Finishing touches are coming together for Oil City’s big 150-year anniversary party.
Celebrations are planned April 11 at both Justus Park and the Venango Museum to mark the day that several smaller cities merged and were incorporated to form Oil City in 1871.
The Justus Park event starts at 1 p.m., and Kelly Amos Ryen, director of the city’s community development department, has announced that all the city’s living former mayors except one will be at the park that day.
Abate, who is living in Florida, is the one mayor who won’t be able to attend.
The Oil City High School band and choir and the Venango Catholic High School handbell choir will each perform during the celebration.
Ryen is happy for the student musicians and noted that many of them haven’t been able to showcase their talents in public since 2019.
She also stressed there will be no chairs set up in Justus Park so everyone coming to the celebration is asked to bring their own chair. And everyone is encouraged to follow CDC guidelines, she said.
An Oil City 150 banner for people to sign will be on a table at the celebration, Ryen said.
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 the summer, Ryen said.
Meanwhile, items that were placed in a time capsule during the city’s centennial celebration in 1971 will be displayed at the April 11 party in the park, Ryen said. The capsule was named Time Tube ’71 when it was buried 50 years ago.
Commemorative memorabilia for sale will also be on display. The items, which will feature the city’s 150 logo, include stickers, key chains, paper weights, challenge coins and more.
Sesquicentennial souvenirs are also on sale at city hall and the Transit Arts Gallery.
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 Oil City Mayor Bill Moon are also putting up local history themed displays at the museum.
The Justus Park celebration will be held in the Oil City High School auditorium in case of inclement weather. The occupancy limit at the high school would be about 290 due to COVID restrictions, Ryen said.
Items for new time capsule
The city will begin collecting items from local businesses and non profits on April 12 to put in the new time capsule.
“It would be really neat if we could collect business cards for all the businesses in the city, to see who was here,” Ryen said.
Items should be no larger than a cell phone, Ryen said. She suggested things such as business cards, a congratulatory letter to the city on letterhead, and a picture and promotional items for a business (like pens or small gadgets.)
Donations to the time capsule will be open to residents starting July 1.
Items may be dropped off from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Gates and Burns real estate office or from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the community development office at city hall.
The collection will end Sept. 17, and the time capsule will be buried Oct. 9 during O.C.toberfest.
