At its January meeting, the Historic Saluda Committee (HSC) recognized Saluda’s 130th Birthday Celebration Committee for its work during 2011 to help celebrate the town’s birthday.
Events were held all year long in celebration of the town’s birthday, including but not limited to a historical church tour, nature walks, a celebration auction, an old timey square dance, a town potluck dinner with birthday cake, a bus tour of Saluda’s Inns, an antique car show, a “Visions of Saluda” art show and the first Saluda Christmas parade. The committee also assisted with other events traditionally held in Saluda such as the Charlie Ward Pig Out and the Saluda Arts Festival.
The HSC expressed particular appreciation to the 130th Birthday Celebration Committee for several opportunities that allowed the HSC to either partner or use the event to accomplish goals of the HSC.
Examples of this included the film premiere for “Home, Hearth and History: Stories of Old Saluda,” which occurred in July in conjunction with the old timey square dance, and the historic church tour in March. A slide show, which includes pictures and the audio recorded during the two days of the church tour, can be viewed at www.historicsaluda.org, along with other Saluda special events.
Members of the 130th Birthday Celebration Committee included Terry Baisden, Catherine Ross, Judy Ward, Greaton Sellers, Caroline Farris, Charlene Pace, Linda Whitaker and Nora Parks Anderson.
The Historic Saluda Committee was formed by a group of concerned citizens who wished to preserve the historical integrity of the town. The grassroots effort spawned interest from Saluda City officials and in June 2010 the Saluda City Commissioners voted to make the committee an advisory committee to the city and committee members were appointed. Major projects of the committee include the oral history project and restoration of Saluda City Hall. For more information email historicsaluda@gmail.com.
– article submitted
by Lynn Cass