By Jordan Studer
CCN Reporter
BUCYRUS– The much anticipated First Friday in Bucyrus hosted it’s first event of the 2018 season on the evening of Friday, June 1. Before the event had even begun, community members were already out and about, ready to partake in all of the upcoming festivities.
“We had people roaming the streets while (vendors) were setting up,” Bucyrus Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Tyler Jacobs explained. “The cool thing is, what we really want to focus on is having events that the community wants to embrace, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen with First Friday.”
The theme of the evening was Fun and Fitness, to show the community the importance of how to make health and fitness a fun lifestyle. The community seemed to enjoy and appreciate the theme of the night being placed on health in Crawford County.
One community member, Morgan Weber expressed her excitement to see the community embracing fitness.
“I think it’s definitely something that we need. I know that they talked about Crawford County being one of the unhealthiest areas in Ohio, so I think that it’s a huge thing we need. I think it’s an important thing in our lives, we all need it. It’s great to get people involved,” Weber said.
Among the activities for the evening, FC Bank hosted their second annual 5K Run and Walk, also sponsored by The Fitness Warehouse. Three major gyms in Crawford County including Flex Fitness, Anytime Fitness, and Fitness Warehouse also had areas set up onsite.
Each gym brought their own way of showing the community how fitness is meant to be fun. Flex Fitness Club was just one example of that. They created a fitness course for First Friday go-ers to attempt to learn how to push past their physical and mental limits. If athletes were able to complete the course, their name would be entered into a drawing to win some fun giveaways.
Serving up some refreshing and healthy smoothies on the hot evening, was Fit Fab Fun, a new business, owned by Diana Shroll.
Fit Fab Fun will be taking over the building location where U Be Dazzled used to reside. Fit Fab Fun is set to feature a smoothie bar, women’s activewear apparel, and yoga offered by The Oasis Yoga Studio.
The Oasis Yoga Studio is currently located with The Fitness Warehouse on Windfall Road. The addition of yoga classes to Fit Fab Fun will be a way of expanding the Oasis’ ability to reach more people.
Owner of The Oasis Yoga Studio, Emily Keller, was quite excited for the opportunity for First Friday to help promote the new location and the kicking off of Fit Fab Fun, as a whole.
“We just want to get it out to the public that we are wanting to get a little healthier lifestyle up to Bucyrus,” Keller said.
Along with fitness, June First Friday was also full of shopping, food, and entertainment. Jacobs excitedly raved about the new entertainment lineup for this 2018 season of First Fridays.
Among the lineup for the evening, making their first big appearance in the community was local Christian band, Uke 3. Members of the band are all Colonel Crawford High School Students, sisters Bailey Niedermier and Abbey Niedermier with their friend Melia Williamson.
Each of the young ladies brought their ukulele playing and singing talent to the mic in hopes to bring positive and uplifting music to the community. Gratitude and excitement filled their voices as they expressed that the opportunity to play at First Friday was their first chance to perform in a larger capacity for the community.
Williamson explained the band’s mission, “We’re a Christian band. We obviously play a couple other songs that are a little bit secular, but they are more of an empowering-type thing. So we’re not into really negative music…We’re so excited to do this, this is huge!”
The girls explained how they have been singing together since they were young and once A. Niedermier and B. Niedermier were able to ease the fear of Williamson’s stage fright, they decided to form a band together.
“We’ve been singing together since as long as I can remember,” B. Niedermier said, “we made our band, Uke 3, because we all play ukulele and the 3 represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is kind of a new thing, but we are really into it now.”
If anyone missed the opportunity to hear Uke 3, the band is thrilled to be performing at the August First Friday as well.
Along with entertainment, a multitude of vendors and area businesses provided the community with deals and fun activities.
The Bucyrus Area YMCA created a Kids Zone filled with activities and games for kids to be active. The YMCA’s goal for the evening was to bring fun to the youth and parents while promoting some of their upcoming events and programs.
Bucyrus Area YMCA Program Coordinator, Stephanie Faulkner, explained why she loves to come out to First Fridays to promote the YMCA and enjoy a night on the town.
“It brings the community together that may not know each other. I know personally, I have seen so many people here that I know,” Faulkner said.
A love for the city and the people that embody it was seen as the streets and shops filled with warm bodies and laughter. Community members of all ages gathered to visit and enjoy a night of keeping fun local.
One family, Sara Hill and her kids, decided that the warm weather and sunshine was a perfect reason to get out of the house and have some fun, “We needed something to do and the beautiful weather brought us out to go and hang out,” Hill said.
Bratwurst Festival 2017 royalty also made an appearance, sporting their royal apparel. Bratwurst Festival Queen, Allie Lawson said that she truly enjoys attending First Fridays.
“I love how everyone comes together as a community and really just gets along and gets caught up,” Lawson said.
Despite the fun, the June First Friday had to come to an end, but not without some time under the stars. At dusk, a movie was projected onto the Schines Art Park Wall. It is currently set for different movies to play after each First Friday for 2018.
Jacobs explained that community involvement in First Friday is growing exponentially. With that being said, there is much to look forward to for the 2018 First Friday season, including the extension of First Fridays to September, where the theme will be Harvest Day.
The schedule for the remainder of 2018 First Fridays are as follows:
Christmas in July– Friday, July 6
Celebrate Hometown Heroes– Friday, August 3
Harvest Day– Friday, September 7