A plaque made in honor of Ohio’s First Lady Fran DeWine will be placed in Great Council State Park.
It signifies her work to create the park and was unveiled on Monday.
Speakers included her husband, Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz.
“First Lady DeWine was an advocate from the very beginning, and she wanted to be sure we got history right, and so we are pleased to honor her and all of her contributions that made this possible,” Mertz said.
Great Council State Park is the newest Ohio state park, and the only one in the Heartland to be built in collaboration with the three federally recognized Shawnee tribes.
First Lady DeWine grew up in the Yellow Springs area, which contributed to her interest in constructing the park. Great Council is placed on what was formerly the Tecumseh Motel.
“Out front was the sign ‘Tecumseh Motel’ and kind of a (stereotypical) Indian sign. And we always thought, Tecumseh was a great Indian chief. He's one of the greatest Indian chiefs in our country," she said."And Mike and I both felt he should be honored in some way.”
The park features a sculpture of Tecumseh near its entrance.
Mertz said anywhere from making edits to texts seen on displays today, to her hospitality to the three Shawnee tribes for which the park was constructed in collaboration with, First Lady DeWine was critical to making the park what it is today.
“Great Council State Park now belongs to all Ohioans and we're grateful for the role that the First Lady played in making it a reality,” she said. “I personally am grateful for working with her to create this park and the opportunity to learn about Ohio history from someone who's as passionate about Ohio as Fran DeWine.”
First Lady DeWine said she was pleased to see the park turn out more beautiful than she imagined.
“I think that's what was so exciting to me, just to look around and see all the beautiful things that were created here and the way we were telling the story. It's a great sense of accomplishment that we can tell this story here,” DeWine said.
The plaque will be placed near the theater on the first floor of the park.
