The Ohio Commission for the U.S. Semiquincentennial (America 250-Ohio) is looking to get at least 250 communities across the Buckeye State to sign on as official America 250-Ohio Communities. It's part of the ongoing effort to get the entire state involved in commemorating the USA's 250th anniversary.
The America 250-Ohio commission is offering $5,000 grants to encourage communities of all types — counties, cities, villages, townships, etc. — to each pass a resolution designating themselves an America 250-Ohio Community. They can fill out an application online.
Todd Kleismit, executive director for America 250-Ohio, says those communities will create a small committee to work with the state commission and plan local anniversary events.
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"We're encouraging communities to align with a couple different things," says Kleismit. "One is storytelling ... encouraging them to figure out ways to tell those local historical stories, and also aligning it with education work. We want to make sure that our young people are engaged in America 250 in certain ways. We're asking them to put together something that's compelling at their local level, something that they want to achieve."
That could be an event, activities, or creating something like a commemorative coin — anything that's meaningful at a local level. The local liaisons will work with the state commission to coordinate activities, connect with other communities and access resources.
"We're, right now, at around 90 [communities] and so we've got still some work to do, but we're getting the word out, and we're hopeful that this grants program will also help incentivize communities that haven't yet done that to do so and soon," Kleismit says.
The Ohio Commission for the U.S. Semiquincentennial is the group tasked with planning Ohio's part — America 250-Ohio — of the USA's 250th anniversary, which is coming up in 2026. Each state is encouraged to craft programs to commemorate the milestone, focusing on how the state has contributed to the nation over the past 250 years.
