November 11, 2025
Our speaker today was Kevin Meier. Kevin is the Museum Committee Chairman and Museum Coordinator of the D-Day Ohio WW II Museum in Conneaut, Ohio.
The D-Day reenactment began back in 1999, when a WW II history buff vacationed in Conneaut. He noticed that the beach at the Conneaut Township Park resembled the beaches of Normandy, France. Later that year he and a few of his reenactor friends set up a small display and reenactment of the D-Day invasion, which originally took place June 6, 1944, during World War II. A lot of people took notice of their display and reenactment and it became a yearly event. In 2008 D-Day Ohio got their 501(c) 3 tax exempt status and the event has been growing and expanding since the original display and enactment in 1999.
The all-volunteer committee with over 800 volunteers from all across the United States and Canada put on the annual reenactment around the second weekend in August. It has grown so large in the past years that D-Day Ohio has made it a FREE ticketed event. You must sign up on their website for your free tickets to get into the event held at the Conneaut Township Park. If you have never been, you need to get your free tickets this year. It is an incredibly moving and historically accurate event. Kevin said that it is the largest WW II reenactment in the world. They have over 50,000 attendees annually from around the world.
They have Higgins boats and from 800-1500 uniformed reenactors making it one of the most accurate living history events. They also have people in the air, on the ground, in the water reenacting the events of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. The event itself has about a 6 million to 8 million dollar impact on the small community of Conneaut.
Kevin also spoke about the D-Day Ohio Museum, which is currently being moved to the old Methodist Church, because they are outgrowing the Church where they are currently located. His mission is to grow the museum into a world class WW II museum. They are currently open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, with extended hours during the D-Day reenactment weekend, but he hopes to be able to open year round soon. The mission of the museum is to educate the public about the importance of June 6, 1944.
For more information or to get your free tickets visit their website: https://ddayohio.us/
Kevin Meier, Museum Coordinator of the D-Day Ohio WW II Museum and Dan Garry, President of the Painesville Rotary Club. Our next meeting is November 18, 2025 in the barn at the Lake County History Center. Our speaker will be Mike Piper, with the Miracle League, an all inclusive baseball field in Eastlake.