Historical society details America250 plans: Oak tree planting, cemetery tours and student ambassador program

The Delaware County Historical Society and the county’s America250 committee presented a countywide semiquincentennial plan at the Jan. 13 Delaware County Board of Commissioners meeting, previewing events and programs for 2025 that include an Earth Day oak tree planting, countywide cemetery tours and a student ambassador program for high school students.

Donna Meyer, executive director of the Delaware County Historical Society, told commissioners that while Delaware County as a named county did not exist in 1776 there was substantial activity in the area, including a large Native American village near what is now Mingo Park and more than 100 Revolutionary War soldiers buried in county cemeteries. "There were hundreds of Native Americans who were living in a village in what is now Mingo Park," Meyer said during the presentation.

Chris Shaw, Delaware County records center coordinator and a member of the local America250 planning team, said the committee has tentatively scheduled an oak tree planting and plaque ceremony for April 22, 2025. "This will be 1 of our first initiatives with the America250 Statewide Committee," Shaw said, adding the state Heritage Tree Committee will provide the tree and that the species is a slow-growing oak that, once established, can live for centuries.

Melissa Stroup, sales and events manager for the Delaware County Historical Society and manager of the Barn at Stratford, described the group’s student ambassador program. The program invites Delaware County high school students to take short classes on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers and the Bill of Rights, and to complete a minimum of 10 volunteer hours within the county history network. "Each student ambassador that completes the program, the four classes, and the 10 hours of service will receive an honor cord to wear at their graduation," Stroup said. The presenters said about 40 students had registered at the time of the meeting, with most from Delaware Hayes High School.

Other proposed activities include countywide cemetery tours with newly marked Revolutionary War graves (the speakers described plans for 13-star flags to mark those graves), exhibits about Native American mounds and earthworks, Chautauqua-style presentations, barn surveys to document agricultural heritage and expanded entries on CLEO (thecleo.com) to provide mobile-accessible historical information.

Committee members said they have registered Delaware County as an America250 community with the statewide program and that they plan to issue press releases and work with township and county communications channels to promote events.

Commissioners offered to help connect the committee with local school systems and township newsletters. The county presented the committee with a certificate and flag showing the county’s America250 registration during the meeting.