West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 151 by Charlie Miller

The following series are articles taken from the October 15, 1934 edition of the West Jefferson section of The Madison Press.

_ October 15, 1934 – Mammoth Three Day Program Planned For Town’s Centenary – Kiddies’ pet parade to feature opening day’s festivities—Mardi Gras will be held Thursday—Grand auto parade will be staged on Saturday afternoon.

Band concerts, round and square dancing, and free acts are also scheduled--$1,000 in prizes to be given away by village merchants.

Mayor’s Proclamation—Through the efforts of the Business Men’s Association of our village, the splendid cooperation of civic groups, and the financial aid of businesses, the week of October 14 has been set aside as a week commemorating the birth of West Jefferson.

Therefore, I, by virtue of my office as Mayor of the Village of West Jefferson, designate and proclaim the week of October 14 as “West Jefferson Centennial Week” and ask that every effort to aid and assist in making the Centennial Week the success it deserves, by displaying flags in homes and business places, and extending greetings and good wishes to our own people and the strangers within our gates.

H. G. Putnam, Mayor

The grand climax of West Jefferson’s “birthday party” will be the mammoth parade on Saturday afternoon. The parade will form at 1 o’clock at the water tower on West Main Street, according to C. J. Murray, chairman of the committee. Prizes will run from $1.00 to $25.00.

West Jefferson and community will turn back the pages of time this week, the entire populace joining in a huge celebration in which the 100th birthday of the village will be observed, bringing to the minds of the residents a kaleidoscopic view of the epochs marking West Jefferson’s march of progress from 1834 to the present time—a century filled with events rich in history. The celebration will begin on Thursday with the pet parade for children. (I remember pet parades were a big thing for years. There wasn’t the traffic on Main Street as now.) Later on, there will be a band concert in the evening.

The grand climax will come at 1 P .M. Saturday when a band concert and mammoth parade of decorated autos, floats, old-time vehicles, people dressed in pioneer costumes, etc. will be held. The London Creamery Band has been engaged to furnish music and these concerts, along with the free acts. The carnival and special events, insure that there will be something going on all the time. One of the free acts will be Hawaiian Guitar Playing and Tumbling Act, another will be a Rope Walker. Dance music will be by the London Nite Owls.