Hart to bring baseball legend Cy Young to life in WCHS program

The next Wayne County Historical Society program, which is free to attend, will be Aug. 30 at 1 p.m. at the Wayne County Historical Society schoolhouse, located on the Wayne County Historical Society campus at 546 E. Bowman St. in Wooster.

The program will feature Chris Hart as Cy Young, presenting Tales from the Hart.

In 1947 Newcomerstown celebrated the 80th birthday of its favorite son, Peoli native Denton “Cy” Young, baseball's winningest pitcher. Meet Cy as he steps from the train, having just returned from Cleveland Stadium, where he was honored with a tribute day. In this first-person portrayal, Cy will share reminisces of life in the early days of Major League Baseball, setting records and the ups and downs of a career that stretched over 20 years. Despite all the fanfare and glory, his greatest pleasure was returning to the Tuscarawas hills every offseason to the love of his wife and the joy of being a simple farmer. And attendees might learn why they called him Cy.

Wayne County native Dean Chance was a Cy Young recipient. There will be a small exhibit recounting his journey from Wayne County farm boy to big league star.

Tales from the Hart is a venture that enables Chris Hart to combine history and storytelling. Appearing in costume, Hart brings to life numerous historical and literary characters (over 65 to date and still expanding), ranging from Cy Young to Ichabod Crane and Peter Daley, a Titanic survivor. Being a Civil War buff, Hart presents programs on Civil War subjects such as pharmacy, dogs, ghosts and more to various Civil War Roundtable discussion groups.

Hart’s interest in history was featured in In Character, Ohio Magazine, Now and Then Magazine, and Ohio Cooperative Living, as well as numerous newspapers throughout the state. He has retired as pastor at the Birds Run Community Church and is now interim pastor at Gospel Hill Ministry in Warsaw.