Throughout 2012, the city will commemorate its 175th anniversary with events and projects that celebrate the history and traditions of Illinois’ second most populous city for valentines flowers ideas.
About 30 representatives from public and private Aurora institutions, including The Beacon-News, met last month at City Hall to brainstorm ideas to mark the milestone.
While the city’s Historical Society is still looking for ideas and volunteers, several events are already on the 2012 calendar.
In 1937, the city hosted a major homecoming celebration, with former residents from across the country returning home and President Franklin Roosevelt sending a congratulatory letter. This year’s events won’t be quite that grand, but the city hopes to involve many groups in a series of events throughout the year.
The kickoff event is tentatively scheduled for March 2, which is the city’s official birthday. Members of the Historical Society have applied to the U.S. Postal Service for a special postage cancellation to commemorate 175 years.
Other special events already scheduled include a talk in August by longtime West Aurora sports announcer (and West Aurora School Board president) Neal Ormond about the rivalry between East and West Aurora high schools, and an exhibit opening in May called “From the Ground Up: A History of Architecture in Aurora” at the downtown David L. Pierce Art & History Center. Starting Feb. 17, the Aurora Art Commission’s “Aurora in Pictures, 175 years” exhibit will be displayed at City Hall. The Historical Society is working to host monthly “Flavors of Aurora” which will celebrate the foods of various ethnic groups who have contributed to building Aurora.
Besides special events, the city will also be tweaking many regular events to tie them into the anniversary or historical theme. For instance, the Victorian Valentine’s Day Dinner, on Feb. 13, will include a lecture about the history of brewing in Aurora.
There will also be a concerted effort to involve children, including inviting student tours of the Tanner House Museum.
Aurora Historical Society Board member Mary Ormond hopes the anniversary is also be a good opportunity to focus efforts on larger projects that need volunteer help, like documenting the tree populations in the city or building a database of the all the graves in the city.
How the birthday was set valentines flowers ideas
The date for the anniversary was set during the 1937 centennial celebration. In April 1834, New York brothers Samuel and Joseph McCarty came across a spot in the Fox River where an island created an ideal place for a dam. Joseph laid claim to 860 acres on both sides of the river, creating the first settlement in what would become Aurora.
For years, the area was known as McCarty Mills. (Residents initially wanted to call the city “Waubonsie” or “Waubansie” after the Indian Chief many residents had met. But there was already a town with that name, so Aurora was chosen.)
As the official birthday, the centennial committee chose the date that Burr Winton was commissioned as the city’s first postmaster, which was essentially an acknowledgement of existence by the federal government.
A quick 175 years later, the city is ready to party again.
More information on the anniversary events will be available at www.aurorahistory.net. To volunteer, contact the Historical Society at 630-906-0650
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