by Diane Lowrey
R-T Editor
It’s just around the corner. The Missouri Day Festival, that is.
In just two weeks, thousands of people will be descending on our community to attend what will be the 30th annual festival, which kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 16 and continues through Sunday, Oct. 19.
“Celebrating 30 Years – Remembering the 80’s” is the theme of this year’s event, which honors the 30-year history of the festival. In recognition of the anniversary, members of the first planning committee are being recognized and have been named as grand marshals of the Missouri Day Parade.
It was the spring of 1985 when nine community members, including myself, met in the apartment of Dean and Carol Elliott to plan what was then going to be a fall festival to recognize Trenton’s popcorn heritage. Discovering that in 1912 a Missouri woman had gotten the Missouri Legislature to designate the first Monday of October as “Missouri Day,” the committee switched gears and put together a festival recognizing “all-things Missouri,” in particular northwest Missouri and Grundy County.
The first three-day event, which included balloons and an old-settlers village, drew a few thousand people to Trenton that first third weekend of October. Since that time, activities such as a band festival and parade and a car show have been added and the crowds have continued to grow.
The Trenton Republican-Times will be publishing a special section, sponsored by area businesses and organizations, which will not only include a schedule of events, but also tell about the beginnings of the festival as well as some of the many activities planned during this year’s festival. Copies will be available in the newspaper on Tuesday, Oct. 7 and in the Wednesday, Oct. 8 edition of the Green Hills Weekly shopper.
**********
I am in sports heaven right now.
My Missouri Tigers picked up a big win against SEC-East Division rival South Carolina on Saturday, the Chiefs dominated the Patriots on Monday and Billy Butler and the Royals are in the baseball playoffs (how about that 12-inning win on Tuesday night?). It doesn’t get much better than this at this time of year, especially after a 29-year playoff drought for Kansas City. It’s a great time to be a sports fan in Missouri.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
