Clearfield County gears up for America250

By Andy Stine

astine@altoonamirror.com

The semiquincentennial is a little under a month away, but Clearfield County has been holding events celebrating the 250th year of America since the beginning of the year.

The celebration of America 250 will continue through the end of the year in the county, culminating with a Revolutionary War ball in December at Irvin Manor in Curwensville.

“We don’t want it to just end on the Fourth of July,” said Julie Houston, advisor of America250 events in Clearfield County.

Houston is the vice president of Global Drill Services, and is also a board member with the Clearfield County Historical Society. She got involved with planning for America250 in Clearfield County through her role with the historical society.

Clearfield County Recreation and Tourism also jumped in to assist Houston.

“I’m basically a liaison between what the state is doing and what our county is doing,” Houston said. “(Clearfield County Rec and Tourism) hopped on board because I had no clue it was going to be this much.”

As for the near future, activities will be ramping up with Independence Day just a few weeks away.

For starters, a committee of Clearfield County Ambassadors will be reading the Declaration of Independence in various communities on July 3-4. There will be a large gathering on July 4 at 4 p.m. with a reading of the Declaration at the Clearfield County Courthouse.

A contest to decorate your house or business got under way on Memorial Day, and will continue through the 4th of July. To participate in the contest, you can submit your photo of your decorated house or business, and either tag the Clearfield County 250 Facebook page, or email it to Visit Clearfield County.

The winner of the contest will receive $250 dollars.

“Our county wants to show its patriotism,” Houston said. “We just thought, ‘Let’s have a contest.'”

Also, in the very near future, the historical society will be releasing a web series called “Clearfield County Chronicles.” The series, which will be released on a YouTube channel, is filming various people around the county on many topics of the history of Clearfield County.

“They’ve probably done 30 interviews as of right now,” Houston said. “I’ve seen a few of them and they are great. It’s almost like a little podcast. They’ve tried to pull people from every part of the county to speak.”

For more information, visit America250PA Clearfield County on Facebook.