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Centennial Plaza brick deadline extended
• Sold for Ceres Centennial Plaza
Centennial Plaza
An artists rendering of a proposed Centennial Plaza at the Ceres Community Center would memorial the first century of the incorporation of the city of Ceres. - photo by Courtesy of the city of Ceres

The Ceres Centennial Committee has extended the deadline for individuals, families and businesses to purchase monument bricks for the Centennial Plaza.

The new deadline has been extended until Feb. 20.

“We heard from a number of folks who were slow to follow up on the monument brick purchase so we extended the date,” explained Lisa Mantarro Moore of the Ceres Centennial Committee.

Sponsor forms are available on the city’s website and on the Ceres Centennial Facebook page.

Engraved bricks are available for purchase at $100 and $250 to fund the memorial plaza, which will be constructed at the corner of Fourth and Magnolia streets in front of the Ceres Community Center.

Final costs have yet to be determined but the Ceres Centennial Committee has raised most of the estimated $20,000 to build a Centennial Plaza feature on Fourth Street near the Community Center. Chad Kennedy of O’Dell Engineering voluntarily drew up a design for a feature at the corner of Fourth Street and Magnolia. The committee is seeking sponsorships for brick pavers to be engraved and placed in the sidewalks. Forms to buy bricks are available on the city’s website, www.ci.ceres.ca.us.

The plaza plans were modified to accommodate more bricks, said Moore.

Payment may be made by checks payable to the Ceres Community Foundation and mailed to the Ceres Centennial Celebration, c/o City of Ceres, 2720 Second Street, Ceres CA 95307. For more information call (209) 409-2676 or email cerescelebrates100@gmail.com

The Centennial last year marked the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Ceres although Ceres itself traces its founding back to 1869. The first recorded map of the town of Ceres was filed Feb. 20, 1875. Ceres was incorporated as a city on March 4, 1918 and serving as the first mayor was S.W. Cartwright who served only a month and nine days until the first city election was held on April 8, 1918. Vaughn D. Whitmore beat out Cartwright by a single vote to become Ceres’ first elected mayor with 28 votes. Besides Whitmore and Cartwright, elected to the first City Council were C.T. Haynes, J.U. Gartin and C.H. Sikes.