility for implementing the plans and directives of the entire body. This full-time person can either be the commission chair, a paid project director or coordinator, or a very, very, dedicated volunteer. Whatever the situation, the understanding of responsibilities is essential to the success of the project. There is a one hundred percent failure rate of projects where no one is responsible for the planned outcome.

Now for the other side of this coin: while it is important to have one full-time person who is responsible for the outcome of the celebration, that person must have a base of support within the commission and the community. This fact must be kept in mind from the very beginning, when candidates for the general commission are being considered. If there are large companies, banks, law firms, or political entities whose participation is absolutely necessary to the success of the celebration, the organizers of the commission should invite and accept no one other than the CEO, managing partner, or top elected official to sit on the commission. These people are always busy and tapped for every important project in their community. Their first inclination will be to send a vice president, office manager or secretary in their place. This practice is acceptable on the sub-committee level where an anniversary commission needs to expand its involvement and gain as much expertise as possible. But the project will only gain momentum and a positive and heralded standing in the community if the recognized business, political, social, and cultural leaders of the community are involved throughout the life of the commission and are publicly supportive of the efforts.

Work with What You Have

There is nothing more difficult, time consuming, and expensive than to take an original idea and develop it completely from the ground up; hence the phrase, "There is nothing new under the sun!" After about six months, if they did not know already, members of a commission will realize that the ideas and possibilities are unlimited, but time and money are not. Some special programs and events will probably be necessary for most communities, but the benefits of piggybacking on existing activities are numerous. Tying into existing programs and events automatically reduces the overall cost of the celebration, increases the potential for exposure and attendance with the inclusion of ongoing event "regulars," and, most importantly, gets an even broader cross-section of the community aware of and involved with the purpose of the anniversary commission.

In Youngstown and Mahoning County, the 1996 Anniversary Commission co-sponsored the annual St. Patrick's Day parade in Downtown Youngstown in March 1996, making it the official kick-off event of the bicentennial/ sesquicentennial celebration. In May 1996, the "Celebrate '96" logo was a prominent part of the city's annual "Walk-On-Wick" arts festival, which occurs in the cultural corridor near the campus of Youngstown State University (YSU). The 1996 Anniversary Commission formed a partnership with YSU to underwrite the cost of publishing Mahoning Memories: A History of Youngstown and Mahoning County, a beautiful, coffee table-style pictorial history book that commemorates two centuries of progress in the Mahoning Valley. The 150th Canfield Fair ran over Labor Day Weekend and was dedicated to the Mahoning County Sesquicentennial. The festivities began with a parade through downtown Canfield to the fairgrounds followed by a review at the grandstand and fireworks, everything being sponsored by the Fair Board of Directors. The anniversary commission teamed up with Youngstown city schools, the YSU oral history program, and the Mahoning Valley Historical Society to produce an educational program for local school children in which they conduct oral history interviews and do primary research into the experiences of former local steel workers. In early September, YSU's second home football game will be dedicated to Youngstown's bicentennial, and the University will co-sponsor special pre-game and halftime activities with the commission. To date, the only event that the 1996 Anniversary Commission has sponsored in its entirety was the Youngstown bicentennial festival held in downtown on July 5 and 6, 1996.

The Role of the Historical Society

The community historical society is a crucial element in giving an anniversary celebration the resources necessary to develop factual, educational, and entertaining programs and events. A community anniversary is also an ideal time to enhance the historical society's image and existing programs. The organizers of a community anniversary celebration will be on the doorstep of the historical society without fail, since they will probably not find any other resource in town that has the necessary references to important events and people right at their fingertips. The trustees of the local historical society can gain an important leadership role in the project by actively advocating the concept of the anniversary celebration, and by being receptive to the notion of working in partnerships with individuals and entities that they might not otherwise be in contact with.

The Mahoning Valley Historical Society's role in the 1996 Anniversary Commission Celebrating Youngstown and Mahoning County was extensive, as noted by the fact that the MVHS Director also served as executive director of the anniversary commission and the MVHS staff was involved in the commission's oral history project. The Society's involvement went far beyond those activities. Two of the four authors of Mahoning Memories: A History of Youngstown and Mahoning County were MVHS staff members, and a vast majority of the images that appeared in the book were from the Society's archives. MVHS literature, exhibits, and programs have been part of most celebratory events. Near the beginning of the bicentennial/sesquitennial program, MVHS unveiled a major undertaking within its Arms Family Museum of Local History. "The Valley Experience: Lives and Times in Youngstown and Mahoning County" opened to the public on March 22, 1996, as a multi-gallery, interactive exhibit commemorating Youngstown's and Mahoning County's anniversaries and the lives of those who have called the Mahoning Valley home for more than 200 years. The second and final phase of the exhibit opened for "Walk-On-Wick" on May 18. Planning, production, and installation of the exhibit involved thousands of staff hours throughout the last fiscal year, and it will inhabit eight of the museum's nine changing galleries for a two-to-three year period. The cost of the project, which exceeded $15,000, was generously underwritten by three local foundations. Having the exhibit on the calendar and being directly involved in the 1996 Anniversary Commission operations monopolized staff time, reordered institutional priorities in the short-term, and moved several other important projects back on the Society's schedule, consequences that the Board of Trustees and the Director felt were offset by the opportunity to do something positive for the whole community and to establish new lines of communication and awareness for the future of the institution.

Summary

Planning and implementing a community celebration of a milestone anniversary or event is an all-consuming responsibility for those directly involved in the process. Still, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for local historians and historical societies to capitalize on an uplifted awareness of the community's heritage. Knowing early on the level of involvement and programming the community can afford and absorb is the key to success.

Creating a positive image and pride within the community and for its historical agencies and programs is the payoff. It is also worthy to note, in closing, that once the programs and events are planned, funded, set up, in place, and under way, it is a whole lot of FUN, too!

The Local History Notebook is edited and published by the Ohio Historical Society's Local History Office in order to bring useful information to people working in the local history field. The selection of subjects and authors is based on the OAHSM Editorial Board's and the Local History Office's determination of issues which are timely in nature and lasting in scope. The reprints are copyrighted 1996 by the Ohio Historical Society Reprints are available individually or as complete sets. For further information, contact: