Once again the time has come to CELEBRATE, the annual Elgin Days Celebration will be held June 12-14 2009. This year the Elgin Days Celebration is “Honoring our medical communities.” The Celebration kicks off on Friday, June 12 with a Childern’s Theatre performance at the R.G. Beede Auditorium at 2:00 p.m. Later on Friday there will be Hamburgers in the Park starting at 4:00 p.m. and the Variety Show will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Center. The fun doesn’t stop there, the Annual Alumni Football game will take place on the High School Football Field at 7:00 p.m. After the game there will be a dance with music from A Avenue at Sieb’s Sports Bar.
Saturday is always filled with fun events. The Heil rummage sale will be going from 8:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. At 10:00 a.m. the Grand Parade will start to move down Main Street. This years Parade Marshals are Rosie Barth and Dr. John and Mary Sanderson. Other events for Saturday include: Four-Man Golf Scramble, Trycicle Races, Water Balloon Toss, Inflatable Activities, along with others. At 6:00 p.m. on Saturday the Elgin Saddle Club Rodeo begins at the Rodeo Grounds. After the Rodeo get your dancing shoes out for another round of dancing on Saturday night as Nightlife Entertainment will be rocking the Elgin Community Center beginning at 8:30 p.m.
On Sunday the Elgin Saddle Club Rodeo continues at 2:00 p.m. and the Elgin Museum will open at 2:30 p.m. for tours.
Come to Elgin and help us celebrate at our annual Elgin Days Celebration and remember only one more year until Elgin turns 100!!!
As many know, our community has not always been known as Elgin, we were first called Shanley by the early settlers. So how did we end up changing our name to Elgin? According to the legend, the early settlers named the community Shanley because of the honorable ancestry of the name. (The meaning of Shanley is “Old Hero.”) However with other communities in North Dakota having similar names, the United States Post Office’s employees were getting confused and word came asking the community to change our name.
A meeting was called and a group of men assembled around noon to decide on a new name. However this would not be a simple task to complete, with all the men having their own ideas of what the town should be named, it looked as if they would be notifying the U.S. Post Office that they could not agree on a name and that it would continue to be Shanely. The meeting continued on for many hours and the men started to get hungry, it would just be a matter of time and desperation before the men would agree on a name.
A man, whose name is unknown, had been sitting in the back of the room watching the flies buzz around. He became overcome by his hungry stomach and pulled out his watch to look at the time. The man noticed, probably for the first time that his watch was a wonderful work of art and craftsmanship. He took a moment and thought about this reliable watch that he trusted.
All of the sudden, he raised his watch high into the air for all to see and announced, “It’s time to eat!” As if being struck by a happy after-thought he suggested, “Why don’t we call our town “Elgin?” For the watch the man was wearing was crafted by the Elgin National Watch Company.
It was agreed upon then and so it is now.
(Information for this post came from Elgin’s 50th Anniversary Book)
The Centennial is coming faster than you think, and there are many preparations being made for it. One of these is the 100th Anniversary Book. The 75th Anniversary book sold well, and the new one will be even better!
Everyone has an opportunity to highlight their family, business, or farm/ranch operation by placing an advertisement in the Elgin Centennial Book. If you supply the information, photo, and/or logo, we can also create the ad for you.
The book will be going to the printer soon, so you need to act quickly! Call Duane Schatz at 701-584-2937, or Art Willnow at 701-584-3168 BEFORE May 15.
There are several ad size options:
- $750 - Full Page Color
- $350 - Full Page Black & White
- $400 - Half Page Color
- $200 - Half Page Black & White
- $150 - Quarter Page Black & White
- $100 - Business Card
Pictures and printed material can be included, as well as your logo.
We plan on printing 1,500 hardbound books, to be a reference and keepsake for years to come.
Again, call Duane Schatz at 701-584-2937, or Art Willnow at 701-584-3168 for more information. The deadline is May 15.
As we drawn near to our Centennial Celebration in June of 2010, the Elgin Centennial Historical Committee is asking for your help. The Historical Committee is working on a Powerpoint presentation that will be shown during the celebration. In order for this slideshow to be a success, they are asking for your help. The committee is looking for pictures of businesses, sports teams, clubs, organizations, and anything else pertaining to Elgin. The committee is eagerly looking for pictures of the burning of the American Legion Building just as an example. If you would be willing to help the Historical Committee, please contact Deb Michels at Deb Michels, P.O. Box 192, Elgin, ND 58533.
People can’t seem to remember the water levels in the area being as high as they are now. A winter with lots of snow, rapid melting, and another spring storm have filled our creeks, streams, rivers, and lakes. We’ve been waiting to see some members of our community to begin actively using our new Facebook Page, and we’re starting to see pictures being shared there in response to a request for them. Thanks to those who have shared already, and we look forward to seeing more! You can share them on our wall, and see them in the Photos tab too.
Kenny Hintz Shelter
