Wayne County Bicentennial

Wayne County Bicentennial 2023

Upcoming Bicentennial Events

May 13	Bicentennial Gala	Carey Lake	[Sold Out!]
June 15	Heritage Music Series	Ohmann Theater	7 PM
	Tunes, Dances, and Stories: A Sampling from Central and Western New York History
	Professor Jim Kimball and Folklorist Karen Canning
July 22	Keels & Wheels Boat & Car Show	Sodus Bay Yacht Club	10 AM to 4 PM
August 14-18	Bicentennial Torch Relay 200 miles around Wayne County!
	For details — visit: https://web.co.wayne.ny.us/681/Bicentennial-Torch-Relay
August 19	Family Fun Day at the Wayne County Fair		10 AM to 2 PM
September 17	Heritage Music Series	TBD	TBD
	Excelsior Cornet Band
October 14	Heritage Music Series	Sodus High School	2 PM
	The Remarkable, Irresistible Erie: Music and Stories of the Erie Canal

For more details, please visit www.waynecounty200.com

Projects Underway

Bicentennial Geocaching Trail — with caches at historic sites in all Wayne County's 15 towns for geocaching hobbyists to locate, explore the area, and have fun.
Bicentennial Mural is in progress on the Thatcher Chemical Company, Route 104, Williamson. This will give a visual history of Wayne County for people to enjoy for many years to come. Jean Bell (Ontario) and Mark DeCracker, Mural Mania (Lyons) Co-Chairs.
Daily history postings on Facebook and Instagram.
A third year of bicentennial float participation in various events.
Bicentennial quilt touring Wayne County museums, libraries, town halls, and community events
Dedication of 15 Historic Markers - to commemorate the founding of the 15 towns in Wayne County. The Wayne County historic marker was dedicated at the Founders Day ceremony in Lyons on April 11th. With funding provided by Wayne County, these markers are an excellent commemorative gift from the county to each town.

Other Promotional Activities during 2023

The bicentennial will continue to have a presence at farmers markets across the county, community celebrations and parades throughout the year.
The bicentennial co-chairs are available to present programs across the county to various service organizations, historical societies, library boards, and other groups.

Projects Completed

Voices of Wayne County: A Bicentennial Commemorative Book — memoires, stories, poetry, and artwork by people (past and present) from Wayne County. Amber Linson (Walworth), Committee Chair.
Bicentennial Quilt — photographs by photographer, Bob Mogray (Walworth), assembled by the Reverse Curves Quilt Club (Williamson), Joyce Lyke & Bob Mogray Committee Co-chairs.
60-page Kids Activity Book distributed to all fourth grades in Wayne County in 2022 in the spring and in the fall for the 2022-2023 school year. Caryn Devlin (Marion), Committee Chair.
Bicentennial Minutes — 52 programs, produced by former Sodus Point Historian, Bruce Farrington, have been uploaded for viewing on YouTube. Shared out weekly via Facebook and Instagram, print versions are made available in local newspapers, and audio versions shared on WACK.
Promotional materials including a rack card series about our towns and historical topics
Continued sales of the two-year bicentennial commemorative calendar filled with historic Wayne County facts for each day and loaded with historic images.
With Finger Lakes Times, we produced a 48-page Bicentennial supplement for subscribers. The supplement is also distributed all around the county at libraries, town halls and various retail establishments FREE of charge.
Note: These projects have all been completed through the efforts of volunteers, grants, donations, and sponsors as well as generous financial support from Wayne County. We have had an excellent sponsorship program in place and are extremely pleased with the response of the business community in support of the Bicentennial plans for 2023. We estimate that approximately 2/3 of the cost of this celebration will come from private sources.

To find out where some of these items may be obtained — visit www.waynecounty200.com

Wayne County Bicentennial 2023 Events Past

April 11, 2023 - Official date of Wayne County's establishment - a grand celebration was held at the former Wayne County Courthouse steps in Lyons, followed by a program, luncheon, and historic displays at the Lyons Community Center.

Gene Bavis and Rosa Fox , Bicentennial Co-Chairs