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Here’s your chance to be part of Erie history. The Perry 200 Grand Parade will be held in downtown Erie on May 25, starting at 1 p.m. The 1.8-mile route will start at West 12th and Cherry streets, travel east on West 12th Street to State Street, then head north on State to Third Street.

The lineup will feature more than 20 bands, including a Mummer’s String Band from Philadelphia, bands from Canada, and the 10-time World Champion Junior  Corps, plus numerous floats and marching units, re-enactment groups, antique cars, giant helium-filled balloons and more. The organizers are expecting as many as 100,000 people to attend.

Lots of volunteers are needed on the day of the event to make it a success. Among many other tasks, the Perry 200 organizing committee is seeking people to carry banners in the parade; help set up and inflate the helium balloons at the Cathedral Prep Events Center field before the parade; handle the balloons in the parade; assist the parade marshals by escorting buses, trucks and marchers to the lineup or finish areas; clean up after the parade; work as parking lot assistants; and someone to meet the parade units at the end of parade and direct them where to go.

If you are interested in volunteering in this historic event, visit http://www.perry200.com/parade/volunteers/ and fill out the online form, or call Dan Mucci of the Perry 200 Commemoration at 459-8000.

Help Erie celebrate its heritage by participating in “The Spirit of Erie,”  a community pageant that will pay tribute to Erie’s history as part of this summer’s Perry 200 Commemoration.

Auditions for the extravaganza, which will include singing, dancing, historical skits and more, are scheduled Monday and Tuesday, March 18 and 19, at 6 p.m. at the Erie Playhouse Rehearsal Hall, 1158 E. 12th St.

Participants will take part in eight performances between June 25 and June 30 at the Bayfront Convention Center.

Auditions are open to anyone age 7 or older; the show will include a large cast of children. No previous experience is necessary.

Singers should bring 16 bars of a song of their choice. Dancers should be ready to learn some steps and show off their skills; a combination will be taught at the auditions. Actors should prepare a short dramatic monologue.

For more information on the auditions or the pageant, call Richard Davis of the Erie Playhouse at 454-2852, Ext. 2 or e-mail him at richardd@erieplayhouse.org.

The flags on the fleet of ships built in Erie for the War of 1812 bore the slogan “Don’t give up the ship.”

Two hundred years later, the Perry 200 Commemoration, sponsored in part by the Jefferson Educational Society, urges the Erie community, “Don’t give up the spirit.”

The city of Erie played an integral part in the War of 1812. Then a city of 500 people, Erie constructed the fleet that led Commodore Oliver H. Perry to victory in the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813.

Perry’s likeness–and name–are now featured prominently in downtown Erie.

“[People like Perry] are Erieites we are proud of,” said Corrine Egan, a program associated at the Jefferson Educational Society.

The 200th anniversary celebration of the War of 1812 and the Battle of Lake Erie seeks to instill that pride in the greater community, says Egan.

Commemoration events kick off this spring and will last through 2013.

The first phase, which will take place in May, brings the War of 1812 into classrooms across Erie.

The Jefferson Educational Society is currently in the process of drafting curricula and planning events for the students.

That’s where you can come in…

Egan said they are looking for as many volunteers as possible to fulfill a variety of roles in the first phase of the Perry 200 commemoration.

Here are some opportunities:

-Join employees of the Jefferson Educational Society in assembling kits of materials for teachers. Volunteers are needed the week of March 12.

-Help run activities in the schools during May. The Jefferson Educational Society is working with a local artist to offer War of 1812-themed classes in schools across the city. Volunteers would be working off an established curriculum.

-Visit classrooms as history re-enacters. Don the uniform of a War of 1812 soldier and share history in character. This is a fun way to make history more interactive.

-Chaperone class field trips. The participating fifth grade classrooms will be going on a couple throughout May.

“We hope the people of Erie will step forward and show their pride by volunteering or participating,” said Egan.

Volunteers will be needed throughout the commemoration. Follow Volunteer Erie for additional opportunities.

Contact Corrine Egan at (814) 459-8000 or egan@JESerie.org to get involved.

Photo courtesy of the Jefferson Educational Society