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SESQUICENTENNIAL PLANNING STARTS
The sesquicentennial will mark Cameron County's 150th anniversary. Held by the Cameron County Chamber of Commerce, the meeting was in the main room of the courthouse. According to Mike Wennin, a member of the chamber's board of directors, purpose of the meeting was to "get a feel for what people (in the community) would like to do." Tina Lorson, the chamber's executive director, said that the chamber's goal is to make the celebration a year-long proceeding. Some proposed projects to recognize prominent people, places and events that occurred in the county were formulated before the meeting took place. For instance, the Cameron County Historical Society intends to create a registry for "historic" homes in the county, said Wennin, who is a member of the Historical Society also. Wennin said that homeowners in the county could submit the oldest pictures of their homes that they had and register them in the directory for a fee. He said that this would serve two purposes: recognizing homes that have been in the county for a significant amount of time; and providing the county with an added tourist attraction. Another idea was to recognize prominent Cameron County natives with a state-wide banner project called "Hometown Heroes." Wennin said the cost per banner would be around $200. If people take to the idea, banners could be displayed on utility poles in the Emporium Borough in the same way that the existing banners are. There was another proposed idea of creating personalized decks of playing cards using old pictures of places in Cameron County. In order for the decks to be created, 55 separate pictures would be needed. A fee would be charged for each card with face cards being more expensive than others. Some additional event ideas that were suggested during the meeting included a parade, a street dance, a logo contest, geocaching/scavenger hunts with historic items/locations, a victorian-style festival with activities, food, crafts and attire from the 1860's, a cross-county hike through some of the areas where historic events took place, an ecology challenge, a winter ball, a photo contest, bringing in classic cars, window displays in local businesses, a road race potentially using horses and/or covered wagons, having the covered wagon train come back to Cameron County, a 3- D archery hunt and publishing a series of historical articles in the local newspapers. People in attendance also suggested that commemorative items such as Zippo lighters and tokens created by local powdered metal companies be created and/or sold to promote the event. Representatives from the commissioners' office, the Emporium Borough Council, the Chamber, the Emporium Borough Police Department and the Cameron County School District were in attendance. Also in attendance were representatives from the Cameron County Little League, the Emporium Senior Center, the Sylvan Heritage Council, the Mountain Laurel Search and Rescue team, Cameron County Arts, the Knights of Columbus and both local newspapers. "These meetings and ideas are open to anyone and everyone," said Wennin. "It's going to take the community to pull this off." |
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