Gaylord is turning 100 years old and plans to kick off the party Memorial Day weekend
GAYLORD — Last week's tornado will not stop Memorial Day and centennial celebrations in Gaylord.
This year's event will take on added significance because Gaylord is marking 100 years since attaining city status, said Lisa Marie Tobin, executive director of the Gaylord Area Council for the Arts.
"We are focusing on celebrating community to help mark the 100 years Gaylord has been a city," said Tobin. "The downtown is going to be transformed into a social and artistic cultural opportunity with activities for everyone."
Erika Peters, who is helping to coordinate the city's centennial celebration, said at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 28, Mayor Todd Sharrard will give an opening message on a stage on the courthouse lawn downtown in front of the rock fountain.
"The city of Gaylord will have a booth on the courthouse lawn, near where Mayor Sharrard will open the event. That is where people can drop off items and letters for the city's time capsule. There will be a form to fill out when dropping off a time-capsule item and they will receive a certificate commemorating their submission," said Peters.
The time capsule will accept letters, pictures and other commemorative items about the size of a deck of cards for submission.
"We will begin accepting submissions for the time capsule during the May 28 event and will continue to accept them until July 29," added Peters.
She said the time capsule will be on display in city hall and plans call for it to be opened in 2072.
People will also be able to purchase a commemorative centennial coin or a T-shirt designed by 14-year-old Lillian Mason of Gaylord at the booth as well.
The Gaylord Farmers Market will open again for another season at the Pavilion on Saturday morning.
Tobin said the arts council plans a full day of activities designed to pay tribute to Gaylord's past and acknowledge the creative skills of local actors, artisans and musicians.
Self-guided walking tours of Gaylord's historical sites and murals will begin at the Otsego County Historical Museum at 320 W. Main St. You can view a video preview of the tour at bit.ly/3wx3wIy.
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Other activities will include live figure drawing with models in Claude Shannon Park, family-friendly art activities, and mural painting demonstrations.
Tobin said local artists will be selling their work in tents on the courthouse lawn and the Gaylord Car Museum will be open.
Guided tours will be available at the Mount Carmel Center, 147 N. Otsego Ave. The center is the former St. Mary Catholic Church. The Gaylord Youth Orchestra will also offer a performance in the building.
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Musicians playing anything from a guitar to percussion instruments will be performing all afternoon in various locations downtown.
Tobin said actors will be portraying several notable people from Gaylord's history throughout the downtown.
"You can pick up a scavenger hunt sheet and have all of the actors sign it. You then turn it in for a prize," Tobin said.
Memorial Day
The Ralph Holewinski VFW Post 1518 in Gaylord said the annual Memorial Day parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, May 30, on Main Street. Those who would like to participate need to meet up in the parking lot by the Subway on Main Street at 9:30 a.m.
Special features in this year's parade will include a 20-foot by 30-foot American Flag carried down the street by community members and over 200 flags carried by members of the community.
The VFW post's Memorial Day ceremony is scheduled to begin at approximately 11 a.m. in front of the Otsego County Veterans Memorial at the corner of Main Street and South Court Avenue, following the parade. There will a special guest speaker from Camp Grayling and numerous wreath presentations will be made by local organizations.
The VFW encourages everyone to visit any of the 12 local cemeteries and say a prayer of thanksgiving at the grave of a veteran. The VFW will have placed over 1,700 American flags at the graves of our veterans in all of the cemeteries to acknowledge their sacrifice.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord centennial to help kick off Memorial Day weekend events
