Initiatives

Founders Day Celebration Now Saturday, August 28

Rose Run Park Dedication, Healthy New Albany 5K among other activities

The Founders Day Parade & Festival, one of New Albany’s most popular community celebrations, has been tentatively moved from mid-May to Aug. 28 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Given where the world is with community celebrations, we felt like the best thing to do was move the Founders Day celebration back, with hopes that social distancing restrictions will ease by then,” says Linda Honaker, the Founders Day co-chair. “Although we won’t know for sure until later this summer, we are tentatively looking forward to a great Founders Day, along with the other events that will make the day even more fun.”

Rose Run Park Dedication

Following the Rose Run 5K, Healthy New Albany will sponsor various family activities around Rose Run Park, the Marx Library Garden and the Heit Center parking lot as a lead up to

the Rose Run Park dedication, which will begin around 10:30 a.m.

Mayor Sloan Spalding and other City Council members will officially dedicate the park with New Albany families and businesses who helped make Rose Run Park a reality. Rose Run Park is a wonderful gathering place in a natural setting that connects our civic amenities in the center of town, and everyone is invited to attend this event. The dedication will also include recognition of a time capsule to be buried in the park and opened in the year 2070, 50 years after Rose Run Park officially opened to the public.

Healthy New Albany Rose Run 5K

Healthy New Albany will kick off the day’s events at 8 a.m. with the inaugural Rose Run 5K (https://runsignup.com/ roserun5k). Children and adults alike will be able to participate in this event, and registrants can participate as individuals, with family or friends, or by creating a team with co-workers.

Proceeds from the race will provide funding for Healthy New Albany initiatives, including Senior and Youth Programs, Garden Club, After School Nature & Cooking Programs, Food Pantry, Summer Meals, Cancer Survivorship Program and various community events.

Founders Day Parade & Festival with Concerts

The parade will begin around 11 a.m. (immediately after the Rose Run Park dedication) along High Street on the school learning campus (near either Kardules Way or Chatham Green), then turning right (south) along Main Street and west along Dublin-Granville Road directly past Rose Run Park. This will allow all those who attend the Rose Run Park dedication to stay put to enjoy the

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The parade route will not include Market Street, or Main Street between Market Street and Dublin-Granville Road.

parade. The parade will finish in the Church of the Resurrection parking lot.

Immediately after the parade, from approximately noon-5 p.m., the Founders Day Festival will take place. Amusement rides will be set up in the Heit Center parking lot, while a stage will be set up directly north of Dublin-Granville and the Raines Crossing bridge to play host to two local bands during the afternoon (this stage will also be used for the Rose Run Park dedication).

Founders Day event staff is also coordinating food trucks along Dublin-Granville Road, and the city is working with BrewDog staff to gauge interest in creating a possible beer garden as part of the festival activities.

For more information about 2021 Founders Day events, go to www.newalbanyfoundersday.com.

“This is going to be a day filled with fun and excitement, and I think we can all agree it will be fantastic when these fun normal days become a part of our lives again, here in New Albany and across the country!” says Mayor Sloan Spalding. “We worked with Founders Day coordinators last year to include bands and more activities as part of their festival to make a great event even more festive, and I’m glad all those efforts will come to fruition this year.”

Future Updates

Stay tuned as the event date gets closer for more details on City of New Albany social media, the LIST e-newsletter (sign up at www.newalbanyohio.org/subscribe), the city website or City Council’s letter to residents.

Scott McAfee is the New Albany chief communications & marketing officer. Feedback welcome at feedback@ cityscenemediagroup.com.