Ripley will be celebrating it’s Bicentennial this August! Many great events are scheduled throughout the summer in celebration. Here’s a schedule- check back for updates!

RIPLEY BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

APRIL

• April 28-  Program: I Remember Ripley, by Greg and Lisa Haitz, 2 pm, Ripley Library, free!

MAY

• May 25 and 26- Ripley Alumni Weekend with a Bicentennial Theme, sponsored by RULH Alumni Association.
• On Friday there will be encore performances of the two Bicentennial Programs by Greg and Lisa Haitz: The 1937 Flood and I Remember Ripley.
• Saturday evening is the annual Alumni dinner at the Elementary School.
• May 28- Memorial Day Parade and Program with a Bicentennial Theme, parade begins at Liberty Monument at 1:30 followed by the program at Maplewood Cemetery at 2:00. Thomas Zachman is the featured speaker.

JUNE

• June 10- Bicentennial House Tour, sponsored by Ripley Heritage as a fund raiser.

JULY

• July:  Bicentennial Celebration Sports Weekend: times and places TBA. Sponsored by the Bicentennial Committee with chairmen Tim Wilson and Daniel Dragoo
• Activities include: Golf Scramble, Walk/Run, Corn Hole Tournament, 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament and Old fashioned Children’s games.
• Sunday will feature an old time baseball Game with the OHS Muffins Vs. Ripley All-Stars!

AUGUST

• Official Bicentennial Celebration begins Thursday, August 2 and ends Sunday, August 5!
• Thursday-
•  Miss Ripley Bicentennial Pagaent: Ripley Elementary, Times TBA
• Friday
• Opening Program: Centenary United Methodist Church, 7 pm
• Featuring Bicentennial choir, descendants of James Poague, Mayor  Syaunton, VA
• Keynote speaker is Thomas Zachman
• Refreshments
• Saturday
• Quilt Show: Centenary Methodist Church, 10-5 (quilt drop-off at 9 am)
• Pet Show for kids: Cherry Street, 10 am :Small entry fee
• Historical Scavenger Hunt for kids: Sponsored by the Home health Division of Ohio Valley Manor
• Baby Show: Details TBA
• Car Show: Front Street, 8-10 registration, 10-1 show
• Parade!  2 pm
• Street Dance: Details TBA

SUNDAY

• Closing Ceremonies: Liberty Monument 2 pm-Featuring the opening of the 1812 time capsule and the placing of a 2012 time capsule!

On April 11, the Cincinnati Enquirer featured an article entitled “Local Players in the Civil War”. The article mentions John Parker, saying:

John Parker

A former slave who purchased his own freedom, Parker lived in Indiana and Cincinnati before moving to Ripley in Brown County, where he helped hundreds of slaves find freedom as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, he was an active recruiter for all-black regiments in the Union Army.

The article also features Ripley’s John Rankin. You can read it here:

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/ourhistory/2011/04/11/local-players-in-civil-war/

A Bike Trail That Traces the Way to Freedom

“AMID the farmland just north of the Ohio River, thickets of sumac and maple trees hem the edge of a one-lane road, just as they might have lined the way to freedom two centuries ago…”
Read more at the Times