https://discoverclermont.com/wp-content/uploads/Grant-Bicentennial-brochure-WEB.pdf
https://discoverclermont.com/wp-content/uploads/Grant-Bicentennial-Press-Release.pdf
One of Clermont County’s attributes is “rally around.” There are times our community must rally around for unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances. Other times, it is a chance to celebrate. A chance to celebrate our rich history and bright future. When the 200th birthday of Clermont’s favored son, 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, was approaching it was important for our community to rally around one another and celebrate. A local organizing committee was formed including our staff, local historians, historical societies, government leaders, veteran services, the public library and many more.
One of those historians developed a list of sites in Clermont and our neighboring Brown County, that were significant to Grant in some aspect of his life. This list grew into a total number of 17 locations and that is what started the Land of Grant Trail. We first researched stories and historically significant of each location, developed content and a physical brochure to promote the trail and a series of Bicentennial events to celebrate. We then partnered with our technology company, Bandwango and turned the trail into a mobile audio tour to make it easier to explore all the stories, endeavors, and facts from your fingertips.
Aside from the Land of Grant Trail development our committee was hard at work to develop other Bicentennial events. The centerpiece of the bicentennial was the Grant Bicentennial Dinner, which was developed as a tribute since Grant was the first president to host a state dinner. The committee partnered with local chefs who developed inspiration from a presidential menu from the 1860’s. The evening was paired with a cocktail hour which included tasting stations with items General Grant and Union soldiers had during the Civil War such as hardtack, earthwork beans and more. The dinner menu was much more of what a president would have enjoyed including a steak, potatoes, and roasted mushrooms. When President Grant moved into the White House he brought an army cook with him. The First lady, Julia, wasn’t pleased and hired an Italian Chef named Melah who upgraded the White House cuisine for the Grant family. The Bicentennial dinner menu featured Melah’s famous red wine sauce that is now a common cooking idea. Many of these food items are common today but were considered a delicacy back then. To celebrate Grant’s 200th birthday, guests were served ginger cake and rice pudding. Rice pudding was Grant’s favorite dessert which he made very clear in his memoir. The night’s entertainment included a traveling Grant exhibit, live period music, historic dance demonstrations and reenactments of Grant by local actors.
In addition to the Bicentennial dinner on April 27th, the CVB hosted a media and community event that took place on the U.S. Grant Birthplace grounds. This event included guest speakers, proclamations from many local and statewide officials, student group tours, field trips and a cake cutting ceremony.
Lastly, our team partnered with a local company called Osborne Coinage Company to produce a Grant Bicentennial coin. We quickly learned that this same company minted Grant’s Centennial coin 100 years ago. Our design team took elements from the centennial coin and new features from the bicentennial to develop a beautiful new collectible coin.
In Clermont County, we believe that our residents are our biggest tourism ambassadors. While our mission is to bring visitors into the county, we felt it was equally important to celebrate this historical milestone with our community. Our team worked hard to market this event to both visitors and residents alike. Specifically, visitors with historical and presidential interest. Print advertisements were published in a variety of magazines and local newspapers including Ohio Magazine, AAA World, and more.
The Land of Grant Trail launched in March of 2022 and immediately showed signs of success. 538 people downloaded the trail, there has been a total of 793 check-ins. That’s over 793 people that our team has brought to the doorstep of historical locations and museums. 39 visitors have completed the trail, visited all 17 locations, and were awarded the Grant Bicentennial collectible coin. We see these numbers continue to grow each month and have plans to market into 2023. A Grant promotional video was created to promote the trail and Bicentennial events. The video currently has over 184,000 views and an impressive 289,224 impressions have been served through digital advertisement.
The series of Bicentennial events received incredible earned media coverage throughout the spring. Our team hosted journalists from the St. Louis Dispatch, the Columbus Dispatch, Out and About Columbus and other Cincinnati local news outlets.
The Grant Bicentennial Dinner was a tremendous success and brought visitors from all over the country and Clermont County residents together to celebrate this special historical event. Our goal was to sell 200 tickets and we exceeded our goal by 25%. Our event sold out and required a waiting list because of the high volume of interest. Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed the night and left with a sense of pride. One attendee from St. Louis even had this to say, “My compliments again on an outstanding event that the committee put together. Many thanks for the extra dose of southwest Ohio hospitality.”
