Holmes County Weekend Features America 250 Tea, Fundraising Dinner

A $30 tea at the Victorian House Museum and an evening dinner with more than 25 chefs turned Saturday into a strong weekend for Holmes County’s shops, museums, and service groups. The day’s schedule spread visitors across Millersburg, Berlin, and Legacy Point Park, putting foot traffic where local businesses and nonprofits could feel it.

The Grand Tea Event - America 250 ran from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Victorian House Museum in Millersburg, hosted by the Holmes County Historical Society. It opened with punch and fellowship from 10:45 to 11 a.m., followed by lunch from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. and a speaker at noon. Glen Hammel portrayed Ulysses S. Grant, and Exclusively Yours Catering provided the food. An added draw gave attendees a chance to tour the 28-room Victorian House Museum next door, stretching the visit beyond the tea service and into the museum itself.

The event tied Holmes County’s local programming to America250, the national semiquincentennial effort that describes itself as a bipartisan initiative linked to the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission established by Congress in 2016. In Holmes County, that national theme landed in a highly local setting: a historic house museum, a familiar downtown, and a ticket price that kept the event accessible at $30 per person.

The evening’s Taste Extravaganza, also billed as Night of 180 Dinners, carried a different kind of impact. The fundraiser featured dishes from more than 25 community, business, and restaurant chefs, and the proceeds supported domestic violence and sexual assault services in Holmes County. That made the dinner more than a social stop; it translated attendance into direct dollars for local services.

OneEighty, the nonprofit connected to those services in the county region, has spent 50 years supporting addiction, domestic violence, and homelessness. Its current work includes outpatient care, recovery housing, a domestic violence shelter, and prevention programs, giving the fundraiser a clear local purpose beyond the plate.

The Chamber calendar also pointed families and shoppers toward Berlin Garage Sales, Berlin Barnstorming, a Coblentz Chocolate tasting, a 250 Buckeye Train excursion, and a Nature & Birding Hike at Legacy Point Park. Taken together, the listings showed a spring weekend built to move people through downtowns, keep restaurants busy, and send support to museums and nonprofit services at the same time.