Thursday, June 18, 2009 8:38 PM CDT
Casey's National Road Festival celebration fit for the big top
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
CASEY — Circus-themed activities will be part of Casey’s return to the annual National Road Festival lineup.
Festival activities also are scheduled Friday and Saturday in Marshall, Martinsville, Greenup and other towns along the historic National Road, which later became U.S. Route 40. Old Route 40 travels through various downtowns, where the activities will be held.
The Casey Historical Society is sponsoring activities with a theme that pays homage to a Sept. 18, 1941 accident in which two lions and a bear escaped from a Gould Circus parade in Casey after their truck was hit by a passenger train.
Entries are still being taken for the circus-themed parade Saturday that will travel down Main Street/old Route 40 in Casey. The parade will feature costumed pets, decorated wagons, bicycles, and more.
Historical Society member Patty Richards said a “Circus Land” entertainment area will open at approximately 10:30 a.m., after the parade, on the Masonic building lawn. This area will feature live music, children’s games, food vendors, and other activities until 9 p.m.
Richards said a “Wild Animal” cat and dog show at 11 a.m. in “Circus Land” will include competitive categories for best dressed clowns and crowd favorites. There also will be canine categories for best trick, most obedient, and fancy dress. Registration will begin at 10:30 a.m.
The Historic Society has established a small, temporary museum downtown in the Illinois Rep. Roger Eddy building that features one of the two escaped lions, which were preserved through taxidermy, and other local artifacts. Society member DeAnn Ramsey said the lion, LeBo, used to be displayed at local shops and special events.
“When I was a little girl, I remember him being in the hardware store on south Central,” Ramsey said. “It was something kids got a kick from hearing the stories from their grandparents as they grew up.”
Ramsey said the two lions were shot immediately after they escaped to protect the parade spectators. She said the Casey Lions Club had the two big cats preserved and later sold one to another club. She said the Historical Society has brought LeBo out of storage and built him a new plastic glass-lined cage.
The temporary museum is set to close sometime after Casey’s Fourth of July festival, but Ramsey said the Historical Society hopes to find a permanent home for LeBo and their other artifacts.
“We are hoping to have a museum building along the National Road to tie in with that history,” Ramsey said.
The National Road Festival celebrates the history of America’s first federally funded highway. President Thomas Jefferson authorized the creation of the road in 1806. Construction began in 1811 in Maryland and the road reached Illinois in 1830.
For more information on Casey’s National Road Festival activities, call Richards at 932-5463.
A full schedule for all the National Road towns can be seen at www.nationalroad.org.
Marshall
Saturday
8 a.m. – noon, Marshall Main Street arts, crafts, and farmers market downtown
11:00 a.m., “Mayor’s Frog Jump”
11 a.m. – 3 p.m., rock climbing wall
Noon, antique motorcycle show
4-7 p.m., free concert by the Aurora Bend Band
Martinsville
Friday
All day, yard sales and vendors in the park
11 a.m., free ham and beans, chainsaw carving
4 p.m., Eastern Star spaghetti dinner
5:30 p.m., queen pageant
6:30 p.m., ice cream social
6:45 p.m., “Let’s Make A Deal?” game
8 p.m., Trouble & Co concert
Saturday
All day, yard sales and vendors in the park
6-10 a.m., Mason pancake breakfast
9 a.m., chainsaw carving
10 a.m., antique tractor show, house and business tour
11 a.m., “Lumber Jack & Jill” contest
11 a.m. - 5 p.m., quilt and art show
2:30 p.m., parade
4 p.m., baby contest
5 p.m., talent show
Casey
Saturday
6 a.m., pancake breakfast at fire station
10 a.m., circus-themed parade
10:30 a.m.-9 p.m., “Circus Land” entertainment at Masonic building lawn, includes “Wild Animal” pet show, live music, and children’s entertainment
10 a.m.-4 p.m, Casey Airport offering plane rides for $30, flyers can “hunt” for a plywood lion from the air and have a chance to win a $450 prize package
11 a.m.-7 p.m., museum of Casey history open in Roger Eddy office building
1 p.m., “Lion Tamers Scavenger Hunt,” held on the lawn at Roosevelt Junior High School
1 p.m., historical trolley tour of Casey beginning at Cumberland Presbyterian Church, tours guided by portrayers of local historical figures, tickets $3 each
Greenup
Friday
10 a.m.-4 p.m., Greenup Depot open house
5-8 p.m., Historical Society chicken and noodle dinner at municipal building
Saturday
10 a.m.-4 p.m., Depot open house
4:30-8 p.m., 4H pork chop barbecue at municipal building
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