Ashland Gears Up for 150th Anniversary
December 6, 2007 (Bill Doran, Herald Progress)
The planners of the Jamestown 400th anniversary thought they had something special. Also special will be Ashland's sesquicentennial in 2008. The Town was officially incorporated in 1858, making it 150 years old in 2008.
Plans are underway now to make the upcoming year a celebration to end all celebrations. A large group of citizens, business leaders, church leaders, Randolph-Macon College representatives, and Town staff members are mobilizing to plan and prepare for the upcoming celebrations. "No matter what your interests may be, we will have something for everyone," said Charles Hartgrove, Town Manager.
"We will be boosting our existing events to include the anniversary celebrations, as well as adding a few extra events through the year. In addition to events we will be having an ongoing series of forums and displays at locations throughout town. We will be working with the Library and the school system to incorporate the sesquicentennial into learning programs."
Planning is already underway, including a 150th anniversary yearbook. Betty Carol-Stevenson, along with John Hodges, have researched this endeavor and found a publishing company that has put together books for 270 different communities, over the last 20 years.
Randy and Ellen Bell, of Bell Books, made a presentation to the yearbook committee Monday night in the Council Chambers. On hand were about 30 citizens, who got to thumb through some of the books that the Bells have put together for other towns. This included a book by the Town of Ashland, Kentucky. According to the Bell Books' Web site (www.bellbooks.com), "Publishing a community or county history book is like planting a tree. We hope to enjoy it ourselves, but it is also a gift to generations yet to come. We all have known people who were a storehouse of information about our community and its history. With the passing of each of those people, we lose a little of our history, a little knowledge of our heritage.
"That's why it's so important to put that information about our towns, churches, schools, organizations, and most of all, our families, down in a permanent, hardback, quality constructed book...a book to last for generations to come. The number one reason - the most important reason - a county or a community takes on a history book project is to preserve that local history," the company's statement continued.
"The history of Ashland has been captured in several books by local authors," said Bell. "What you want to create with this book is a snapshot of life in Ashland as it exists today. You may want a small section of the book to cover history, but the majority of the book will be about families living here today, as well as stories from anyone who has ever called Ashland home. "We would encourage every household of the Town to submit a maximum 300 word story on their family and life in Ashland, as well as a picture," said Bell.
"We will have a pamphlet available the first part of January that will explain how to write your history," said Carol-Stevenson. "All entries into the book are absolutely free to submit. We want to encourage anyone who has ever called Ashland his or her home to submit a story. This is the perfect time of year to reach out to those who don't live in the area. A great idea is for you to include information in your Christmas cards as you get ready to send them out to former neighbors and relatives."
"Also while everyone in the family is home for the holidays why not take a family picture to include in the yearbook," suggested Carol-Stevenson. The total time to put together a book of this magnitude is going to be between 14-16 months. The first half of the year will be devoted to getting all the family history submissions in. Fortunately the town is also going to be holding small neighborhood meetings during this time to discuss the Comp Plan. This time can be used to promote the yearbook submissions as well.
In addition to guidelines on how to write your history, the pamphlets will include an order sheet as well. The committee will start to take orders right away. They are looking at a cost of between $55-65 for each book in the preorder period. The cost is $65-75 for books purchased after that time. Pricing and order sheets should be available by the first week in January. If you would like to volunteer to be on a committee, please contact Hartgrove at (804) 798-9219, or Rob Stiles, Team 150 President, at (804) 798-6611. Committees are open to everyone. more ashland 150 news...