LIBERTY — The country’s 250th birthday is rapidly approaching, and officials have donated to make the celebration a bit more special for the community.

Trustees approved a $2,500 payment from the township’s general fund to the Liberty Community and Historical Society for the America250 celebration, which will be at Liberty Township Park.

Trustee Arnie Clebone said the historical society is expected to contribute approximately $10,000, noting they had about $12,000 in the budget and didn’t want to spend all of it to keep the group going.

Clebone said the money was going toward a “heritage tour.”

“That heritage tour would go to various sites within the township, and those sites would include places that have been around for a while,” Clebone said. “People would then go to those sites and there would be a mailbox; in that mailbox, there would be a stamp that they were there.”

Clebone said people who manage to visit all 12 locations would receive confirmation and be eligible for a drawing for a large gift certificate.

Clebone noted there were a lot of sites in the township for which people might not understand the significance.

“In a sense, it kind of puts us on the map and lets people know these things are in Liberty,” Clebone said. “One thing is like the cemetery, I don’t know how many of you know about the Seceders (Corners) Cemetery.”

Clebone said five Revolutionary War veterans are buried in the cemetery, and part of the event’s expense is a large sign commemorating the individuals.

“I think that’ll pull a lot of people into Liberty — take a look, you may have something, or they’ll come off the freeway and take a look at that sign and look at those things,” Clebone said. “A lot of people are very interested in that kind of thing.”

Clebone noted a number of buildings significant to the community, such as the Woodland Manor and Youngstown Country Club, that are participating.

“What people will do then is bring those stamped things to the festival that we’re going to have, and at the festival itself will be on July 18,” Clebone said. “We’ll have food trucks there, we’ll have an exhibition of township historical artifacts, we’ll have artwork from the Liberty schools art program, which will display artwork they did concerning historical things in Liberty.”