a day ago
D-Day Ohio cleans up Conneaut Township Park
CONNEAUT — D-Day Ohio began clean up of Conneaut Township Park, after the event had three clear days.
D-Day Ohio COO Lori McLaughlin said she expected the clean up of the park to be done by the end of the day Monday.
'We hire movers to actually do a lot of the heavy moving, because the volunteers are physically spent,' she said.
Last year, the event ended early Saturday because of heavy rains.
'Everything went really well weather wise,' McLaughlin said of the 2025 event.
She said this year's D-Day drew out large crowds of people having fun.
'People seemed really excited,' McLaughlin said.
D-Day Ohio CEO Betsy Bashore said she was happy with the clear weather, but hopes next year is a little cooler.
'Our weather was fabulous for this, but it was a little hot,' she said.
McLaughlin said there were few heat exhaustions and D-Day volunteers worked to provide people with water everyday.
'That was our goal,' she said.
Bashore said this year's D-Day Conneaut ran more smoothly relative to past years.
Paratroopers returned to D-Day for the third year in a row, with jumps happening at the Northeast Ohio Regional Airport in Denmark Township.
Russ Battiato, of W&R Vets, said they are planning to be back next year, and this year's jumps could not have gone any better.
There were a total of 400 parachute drops with just under 90 jumpers.
Nine of 12 students in the organization's paratrooper program graduated after completing at least five jumps.
Some of the students were part of the Ohio National Guard, Battiato said.
Ohio Secretary of State and veteran paratrooper Frank LaRose was among Saturday's jumpers.
'It went fantastic,' Battiato said.
Ohio Republican 2026 gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also made an appearance at the airport, where he got to go up in the C-47 with other VIPs, Battiato said.
Ramaswamy went to Conneaut Township Park, where he watched a reenactment, McLaughlin said.
'His family was there,' she said.
McLaughlin was happy to see youth interest continue in D-Day Conneaut, with children 7-10 years old dressing up and having an event before the main battle, she said.
'They play battle,' she said. 'That's our future re-enactors.'
McLaughlin said she hopes to see the children come back and participate in D-Day Conneaut in years to come.
'That's my assurance that this reenactment will continue,' she said.
D-Day Ohio is already in the early stages of planning for next year's D-Day Conneaut, which will go from Aug. 13-15.
The non-profit sets its dates out four-five years ahead of time to give re-enactors plenty of time to schedule vacations, McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin said D-Day Ohio has its volunteers take notes and write after action reports on how they thought D-Day Conneaut went and what suggestions they have for next year.
'We learn from others,' she said.
D-Day Ohio will start meetings to prepare for next year around October, McLaughlin said.
Bashore wants to improve the sound system for D-Day, too, she said.
People had trouble leaving D-Day Saturday, when a train was stuck on the railroad, blocking much north and southbound traffic in the city.
'Traffic pretty much came to a standstill,' McLaughlin said.
The Conneaut Police Department had to step in and direct people west so they could leave the city, she said.
McLaughlin said she is going to reach out to the CPD and city government to see if there is a way to alleviate the issue next year.
Bashore said she looks forward to next year.
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