On Tuesday, get ready for the biggest birthday party in town.
Emporia officially turns 150 years old on Tuesday and there’s a lot in store for the big day. Lots of food, lots of history, lots of events and chances to have fun.
Yes, it’s got everything — except, maybe, lots of stress.
“I learned 60 years ago that you don’t panic,” said Evora Wheeler, a longtime community volunteer and one of the sesquicentennial’s organizers. “You just roll along with it. If something doesn’t go as planned, you carry on from there.”
There’s already been one change to the schedule. Last week, organizers decided not to dedicate an anniversary sculpture that Emporia Main Street donated to the city. The ground was still too hard to set it permanently in place, Wheeler said, and bringing it out for a temporary display didn’t seem like a good idea.
“It was too risky to try to move it twice,” she said. “We decided it wouldn’t be wise, as it could get broken.”
A new dedication date has not yet been announced.
There’s still plenty on tap at White Auditorium, though. The first round of activities runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a number of school classes have already made plans to attend.
“We encourage the schools to consider bringing the children, even if they haven’t made advance arrangements,” Wheeler said. “This is the history of the town in which the kids live and (museum director) Greg Jordan had done a wonderful job of building the timeline.”
Besides the large-sized timeline display, the morning and afternoon will include a number of other events such as children’s games, demonstrations of quilting and butter churning, and an exhibition by Ivan Fowler of the historical objects he’s found with his metal detector. His collection includes 19th century coins, buckles and even dog tags.
The First Congregational and First United Methodist churches will have displays as well on their own histories, and there will even be a visit from an early-day surveyor, out to have a look at the town site.
In the evening, things kick up another notch, Starting at 5:30 p.m., free hot dogs, chili, Coke and ice cream will be available at the auditorium. The refreshments were donated by Fanestil’s, Interstate Brands, Flint Hills Technical College, Evco and Coca-Cola, along with — of course — birthday cake donated by Reeble’s for later in the evening.
And if you just can’t wait for cake, have no fear. So far, about 100 cakes have been donated for a “cakewalk,” a sort of musical chairs in which, when the music stops, the winner gets a cake. Given the large number of desserts, Wheeler said, three or four cakes may be awarded at a time.
The kids’ games and historical displays and demonstrations will continue as well, along with the return of Fowler and the surveyor. For those wanting a photo with a dignitary, cardboard cutouts of Preston Plumb and Abigail Morse will also stand ready. T-shirts and prints of historical photos will be for sale. An updated history of Emporia will not be ready for the celebration but can be ordered, and should be out by the end of March. The book costs $5.50.
The formal program will begin at 7 p.m. with music by the ESU Community Chorus. After the singing, representatives of some of Emporia’s founding families will say a few words, including descendants of the Hammonds, the Plumbs, the Sodens and the Fowlers.
Other events in the program will include a “Deal or No Deal” game hosted by Angie Schreiber, presentation of the Emporia Public Library’s bookmark awards and even a delegation from Americus with a few words to say about where the county seat SHOULD have gone.
The evening will end with cake and ice cream. But the celebration won’t. Not only are there more events coming up in July, but organizers will also continue to accept items for the next time capsule, which will be sealed on Feb. 20, 2008.
“We want to put the thing in the same safe if there’s room,” Wheeler said.
Those with items to donate for the capsule can contact Wheeler at 344-3518, her co-chair Ron Slaymaker at 342-6789 or the Emporia Convention and Visitors Bureau at 342-1600.
abc123 (anonymous) says...
Wow looks like the city or the chamber spent a lot of money for this deal, hope they can spare a little money for the Sertoma Train so it can be more than just a part of the HISTORY of Emporia. Such a unique feature for this town, let's save it!!!!
February 20, 2007 at 8:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )