Pekin in 1924: a city celebrates its centennial (Part Two)

Great crowds gathered last week for three days of memorable Pekin Bicentennial events. On the morning of the Fourth of July, a standing-room-only crowd came to the Pekin Municipal Building for the 1976 time capsule opening ceremony. The following day, Friday, July 5, over 300 people toured Roger Brotherton’s private museum in the former Franklin School building, which houses Brotherton’s collection of local and national historical memorabilia and relics.

Then on Saturday evening, July 6, the Pekin Park Foundation’s Bicentennial Bash drew large numbers to Mineral Springs Park, where a long line of people waited their turn for hot air balloon rides. The event concluded with a remarkable, intense fireworks show at the Mineral Springs Park lagoon that awed the celebrants.

Looking back one hundred years, Pekin held its own three-day Centennial Celebration at Mineral Springs Park at the beginning of July 1924. This week we continue with our series of reminiscences of Pekin’s Centennial Celebration with the presentation of the main front page story that was published the Pekin Daily Times on the first day of the festival, Wednesday, 2 July 1924. Following is a transcription of that story:

ALL THE TOWN’S A STAGE AS FESTIVAL GETS INTO ACTION

Races and Tug-o-War This Morning Commence Big Three-Day Program

PLAY AT PARK TONIGHT

Pekin today became the playground of thousands who came to celebrate her one hundredth birthday anniversary.

While a huge Municipal band played martial airs from the west entrance of the courthouse, visitors from scores of cities in the state and as far away as Brooklyn, N. Y., and Wilmington, Delaware, registered in the corridor of the county building.

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Hundreds of children swarmed the north approach to the courthouse where kiddy car races, tugs or war and other contents were run off under the direction of Guy Lott, chairman of the entertainment committee.

At noon Mineral Springs park became the Centennial stage. County ministers, Old settlers and their families and Churchmen of the city made the park their place of reunion.

During the early part of the afternoon various races and contests were run off and the prizes awarded. These contests were the storm center of practically all the school children in the city and provided unstinted pleasure for grown-ups as the youthful celebrators went through comic antics in their struggles for rewards.

At 5:30 o’clock this evening an Indian village and trading post under the direction of Chief White Eagle will become a part of the Centennial. Red skin pageantry, dances and pantomime will be accurately reproduced while tableaux will present such historic scenes as “William Penn signing the treaty with the Indians,” “the burning of the traitor at the stake” and others.

The Centennial play, “One Thousand Years Ago” will climax the first day of the celebration with a performance in the ravine at the park at eight o’clock. Five thousand seats have been arranged in the natural amphitheatre and the expanse of lawn on both sides of the ravine will afford vantage points for several thousand more.

This Morning’s Winners.

Winners of the contests staged down town this morning were: Kiddy car race (6 years and under) first prize, Marie Sherman, five dollars. Second prize, Stanley Karr, three dollars. Other contestants were Betty Newman, Margaret Stout and Francis Sherman. They each received a big stick of candy.

Kiddy car race, (over 21 years) First prize, Carl Lohman, $7 suit case. Second prize, William Lauterbach, $3 suit case.

Boys’ tug-of-war, won by G. Taggert and 27 boys, the prize was a case of soda pop.

Next week, our series will continue with the transcription of a lengthy Centennial article that was published on page 2 of the 2 July 1924 edition of the Pekin Daily Times.

Copies of these front page news articles retrieved from the Pekin Public Library’s microfilm collection are also currently displayed in the library’s Local History Room.