Submitted photo / via Joann Pirko, Poland Historical Society From left, Max Pirko as a Civil War soldier and Rocky Pirko as a Revolutionary War soldier, pose with their mother, Joann Pirko, prior to the start of the Fireman’s Parade during Celebrate Poland.

POLAND — The Little Red Schoolhouse has long been the home of the Poland Historical Society and is now joined by a smaller version as the society unveiled a small replica of the Little Red Schoolhouse during the Fireman’s Parade at Celebrate Poland last weekend.

The scaled-down version of the historic structure was placed on a float, representing a finished work of several Poland residents.

The real Little Red Schoolhouse dates back to 1858, when it was built at the intersection of Center and Struthers roads. It served as a one-room school until 1915 and continued to serve the community in other ways for many decades.

By the late 1970s, the Poland Board of Education considered selling the property and ended up arranging a lease of $1 per year for 99 years to the newly formed Poland Township Historical Society (today known as just the Poland Historical Society). Today it serves as the home of the society and makes the Poland Local School District the only one in Ohio to still own a one-room schoolhouse.

When the society wanted to put a memorable float into this year’s Celebrate Poland Fireman’s Parade, the idea came up to build a miniature version of the schoolhouse to fit on a float.

“My brother, Tim Burns, designed and built the schoolhouse,” said society President Laurie Fox. “Another brother, John Burns did most of the painting with help from a third brother, James Burns. The structure is 6 feet by 4 feet with a roof peak at 6 feet plus a 2-foot cupola with a bell. The doors open, allowing small children to go inside.”

Fox said her brothers put in a lot of time and effort to get the little structure ready for the parade.

Helping organize the society’s participation in the parade was member Joann Pirko. She took the lead to get the float into the parade, then helped add to the float through the presence of her two sons. Max Pirko was dressed as a Civil War soldier and his brother Rocky Pirko dressed in Revolutionary War garments. Joann walked beside the float in an era-styled dress.

“The Civil War Union costume is from the Poland Historical Society costume collection,” Joann said. “The George Washington costume Rocky wore is from Amazon. My costume is homemade by Poland Historical Society member Regina Rees.”

Joann is not new when it comes to floats and parades. In fact, she is hoping the float encourages more in future years.

“As a high school student at Springfield in the late 1990s, we made amazing homecoming floats, and my class won ‘best float; most years,” Joann said. “A little competition is fun. And I think it adds interest for the spectators, and for the organizers too. I really hope this terrific float does encourage others to get more creative with future parade floats.”

As far as 2026 goes, the little version of the schoolhouse is not done making public appearances yet.

“We plan to use it again on Aug. 1 at the Poland Township Safety Forces Community picnic,” Fox said.