Zane’s Trace Commemoration Kicks Off in Zanesville with History, Community, and Competitions

This news article was submitted WHIZ news intern Maddie Luebkert

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — The Zane’s Trace Commemoration, a festival honoring the history and founding of Zanesville kicked off on Friday June 13 and will run until Sunday June 15 at Putnam Landing.

The three-day celebration opened at 12 p.m. with live music, historical demonstrations, food, wrestling and contests such as the new out house race. Contestants in the new race will compete to make it over the finish line in their homemade outhouse on wheels. 

The festival remembers the past through a historical blacksmith demonstration; a model of a covered wagon used in the original Zane’s Trace parade in 1973 and a working railroad model. 

“It just didn’t appear on the map. There’s a lot of history; I mean tons of history. So, I would like to get that out there to people, so they know it doesn’t die. This younger generation, we just need to teach them hey this is what happened back then, so we at least get them to know it you know?” President of Zane’s Trace Commemoration Rick Buck said.

The ribbon cutting ceremony at 12:30 p.m. highlighted the hard work volunteers put into making this celebration happen, and the history behind the town residents know and love. And while the focus is on learning about the past, the festival also works to establish community in the present.

“What I love about the commemoration is you come down here and you run into people you might not have seen in a year, or even more so I think that’s wonderful. But I do look forward to some of the extra activities they have, again, the anything that floats but a boat race, the outhouse race, again I love wrestling big time just because of the athleticism in it. So, I’m just looking forward to having a couple days of good fun,” Mayor of Zanesville Don Mason said.

To learn more about the Zane’s Trace Commemoration, visit their website at zanestracecommemoration.com.