published: Sunday, October 14, 2012

Centennial Focus begins

On Jan. 6, 2012, you may recall the Centennial Kick-Off Celebration Party; the party that was so successful with a much larger crowd than expected. Hundreds showed up to help kick off the year-long celebration and The Circle was full of excitement, as were the spoke streets. Ridgewood was filled with tables and chairs and people sat, socialized and ate delicious food together.

It was a true community event and a true delight. Food was plentiful and vendors had everything from burgers, wings, jalapeno poppers and gator bites to snow cones, cotton candy, old-fashioned draft-style soda pop, fresh squeezed lemonade, ice cream and fried Oreos. We had Toby's Clowns, the Mountain Dew Cloggers, artist James R. Hahn, and California Toe Jam Band had everyone dancing in the streets well into the night.

Now here we are, in the midst of all the fun and excitement during Centennial Focus week. The Centennial Committee has worked very hard to plan an exciting week full of fun, family-friendly events. We hope to see all of the community out during this Centennial Celebration week, as we fully expect every one of these events planned to exceed the fun everyone had at the Kick-Off Party back in January.

Tomorrow is the Centennial Parade that starts at 6 p.m., and follows the same route as the Christmas Parade; after the parade, there is a huge party on The Circle. The streets will stay closed until 10 p.m., and we are pleased to announce that we have California Toe Jam Band back with us on stage performing into the night. We'll have fabulous food vendors, and Toby's Clowns are back for the kids.

There are awards for best float, the Centennial Costume contest and more. The public is encouraged to dress in period costume, any period over the past 100 years will do. Simply register your costume at the table tomorrow night and possibly win. There will be tables and chairs set up on South Ridgewood for sitting, eating and conversing with friends.

Florida native artist James R. Hahn will be working on his latest project, the huge 40-foot Centennial Mural on Magnolia and South Ridgewood. It is sure to be a wonderful night in beautiful historic downtown Sebring; hope you join in the fun.

This week is completely full of events, something every day of the week, and some days, more than one event going on. Be sure to go to the website or call for the current list of events; there are a few event lists out in the community, and I've noticed a good portion of them are not 100 percent correct. Please check out our redesigned website, www.Sebring100.com,">www.Sebring100.com, and print a copy of the mayor's song, "The Centennial Ode". We're expecting all of the community to join us on Thursday evening for the Setting of the Time Capsule and the Mayor's Street Dance, and we can all sing along.

Call 655-5554, email events@sebring100.com, join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SebringCentennial, and visit the Centennial Celebration website at www.Sebring100.com for complete details.

There are a few remaining Centennial items left complete with the official logo. We plan on having some available at the events for sale. Some items are sold out. We're not ordering more, so be sure to get yourself an item to remember this historical time in Sebring, and get an item for a friend as well. You'll be glad you did.

Thanks to the News-Sun for being a sponsor and the opportunity to keep everyone informed on Sebring's Centennial Celebration. Reference this article every Sunday for continued Celebration updates throughout the remainder of the year.

Jen Brown is a member of the Sebring Centennial Committee and the Sebring Historical Society.