Fresh off the success of the Marysville Bicentennial celebration, city officials are already working on plans to increase the number of community celebrations.
City officials and residents spent much of Monday night’s city council meeting congratulating and thanking city staff for the recent two-day celebration of Marysville’s 200th birthday.
“It was a wonderful event,” Kathy Young, a resident, told council as part of the meeting.
Resident Tony Eufinger, called it, “a wonderful bicentennial” adding that his family “truly enjoyed it.”
Council member Scott Brock said that when he moved to Marysville, the city celebrated the Honda Homecoming, but he doesn’t believe it would have been able to handle a celebration like the bicentennial.
He said it will be difficult to quantify the impact the event had on the local economy but said he worked at the city’s beer venue, checking identification and many of the guests were from outside Marysville.
Council member Nevin Taylor said many folks returning to Marysville were pleased to see the city had changed, “but it was still Marysville on the inside.”
Members of city council and administration said every city employee contributed to the event success.
“You can go down to every department in the city and the work they did to pull that off and to make that successful,” Emery said.
He said some of the planners, including Amanda Morris and Anna Krutowskis, were more obvious but there were a lot people didn’t see, “behind the scenes.”
He said Assistant Police Chief Bo Spain and Fire Chief Jay Riley were instrumental in creating a safe atmosphere.
“We were watching the Uptown very closely,” Emery said. “The presence of our police was impressive.”
Council member and Mayor J.R. Rausch said police had two “very minor” incidents, one including a driver who went around a barricade and the other a resident who brought his own beer to the Marysville Outdoor Refreshment Area, an area where beer, purchased in the area, is permitted.
He said residents “acted mature and they had fun.”
Council member Deborah Groat also praised the work of the city street department. She said the party went until almost midnight but by 8 a.m. Sunday, when she prepared to go to church, “it was pristine.”
Eufinger asked if the white bulbs, lining Fifth Street, could stay up on “a permanent or semi-permanent basis.”
“They have brought something special to the Uptown,” Eufinger said.
Young agreed.
Emery said he has heard “very positive” comments about the lights. He explained they are not the city’s but are rented.
“We have asked them to stay up longer,” Emery said.
He added that based on comments, the city “may look at” an option to buy the lights so they can be part of the Uptown.
He said he looks forward to more celebrations.
“We are already looking to plan and prepare for our 2020 events,” Emery said.
He explained the city has a couple events remaining, including the Sept. 14 movie in Partners park, the Sept. 15 Adventures at Aldersgate education event and Friday Night Uptown event, Rocktoberfest, Oct. 4.
“We thought, let us get through this October Friday Night Uptown event and maybe we will have a better idea how we could better structure our events,” Emery said.
He told council to look for a presentation recapping the 2019 events and previewing some 2020 events at the Nov. 4 council work session.
“I look forward to discussing how we pull off more celebrations like this,” Brock said, adding that he would like to see an annual birthday celebration.
“201 is just as important as 200,” he said.