Hartsburg Founder's Day a fun way to celebrate the 107th birthday of the town

 

[June 26, 2023] 

On Friday, June 23, Hartsburg held a Founder’s Day Celebration full of fun filled activities.

Hartsburg Mayor Norma Bathe said Founder’s Day celebrates the founding of the town. On June 22,1871, David Harts surveyed Hartsburg. After Hartsburg had its 105th anniversary celebration in 2021, Bathe said they decided to make Founder’s Day an annual event like it had been years ago.

A Kiddie Tractor Pull kicked off the evening’s activities. The event had three classes: lightweight for kids up to 44 pounds, middle weight for kids between 45 and 60 pounds and heavy weight for kids between 66 and 100 pounds. For a “full pull,” the kids had to pull the weighted sled attached to the tractor.

Kids in the lightweight class made a valiant effort to get the tractor moving. The winner of the lightweight class made it just over 14 feet. In the medium weight class, five kids did a full pull. After more weight was added to the sled, three of the kids competed again to break the tie. Two kids did a full pull in the heavy weight class and did a “pull-off” to break the tie.

Each of the sixteen children who entered received a participation ribbon and the top three in each category were awarded trophies. Lane Leesman was the first-place winner in the lightweight class and Levi Leesman was the first-place winner in the medium weight class. Brantley Conrady made his full pull look like a breeze and placed first in the heavy weight class.

The smell of pork chops and hotdogs being prepared by members of the Hartsburg Fire Department drifted through the downtown bringing in a steady crowd of people. Besides pork chops or hotdogs, dinner included macaroni salad, chips, dessert, and a drink.

Other events included a ring toss game, dime toss game and hoop shoot. Many kids lined up at the dunk tank for a chance to throw a ball and hit the target dunking the brave volunteer into the water.

A pool was set up for the Lucky Duck 50/50 raffle. Once people purchase their numbered ducks, they place the ducks in the pool. When the winning duck was drawn from the pool at the end of the night, the lucky winner would go home with half the money from the raffle. With the warm weather, many kids enjoyed splashing their hands in the water and moving the ducks around the pool.

Frozen sweet treats like ice cream sandwiches, fudgsicles, popsicles and bottled water offered more ways to cool off.

Another popular activity was Bingo with cash prizes awarded to the winners of each game. For the last game of the evening, they planned to play a fill the card game.

Music played throughout the evening. A few people even danced to their favorite tunes in front of the bandstand.

As Bathe said, the event is a great way to bring the community together. It is also good for kids and people who are new to the town to see what we do. She was glad to see a great turnout.

All evening people could be seen milling around and visiting or just relaxing in lawn chairs and watching the activities. The event is always a good time for people to catch up with long-term friends they rarely see or perhaps meet new friends.

[Angela Reiners]