WARREN - Boiling down the 200-year history of newspapers in Trumbull County is not the easiest of tasks.
Tribune Chronicle community events coordinator Sue Shafer said she is grateful for those who came before her and saved some of the artifacts, clippings and other mementoes that will be on display this weekend at the Founders Festival at Courthouse Square in downtown Warren.
The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and picks up again from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Article Photos
Tribune Chronicle customer service representative Jen Mills hangs a page of the Trump of Fame, the first newspaper in Western Reserve and predecessor to the Tribune Chronicle, inside the Tribune Chronicle photos / R. Michael Semple
Log Cabin in downtown Warren Thursday for viewing during the Founders Festival. The festival runs today and Saturday.
The Founders Festival is part of a yearlong calendar of events the Tribune Chronicle has been hosting in celebration of the bicentennial of newspaper publishing here. On June 9, 1812, the Trump of Fame became the first newspaper published in the Western Reserve. It evolved through the years to today's Tribune Chronicle.
One of the highlights is a display of memorabilia of the paper at the Log Cabin across from Courthouse Square.
''It was rewarding to see that the former owners of the newspaper were forward thinking enough to save pieces of our history,'' Shafer said.
Fact Box
Founders Festival
The Tribune Chronicle will mark the bicentennial of newspaper publishing in Warren with a Founders Festival celebration Friday and Saturday in Warren's Courthouse Square Park. Following is a schedule of the planned festivities. All events are free, and the public is invited. For more information, call 330-841-1696.
Today:
Events open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Courthouse Square Park, downtown Warren
Opening ceremony, 11 a.m.
11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Sutliff stories, Sally Thomas, Courthouse Square tent
12:30 to 1:15 p.m., Civil War diary presentation, Charles R. Jarvis, Courthouse Square tent
1:30 to 2:15 p.m., Trumbull Voices in the Civil War, Wendell Lauth, Courthouse Square tent
2:30 to 3:15 p.m., First lady Dolly Madison presentation, Elizabeth Cole-Clark, Courthouse Square tent
3:30 p.m., Harriet Taylor Upton presentation, E. Carole Maxwell, Courthouse Square tent
7 p.m., scenes from ''Inherit the Wind,'' about Clarence Darrow, Judge Andrew D. Logan's courtroom, Trumbull County Courthouse
Saturday:
Events open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Courthouse Square Park, downtown Warren
10 to 10:45 a.m., Sutliff stories, Sally Thomas, Courthouse Square tent
11 a.m. to noon, Meet the Editors, Tribune editorial staff, Courthouse Square tent
Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 9, self-guided tours will be available of the Sutliff Museum, Upton House, Edwards House, Women's Park, Trumbull County Veterans' Memorial, Pioneer Cemetery, The Warren Heritage Center, Trumbull County Tourism Bureau (Connecticut Land Office) and the historic Perkins House, which now serves as Warren's City Hall.
12:15 to 1 p.m., former Tribune Chronicle owner, Zell Hart Deming presentation, Mackenzie Leskovec, Courthouse Square tent
1:15 to 2:30 p.m., Trumbull County Courthouses presentation, Courthouse Square tent, followed by a walking tour of Courthouse Square, Wendell Lauth
2:30 to 3:15 p.m., ''Burt's Eye View Live,'' Burton Cole, Courthouse Square tent
3:30 to 4:15 p.m., William McKinley, portrayed by Mike Wilson, Courthouse Square tent
4:30 p.m., Civil War diary presentation, Charles R. Jarvis, Courthouse Square tent
Today and Saturday
Exhibits will include archived newspaper editions, famous front pages and historical photos, Log Cabin, Courthouse Square Park.
Exhibits of past editorial cartoons by artist Rick Muccio published previously in the Tribune Chronicle will be on display and available for purchase.
Historical prints of scenes from Trumbull County by local artist Jim Friend will be on display and available for purchase in Warren's Log Cabin downtown.
Festivities will include children's games and activities, some coordinated by the Trumbull Art Gallery. They will feature early Western Reserve activities that children of that era enjoyed.
Performances of musicians, singers and other performers, including Stephen Foster Chorus, Denise Starr, Ted Snyder, For Grace, Marian Mihas and the Friendly Squares, a square dance group, are planned for the Courthouse Square Gazebo.
Demonstrations from the historic era, including pottery-making, weaving, spinning and quilting.
Antique automotive displays include Packard car, antique motorcycle, antique fire engine from Warren Township, hearse from McFarland and more.
Food will be available for purchase from local vendors.
More to see:
Special 200th anniversary section in Saturday's Tribune
Among the items on display are a copy of the first edition of the Trump of Fame, which is on loan from the Trumbull County Historical Society, Shafer said.
There will be other historic editions of the paper on display, and some that typify news of the time. For example, a 1905 front page chronicles the exploits of chicken thieves and of a man knocked out while dealing with a cherry tree.
Also on display will be some of the tools that are used to help publish the newspaper, including negative plates from the pressroom and other equipment used there.
Shafer said younger people may get a kick out of the film that will be on display, which may be something new for an era that is used to digital cameras.
''It's amazing how many children don't know what film looks like,'' Shafer said.
There will also be prints on display by artist Jim Friend of historic buildings in Trumbull County.
Shafer said gathering items for the festival taught her a lot as well.
''It was very interesting to walk through our building,'' Shafer said. ''I didn't realize how much we had.''