Roscoe Village recognized at EODA meeting
WALNUT CREEK – Historic Roscoe Village was presented with an Excellence in Tourism award at the annual Eastern Ohio Development Alliance (EODA) meeting held Friday, April 26 at the Carlisle Inn in Walnut Creek. Executive Director Mary Ellen Given accepted the award on behalf of Roscoe Village and said, “We are the product of two incredible dreams. First, it was the dream of merchants, developers and politicians in 1827 to build the Ohio and Erie Canal along what would be the town of Roscoe to open trade and commerce in eastern Ohio. After the town fell into severe decline another dream emerged. Edward Montgomery, a local entrepreneur, recognized the importance of restoring this landmark and embarked on an extensive restoration. With help from other Coshocton leaders Mr. Montgomery gave Roscoe a rebirth as Roscoe Village, dedicated to sharing a fascinating time in Ohio’s history. He blended our historic landmarks with shops, restaurants and scenic gardens to bring our cultural heritage to life for our visitors. This year marks 50 years since the restoration of Historic Roscoe Village. Small town tourism was not even considered a business 50 years ago but that didn’t stop our founders.”
Mary Ellen Given responded to questions from The Beacon about the award, “This award is worth a tremendous amount to us. Roscoe Village has been strongly supported by the community and it has been our intention for 50 years to give back to the community. We’ve helped with economic development which is so much a part of what the award is based on. And just bringing people to our community and taking pride in just being a part of Coshocton County. We’re very, very pleased to be presented with this award and to be recognized in this way.
“This is a very special year for us. It has been 50 years and as I mentioned in the presentation we really celebrate two things; one, that people in 1827 had the enthusiasm to build the canal here and two, Mr. Montgomery and so many other community leaders had the foresight to do the restoration and to bring this charming piece of Coshocton County back to life.”
Given has a rich history with Roscoe Village, working as a waitress in the early years of the village and said about being in her current role as Executive Director, “I can’t even put that into words. It is beautiful. I look out my window or walk through the village and see how pretty it is, particularly this time of year. We’re educating school kids and we’re welcoming people who want to spend a delightful day. We’re visiting with folks and knowing what we have to contribute just means so much to me and I love being a part of it.”
Amy Stockdale, Executive Director of the Coshocton County Chamber of Commerce, nominated Roscoe Village for the award, one of five Awards of Excellence presented at the EODA meeting.
Given said, “I was thrilled to learn that. To have the arm of economic development nominate us and recognize how important tourism is to our community, or to any community, is really tremendous and we were just absolutely thrilled.”
Category: Business