Darlington Days

 Brothers John Michael and Greg Gishbaugher sat down with supervisors, councilmen and the Lions Club, 10 years ago to form an event that would highlight our community.

    To this day, each swears it was his idea and not the other’s.

    Both from Darlington, the brothers co-own Jack’s Independent Service, which was started in 1960 by Jack Gishbaugher.  Greg lives with his wife Mary Lou.  They have two daughters, Kristen and Amy, and four grandchildren.  J.M. and his wife Evelyn share three sons; John Michael Jr., Jamie and Jarrod, two daughters; Jaclyn and Julie, and five grandchildren.

            At the onset, Greg had wanted to hold a Car Cruise to promote the business.  JM had been soliciting the Lions to hold a community carnival.  They decided to combine the two ideas on the most popular weekend – that following Memorial Day.  This was the weekend that most people in town held yard sales. 

They decided to enlist the help of community leaders.  Township Supervisor Hans Dahlin jumped onboard, as did philanthropist Alan Ferguson and humanitarian Bill Laughner.

The Little Beaver Lions Club joined, as they had been holding an annual memorial to Bob Lackner of Darlington, who had worked all his life promoting the town.  Hence the polo match in his name was decided to begin the weekend festivities.

Darlington Volunteer Fire Department was eager to provide and coordinate both a parade and a community bonfire, complete with food and live entertainment.

Now, 10 years later, the Darlington Days Committee meets monthly during the off-season, and bi-weekly as the event closes.  Meetings are open, and generally involve 16 – 24 people per session.  Many issues involve things not normally thought about, such as garbage control, number of toilets available (and where), insurance, and the perennial logistics of events to balance an even flow of entertainment for all who come.

We decided 10 years ago to honor a person of influence in our community each year in our parade.  This year, because it’s our 10^th anniversary, the group as a whole decided to honor the founders in a vote of hands. 

We, the committee, are glad you’ve come to this, our 10^th celebration of Darlington Days.