Community residents gathered around the promenade at the newly remade Boneyard Creek Second Street Basin to commemorate Champaign’s 150th anniversary Thursday.

To kick off the event, the Boneyard Creek basin was unveiled in a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mayor Don Gerard and former mayors Jerry Schweighart and Dannel McCollum. Several people spoke at the event, including Illinois State Senator Michael Frerichs, D-52, who spoke about Champaign’s unity and diversity.

“One hundred and fifty years ago, officials said Champaign could be a city,” he said. “But it’s our parks, it’s our landscape that makes this a city.”

People who went to the celebration praised the food, the redone Boneyard Creek and the feeling of unity.

Irene Jaramillo, senior in LAS, said she liked talking to the people she waited in line with.

“It fits with the theme of unity (that) I got to meet with people from the Champaign-Urbana community,” she said.

Ruthie Hillsman, Champaign resident, said she thought the celebration of the 150th anniversary was well worth attending, and she also praised Boneyard Creek.

“I raised my family on this side of town, and just to see this develop into a wonderful site … is really amazing,” she said.

LaEisha Meaderds, Champaign 150th project manager, said she was happy with the event, the final of three — including the historical exhibit in March and the music festival in July 2010 ­— commemorating the anniversary.

“(The celebration) was a good opportunity to bring the community together, to represent a number of different people and cultures and really capturing why people like Champaign, why they’re drawn to it, why they find themselves here year after year,” she said. “Just celebrating community altogether.”

Brad LaPayne, who took the panoramic photo for the city, seemed to be the only one completely happy about the weather, which threatened to storm throughout the event.

“I wanted clouds,” he said. “All the light was nice and even. (No one) was squinting too much. … In that respect, the clouds were awesome.”

Diverse musical groups performed at the event, while a time capsule, whose contents ranged from a letter from council member at-large Karen Anderson Foster to a tube of saber oats developed by the Crop Science and Research Center, was displayed for the community.

“It’s a great event. I’ve been involved with it from the early stage,” Frerichs said. “It’s a great sense of community here today celebrating the 150th official anniversary of being a city.”