YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Mayor Derrick McDowell said he sees the city’s celebration of America 250 this sumer as an opportunity to not only celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial but to have the city be seen so it isn’t forgotten in the future.
McDowell joined representatives of America 250-Ohio, the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra and Stambaugh Auditorium for the announcement of Ignite the Night Youngstown at Wednesday’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Youngstown, which will be the presenting sponsor of the event. The celebration, scheduled for the evening of July 5, will feature a symphony concert at Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre and a fireworks display.
The free concert will feature what Erik Ochsner, YSO music director, described as “American music,” 20 minutes of which will be synchronized with the fireworks display. Styles to be performed will include classical, pop, jazz and “a few surprises that we hope to throw in there as well,” he said.
“Music is for everybody. So we’re playing a whole wide variety of things,” he remarked.
“Youngstown is not just celebrating its history as it pertains to our American shared story. It’s celebrating the fact that we built America,” McDowell said.
That story “is not complete until we position Youngstown as the pilot for how you build back cities that built America, making a commitment for the next 250 years that this city will be a beacon for strength and resilience and grit,” he continued. “We need that return on investment to come back to cities like Youngstown, to use us as the pilot for positioning us for the next 250 years.”
McDowell recalled that when he served as community engagement and inclusion coordinator for Wean Park and the amphitheater, he and Randy Fleischer, the former YSO music director and conductor, had discussed a similar event coordinating fireworks with a symphony performance before his death in 2020. “America 250 couldn’t be much more of a wonderful time to do that,” he said.
Youngstown Rotary contributed $40,000 to underwrite YSO’s performance, according to Gerri Jenkins, club president. The idea developed from discussions with members of the club’s board.
“We feel that this is a gift to the community. The community has given Rotary many, many gifts over the years, and this is an opportunity for us to give back,” she said.
The concert is an example of how Ohio has embraced what Todd Kleismit, executive director of America 250-Ohio, described as the “once in a generation opportunity” the semiquincentennial represents.
“This is a great time for us to point to our touch points to the nation’s founding and Revolutionary War era, but our bigger opportunity here is to really tout and showcase what Ohio and Ohioans have contributed to the United States of America,” he said.
“We really wanted this to be a mechanism to bring people together,” he added. “In these times, that’s going to be really important for us.”
Kleismit emphasized that while the Fourth of July is important, the state has activities planned for throughout the year. The America 250-Ohio website has more than 1,000 activities on the events calendar. “We’re really going to leave it all out on the field all 12 months,” he remarked.
Part of Ohio’s commemoration of America 250 has involved telling “what we sometimes call untold stories,” he said. One thing discovered was that Ohio has more Underground Railroad sites than any other state. Two conferences already have taken place to connect those sites, and a third is planned for later this year.
In addition, several drivable trails dedicated to different themes already have been launched, with more to come. These include trails highlighting Ohio’s connection to air and space, creativity and one focused on transportation that will launch this month.
Ohio also has a statewide film festival underway, Ohio Goes to the Movies, which calls attention to films featuring contributors to the motion picture industry such as actors, writers, producers and directors connected to the state, as well as Ohio locations used in films. The idea has been kicked around for a while, Kleismit said.
“This was an idea that was kicked around during the Ohio Bicentennial some 20-plus years ago,” he said. “They just didn’t have the time.”
Pictured at top: From left are Councilwoman Samantha Turner, 3rd Ward; Matt Pagac of Stambaugh Auditorium; Mayor Derrick McDowell; Erik Ochsner, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra music director; David Labra, special events coordinator for the city of Youngstown; Ellie Platt, president-elect of the Rotary Club of Youngstown; and Gerri Jenkins, president of the Rotary Club of Youngstown.