Firestone Park Renovations
Idabelle Firestone was an American composer and songwriter. She was also a homemaker, and wife of the famous tire-maker and industrial giant, Harvey S. Firestone.
Idabelle left behind an amazing legacy of music and flowers, two of her greatest loves, along with the love she held for her beloved husband, home, and children.
Because of Idabelle Firestone’s well-known love of flowers, David Burpee, an internationally-known plant hybridist of the day, developed the largest and most colorful of all French marigolds and named it the “Idabelle Firestone Marigold.”
Idabelle left behind an amazing legacy of music and flowers, two of her greatest loves, along with the love she held for her beloved husband, home, and children.
Dedicated on September 11, 2022, Idabelle Firestone’s Gathering Place & Garden honors the legacy of Idabelle Smith Firestone with an outdoor amphitheater, pavilion classroom, heritage plantings and lilac stroll garden uniting The Legacy Trail with the Harvey S. Firestone family’s resting place in Columbiana Cemetery.
Nestled along The Legacy Trail at the top of the top of the Hill, the Gathering Place honors Idabelle Firestone’s extraordinary accomplishments as a respected lyricist, composer, philanthropist and gardener while acknowledging her role as loving mother and wife to Firestone Tire & Rubber Company Founder Harvey S. Firestone:
– Philanthropist: Idabelle Firestone Nurses Home at Akron City Hospital, Akron’s Number Home for the Aged, Salvation Army, Harvey S. Firestone Recreational Park (a gift to the City of Columbiana in 1935) and more.
– Musician: 1920s-1940s pens lyrics and music for numerous popular songs: 1928 The Voice of Firestone features her “In My Garden” and “If I Could Tell You” as the opening and closing themes; elected to American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1948.
– Gardener: 1941 internationally-known plant hybridist David Burpee debuts the Idabelle Firestone Marigold.
For more information and rental information, please contact the Park Office between 9:00am and 3:30pm Monday – Friday, or call 330.482.2656. Rental Agreement available on the City’s website: ColumbianaOhio.gov.
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Columbiana Restoration & Beautification Committee
