Perhaps it’s way too early, or perhaps I’ve been out of the loop, but I have seen virtually no mention locally yet about the fact Wayland next year will observe its 150th anniversary.
Yes, I did the math. Wayland was incorporated as a village in 1868, which means 2018 will mark 150 years.
I suppose this realization was prompted earlier this summer when I learned the former Wayland State Bank building at the corner of Main and Superior (now City Hall) was turning 100 years old this year. Perhaps it was helped along July 1 when my wife and I visited Sarnia to get away from Michigan’s annoying neighborhood fireworks, only to watch Canada celebrate its sesquicentennial with a huge downtown fireworks display that evening.
Though Canada justifiably partied down heavily that evening, with just about everybody wearing red and white with a maple leaf, our neighbors to the north quieted down in the days that followed.
A centennial, a bicentennial and a sesquicentennial all are big deals in the United States. I remember special observances of Michigan’s 150th birthday in January 1987 and we were all swamped by the hoopla over America’s Bicentennial in 1976. It was so overhyped then that I remember Fife & Drum beer, created that year for the occasion, yet I haven’t seen it since.
Wayland actually did a bangup job of celebrating its 100th birthday back in 1968. I recall a huge billboard on U.S.-131 trumpeting, “Don’t miss Wayland Centennial celebration Aug. 24,” which afterward was shortened to simply “Don’t miss Wayland…”
I also recall local business townsfolk growing mustaches and beards and womenfolk donning 19th century post-Civil War attire to enhance the public spirit. Wayland Globe Editor Irvin P. Helmey sported a nifty example of facial hair.
The downtown had a history pageant, imagining what life was like in 1868, and there were carnival rides, food booths, etc., much like what Main Street celebrations in Wayland and Fourth of July observances in Dorr, Moline and Hopkins are like in these parts.
To be sure, it’s still only 2017, but I remember being in college 50 years ago and every time I came home to visit it seemed I was constantly reminded somehow that the big celebration was approaching. Not that I am much of a fan of hype, marketing and advertising.
But community pride and togetherness 50 years ago for a common cause seemed much more apparent in public life. This is where Robert Putnam’s book “Bowling Alone” applies once again — the realization that we just aren’t as connected as a community as we once were. Putnam suggested it’s the fault of television, technology, women entering the work force and the rise of bedroom communities.
I will be interested to see if Wayland can awaken from its slumber and put together a festival like it did 50 years ago. If it can’t, it will only prove sadly that Putnam is right.
David, not that it matters, but in 1999 we celebrated 100 years of Henika District Library. For those of us intimately connected with the library it was a big deal, and we spent a year planning a year’s worth of activities to mark the occasion. Although community celebrations aren’t the big hootenannies they once were they are worthy of recognition. Maybe a mention at a city council meeting might be in order to remind folks of this prestigious holiday?
And Dorr is right behind you. The Dorr Centennial was celebrated July 3-5 in 1969. Actual date should be Sept 27th, but why not piggyback on the national celebration. July 4th in 2019 is going to be a Thursday, so it may be a five day weekend. (And 2018 July 4th is orphaned on a Wednesday.)
We’ll be watching how Wayland celebrates their 150th.