Hayes Center wraps up celebration of president's 200th birthday with reverse parade

FREMONT - On Sunday, the first ever “reverse parade” was held at Spiegel Grove wrapping up a year of honoring President Rutherford B. Hayes' 200th birthday and celebrating the U.S. President from Fremont's 201st birthday. The event was free and about 50 people of all ages came to walk the parade.

At Sunday's event, instead of a parade traveling past people, the people walked around the park grounds to see displays about Hayes. There were nine different stops that featured historians and re-enactments of Hayes' life.

“Everyone does a wonderful job keeping his legacy alive, with these wonderful grounds here at Spiegel Grove and this celebration,” said Burke Hayes Jr., the great, great, great-grandson of President Hayes. “Rut was a man of service; he served his family, his state, his county, the union, and he would be very honored to see all of us here.”

Stations highlight times in Hayes' life

The reverse parade started first with the Motherly and Sisterly advice re-enactment followed by a visit to Kenyon College in 1838. The next station portrayed a trip to Sedar Meal Civil War on April 3, 1862, followed by the Presidential Campaign in 1876. The next stations included the Silver Wedding anniversary at the White House on Dec. 30, 1877; a visit with Sarah Jane Grant in 1882; a visit with Lucy Elliot Keeler in 1889; followed by W.E.B DuBois; and a letter he wrote to Hayes in 1893. One last station included Webb Hayes, founder of the nation’s first Presidential library in 1916.

“I learned a lot today actually, a great deal about Samuel Tilden,” said Julian Mack, an activist and reverse-parade attendee. “Knowing our past liberates us from the present and without understanding our history, we don't know where we are right now, nor where we can go as a community, a nation, or as a people.”

The parade ended at President Hayes' tomb where the annual wreath-laying took place. U.S. Army Reserve Major General Matthew Baker and Chaplain Major Daniel Hammon laid the wreath that was picked out by President Joe Biden.

The Color Guard fired a three-volley salute and then Army Reserve Band Specialist Mindy Strahl played Taps. Joan Eckermann, a Hayes Presidential Library and Museums staff member, sang “Amazing Grace”.

In conjunction with Hayes' birthday, board member Dr. Regina Vincent Williams gave the idea of maybe recognizing United States Colored Troops. In honor of the Colored Troops during the Civil War, an oak tree was dedicated with a brick and a reading of the names.

Reverse parade was something new

“The reverse parade was something different, you had to wait for the whole crowd before you could play your part or speak your role,” said Tyre’k Hyde, re-enactment actor who played W.E.B. DuBois. “Today was just a complete honor, placing the brick and touching the tree, and I had the honor to place the brick under the tree; it’s overwhelming.”

Members of the Fremont NAACP and Tyre’k Hyde read the names of U.S. Colored Troops who are buried in Sandusky County.

“There's just something about hearing names said aloud, names that haven’t been spoken in hundreds of years; it’s been a privilege and an honor to do the research for this project and I hope that it continues in the future,” said Julie Mayle, manuscripts curator at the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums.

“When we were scoping out the ground, our superintendent found the perfect tree right in line with the tomb and it's a very well-traveled path.”

President Hayes would honor people whom he thought were making a difference for the American public. He would honor them by naming a tree after them. An oak tree was picked for the occasion, with a flag and brick. The brick read “Honoring U.S Colored Troops Civil War Sandusky CO”.

“When it came to naming trees, that was his highest honor. You could think of it because he admired nature and trees so much,” said Christie Weininger, executive director of the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums. “And so, when he would do the naming ceremony, he would have the person the tree was being named after put their hand on the tree. He thought that that was very symbolic and very special, which I think is kind of unique when you think about Rutherford not really believing in these mystical, magical things."

After all the events, an ice cream social took place behind the Hayes home, with flavors of buckeye, strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Rutherford B. Hayes birthday celebrated with 'reverse parade'