Did The Centennial Teach Us Anything?

Hi-Lites of Centennial Events

Back in 1966 it wasn’t necessary to be PC - politically correct.  So while there was a Queen Contest, there was no King Contest.  However, a Centennial Grand King and Grand Belle were named, apparently at the opening ceremonies for the Centennial at the Queen Contest.

But we were ahead of our times in that the 12 of the acts of “Hold High the Torch” were directed/arranged/under the production of different people with Henry C. Clausen acting as the head director.

Boy, wouldn’t you like to go back in time with a digital camera and get photos and videos.  The blackmail potential..…I mean the historical value would be priceless!

A larger copy of this page can be seen at:  https://sites.google.com/site/northjudsonwaynetwplibrary/150th-Happy-Birthday-North-Judson/45-hi-litesofevents

Centennials Are Fun For Kids Too!!!

As our last little blurb stated, the North Judson Centennial wasn’t just for adults. Yep, we kids were also involved. Girl Scouts dressed Barbie dolls in centennial type outfits for display at the library. There was a parade Saturday morning for children and pets before the main one – wonder if they thought we couldn’t walk/move as fast as the floats could travel and might get run over.

And, as you saw last time, there was even a Children’s Pageant which was separate from the one for adults. Those were simpler times and I guess they thought that some of the acts in “Hold High the Torch” and “The Excursion Special” would be too risqué for our innocent little psyches.

For the teens there was the obligatory Teen Dance where The Fantomes and The Shambles did the musical honors. (Sorry, couldn’t find any photos. But if you happen to have some hidden away in the attic….)

The final treat for those who were interested was a greased pig contest that was entered by 150. There were some pictures on the microfilm of the North Judson News but most were so grainy you couldn’t see any detail.

All in all the Centennial Committee tried their best to provide events that would entertain the majority of the community and did a pretty good job of it.

(There were too many photos to put here so visit  https://sites.google.com/site/northjudsonwaynetwplibrary/150th-Happy-Birthday-North-Judson/44-centennialsarefunforkidstoo# to see them.)

North Judson Centennial Program of Events

Yep, that first weekend of September 1966 was a busy one. For months the community had been preparing for the big event - men growing beards, women sewing clothes for the family, the funeral of Muggs and Clara, organizing entertainment events and meals. And in 5 short days it would all be over, at least for the next 100 years.

Practice Makes Perfect

I really don’t know where the summer has gone. One day it was June 1st and in just a few days it will be September 1st, and there were so many things I had planned on sharing with you about the North Judson Centennial this August.

No point in moaning about the past, let’s just get back on track with some photos of the events that were going on in August of 1966.

One of the big events was the choosing of the Centennial Queen. There were 13 contestants who vied for that position. Are you related to any of these ladies? And did you know they could have been royalty?  You'll find out in a few weeks who came out with the crown. 

And let's not forget the Centennial Pageant, that took plenty of practice to get things right. Here's a picture of some of the ladies involved with a skit about the first telephone operators.

Threshing At Surma Brothers Farm for the NJ Centennial

Part of the North Judson Centennial celebration was a practical demonstration of harvesting and threshing done on the Surma Brothers Farm. You can see a larger copy of the photos athttps://sites.google.com/…/…/41-threshingatsurmabrothersfarm.

He Was Riding A Penny Farthing

It’s funny how the mind will reorganize things that happened in the past to where it thinks they should have occurred. All this year I’ve been thinking that North Judson’s Centennial celebration took place in July or August and come to find out that it was actually in September.

Yep, all the events were spread out from Thursday, September 1st, to Monday, September 5th of 1966. Of course that was back in the “good ole days” when school didn’t start until sometime after Labor Day, which just happened to be September 5, 1966.

In looking over the schedule of events I can’t say that too many of them sound familiar to me. Lurking in the back of my mind is the vague recollection of the variety show and I do believe that I did attend the “funeral services” for Clara and Mugs that May. But the one thing that I definitely remember is the Centennial parade.

You see we were incredibly lucky because the parade lineup started in the general area of our house – the corner of Vine & George Streets. It wasn’t necessary for us to get a good spot downtown to watch the parade because the parade came to us. I can remember the excitement building as people gathered to take their place in the lineup: friends from school, the band gathering at Mr. Lawson's home next door, people who waited on us at the local stores, politicians – local and state, an assortment of animals. It was all memorable.

The one thing that sticks in my mind, I think it was Charlie Barker riding up and down the street on an 1855 bicycle, practicing so he wouldn’t fall off during the parade. Now why would he have to worry about falling off? Well as the saying goes learning to ride is “as easy as falling off a bike.” And any 12 or 13 year old in Starke County practically lived on their bike during the summer.

But this wasn’t your ordinary bike. This was one of those high wheel bicycles, (aka Penny Farthing) that you don’t see every day. I’m not sure where it came from, I have a vague recollection of someone telling me it was owned by someone who worked at McCormick’s mortuary or he borrowed it from a friend. That front wheel stood about 5 feet high and the back wheel was only about 18 inches. According to the research I’ve done it probably was made of steel and would have weighed somewhere between 24 and 50 pounds. No comparison to your modern day lightweight aluminum alloy bicycles.

Getting on and off the bicycle wasn’t very easy either. There were two little pegs above the back wheel that were used to help the rider get up on that seat so far from the ground. How he got down…?

Yep, there was plenty of excitement that year about North Judson’s Bicentennial, but one memory that sticks out in my mind is Charlie Barker riding a Penny Farthing back and forth on Vine Street.

Centennial Invitation

Did you know that computers weren't common in the 1960s? Those few that were around were humongous machines that took up entire rooms. So communicating with thousands of people took lots of time, paper, stamps, and money. While it was easy to send a few letters out the invite politicians to attend the North Judson Centennial Celebrations, it was much easier to invite the community and area residents with an invitation in the local newspaper. Something like this one.

Guess Who Was Invited!

When you're celebrating something as important as a Centennial you naturally invite important people to join you. You can see the letters they received in response to their invitation at the Library's website.  Just click on this link:

https://sites.google.com/site/northjudsonwaynetwplibrary/north-judson-history/guesswhowasinvited

They Planned The 1966 Celebration

Town-wide celebrations don’t just spring up overnight.  It takes months, sometimes even years to bring everything together.  This page from the North Judson Centennial booklet lists the heads of each committee, but you know that there were many unnamed people behind the scenes who had a hand in making that celebration a success. 

Do you remember any of those people?  Slip us an email at  lib.norjud@gmail.com so we can share your memories.