Blissfield bicentennial: Village comes together during July weekend to celebrate its past

BLISSFIELD — Blissfield’s bicentennial year continues, but its official weekend of celebration — July 27-28 — is now part of the history books.

There are still upcoming events in Blissfield scheduled through the remainder of the year that honor and pay homage to the village’s 200 years of existence: July 28, 1824, to the present.

“Throughout the year, kind of everything we do will be attributed to the 200 years celebration,” Danielle Gross, Blissfield Village administrator previously told The Daily Telegram.

According to Lenawee County records , William Kedzie, of Delphi, Delaware County, New York, entered the first land purchase in Blissfield, but Hervey Bliss from Raisinville in Monroe County was the first person to actually purchase and move onto his lands. He moved during December 1824, making Blissfield the second settlement in Lenawee County. The village was named after his family. Bliss also was the first postmaster with the post office opening on March 28, 1828.

Blissfield’s actual incorporation as a village was on July 27, 1875.

"Its amazing to think of all the things Blissfield has overcome the last 200 years, and all Blissfield will achieve in the future. Our community has withstood it all because of the amazing people that make up our small town," Gross said.

More: Blissfield's bicentennial weekend features everything from bed races to historical demonstrations

A slate of activities around the village took place on July 27 and 28 including carriage rides; Music in the downtown Bicentennial Park; a beard and mustache competition and cemetery tours featuring reenactments of notable figures from Blissfield’s history.

“The bicentennial was a great success. By all accounts, the cemetery tours were a big highlight,” said Laura Nichols, Blissfield DDA/Main Street/Economic Development Director. “People loved the driving tour and kid’s activities. We had a wonderful turnout for the beard and mustache completion. There seemed to be something for everyone. The (Saturday) bed races were fun, and the (First) Presbyterian Church sold out of their pulled pork (dinners). Everyone raved about the Music in the Park. Old Creek Road, The Sugar Beats and the Blissfield High School ensemble did a beautiful job.”

A time capsule display and a movie of Blissfield’s sesquicentennial celebrations from 1974 at Blissfield American Legion Post 325 were also part of the celebratory weekend.

Last summer, in preparations for its bicentennial year, the village unearthed a buried time capsule from Blissfield’s sesquicentennial. Within the capsule was the film “Elysium: The Field of Bliss,” presented by the Blissfield Area Sesquicentennial Corporation and directed by Gary L. Welz. The film, which was shown to the public at the American Legion was filmed July 22, 23, 25 and 26, 1974, at the Blissfield High School football field.

In 1974, the Blissfield Area Sesquicentennial celebration was a weeklong event, from July 21-28, highlighting the village’s 150 years of “Pride, Progress and Prosperity.”

An envelope containing a slew of memorabilia and items from the sesquicentennial contained the following handwritten words:

“This envelope contains a list of names and people who have material addressed to them in the time capsule. The time capsule is buried under the moveable concrete section of the gazebo floor located in the 1974 addition at Ellis playground. This envelope should be given to the Blissfield Village Council or other governing body for preparation of time capsule opening which is scheduled for the year 2024.”

A Bicentennial Committee began formulating plans for this year’s celebration offerings at the start of 2023, Gross previously said. Residents, nonprofit organizations and village representatives all have had a hand in the planning stages.

Committee members have included Deena and Eric Remley, Barb Abenzeller, Gary Holmes, Connie Seiser, Jackie Bates, Joy Wonderly, Frank Seely, Barb McHenry, Nichols and others.

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"I would like to extend a thank you to our bicentennial committee, volunteers, sponsors, participants and everyone that made it such a wonderful event," Gross said. "It was great seeing people get into the spirit of celebrating our history whether it was sporting a moustache or beard at our Moustache, Beard and Sideburn competition, racing beds down South Lane Street or checking out the old tractors and wagons at the American Farm Museum."

Such events as the downtown Music in the Park summer concert series continues this month and into September. The Adrian College Ensemble will provide musical entertainment at Bicentennial Park from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16. Pomegranate Whiskey Bank will perform from 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 23.

To close out the inaugural concert series for 2024, is Jaded Soul, scheduled to perform from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 13.

For information about other upcoming events throughout Blissfield, visit the Downtown Blissfield Facebook page or check out blissfieldmainstreet.com .

— Contact reporter Brad Heineman at bheineman@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: twitter.com/LenaweeHeineman .

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Blissfield bicentennial: Village comes together during July weekend to celebrate its past