165th birthday observance
Large crowd turns out to celebrate
Seven-year-old Muji Lai of Clintonville gets the chance to blow out the candles on one of the cakes on display during the kickoff of Clintonville’s 165th anniversary celebration at Whetstone Community Center Feb. 2. Buy This Photo
Group hug, Clintonville.
During an event last week to kick off celebrations of the 165th anniversary of the neighborhood’s founding, lots of people said lots of laudatory things about the community.
“I wouldn’t live anywhere else,” Greg Denby, manager of the Whetstone Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, told those who crowded into the auditorium of the Whetstone Community Center for some cake, ice cream, cookies and a look into the neighborhood’s past as well as a glimpse into its future.
“Clintonville’s a fantastic community,” commented Alan McKnight, director of the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department.
With the line to be served the sweet treats stretching all around the walls of the center’s auditorium, visitors had plenty of time to look at displays provided by the Clintonville Historical Society of old abstracts of title, ancient maps and other artifacts of the way-back-when, as well as viewing displays of the future, represented by renderings of improvements to take place at Brevoort and Portal parks, a still-in-the-design phase COTA bus turnaround at North High Street and Westview Avenue, and a wellness center at the Wesley Glen Retirement Community.
“Happy birthday, everyone,” Clintonville Area Commission chairman John DeFourny said during the brief program at the outset of the celebration. “Happy birthday, Clintonville.”
Megan DeFourny, appointed by her husband to organize the kickoff event, thanked all those on hand for attending.
“165 years!” she said. “Let’s hear it!”
The Feb. 2 birthday party, Megan DeFourny said, is only the launching pad for a whole series of community events in the months to come, including fundraisers and gatherings put on by the Historical Society, Clintonville Woman’s Club, Clintonville Area Chamber of Commerce, Clintonville Rotary, Clintonville Farmers’ Market, Cat Welfare Association, Clintonville Community Fund and others.
“We hope that you’ll patronize those,” she said. “Definitely stay tuned.”
State Sen. Jim Hughes, (R-Clintonville), and State Rep. John Patrick Carney, (D-Clintonville), each provided a resolution from their respective seat of government to commemorate the birthday.
“I’m a proud lifelong resident of Clintonville,” Hughes said. “In fact, my daughter makes the third generation, because my parents grew up here.”
City Auditor Hugh J. Dorrian pronounced himself “honored and flattered” to have been invited to the celebration. He was accompanied on the stage by City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer, a lifelong resident of Clintonville.
“Let’s keep it strong,” Pfeiffer urged the partygoers.
“It’s really the people of Clintonville who make this a great place to be,” Carney commented. “We look forward to another 165 years.”
“Clintonville is one of the best and strongest communities that I’ve ever seen,” Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott told the crowd.
“We want to thank you for sending us such wonderful students,” Columbus City Schools Superintendent Gene Harris said, noting that all of the schools in Clintonville had produced test scores of “Effective” or above.
The program concluded with a demonstration, and an appeal for financial assistance, from the members of the Whetstone High School robotics team, the Lugnuts, who need funding to be able to participate in contests scheduled for Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Knoxville, Tenn.
Prior to allowing residents to go back for seconds on the cake and ice cream, CAC chairman DeFourny called the city and county officials back onto the stage to present them with some gifts.
“It’s a compiled list of everything we want for the community,” he quipped.
