With the estimated 250 attendees encouraged to dress in periodic clothing, the second of 12 monthly events planned this year to celebrate Miamisburg’s 200th birthday has been long-anticipated, said Kimm Mote of the bicentennial committee.
RELATED: Riverfront Park to be ‘center stage’ for weeklong bicentennial events
“This is probably – of the monthly events – the biggest deal we’re having because it is the actual celebration,” Mote said. “And to be able to have it on the actual date that it happened, I think, is pretty unique and pretty special.”
Bicentennial organizers said the $35 tickets for this week’s celebration were spoken for weeks before Christmas. The evening emceed by longtime Miamisburg Mayor Dick Church Jr. will feature the premier of the documentary “The River Runs Through.”
Produced by local talents Carol O’Connell, Kevin Scheuller, Bobbye Sweny and John Warrington, event organizers said the video tells the story of the people, places and events that shaped Miamisburg.
RELATED: Bicentennial group seeks volunteers, donations
The event will also include Sweny’s The Celebration Song, which was written by the local historian in tribute to founders Zachariah Hole, the Valentine Gebhart family, Drs. John and Peter Treon and Jacob Kercher, organizers said.
Meanwhile, various locations in the city will be featured in a Miamisburg version of Monopoly, Mote said. The board game will be available for $25 at businesses around town, she said.
Miamisburg’s heritage is special for people who grew up in the city, said Church, who heads the bicentennial committee. The 1959 Miamisburg High School graduate said residents, like himself, have often lived in the city for decades.
RELATED: Ohio State University alumni band to be part of bicentennial parade
“History is a precious thing to a great many people who have called Miamisburg home,” Church said in his state of the city address earlier this month. “It’s not uncommon to see third and fourth-generation families in our community.”
The founding, according to the Miamisburg Historical Society, came about this way:
On Feb. 20, 1818, four men from Pennsylvania - Emanuel Gebhart, Kercher, and John Treon and Peter Treon - offered for sale at public auction 90 lots in a new town named Miamisburg. It was on the left bank of the Miami River and the plat was divided into square lots containing one-fifth of an acre.
RELATED: Volunteers sought for bicentennial planning
The name Miamisburg was derived from the Miami tribe that resided there, combining “Miamis” with “burg,” which denotes a borough or town. By 1832, the unincorporated community had become a village and achieved city status about 100 years later.
The community had been known as Hole’s Station since about 1797. That’s when Hole, a minister, settled there with his family from Virginia and built a stockade as protection from Native Americans. In the interim, many settlers had arrived in the area, mostly from Pennsylvania.
-MORE COVERAGE ON THE ISSUE:
RELATED: Miamisburg marks last birthday before bicentennial celebration
RELATED: Sales of bobblehead of longtime mayor to help fund bicentennial
RELATED: 5 unique places to eat and visit in downtown Miamisburg
RELATED: Popular gathering sites changing names
IF YOU GO
What: Miamisburg Founder's Day celebration.
When: Tuesday, Feb. 20. Doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner at 6 p.m.
Where: Baum Opera House, 15 S. First St., Miamisburg.
Tickets: Sold out.
About the Author
