October 9, 2017
This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.
Today’s
story is about a town by the name of Welcome, Kansas where we are sure everyone
who attended the traditional community fair felt welcome. In most cases, community fairs were held
during the summer months. An article in
the 1923 newspaper stated that the Welcome, Kansas community fair would start
on October 4 and end on October 6. The
event was to be held at the A.R. Germann farm, which was located six and a half
miles northwest of Alta Vista. Specific
directions for getting to the event were given to those who lived in western
Geary County: Turn at the Weston Schoolhouse, travel to the Welcome Cemetery,
then go two miles north and a half mile east to arrive at their
destination.
In past
years, the Welcome ladies had served a chicken dinner in cafeteria style.
However, for the fair in 1923, arrangements had been made with Brigadier
General E.L. King, who was the Commandant at Fort Riley. He was to provide a detachment from the
Bakers and Cooks School to assist with the meal. The men would prepare and serve a baby beef
dinner in traditional Army style.
Among the
attractions of the fair was a draft-pulling contest and horse races. For these
events half of the gate receipts would be awarded as prizes. Other activities
included band concerts, horseshoe tournaments, a school parade and a program
with eight county school districts participating.
The town of
Welcome, Kansas temporarily grew in size with many people attending the Community Fair on those two days. Welcome was located southeast of Junction
City in the vicinity of McDowell Creek.
And…. that
is today’s story on “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical
Society.
No comments:
Post a Comment