Celebrate Poland begins today

June 25, 2010 at 12:06a.m.

By Ashley Luthern

poland

A village with a recorded history spanning more than 200 years will honor its heritage today and Saturday.

The third annual Celebrate Poland begins today with a Civil War encampment on the Village Green, 308 S. Main St. The encampment and Saturday’s re-enactment will pit the 61st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Company D (Union Army) against the 4th Alabama (Confederate).

“Poland had its major growth as a town in the early and mid-1800s, and accumulated a fairly large population for a Western Reserve town,” said Larry Warren, Celebrate Poland organizer. “... A number of people who lived in the town volunteered for the Union Army.”

One of those people was President William McKinley, and last year the president’s swearing-in to the Union Army on the Old Stone Tavern steps was re-enacted.

Continuing the historic theme, Heather Franklin, 31, and Chris Mulidore, 25, will be married in a Civil War-style wedding at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The couple were chosen for the wedding by Celebrate Poland committee members.

“It kind of just happened,” Franklin said. “My mom found the Celebrate Poland website on Facebook, and she told me that I should try out for it because you never know.”

Franklin’s great-great-grandfather, Pvt. George Ackerman, is one of 125 Civil War veterans who are buried in Poland’s Riverside Cemetery.

A lamp-light tour of the cemetery Saturday night will close Celebrate Poland.

“We have the lamp-light walking tour, which we talk about the historical significance of the cemetery,” said Terri Windsor, event organizer. “We did that last year, and there’s going to be a little slight variation of that.”

But not everything at Celebrate Poland is based on history.

A craft show will feature more than 25 vendors both days, fireworks will light up the sky Friday night, and the Poland Idol singing contest begins Saturday. Thirty singers are registered, but if others are interested, registration continues at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. All events are on the Village Green.

“This whole weekend is just packed full,” Windsor said.