FREDERICKTOWN — The Knox County Partners in Tourism meeting was held at the Fredericktown Museum Monday evening. Presented by the Knox County Convention and Visitors Bureau, it was billed as an event “to network with ... industry peers about the up and coming attractions in the area.” A light meal was catered to the crowd of around 20 people who attended.
Jim Wagner, former president of the Fredericktown Historical Society, spoke about the Webb C. Ball clock that was placed in the Fredericktown square last November. He said there were plans for landscaping around the clock before a formal unveiling ceremony takes place in the future.
“That clock is really in good shape for being 121 years old,” said Wagner.
The clock was originally placed in downtown Cleveland on Euclid Avenue, and Wagner was concerned that during the revamping of the street, the clock would be destroyed as well.
“We were afraid they were going to tear that clock down and just haul it off to the scrap yard,” he said, adding that the clock was transferred from Cleveland to Fredericktown with the help of Kokosing Construction. “The only problem we have now is if we have a power outage, I have to go back up and reset the clock.”
“There’s a spirit involved with the clock for the people here in Fredericktown,” said Judy Divelbiss, president of the Fredericktown Historical Society.
Pat Crow, executive drector of the KCCVB, said he and others would assist Fredericktown in creating brochures to advertise the clock in its new location.
Wagner also told the story of the clock’s connection to Fredericktown. Webb C. Ball was born and raised in Fredericktown, but then struck out into the world to start a business. Ball worked for a watch company in Cincinnati for some time, then bought into a jewelry store in Cleveland and eventually took over the business. After a fatal train accident occurred in Ohio, investigators found the cause of the accident was because the conductors and the engineers’ watches were not in synch.
“The railroad industry hired Webb C. Ball to standardize all of their time,” explained Wagner. “He was one of the first jewelers in the United States to use the National Observatory’s time as a standard time.”
Ball would then sell certified pocket watches to railroad workers, who would send the watches back once a year to have them re-certified. This, said Wagner, gave rise to the term “on the ball,” meaning to be on time.
Divelbiss spoke about her vision as the president of the historical society, noting she wants to try to increase membership. The historical society, said Divelbiss, is still mainly composed of its original members, who have kept it going.
“I took it as my ... charge ... to take it another step,” said Divelbiss.
Her plans include opening the upstairs of the current location of the Fredericktown Museum. Divelbiss envisions a place that is “our little version” of the Woodward Opera House.
“We want to sell the museum and the historical society to the community,” said Divelbiss.
She said she wants to recreate the historical society into something that local people would be proud to donate to.
Earl Bechtel, president of the Fredericktown Community Development Foundation, said one big event planned for the upcoming year is the Great Ohio Bike Adventure, which will come through Fredericktown on June 16. The event will bring an estimated 2,500 cyclers through the community.
“It’s our responsibility to provide snacks and drinks and so forth. We’re having it out at the Community Park where we have a lake that they can swim in,” explained Bechtel.
He also said he hopes to move forward with improvements in the downtown area.
Regarding the possibility of securing money for the construction of a Fredericktown Community Center, Bechtel said, “We’re really, really excited about getting that off the ground. That will be a tremendous boost for the community.”
Julie Chester of First-Knox National Bank spoke about the Fredericktown Tomato Show and the activities that take place during the show.
Other events scheduled to take place in Fredericktown in the upcoming year include a rock festival in May, and a car show and bluegrass festival, which are set to take place on Aug. 16.
The event ended with a brief tour of the upstairs area of the museum, which was formerly a church.
