Happy Founder's Days everyone!! We hope you are enjoying the festivities of the 28 th annual Magoffin County Founder's Day celebration. We invite all the local people to come out and greet visitors from other areas. Most of them will be former residents of our county and some may be only a few generations removed from a Magoffin County ancestor so you will be among friends and relatives.
As we write this we are into the last minute countdown of things yet to be done. Although we have been preparing for several weeks it seems that there are many jobs still undone such as getting the signs strung across the street, get the engraving done on the Pioneer Yard Founder's marker, preparing for the booths, repairing the sound and lighting stand roof, securing portable toilets and I had better quit before I run out of space.
Attending the meeting were Dallas and Kay Bentley, Jodi Wright, Stacey Blanton, Dorothy Wireman, Jim W. Back, Belsey Connelley, James C. Montgomery, Toddie, Lisa and Haley Preston, Jessica, Abbie and Ol' Todd. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the visitors that usually give us help during Founder's Days will be present.
The city and county has committed their usual help such as garbage pick-up, etc. so anyone else that can help, please let us know. This is a very important year as our celebration honors the veterans who have fought to keep our country free and I daresay it touches every family in our county.
We've learned of the death of Ora Anderson on 18 Aug 2006. Ora was a friend and member of the Magoffin County Historical Society and will be remembered for his beautiful carvings of birds and his writings. He had a superb memory of family and relatives. He was the son of Proctor Knott Anderson and Martha Green of the Middle Fork area of our county.
We also lost another member of MCHS through the passing of Jennie Conley Williamson who became an ardent helper in our early years. Her window decorations through Founder's Days were remarkable and she has remained a faithful member all these years. I have lost another cousin with whom I had the pleasure to visit and set my feet under her abundant table many times down through the years.
I've received a letter from the Childers Family Reunion as I was unable to accompany Mr. Ted Walters to that reunion last Saturday. They are taking orders for a five volume Preston family book and they need at least 200 prepaid orders by 19 Oct 2006. The book will cost $75 which includes shipping and is entitled Moses Preston and Fanny Arthur. It is a 2,356 page book with lots of pictures and will touch upon the Slone, Meade, Burgess, Vanhoose, Miller, Price, Haney, Perry, Howes, Borders, Cain, Childers and many other family names in the Big Sandy and Licking Valley of eastern Kentucky. Make checks payable to Donna Cox, 4050 State Rte. 93, Ironton, OH 45636. Be sure to name the person to whom the book is to be shipped, a telephone number and email address would be appreciated. The letter is signed from Donna Cox, Libby Preston, Randy Bowling, Nita Lewis, Joe Preston, Alice Lauderback, Ted Walters and Ol' Todd.
Now, we will report on our own printing projects. We are trying desperately to get one volume of the veteran's book into print. Information is still coming in but Stacey Blanton has enough information typed for volume one which will cover veteran's with names beginning with A, B, and about half of those whose name begins with C. As you can see there will have to be several volumes to this set of books.
We already have volume one of Military News Excerpts in print. These were taken from the Salyersville Independent from 1939 through half of 1944. There will be at least one more volume in this series to come later. Betty Whittaker of SC is helping prepare this book and we think she and Bob are currently exploring Alaska but we know we will hear from them in the near future.
The Military News Excerpts give an insight of happenings that led up to World War II, news of the battlefront and of the local community, letters from those in the military, notices of wounded and deaths of military personnel, etc. This is a must for every household in or around Magoffin County and can be picked up here during Founder's Days.
Founder's Days will be in full swing as you read these Comments. It has been our policy down through all our years not to promote political advertising on our grounds or in our parade.
True, some people have broken these rules in the past but we hope they will not this year. Would you join us and turn thumbs down on the offenders who might break these rules during Founder's Days when it comes to the general election? We also shy away from the folks that sell the little trivial things such as popguns that shoot marshmallows, water squirt guns, etc. that not only make a clean-up mess but sometimes pose a danger or annoyance to others.
Founder's Days are intended to promote the history of our county and the genealogy of our people.
If you can't abide by our rules, please don't set up a booth. The compliance of these rules will go a long way in determining if there will be a twenty-ninth Founder's Day as we currently know it. ‘Nuff said?
Come by 191 South Church Street and introduce yourselves. Write to us at Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 (email
[email protected]).
Magoffin County Historical
Society
This
article, written by Todd Preston, the president of the
Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the
August 31, 2006
issue of