Archive: Around Town

Start collecting candles now, because you're going to need a lot of them.  Tompkins County is turning 200 next year.  Legislature Chair Michael Lane, announced plans Thursday for a year-long celebration to commemorate Tompkins County's 200th anniversary.  Lane said the Tompkins County Bicentennial Commission is planning a year-long celebration that will commemorate the anniversary with events, cast iron historical markers, updated brochures, and a lot of community participation.

"We're pleased that we're going to have a year-long celebration," Lane said at a press conference Thursday.  "At its meeting Tuesday night the County Legislature adopted a resolution proclaiming the year, and saying it ought to be joined in by organizations across the County to remember the year as the 200th anniversary.  And that there ought to be things that are fun, educational, things that look back to our history, and celebrate the present, the services of the County and particularly our County employees.  And to look to the future as to how we can improve our services as a county in the next 200 years."


Lane, along with fellow commission members Carol Kammen, Rod Howe, Marcia Lynch, and Ray Wheaton, introduced a logo that the commission plans to use for all sanctioned events and locations around Tompkins County.  Lane thanked Tompkins County Community College (TC3) Professor Christine Shanks and the members of her class who developed the logo, which shows a silhouette of Tompkins County with the dates and label.

The beginnings of a list of events and items that will be part of the celebration were also announced.  Lane said activities will recognize the importance of the municipalities throughout the County, as well as county departments and employees.


Tompkins County is made up of nine towns: Caroline, Danby, Dryden, Enfield, Groton, Ithaca, Lansing, Newfield, Ulysses; the city of Ithaca; and six villages: Cayuga Heights, Dryden, Freeville, Groton, Lansing, and Trumansburg.  The Town of Hector will also be included because it was originally part of Tompkins County until 1853 when it was included in the newly formed Schuyler County.  Thank you celebrations are also planned in each town and the city.  Each town, including Hector, and the City of Ithaca will be offered a commemorative cast iron historical marker, and a celebration will be held to unveil each marker.

"Our hope is they will put them in a place that is representative of their community," Wheaton said.  "They're going to cover a little bit of the early history of the towns that they represent.  These signs will be the lasting influence of this commission."

Each town in Tompkins County has its own brochure, which will be updated and reprinted for the Bicentennial celebrationIn addition, a series of brochures that describe each town in Tompkins County are being revised.  The brochures were created in 2007 by municipal historians around the County led by Kammen.  They share a common design, but are differentiated by color and content for each township.  Kammen says the brochures will be updated and reprinted for distribution next year.

A keystone of the celebration will be a map project the Commission is calling 'Faces, Places, and Spaces.'  It will encourage residents to engage with the celebration in creative, personal ways.

"It's meant to open up opportunities for people to think about how they reside in this county -- how they work, live and play in Tompkins County," Howe said.  "We want people to engage with the Bicenteninial.  By offering a map of the outline of the County, we're going to ask people to use that map somehow.  They might write a poem, they might draw a picture, they might designate their favorite place.  Through a partnership with the Tompkins County Public Library and the History Center we'll display what is given to us through this process."

Howe said that 'e-plaques' will also be posted to augment the physical signposts in the towns.


The Commission also plans a series of video vignettes that highlight County functions, departments, and its employees.

"One of the elements of our celebration is going to be what we call Explaining Tompkins County," Lynch said.  "What the County is, who the people who provide the services are, and what we do."

Lynch said employees will be featured in the first series, to be posted online this year.  Next year more videos will showcase departments, and how they have changed the ways they serve county residents over 200 years.

"The Bicentennial Commission is eager to hear what sorts of activities might be proposed from the towns, from residents, and from groups that could mark the bicentennial of Tompkins County," Kammen said.  "These might be picnics, theatre programs, recognition of town officials and their duties, a photographic exhibit, or material from the town archives."

A 'State of the County' lecture is planned for April 7, 2017, the date Tompkins County was formed by the New York State Legislature. 

Lane said the Legislature previously put aside a $5,000 in 2015 to fund the celebration, and this year $25,000.  He said the Commission will be asking the Legislature to approve 'another small amount of money' in its 2017 budget.  He said state officials will be invited to bicentennial events, including a dedication this summer of the Civil War Commission's nurses' monument.

"We want to have celebrations in each of the towns and the cities, and possibly a larger celebration next year," Lane said.  "There might be picnics or theater programs or other kinds of recognitions by local groups, towns and local municipalities hoping to pick up on the theme of our bicentennial.  We are soliciting input from agencies, groups, departments and employees for ideas of things we can do to make our year-long celebration a very special event."

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