Doug Stout Guest Columnist NEWARK -- In mid-July of 1878, the committee appointed by the “Soldiers and Sailors Society of Licking County” were making their last preparations for the reunion. The city of Newark was also busy preparing for the arrival of President Rutherford B. Hayes, General William Tecumseh Sherman, and other dignitaries. The City council had given $200.00 to the society for decorations to use as they saw fit. The order of events for July 22, called for the assembling of veterans in downtown Newark. From there a procession of veterans, dignitaries, bands, and citizens would travel down West Main St. to the “Great Eagle Mounds.”