Abraham Lincoln National Railsplitting Festival a tradition of honor and families

[September 21, 2015]   LINCOLN - The Abraham Lincoln National Railsplitting Festival, now in its 45th year, began in 1971 after Tourism chairmen Daris Knauer and LeRoy Buchheit, decided to start an event connected to Abraham Lincoln's time in the county and also bring tourism to Lincoln.

Buchheit, who now lives in Texas returned for this year's festival said, "All the activity has been a gift to Lincoln. It brings people into town and helps us remember our history. "

Buchheit and Knauer explained that the first year they had a pageant, they started setting up at two in the morning. They noted that in the early days of the festival, the grandstand used to be full. In fact, W.G. Colburn, then president of the Logan County Fair, stated that is was the fullest he had ever seen the fairgrounds. Other favorite memories they shared are the time that radio personality Paul Harvey mentioned the festival on his show, and the time that President Gerald Ford split a rail while on a brief stop in Lincoln.

The Rankin family has also been part of the festival since its beginning. Heidi (Rankin) Mueller, who won the women's Log splitting contest, has been competing for almost 25 years. Her sister, Jennifer recalls coming to the festival most of her life and has also competed in contests over the years.

This year, the rail splitting sisters father, Bob Rankin, is chairman of the festival committee and presented awards to contest winners. He stated that those who compete in the Cross-cut Saw competition use the traditional pattern saw, and not the high speed saw many of today's competitions use.

The rail splitting sisters grandmother, Gwen Tibbs, is the treasurer of the committee, and was in charge of selling festival T-shirts this year. The Tomahawk Throw contest, which has been part of the festival for many years, is named after Tibb's late husband Dean Tibbs, who used to make tomahawks with son Bob.

For the Rankin family and others, the Railsplitter Festival has been a fun-filled way to remember Abraham Lincoln's heritage.

[Angela Reiners]