While Tammy Hoffman Yoder had been toying with the idea of writing about Montville Township's history for some time, when tasked with penning a 200-year…
While Tammy Hoffman Yoder had been toying with the idea of writing about Montville Township’s history for some time, when tasked with penning a 200-year timeline for the township bicentennial, she was admittedly nervous.
“Before the (Montville Settlement Bicentennial Com-mittee) decided to have ‘someone’ rewrite the history, I had been researching and entertaining the idea,” Yoder, a seventh-generation Montville resident, said in an email. “Still, I did not feel prepared in less than a year to write a book. There were so many different versions of the history of Montville, it was difficult to figure out how to tell the story accurately.”
Nevertheless, Yoder, a member of the committee, wrote the majority of the 40-page history book on Montville Township, or “mountain town,” with help from other committee members and residents.
Yoder started with the early history in the 1800s and how Montville progressed into the 20th century. She focused on the pioneers’ hardships to “help readers understand the trans-formation of this town to the present day.”
“My goal was to encourage people to envision what Mont-ville was like 200 years ago,” Yoder said. “And to walk through two centuries with early settlers and their descendants who succeeded with strength and fortitude.”
Yoder, who taught art at Berkshire Schools, interviewed various residents for the book. Her grandparents once owned and operated the general store, post office, hardware store and started a milk cartage business in the 1930s, so she was able to get some first-hand accounts.
Ada Dobbs Gillespie, Heidi Abrahms, Wendy Burzanko, Judi Brace Maloney, Mike Immarino, Michelle Doehring and Dave Burzanko all contributed to the research and writing of the book, Yoder said.
The book — which will be for sale — as well as an historic exhibit will be on display all day Saturday during the Montville Settlement Bicentennial celebration, which will begin at the Montville Community Center, located on the corner of state routes 528 and 6.
The opening ceremony is at 10:30 a.m., with activities until 6 p.m.. The parade from JoAnn Drive to the community center begins at 2 p.m.
There will be refreshments for sale, along with Montville T-shirts, cookbook and history books.
Other members of the committee have contributed stories, photos and relics, which will be shared in the community center, along with video
recordings of residents’ interviews. There will also be individual presentations of specific subjects.
Yoder is making a visual timeline with photos and fun facts.
A History Lesson
Montville Township resident and bicentennial committee member Mike Immarino, 55, has lived in a 1874 century schoolhouse for over 30 years. He wrote the schoolhouse section of the Montville history.
Immarino has lived in Montville most of life and graduated from Ledgemont High School in 1977.
Mike started working on the schoolhouse in 1979 after it was empty for about 15 years. The house had no electricity or running water at the time, with just a water pump that the children used over 100 years ago.
The schoolhouse of District 7, or the Bradley District, is one of eight total school districts in Montville Township. Six schoolhouses are still around, some having been moved from their original locations.
They were in use until 1926 and most have been turned into residences, Immarino said.
“Living with history is really fun,” Immarino said. “Saving history makes you smile. We’ve saved a piece of the town and Geauga County.”
Immarino’s schoolhouse still has the original chestnut floors and the stone foundation. He and his wife Michelle have wanted to keep it simple and unique with modern touches, but still keeping to the original structure.
Immarino also has an ink well, a piece of the original wall and a book, all from the century schoolhouse. He has a wood plank that was once a bench, which still has initials and drawings etched into it from schoolchildren over 100 years ago.
Mike and Michelle both have a liking of history and are proud of what they’ve fixed up, Immarino said.
“We’ve put our hearts into it,” he said. “I can’t say enough about keeping a piece of history.”
Immarino said the bicentennial celebration will be a nice community event, and it was fun doing research for it.
For more information, visit montvillegeauga.com or the Montville Bicentennial Facebook page.
