Second Holmes bicentennial video to explore future

This past summer Holmes County celebrated its official bicentennial with a variety of special activities and in doing so created a beautiful video that will serve as a lasting tribute to the history of the county.

However, the job of celebrating the bicentennial is far from complete, and recently, Melissa Patrick of the Holmes County Historical Society spearheaded the beginning of a second video from the creative mind of Bronson Allison, owner and founder of LiveMoreTV.

The prior video explored some of the major historical moments, landmarks and people of Holmes County. This new one will turn its attention toward the future, mainly looking ahead to the next 200 years.

“From the very beginning, we contracted with Bronson to do two videos,” Patrick said. “The first video was all about how Holmes County got started and took viewers on a tour through how we got where we are today. This one is unique in that it is looking forward into the future and toward what people envision the county looking like in the next 200 years.”

In creating the video, Patrick reached out to many Holmes County local officials, leaders and others for their input, people who have and are helping to build the county today — local officials like law enforcement, school superintendents, commissioners, judges and elected officials who are shaping the county.

“It’s full of people who are building the county and having them share their thoughts about where the county is going moving forward,” Patrick said.

Once completed, this new video will preview in the bicentennial celebration that will take place in the Holmes Center for the Arts facility in Berlin in June. Patrick said the HCHS is planning an entire weekend of activities during that time including an old-fashioned baseball game, a historical band at the amphitheater on Glen Drive in Millersburg, time capsule celebrations and a series of wander maps designed to provide people with ideas on touring various historical sites throughout Holmes County.

A bicentennial’s worth of years to think ahead can be a daunting task. Patrick said the challenge for those taking part was interesting, and she was curious to see what they would come up with.

She made no time limitations on how long each person could share and asked only that they sign up for times to be interviewed at the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau building in Millersburg.

Will the population of the county be the same as it is now, or will it experience a population boom? Will humans be no longer driving cars but flying vehicles to and from work? Will infrastructure look the same? Will government operate in the same manner it does today? These and many other questions were explored for the video.

One common thread shared was hope that the people of Holmes County will continue to be as welcoming and hospitable as they are now to all who enter the county’s borders.

“Where to even begin?” said Mark Boley, president of the Holmes County Historical Society. “I’m taking a different twist to it, about how our next 200 years will be shaped by what is taking place now and has taken place in our past. Our recorded history is how we make decisions moving forward. I think science and technology are going to lead us into some fascinating new places.”

How does that affect a rural county like Holmes County, especially since it is a county with a large Amish population? Boley said science and technology have played a vital role in shaping the county already, and that probably won’t change.

“Cellphones, e-bikes, artificial intelligence — there have been many recent innovations that have drastically changed the way we do things, and I think it’s only going to come at us faster than ever,” Boley said.

Commissioner Dave Hall said when the county began formulating a plan of celebrating the bicentennial, it was focused on the past. However, he said discussions eventually turned toward what is happening now and what the future will look like, so they felt it was a good idea to explore that.

“Hopefully, every 50 years or so, we look at what the county has done and what it’s doing and we’re able to learn from that,” Hall said.

He said preservation of farmland and wetlands and business growth are important issues that will help shape the future.

“One thing I think will remain is the legacy of people here giving back, and caring will always be a part of who we are,” Hall said. “Each generation seems to pass that on.”

“That’s something that makes this county special,” Ohio State Rep. Mark Hiner said. “It’s what drives Holmes County.”

Two-hundred years is a long way away, but this video will offer some insight into what this generation of leaders believes will be important for the future of Holmes County.

“It’s kind of neat to think ahead and explore what our county might look like 200 years from now,” Patterson said. “I think I’ll hand over the chairmanship to someone else for the next time we celebrate our bicentennial in 200 years.”

The initial Holmes County bicentennial video is currently available for viewing on the LiveMoreTV website and the Holmes County Historical Society bicentennial website.