Memorial Day in Parkman Township was not only a day to remember and honor military members who died while serving their country, but also a day to share memories and a little history among residents, new and old.
Memorial Day in Parkman Township was not only a day to remember and honor military members who died while serving their country, but also a day to share memories and a little history among residents, new and old.
Illustrating more than a century of that history was the dedication of a huge iron school bell mounted on the gazebo on the township square.
Many residents gathered to listen to Parkman Township Trustee Joyce Peters as she related the events leading up to the recovery of the bell, which summoned children to Parkman School from 1883 to 1952, when the building was demolished and the new school was built.
“At that time, Concezio ‘Connie’ Testa, who was the custodian of the Parkman School for many years, retained the bell for safekeeping,” Peters said. “When Connie retired, he took the bell home and maintained possession of the bell until his death in 2010.
“Mr. Testa’s family donated the bell to the Parkman Alumni Association and it was stored at the home of Bill Stanley until the spring of 2022, when the alumni donated it to the township.”
The gazebo replaced the original bandstand, built by Parkman residents in 1887, she said. The bandstand served as a gathering place for earlier generations. Its brass roof survived, relocated to Century Village Museum in Burton, Peters said.
Tim Yoder built the gazebo in 1997, topping it off with a weather vane of a baseball player, symbolizing the family nature of Parkman and residents’ love of baseball, she said, adding the weather vane will be put back up when work on the roof is finished this summer.
Last Monday, the center of attention was on the bell and the memories it stirred.
“It has been placed in the center of this gazebo to honor our history and for everyone to enjoy,” Peters said, adding the Parkman Chamber of Commerce buried a time capsule beneath the bell, to be opened in 2047.
A sheet hanging just below the bell was swept off and the brass plaque was revealed with the words: “We hereby dedicate this bell to the settlers who built Parkman, the teachers who taught Parkman children and to those residents who honor Parkman’s history.”
The dedication of the Parkman School bell was the culmination of a long journey township officials took to preserve the township’s historical buildings, Peters said.
Part of the American Rescue Plan Act funds the township received went to upgrading the Parkman Community House so it is ADA compliant and is able to be rented for events, she said, adding the large pavilion at Overlook Park was renovated, a horse shelter was erected and a new swing set put in place.
Other efforts to preserve Parkman’s history included a millstone and the 1899 date stone from the Cromwell building that stood at the corner of Main Market and Madison roads, Peters noted.
Both are located in Veteran’s Park across the street from the gazebo.
Leading up to the dedication, two deceased Parkman veterans, Richard Thorn and Joseph Wells, were honored before the parade from Overlook Cemetery rolled down the hill to the center of town. Burton area Scout Troop 197 carried the colors and members of the Cardinal Schools band played the National Anthem.
