The Oil City 150 celebration will be held in Justus Park, rain or shine, at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The theme – “Celebrating Our Past, Shaping Our Future” – will open with the ringing of Oil City church bells.
In Justus Park, the Venango County VETS Honor Guard will present the flags after the invocation by the Rev. Mark Elliston, of Christ Episcopal Church.
Brief remarks and sesquicentennial proclamations will be offered by U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, state Sen. Scott Hutchinson, state Rep. R. Lee James and County Commissioners Sam Breene, Mike Dulaney and Albert Abramovic.
The Venango Catholic High School bell choir and the Oil City High School Quartet will perform.
Former Oil City mayors will be introduced and items in the 1971 time capsule will be presented.
Introductions will be made by the city manager, City Council members, Oil City 150 Committee members and city staff.
Guest speakers will include Judy Etzel, Rebekah Deal and Kat Thompson.
The observance in the park will conclude with the retirement of the flags by the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
Kelly Amos Ryen, director of the city’s community development department, stressed there will be no chairs set up in Justus Park, so everyone coming to the celebration is asked to bring their own chairs. And everyone is encouraged to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
An Oil City 150 banner for people to sign will be on a table at the celebration.
The banner will also turn up at various events in the city during the summer so more signatures can be collected.
The banner will be buried in a time capsule at the end of summer, Ryen said.
Meanwhile, items that were placed in a time capsule during the city’s centennial celebration in 1971 will be displayed at Sunday’s party in the park, Ryen said. The capsule was named Time Tube ’71 when it was buried 50 years ago.
Handicap parking will be available at Justus Park, Ryen said. All other attendees are asked to use the parking available in the downtown area.
Sesquicentennial souvenirs featuring the 150th logo, designed by Stewart Armstrong, artist liaison and marketing coordinator for ARTS Oil City, will be on sale at the event and the Transit Arts Gallery. The items include stickers, keychains, paperweights, challenge coins and masks.
The city is also raffling a panoramic print of the city taken by Timothy Rudisille, who donated it, Ryen said.
Tickets are $5 a piece and will be on sale at Oil City 150 events until the evening of the sesquicentennial concert on July 24, when the winning ticket will be drawn, Ryen said. A person does not have to be present to win.
The celebration in Justus Park will be followed by a reception at the Venango Museum on Seneca Street. The museum is observing its 60-year anniversary this year.
The museum is spotlighting a number of displays that highlight several organizations celebrating their own milestone anniversaries this year. They include The Derrick and Good Hope Lutheran Church, which are also turning 150, and the Oil City Schubert Club, which is turning 125.
The Oil City Heritage Society, Short Street Motors and the mayor also are putting up local history-themed displays at the museum.
A partial list of upcoming events during the year includes:
May 3: 125th anniversary of the Schubert Club at the Belles Lettres Club
May 10: Munchies with the Mayor
June 5: 125th anniversary of Hasson Park with Oil City Garden Club and Oil City Area Heritage Society at the park
July 17: Oil Heritage Bike ‘n Brew
July 22-25: Oil Heritage Festival
July 24: Sesquicentennial concert
Oct. 9: Bury 2021 time capsule during O.C.toberfest.
In addition, Music on the Square events are planned June 10, July 8, July 21, Aug. 12 and Sept. 17.
