Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Elementary students in Genoa were the recipients of a history lesson at Genoa’s historic town hall on May 6.
“The history is very cool,” Genoa fourth grader Nathan Montgomery said.
Montgomery and 100 of his classmates attended the special outing, and he said he especially liked the information about the early railroad and trains that came through Genoa in the 1850's which led to the town's sudden prosperity and its place on the Ohio map.
The students sat attentively in the second floor opera house theater to hear the stories about the town's early years, including the fact the original name of the town was actually “Stony Ridge,” plus how and why it was renamed as Genoa by the railroad.
They also learned about the efforts by the pioneers to clear and to drain the Great Black Swamp which is now mostly fertile farmland.
Those nuggets of history were just some of the lessons provided by Genoa's village administrator, Thomas Bergman, who is also the grandson of Tomme Bergman. Tomme was instrumental in saving the historic town hall from the wrecking ball in the 1970's.
“It was a great opportunity to educate the students about how this town came to be,” Bergman said.
In addition to the facts on Genoa's history, the students also got a lesson on how the village functions behind the scenes, and that was provided in the first floor council chambers by Genoa's Mayor Brent Huston, who said he was “really glad to be a part of this town hall day for the kids.”
He was also pleased with the interest the kids showed in the operations of the village, from providing the basic utilities like electric, water and sewer to who makes up the town council and staff.
“The kids asked a lot of interesting questions,” Huston said, “and I even was asked by one student when we are going to get the swing fixed in the park.”
This field trip by the fourth grade class is the first one for Genoa and probably won't be the last, fourth grade teacher Susie Gahler said.
“It's been awesome to pair with the local library and the historical society to give the kids some background about the town,” she said. “They learned something today.”
Meghan Parker, manager of the Genoa Branch of the Harris-Elmore Library agreed. The library helped organize the event with the historical society.
“My goal in getting involved was to help educate the kids about the history of the town,” Parker said. “We also have a beautiful historic town hall and we need to show it off.”
In addition to offering an interactive learning experience with village officials, the fourth graders were given a specially produced pamphlet for the occasion with pictures and stories of interest about Genoa's history.
Parker said plans are currently in the works by the groups involved to offer similar opportunities to Genoa students next school year.
