Tuscarawas County Historical Society announced Zeisberger Heckewelder Medal winners

The Tuscarawas County Historical Society has announced its 2026 Zeisberger Heckewelder Medal winners.

The honorees are Rita McPeak of Uhrichsville; Wilma Mullet, executive director of the Tuscarawas Arts Partnership; John Ourant of Newcomerstown; Jacquie Starcher Price of the Community Center of Southern Tuscarawas; and Tammi Shrum, site director of Historic Zoar Village and Fort Laurens.

A banquet honoring the recipients will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, at Union Hill Church, 7877 Union Hill Road NW, Sugarcreek. Cost is $30. Reservations are required and must be received with payment by May 29.

Rita McPeak is a 1975 graduate of Claymont High School who, during a visit to her hometown in 2012, saw a need to help revitalize the area. She started Clay City Development LLC after purchasing the former Virginia’s Tea Room building and began remodeling. She then purchased the former Twin City Hardware and 126 E. Third St. buildings, which also have been remodeled.

McPeak has volunteered extensively with efforts for the Clay Capital Heritage Center and Panhandle Passage Park. She has served on the Clay Advisory Board for more than a decade, volunteered at fundraisers such as the Children’s Queen’s Tea, served on the museum design team and contributed financially to the project. She was recognized as the museum’s Clayworker of the Year in 2017.

Wilma Mullet has been executive director of the Tuscarawas Arts Partnership for the past eight years. She oversees daily administrative duties, grant writing, program development and funding arrangements for programs and artists.

Mullet has been co-chair of New Philadelphia’s Art on the Alley since 2019. She developed and administers the Adalante Arts Camp, with instruction in graphic arts, photography, culinary arts, dance and music. She created Arts Signing Day for high school students pursuing post-secondary education and careers in the performing and visual arts, as well as the Arts Teacher of the Year program.

Mullet also has overseen the financing and installation of sculptures celebrating local history and character in towns and villages across the county. She was recognized by the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum as a Leading Lady of Tuscarawas County and serves on New Philadelphia’s City Design and Review Board, which works to preserve and highlight the historical and architectural history of the downtown area.

John Ourant is a graduate of Newcomerstown High School and a Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Navy. As director of Ourant Funeral Home from 1984 to 2017, he was a comfort to many in the community.

Ourant also has served the Newcomerstown area through many organizations. He has been a member of the Newcomerstown Lions Club, served on the board of Newcomerstown Little League and been a member of the Loyal Order of the Moose, the Elks Lodge and the American Legion. As a member of the Elks, he helps distribute food baskets to families in need and places flags on fallen members’ graves throughout Coshocton, Guernsey and Tuscarawas counties.

Ourant serves on the Newcomerstown scholarship committee and helps with investments for furthering education. He is vice president of the Newcomerstown Community Improvement Corporation. In that role, he has worked through events and programs for the betterment of the community.

Ourant served on the board of the Newcomerstown Library for 21 years and was involved in planning and building a new facility. He also has served on the Newcomerstown Chamber of Commerce. As president of the Newcomerstown Historical Society, he oversaw the operation of two museums, took reservations for events, gave museum tours and assisted with financial decisions.

Jacquie Starcher Price grew up in Port Washington and has long been interested in helping her neighbors. She wanted to create a community center to provide programming, services and a point of connection for those living in southern Tuscarawas County.

Price secured funding to purchase an empty church building in Port Washington and established a nonprofit to create the Community Center of Southern Tuscarawas, where she now serves as executive director.

Activities at the center include exercise and walking programs, line dancing classes, a farmers market, beginner sewing classes, grief support groups and bread-making classes.

In addition to her work at the center, Price writes grants for community projects, is involved in community cleanup days and has raised funds for Christmas lighting. She also focuses on improving access to health care for southern Tuscarawas County residents.

Tammi Shrum works in public history and historic preservation in Tuscarawas County. She is site director for Historic Zoar Village and Fort Laurens, where she has worked to preserve, interpret and expand public engagement at the sites while promoting the area’s historic legacy.

Before assuming her role at Zoar in 2015, Shrum had experience at Fort Laurens through the county Convention and Visitors Bureau and as director of the J.E. Reeves Victorian Home and Carriage House Museum. She played a key role in having Historic Zoar Village designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2016.

Her accomplishments at Zoar include developing the “Zoar and the Presidents” school program, which won the Ohio Museum Association Best in Education and Outreach Award. She also curated the “Best of Zoar” exhibit in the Town Hall, created Autumn Ghost Tours, developed the Zoar Bicentennial traveling exhibit, created the visiting exhibit program for the Bimeler House Museum, procured grants for Zoar and Fort Laurens and created a Zoar Christmas Tour event.

The restoration of the Bimeler Cabin in Zoar earned a Preservation Merit Award from the State Historic Preservation Office.

The Historical Society invites the public to the Zeisberger Heckewelder Banquet to honor the recipients, who have exemplified outstanding service to their communities and enhanced the understanding of Tuscarawas County history.