An upcoming village-wide New Concord Community Day will take place Saturday, Sept. 2.
The announcement was presented at the August New Concord Village Council meeting by New Concord community members Kristin Centa and Julie Metry.
Centa and Metry are members of the non-profit hosting the event called Friends of New Concord, Inc. whose mission is to drive community development.
The original plan was two separate events. The first being a different version of Community Day that focused on bonding Muskingum University students and New Concord families.
“The college offers a lot of things. Football games for the families to watch and just a nice atmosphere. And the students didn’t realize how much great shops we have down town…,” said Metry.
The second planned event was a day with food trucks, vendors, and live music. Friends of New Concord, Inc. realized the resources required to create both major events were too much to handle.
“So we put the two events together, now we have an incredible day,” said Centa.
There will be 22 vendor tents, a corn hole tournament, a rock-climbing wall, an axe throwing trailer, and the Muskingum University football game hosting Ferrum at 1 p.m. will be free admission. The a cappella group “Friendship 7” will perform the national anthem.
There will also be an event for the college students called a shop block.
“They will pick up a card, they will go to 12 shops. We want them to know we have hair salons here, we have a scrapbook store here, we have a hardware store. These kids don’t really leave their world sometimes and we want to introduce them to our town and what we have,” said Centa.
The cards will get hole-punched and then turned into the organizers which will be used to raffle prize baskets during halftime at the football game.
“I am excited the Village of New Concord is hosting this inaugural Community Day,” said New Concord Mayor Jennifer Lyle. “It is a great opportunity for the village community and the University community to come together for a day of fun. I encourage everyone in the surrounding areas to join us.”
Community Day is Sept. 2 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. All events throughout the day include free admission, and there is no cost to participate in any of the games or activities.
Listen to more details from the August New Concord Village Council meeting. Meetings air on WMCO 90.7 Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at noon and 10 p.m.
