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Chloe Chen, 8, a second-grade student at Smith Elementary School, won the Burlington 125th Birthday Card Contest and is with her teacher, Lori Waller, in front of the new sign at the city Municipal Building on Lexington Street to kick-off the 125th Anniversary of Burlington. The sign is bathed in yellow light and the building in blue for the celebration. [Robert Thomason / Times-News]
Chloe Chen, 8, a second-grade student at Smith Elementary School, won the Burlington 125th Birthday Card Contest and is with her teacher, Lori Waller, in front of the new sign at the city Municipal Building on Lexington Street to kick-off the 125th Anniversary of Burlington. The sign is bathed in yellow light and the building in blue for the celebration. [Robert Thomason / Times-News]
Times-News
Times-News
Hundreds celebrated Burlington’s 125th anniversary Tuesday, Feb. 13, with a party and lighting event outside City Hall.
The event kicked off a year-long celebration of Burlington’s quasquicentennial anniversary. The city was incorporated by the N.C. General Assembly on Feb. 14, 1893.
At 6:30 p.m., City Manager Hardin Watkins, the City Council with Mayor Ian Baltutis, Bob Ward, Jim Butler and Kathy Hykes, state Reps. Steve Ross and Dennis Riddell, state Sen. Rick Gunn, and Rob Shepherd, assistant director of Business and Membership Development Services with the N.C. League of Municipalities, stood on the steps outside City Hall to give some remarks.
“There are a lot of great things … to be proud of about Burlington’s past. This is a time to reflect and think about that. We are also excited about all of the things that are happening and going on in the future,” Watkins said.
Shepherd spoke about Burlington’s relationship with the League of Municipalities, an organization that Burlington helped found. Riddell thanked first responders for their work and congratulated Burlington.
Gunn and Ross presented statements that they read Jan. 10 on the state Senate and state House floors. Ross talked about Burlington's beginning as the railroad's Company Shops, and how it evolved into a textile center and then evolved again after textiles moved overseas.
“Burlington has come out of the ashes again and become a vibrant city,” Ross said. “Burlington is a city that has done something that a lot of cities have not been able to do, and that is reinvent itself every time it has had adversity and things comes along that change the way things happen here and the way Burlington was founded and the way it operated. Our leadership came together and again turned us into a vibrant city. I am proud of what I have seen Burlington do over the years.”
Council members came up one by one and spoke about how Burlington has affected them and their families.
“What makes Burlington special is that we have had history, a legacy, a heritage of great leadership, and it has been great leadership from community participants, it has been a community of great volunteerism,” Butler said. “When you ride from one city limit to the next, you are going to see a mark, a bruise, a bump here and there, but that is not wear and tear. That is a sign of endurance, and that is what has made Burlington so special all these years.”
Baltutis took the stage to announce the second-grade art contest winner: Chloe Chen of Smith Elementary School. Chen made a drawing about the Hong Kong restaurant where her parents work.
Chen was given a gift basket filled with Burlington-theme items and gift cards. Her artwork is featured in an ad in the Times-News on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
The 30 classroom winners’ art submissions will be featured for the first two weeks in June at the Paramount Theater.
After announcing the winner, confetti was handed out to the crowd, and Baltutis counted down before City Hall was lit in gold and blue, representing Burlington’s colors. The 125th logo sign installation also was unveiled.
The lights will remain at City Hall throughout the year as a reminder of the anniversary.
The celebrations will continue throughout the year, and multiple community organizations plan to contribute. Updates on events can be found at www.Burlington125.com. The community also can use #Burlington125 to join the social media conversation. Tagged social media posts will be aggregated on the website.
Reporter Kate Croxton can be reached at kate.croxton@thetimesnews.com or 336-506-3078. Follow her on Twitter at @katecroxtonBTN.
