ASHLAND — “It’s about time.”
Jim Cutright, director of the Ashland County Community Foundation, told the joke as part of his few words he shared Tuesday evening during the dedication of downtown Ashland’s newest addition: A clock.
The Rotary Club of Ashland recently raised the funds to install the approximately $50,000 mechanical clock near Foundation Plaza along Main Street.
The clock commemorates the organization’s century-long presence in the community, said Ted Daniels, the club’s immediate past president.
“The theme of the club’s centennial celebration has been ‘Celebrating the Past, Present and Future.’ So a timepiece is a perfect symbol to mark the club’s 100 years of service in the Ashland community and those efforts continuing in the future,” Daniels said.
Cutright’s playful barb also hinted at the delays the rotary club experienced throughout the project, having initially expected the clock to be installed by September. The clock — on its own schedule — was instead installed in late October and dedicated a month later.
“But it’s perfect timing,” Daniels said, gesturing toward the Christmas decorations hung around him. In that moment, a two-man crew worked on a mechanical lift to hang lighted garlands on cables suspended between refurbished poles over Main Street.
“And, it’s Giving Tuesday,” he added, referencing the movement that encourages people to give financially to organizations. “What a symbol of everything the rotary has done in the community in terms of giving.”
Ashland Mayor Matt Miller said the clock was a great addition to downtown Ashland.
“When he mentioned the clock, I said, ‘It’s gotta be the clock,’ because it’s one of those lasting pieces that will last throughout the generations and become a symbol of our downtown and Main Street,” Miller said. “And what better place to put it than here at Foundation Plaza, the foundation of a great downtown.”
Daniels gave Miller the key to the clock, a gesture signifying the rotary’s donation of the clock to the city.
“I also have some instructions for opening it. Because it does not adjust for daylight savings,” Daniels said, prompting laughter from the group.
Fortunately, the city will not have to worry about the cost of maintaining the clock — the rotary set up an endowment fund with the Ashland County Community Foundation to take care of ongoing maintenance costs.
The Rotary Club of Ashland has become known in the community for being the provider of its Fourth of July fireworks. In fact, the club established another endowment fund to ensure the pyrotechnics keep lighting up the Ashland sky.
It also serves as a sponsor for the annual Make Ashland Sparkle cleanup event.
Other funds have been established, including monies earmarked for work at the Ashland County Job and Family Services building and Dale Roy park. Roepke said the organization partnered with Leadership Ashland this year to serve as its fiscal agent in a faith-based ministry aimed at working with kids in probation.
“Time is always passing, and so (putting a clock downtown) is a great way to mark it,” Tom Roepke, the rotary’s secretary, has said. “It reminds us to be present, but to also think about the future.”
