In March 2021 about a half dozen township residents got together with the idea to organize and event celebrating 200 years of Carlisle Township life. Over the next few months the committee grew and began to plan two separate types of events.
The first was to be a family fun or community day of celebration where residents could see what life was like for the early township pioneers but also a fun day with activities, food and music. The committee focused on an ideal time of the year when the weather was best suited for an outdoor event so a date in late summer became preferred. Identifying a date had its challenge not to be in conflict with the county fair in late August, Labor Day or the Lagrange Engine Show or Elyria’s Apple Festival. We decided on Saturday, September 10 th .
The second type of event would be held inside and it was to be historically based with photographs of township days gone-by, exhibits of antiques and artifacts and audio recordings describing pioneer life, long-gone industries, social concerns and stories in need of preservation. The township hall was the logical choice for this event as it was an central component of the township’s history as originally a schoolhouse in the late 1800s and early 1900s, repurposed as the township fire station from the 1940s to 2003 and presently housing Trustee and Board of Zoning Appeal meetings.
The bicentennial committee met monthly until early 2022 when bi-weekly meetings were deemed necessary as the September date was only six months away. Everyone pulled together and by the end of June, with a few exceptions, the September and October events were pretty much in place.
So here we are today with our bicentennial events just a short time away. We hope you make plans to attend either or both events and that you enjoy yourself and learn something about the township that you call your
home.