This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the September 6, 2012 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            At this writing, activities for Founders Days 2012 are in full swing!  It has been an exciting time here in Salyersville and Magoffin County as we have set in motion our planned program for the 34th year of celebrating the rich heritage of our people.  This year we are honoring the MARSHALL family.  It has been a wonderful year as we have learned more about this family and their role in the development of our area. 

Now, remember that even when this event is technically over that we are not finished as we will want to record in print the information and pictures that we have gathered.  If you are one of those who has not yet brought or sent in your Marshall family genealogy and pictures, it is not too late.  We invite you to participate in helping to save this fine family history in book form. 

We also hope you will share any Founders Days pictures you may have taken.  We always look forward to preparing our quarterly Journal with a pictorial section on our Founders Days activities and we go back and look again and again at the scrapbook of pictures that we accumulate.  Dorothy has already begun the Marshall Founders Day album. We have lots of visitors to our library who like to view the pictures also.  Your sharing of pictures will enhance our collection.

            Our Opening Ceremony on Tuesday, August 28th was a great beginning to the week’s activities!  We thank all who participated and made it such a terrific event.  Demmie Marshall set the tone with his Invocation prayer as he spoke of the life-changing March 2nd tornado and its effects on our people and how fortunate we were that we lost no lives through this tragedy.  He spoke of how privileged we were to have people who helped others in any way they could and how great it is that we have leaders who encourage and help us to rebuild our homes, businesses and lives.

            After this inspiring message we were treated to a breathtaking rendition of our National Anthem sung by Hannah Marsillett.  How grand it was to hear this young lady sing as our American flag was raised, followed by all joining in with our Boy Scouts to say the Pledge to the Flag.

            Our members of Chapter 15 Disabled American Veterans were on hand to help with the flag raising and their attendance lent an atmosphere of patriotism and gratitude for the great sacrifices our military men and women have made so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have.  We thank our DAV members for coming out to all the community functions that they do.  This was a time however that we especially missed our comrade James Montgomery who was always present to help with the DAV program as well as any other job that needed doing.

            Another group that always helps with our activities is the Magoffin County Muzzleloaders.  Their handmade costumes, weapons and tools remind us of our past and the ways our ancestors worked to make homes and provide for the needs of their families.  This is a great group that does many civic oriented activities.  Our historical society is especially grateful for all the labor and materials they supplied to see that the Pioneer Village became a reality.

            The patriotic song by the Prater Memorial Methodist Church choir was very much enjoyed.  We thank them for all the years of participating in Founders Days activities.  From our very first event in 1979 they have lent a hand in helping with the festivities.

            It was an honor for us to have our Magoffin County judge executive Dr. Charles E. Hardin and our Mayor of Salyersville Dr. James “Pete” Shepherd on hand to greet and welcome our county people and visitors to our area for this special event.  We always intended Founders Days to be a time when we reflect back on the rich history and traditions of our area and the people who worked toward the progress and developments that we now enjoy.  Their messages to us were uplifting and encouraging so we will forgive them both for the “Ole Todd” stories they had to tell on me!  (SMILE)  Actually they gave us incentive and heartened us to continue our work of “Preserving the past for the future!”

            Our young people are our future!  And this year we had the pleasure of having a sampling of them in our opening ceremony activities.  Lena Auxier, her mother Margie Manns and brother Adam Manns had made a “family tree” for the program.  We had several young people who are descendants of the Marshall family to take part in placing leaves on this tree that were labeled with the names of all the children of Reuben and Elizabeth Nolin Marshall.  People in the audience could recognize their ancestor. Dorothy had also made leaves with all the names of the participating children (Aliyah Dunn, Brooklyn Poe, Caleb Marshall, Conner Newson, Daniel Marshall, Jaymie Lovely, Jonathan Mann, Julia Stephens, Kellen Simpkins, Kenley Simpkins, Madison Auxier, Mahayla Caudill and Marshall Bailey).  We hope these young people will remember this event as fondly as we who watched will!

            After this very memorable opening ceremony we walked around to the stage area of the Pioneer Village and enjoyed the music of Black Powder Express.  We missed band member Chandler Allen who was still on his day job but he did make it here before the end of the show.

            The Baby Contest was next.  This is a much enjoyed part of Founders Days, a special time to “show off” our young people.  They call this a “contest” but these beautiful and talented children are all “winners”. Thank you parents and grandparents for participating and helping your young children be a part of this event.