Communities Statewide Set to Celebrate Ohio’s Homecoming & Picnic

Nothing gets the summer sizzling quite like a picnic. Whether you plan your own or attend one of the organized Ohio’s Homecoming & Picnic events across the state, the idea behind this America 250-Ohio initiative is to encourage friends and family to gather in July and celebrate our nation’s birth on its semiquincentennial.   

“It’s also an opportunity to encourage people to come back home to Ohio, so it’s a reconnecting with community and coming together,” says Megan Wood, executive director and CEO of the Ohio History Connection in Columbus. 

In a partnership with Cenovus Energy, signature gatherings are planned for Lima and Toledo, as well as the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Schoenbrunn Village in New Philadelphia, the Harding Presidential Sites in Marion, the Newark Earthworks in Newark and the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center in Wilberforce. 

Groups who register to host an event will receive a picnic kit, Wood notes. Ideas for games, trivia sessions, speakers and even Spotify playlists will be included in each kit, in addition to suggestions for activities such as reading the Declaration of Independence — something done frequently in public places for those who did not have access to newspapers and other public forums in 1776. 

Ohioans are also being asked to explore the history of the places they call home to find significant items that personalize each picnic. For example, Cleveland cookouts could highlight Bertman Original Ball Park Mustard, served at professional baseball games in the city since the 1920s, while Cincinnati gatherings could make locally beloved Grippo’s Potato Chips (founded in downtown Cincinnati in 1919) part of their menu.

For details on Ohio’s Homecoming & Picnic events or for guidance on hosting a picnic in your community, visit america250-ohio.org/picnic.

The America 250-Ohio publication was created in partnership with the America 250-Ohio Commission. For more information on America 250-Ohio, visit america250-ohio.org.