Oldsmar prepares for centennial celebration in 2016

The City of Oldsmar will celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2016. Credit: City of Oldsmar.

The City of Oldsmar will celebrate its centennial anniversary with a series of special events in 2016. Credit: City of Oldsmar.

Question: What is 100 years in the making, takes more than two years to plan and lasts for an entire year?

If you answered the City of Oldsmar’s Centennial birthday celebration, you would be absolutely correct.

According to the Oldsmar 100 committee chair, City Council member Dan Saracki, he and his fellow organizers have been working feverishly for more than two years to bring the yearlong centennial celebration, which will feature free concerts, fireworks shows, special events and more, all together.

Oldsmar City Council member Dan Saracki.

Oldsmar City Council member Dan Saracki.

“We basically started planning for this centennial celebration two years ago this month,” Saracki recently told Oldsmar Connect.

“I had no idea what I was getting into — I wasn’t even on the Council then! But I stayed invested with it because I love the City of Oldsmar so much.”

Saracki’s love for his city will be unquestioned when he and the rest of the planning committee, which includes Darlene Lazier, Jeri Antozzi and Gina Rogers, pull off the wide variety of special events they have planned for next year.

The festivities start with the first of four Fifth Friday concerts at R.E. Olds Park on Friday, January 29.

Fifth Fridays will be a big part of Oldsmar's centennial celebration. Credit: City of Oldsmar.

Fifth Fridays will be a big part of Oldsmar’s centennial celebration. Credit: City of Oldsmar.

The event will feature a performance by popular local group the Black Honkeys and serves as the launching point for the City’s yearlong centennial celebration.

“I came up with Fifth Fridays because I’ve seen how popular similar events in Dunedin, St. Pete and Safety Harbor have been,” Saracki said.

“In 2016 there are four “fifth” Fridays, and each one will have a different musical theme, like rock, country, reggae and golden oldies. So it should be a lot of fun.”

In addition to those concerts, Saracki said some of the centennial celebrations would coincide with existing Oldsmar events, such as Oldsmar Days and Nights, which will encompass a full week in late March-early April and feature a classic car show, as well as Celebrate Oldsmar! in September.

The yearlong centennial celebration will conclude with a special concert at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday, October 1.

“The entire event is sponsored by Tampa Bay Downs, meaning they’re letting us use the facility, free of charge,” Saracki said.

The Oldsmar 100 centennial celebration logo. Credit: City of Oldsmar.

The Oldsmar 100 centennial celebration logo. Credit: Paula Saracki.

“It’s so huge, them giving us the venue,” he added, noting it took quite a bit of time to get that agreement to come together.

Saracki admitted the last two years have been eye-opening as to what it takes to pull a massive celebration like the Oldsmar centennial together.

“The thing that was really shocking was, I have a strong task force helping me organize this, and they all love the city of Oldsmar as much as I do,” he said.

“So that made everything a lot easier.”

Now that the first Oldsmar Centennial Celebration event is right around the corner, he said he hopes all the hard work pays off by serving his one main purpose.

“My goal is to bring families together, and to get people to realize how great the City of Oldsmar is,” Saracki said.

For more information on Oldsmar’s Centennial celebration, including event schedules, vendor and sponsorship applications, visit the event website at Oldsmar100.com.

2 Comments
  1. carole mason 8 years ago
  2. gustavo lozano 8 years ago

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