Centennial celebration ‘seemed to be a dream’

To say Mary Curtis and the rest of the centennial planning committee were pleased with how Emo’s 100th birthday party went last week would be an understatement.
Curtis said the three-day celebration met every expectation the committee had–and then some!
“We were very pleased with the attendance and the weather, and with the total community involvement in it all,” she noted. “Afterwards, it seemed to be a dream almost.
“It was what we hoped it would be,” she enthused.
One of the more popular events seemed to be the boat rides from Lions Park, Curtis said. Although the weather looked a little unpredictable Saturday morning, things calmed down in time for the boat rides in the afternoon.
“The wind was done and the weather was just right for it,” she noted. “Thanks to all the guys who did that on a volunteer basis–drove the boats and did the dock work.”
The committee also was pleased with the “Walk Through Time” exhibit at the arena.
“The people in those booths worked very hard getting all that information together,” Curtis said, noting the crowd going through the exhibit was quite high for all three days.
Attendance at the “Transportation Through the Century” parade Saturday also was staggering, she said, with the entire grandstand packed to watch the line of antique cars, tractors, and other modes of transportation from the past 100 years.
“I know we had well over 100 [vehicle] entries into it,” Curtis remarked. “We were probably up to 150 entries counting the walkers.”
Curtis said the centennial committee started planning events with the philosophy that things should be fun, affordable, and based in a non-alcohol family setting.
She also noted the committee wanted the celebrations to be educational, too.
“We wanted people to come out learning something, maybe something about their roots, their history, their town, and its place in the country and in the world,” Curtis said.
“Even with our little signs around town [marking former businesses], people said, ‘I didn’t know that was around there,’” she continued.
Although the main three-day gathering is over, centennial events will continue throughout the year, Curtis said. And the committee is getting ready to start selling its historical cookbooks, which have just come in.
“It’s called ‘River of Thyme,’” she noted, adding it’s on sale for $10 at Gillons’, the Fairway Store, and the Little House on Front Street.