THREE TREATS AWAIT HISTORY ZONE
GUESTS
Visitors to this
year’s “History Zone” have three treats in store.
The
first, the annual display
created by the Parsons Historical Museum, features maps of
Parsons—including a large map of downtown created especially for
this year’s Katy Days. The wall-sized map will highlight
buildings that once graced downtown. “Mapping Memories: Where
It Was in Parsons,” will help visitors locate where
now-demolished buildings—such as the Elks Theatre, Frisco Depot,
and Matthewson Hotel—once stood. Other maps that show the growth
of the city during the last 140 years will be on display as
well.
A
second treat is the chance
to see a long-lost home movie that features students from
Garfield School in 1953. The “new” Garfield School (still in use
at 300 S. 14th Street) was constructed in 1954; the
last day of the 1953 school year, school officials asked all
students and teachers to walk in front of a camera to document
the occasion of the closing of the old Garfield. Color film
captured the event. Recently, the film was converted to CD, and
it offers a fascinating glimpse into the past. The film ends
with a sweeping view of the old school! History Zone organizers
hope that former Garfield students from that year will see
themselves—59 years later!
And
third, as it did last year,
the History Zone will again serve as the check point for this
year’s visual scavenger hunt: Parsons: Even More Details!
The contest--back by popular demand--is open to the public, and
forms will be available at three locations starting Monday, May
20th: the Downtown Parsons office, the Parsons
Chamber of Commerce Office, and Bleacher Gear. Forms will be
checked between 12 noon and 5 p.m. on Saturday the 25th—with
three prizes being awarded at 5 p.m. The first place prize is
$100; second and third place prizes are “50 Golden Coins,” for
each prize (Car wash tokens that have been donated to the
contest by Bob Bartelli).
For more
information about the History Zone, contact Dave Mattox at
421.6771 or Mike Brotherton at 717.1066.
