ELSMORE — For generations, Elsmore Ruritan members have helped celebrate the Elsmore community and what it has to offer.
On Saturday, the Elsmore community returned the favor.
Saturday’s Elsmore Day celebration featured a nostalgic look back at the Elsmore Ruritan Club and what it has meant to folks since it was formed 55 years ago.
Among those celebrating was Martin Henderson, the sole remaining Elsmore Ruritan charter member from when the club was formed in April 1967.
“We wanted to try to bring the community together,” Henderson said. “That was the main thing. We’ve helped one another through our projects.”
At its peak, Elsmore Ruritan sported more than 70 members, noted long-time member Gene Johnson, which earned the club the distinction of being the largest single Ruritan organization west of the Mississippi River. (Johnson narrowly missed being a charter member. He joined in November 1967, a few months after Elsmore Ruritan was formed.)
Those numbers dwindled through the years as members either died off or became busy with other pursuits.
Even so, the club still sports 28 members, a healthy number compared to groups of other similar-sized towns.
“I haven’t been as active,” Henderson noted, and for good reason. His 90th birthday is in November and he soon will celebrate his 65th wedding anniversary to wife Mary.
Saturday’s festival was a welcome return after the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled the 2020 and 2021 celebrations.
Activities included horseshoes and bingo games, children’s activities and a bean feed.
The celebration marks the largest fundraiser of the year for the Ruritan club here.
The club maintains a healthy number of to-do projects, including donations to Marmaton Valley school activities, church groups, college scholarships, Christmas gift bags for school children and seniors, sponsoring Allen County Fair trophies and a dog and cat vaccination clinic.
They also assist in food distribution for the Humboldt Ministerial Alliance, as well as provide a second food distribution from various grant funds that they have received. Area families can also be included in holiday food box distributions.
In years past, Ruritan members helped secure a new playground area for downtown Elsmore, which remains a draw for youngsters.
