FROM ADA ICON - Few things are as American as football, except perhaps the northwestern Ohio village that produces the pigskins used in the biggest game of the year.
In a real slice of Americana, a small town and its connection to the Super Bowl will be celebrated during the “Made in Ada Wilson Football Festival” on Saturday, Feb. 4.
Ada’s Wilson Sporting Goods factory makes the footballs used in the Super Bowl, and the day’s events will have a football theme, leading up to a “football drop” just prior to midnight on the cusp of Super Bowl Sunday.
The schedule of events includes:
• 4 p.m. Tailgate party at Historic Depot Park parking lot, 9 Central Ave. and South High St.
• 4:30-6:30 p.m. Coaches’ panel in McIntosh Center Bear Cave
• 6 p.m. Free showing of the film “Friday Night Lights” (2004), starring Billy Bob Thornton, at Ada Theatre, 215 S. Main St., made possible by Lewis Family McDonald’s
• 7:30-9:30 p.m. “America in 60 Seconds: Super Bowl Commercials.” A look at Super Bowl commercials over the years at the Depot (Sponsored by Ada Icon)
• 9:30-11:55 p.m. Music and entertainment, including games, prizes and a chance to win Super Bowl LI footballs. Refreshments will be available at The Center on Central, 111 Central Ave.
• Midnight. Countdown to Super Bowl Sunday and football drop in the Depot parking lot
The event is an initiative of the Ada Area Chamber of Commerce.
The day includes a broad spectrum of events that look at the Super Bowl from a range of perspectives and are tailored to football fans of varying levels of interest.
Befitting any football pre-game atmosphere, fans can gather for a tailgate throughout the day, beginning at 4 p.m. Historical Depot Park in downtown Ada offers a front-row seat to many of the day’s activities.
Hardcore football fanatics will especially enjoy the coaches’ panel from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the McIntosh Center Bear Cave at Ohio Northern University.
Area college and high school coaches will provide expert insights in breaking down the Super Bowl matchup. Participants will include ONU head coach Dean Paul, University of Findlay head coach Rob Keys, Bluffton University head coach Denny Dorrell, ONU defensive coordinator Glenn Scheutzow, ONU offensive coordinator Mike Schmitz, Lima Senior High School head coach Andre Griffin, and ONU tight ends coach and co-special teams coordinator Kyle Miller.
Miller, who had a four-year career in the National Football League, will discuss the typical week of an NFL player.
More than just a football game, the Super Bowl is prime time entertainment, and that aspect of the contest is captured by two events during the day.
At 6 p.m., a free showing of the iconic 2004 movie “Friday Night Lights,” about a small Texas town’s obsession with its high school football team, will be held in the Ada Theatre, courtesy of Lewis Family McDonald’s.
Then, at 7:30 p.m., Shane Tilton, ONU assistant professor of multimedia journalism, will lead a discussion about Super Bowl commercials inside the Depot. Over the years, Super Bowl advertisements have taken on a creative life of their own.
From 9:30 p.m. until the football drop at midnight, there will be music, games and raffles at the Depot parking lot and Center on Central, with a chance to win a Yeti cooler, a commemorative Made in Ada Wilson Football Festival poster and a Super Bowl LI Wilson football.
Ada Mayor Dave Retterer, an adjunct instructor in computer science at ONU, is leading a crew of individuals to construct a giant-sized football to rival the New Year’s Eve ball drop in New York City’s Times Square.
There also will be an opportunity to purchase limited edition silk-screen posters, created by ONU art professor Melissa Eddings Mancuso, for $30 each at the Depot.
In all, it is an event that is as unique as Ada and its connection to the Super Bowl.
Event sponsors
Everhart Trucking LLC, Hanson-Neely Funeral Home, Hardin County Chamber and Business Alliance, Hempy Water, Lewis Family McDonald’s, Liberty National Bank, North American Stamping Group, Ohio Northern University, Quest Federal Credit Union, Ada Icon, Vancrest of Ada, VFW Post #9381 and Wilson Sporting Goods.
Photo IDs:
• Commemorative poster available in limited supplies
• Ada watertower with Wilson and NFL logo
• Here's the Wilson football that will drop at midnight, Saturday, Feb. 4, in the Ada Depot. Members of the event planning committee, from left, Wynn Hauenstein, Fred Steiner, Chris Burns DiBiaiso, David Dellifield, Amy Eddings and David Retterer. Absent are Dean Paul and Shane Tilton.
