With only three weeks to go before the Leavenworth County Fair kicks off, events have been set and preparations are being made to make this year’s fair better than ever. The Ranch Rodeo will be held this year in front of the grandstand, instead of in the horse arena. Because of the presence of a sanctioned professional rodeo, musical entertainment will only be featured on Wednesday night.

In her column Happenings In and Around Tonganoxie, Helen Schilling thanked John Eugene and Judy Neibarger for the postcard from the Ozarks. They said they enjoy reading the news in the happenings, and send good wishes for a jolly 4th of July and for better days this summer.

50 years ago: July 11, 1971

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Neil Freeman was totally destroyed by fire early last Thursday morning on Route 2, Tonganoxie. The family has moved into a trailer at the home site.

Clarence Korb tried for three years to burn a 15 stump at his farm. Lightning did the job last Friday morning.

Reno – Mrs. Audrey Skeet, Mrs. Wilma Baird and Mrs. Nadine Moore were hostesses to the Busy Bee Club Picnic at the John Taylor Lake on Wednesday evening. The club had a card and gift shower for the Cleve Vaughan’s 50th Wedding Anniversary.

75 years ago: July 4, 1946

Happy Fourth of July to all the residents of our beautiful city and may you enjoy your day.

Most businesses are closed to day in celebration of this, our first Fourth in peacetime for many years. Tommy Cook and his orchestra from Leavenworth will provide music for the throngs of dancers tonight as the festivities begin at 8 PM

Several cattle rustlers from Osage County have been rounded up by the officials in Lyndon, Kansas. It seems that cattle from several farms in surrounding counties were being quietly shuffled from farms to this location, often in the dead of night. The thief is Oliver Nicolay who is wanted in Brown, Douglas, Leavenworth and Jefferson counties. Mr. Nicolay has a sentence of 15 years in Lansing and will be released and tried in other places for the same crime. Not much for him to look forward to, we suppose.

The OPA-Office of Price Administration has quietly perished in Washington, D.C. and it is causing quite a stir around the US. The purpose of this office was to control prices during the war, but since the war has been over almost one year, there didn’t seem much point in it. However, consumers are wary that the prices in department stores, grocery stores and gas stations will skyrocket. Corn prices will stabilize, and farmers will be happy, however.

Young girls at the high school level are getting a full education beyond the usual Reading, Writing and Arithmetic with their home project class taught by Mrs. Frances Kolsky. Projects covered include home improvement, laundering, person care and improvement and homemaking problems. Definitely some useful information as these young ladies embark on their housewife careers.   

Zoellners Mercantile wants you to know that you can buy with confidence as the OPA price ceilings are still in effect. It is their desire to hold down prices as much as possible.

100 years ago: July 7, 1921

A few members of the Chautauqua Committee met at the City Hall last Thursday evening and organized for the 1921 Chautauqua which will be held August 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24th.

Officers and committee chairmen include: B.A.C. Williams; Rev. H. A. Cook; Dr. R.L. Wolfe; W.E. Simison; Geo. A. Denholm; W.C. Allen; Ivan Sechrest; William Heynen.

The Committee adjourned to meet at the City Hall Friday evening, July 8th, immediately after the Commercial Club meeting, at which time a plan will be devised for selling the tickets this year.

Everybody in the community should be interested in making the Chautauqua a success. The White and Myers Chautauqua Bureau has assured us that the program this year will be better than heretofore, and that special features have been added for the interest of the patrons.

125 years ago: July 9, 1896

The Woodmen [of America] are so elated over the success of their picnic, that they will probably have another in the fall.

The smoke of the giant firecracker has cleared away and the noise of an enthusiastic younger generation has died out. There is nothing now to indicate that Tonganoxie had a big celebration except pleasant memories of the event and a few burnt fingers.

Rain the evening and night before the Fourth made the outlook for a picnic appear gloomy, but as no further rain fell all the roads leading to Tonganoxie were filled up with happy picnickers. Humanity flocked in streams to the picnic ground. People came from all points of the compass, and all trains dumped many picnickers at Tonganoxie. The crowd was the largest since the memorable picnic of 1887 when 6,000 people were here. The picnic grounds were really too small for comfort.

The parade did not take place until 1:30 in the afternoon. The Woodmen had a float and the members stood on this with their axes.

At two o’clock, Hon Frank Herald, of Topeka, delivered a short address most of which was favorable received. Misses Grace Newby, Nettie Grist and Agnes Reardon recited patriotic verses before and after the address.

After the speaking there was a foot race, and some sack races, the latter never failing to provoke merriment.

The Glenwood ball club came over and crossed bats with a mixed nine from here. The Glenwoods won by a score of 16 to 6.

During the afternoon, all mothers with babies under a year old, were invited to exhibit their babies for a prize. A dozen responded, but this was only a small per cent of the pretty babies on the ground. George Hallenbeck, J.S. Grist and Alva White were chosen judges and so perplexed were they at the array of juvenile beauty that they cast lots and the prize fell to a pretty little miss that calls Mr. and Mrs. Bud Freeman papa and mamma.