City looks to maintain energy of bicentennial
Long-term planning will resume now that the celebration is ending.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Most of the Salem Bicentennial is over, but its positive impact on the community is just beginning.
Audrey Null, executive director of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, said the events, "met, if not exceeded, our expectations."
The Bicentennial and Ohio Chautauqua have finished their main events. The Bicentennial committee will bury a time capsule at 10 a.m. next Sunday at Salem Public Library. But the time capsule is just one of several projects for the city's future.
Null said she hoped "the energy and positive attitude continues." B.J. Abrams, the co-chair of the Bicentennial, agreed.
Three officials left the Bicentennial in its early stages after disagreements over the project. But as the Bicentennial developed, officials said they then saw tremendous communication and cooperation at all levels. If people disagreed, they discussed issues and then came to an agreement.
"That's how you get things done," Null said.
Abrams said, "People of different levels came together and worked together. It shows what can be done when we work together. We're definitely moving in a positive direction."
The Bicentennial has a legacy committee that will do some sort of project in the wake of the event. That committee is to meet this week with city officials to discuss the finances of the as-yet unannounced project.
The legacy project for the city's 100th anniversary was the creation of Centennial Park. The project for the city's 150th anniversary was development of the "village green" at the chamber's headquarters.
Residual effect
Null said the communication and cooperation from the Bicentennial may also go into the ongoing discussions to form a long-range plan for the city. That planning effort is scheduled to resume this week because many of its participants were tied up with the Bicentennial. The final report is due in 2007.
The chamber and city, of course, are working to bring new industries and businesses to town.
"We're definitely receptive to new businesses. Our downtown is prospering and it takes people to do that," Abrams said.
She runs a women's clothing store, Kolby's of Salem. She and her husband, Gary, also own Tennille's Baby Boutique. Abrams wants to see more stores, especially for women, downtown.
"Competition is good," she said.
Abrams added that when it came to running a store, "You do have to have a passion for it. None of us are going to get rich."
But passion is also reflected in the small city's four museums. Abrams noted Salem has the Salem Storybook Museum, a branch of the Butler Museum of American Art, the Burchfield Homestead Museum and the Salem Historical Society's museum.
Abrams noted that Salem has a long tradition of volunteerism. She said she hoped more people would volunteer to help the community.
Another change from the Bicentennial may come this Christmas. Downtown businesses decorated their windows for the Bicentennial. Officials said that the decorations were so popular that there may be a greater effort to decorate them in December.
wilkinson@vindy.com