It is a birthday party 100 years in the making.
The National Park Service will turn the century mark on Thursday. To mark the milestone, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park is planning a weekend-long celebration.
The main local Founders’ Day activities will run from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at Howe Meadow at 4040 Riverview Road in Peninsula.
There will be live music, hands-on activities for kids, kayaking and food.
Acoustic duo Dala and Chicago blues artists Mississippi Heat will perform for free at 1:30 and 3 p.m.
The Singing Angels will present the Children’s Earth Anthem at 1 p.m.
The song was composed specifically for the centennial by Charles Eversole, the artistic director for the Singing Angels, a youth chorus based in Cleveland.
Eversole said the song came about after poet Louise Phillips heard the Singing Angels perform in Washington, D.C., several years ago and decided she wanted to pen a poem for the National Park Service’s centennial that could be sung by the Angels and other children’s choirs throughout the country.
After getting the blessing from the park service for the nationwide singing endeavor, Eversole said, Phillips turned to him to help compose the music and refine the lyrics into song.
The Singing Angels are the lead chorus in the effort with other choirs being filmed performing the song at other national parks throughout the country. The plan is to edit the various performances together into one song.
“It is very exciting,” he said. “It is kind of like We Are the World.”
In addition to performing at Howe Meadow, Eversole said, some of the Angels will be traveling west to perform at Yellowstone National Park on Thursday (the park service’s actual birthday) and also Friday at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
“It has been fun to get emails from American Samoa, Maine, Texas and all over the country from groups that are having kids take part in this,” he said.
With a variety of activities planned, organizers hope to give visitors a taste of what the 33,000-acre national park that stretches along the Cuyahoga River from Akron to Cleveland has to offer, CVNP spokeswoman Jennie Vasarhelyi said.
“We are such a diverse park,” she said.
The park was designated as the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area in 1974 and became a national park in 2000. It is the only national park in Ohio and boasts more than 2.3 million visits a year.
Activities planned for Sunday include:
• Paddle boarding or kayaking on Indigo Lake.
• Food and beverage selections from the Conservancy Canteen and other vendors — including birthday cupcakes.
• A one-mile fun run for kids, with the first 200 entrants receiving a centennial-themed medallion.
• Ollie the Otter scavenger hunt, giant coloring pages, bug boxes, games, crafts and a live theater.
• Entertainment from Tina Bergmann & Bryan Thomas and Singing Angels.
• Live animal demonstrations.
• Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad model railroad display.
• Art activity with Cleveland Museum of Art’s Studio Go.
The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad plans to make a “special stop” at Howe Meadow on Sunday for any all-day passholders wanting to check out the centennial activities.
Vasarhelyi said activities planned for Saturday include a Founders’ Day service where volunteers work on projects in the park.
The Countryside Conservancy is also hosting a Picnic in the Park from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Howe Meadow.
At the picnic, chefs Doug Katz, Ben Bebenroth and Ernie Cornelius will prepare seasonal picnic dishes with ingredients acquired from Countryside Farmers’ Market vendors.
There will also be a tomato tasting event.
The final centennial event will be Nov. 4 when the Akron Symphony Orchestra and CVNP collaborate for a concert at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron.
The orchestra will perform with a visual montage from CVNP in the background.
“We like to think that we look pretty good for 100, and with so many events and activities to commemorate this milestone, we hope all Americans will join us to celebrate the breathtaking landscapes and inspiring history right here in Ohio’s national park,” National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said.
Craig Webb can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.