Preview to give celebration insight 9/30/2009 6:21 PM By APRIL BAILEY Staff writer
Reserve seats now to get a sneak peek of plans for the City's 175th anniversary celebration.
A special preview will be held Saturday at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts on Newberry Street to inform the public of activities scheduled for the City's anniversary and to gather volunteers to help with the events.
The preview will be in two sessions at 2 and 3 p.m. The sessions - presented by Mayor Fred Cavanaugh and Bill Reynolds, chairman of the anniversary planning committee - are 15 to 20 minutes long and will highlight the events planned for the year.
The City's yearlong celebration will officially begin on Jan. 9 with a kick-off party downtown from 1 to 5 p.m. The event will commemorate the City's first year, called the "Sights, Sounds and Tastes of 1835." The City of Aiken was established on Dec. 19, 1835.
"Sights and Sounds" will be held at the Newberry Street festival site, along with Newberry Hall, the Municipal Building, the Aiken Community Playhouse and the Aiken Center for the Arts.
Aiken will celebrate 175 years throughout 2010 with activities divided into four quarters: History, horse and health; arts education and entertainment; business, innovation and technology; and Aiken's future.
History, horses and health will be held January through March and will include a reading event for children, a formal tea party at the Green Boundary Club and a reception at Rye Patch for Aiken's horse heroes.
Arts, education and entertainment will be held April through June and will include activities to celebrate arts, education and entertainment in Aiken.
In the anniversary's third quarter, Aiken will focus on business, innovation and technology from July through September. Several activities are scheduled, including a business expo at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.
Aiken's future is the theme of the final quarter, which will be observed October through December. Among the activities planned for the fourth quarter is an essay and arts contest for children, which will ask them to describe what Aiken will be like on its 200th birthday in 2035.
The City will hold its 175th birthday party on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010, at the Convocation Center.
To make reservations for the preview, e-mail Vivian Johnson at the box office at vjohnson@cityofaikensc.gov or call 648-1438.
Contact April Bailey at abailey@aikenstandard.com.
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