TIFFIN, Ohio — Tiffin is celebrating its local history this weekend, while also passing that appreciation on to the next generation.
The 44th annual Tiffin-Seneca Heritage Festival kicked off Friday morning with its annual School Days, where more than 400 local elementary students got a chance to interact with living history re-enactors.
Organizers know to spark an interest in young minds. They have to go hands-on in hopes of helping these kids become the next generation of local history lovers.
"I think everybody should know a little bit of their history and know what the town has to offer, to get people to come to downtown Tiffin and to see what we have to offer," School Days co-chair Christy Wiser said.
School Days aims to get kids invested in all there is to learn about Tiffin and Seneca County.
"Keep it going, kind of get back to our roots and really spread the word," Heritage Festival President Rudi Feasel said. "And try to help kids especially and everybody in the community to learn more about Tiffin, to learn more about Seneca County, and the heritage and where we really come from and how things really started for us here."
And that work seems to be paying off, as this year, students from Tiffin Calvert will be hosting a special putt-putt course during the festival to raise funds for the Tiffin-Seneca United Way.
"It is absolutely wonderful to see the younger generation in our community step up and participate to give back to our community, the organizations and the agencies and to see them put in some work." Tiffin-Seneca United Way office manager Nikkie Distel said.
The Heritage Festival has live music, 20 food vendors, about 100 craft vendors, a German village for authentic beer and food and a parade on Saturday morning.
Organizers hope visitors from surrounding areas can make a visit and enjoy the heritage of Tiffin.
"You're definitely going to find something the kids love and something the adults will love as well," Feasel said. "We can all just come together and enjoy a beautiful Fall weekend, enjoy our culture and learn a little bit about the history."
The festival will run all weekend, wrapping up around 3 p.m. Sunday.