The beautiful city of Horace is approaching a very exciting time in its history as a town. Just next year Horace will celebrate its 150th anniversary. The future is so bright for the growing city, but let’s take a peek back into its history with the help of Sally Showalter the communications specialist for the city of Horace.

In 1973 the town saw its 100th anniversary. It was celebrated with a parade, beard-growing contest, rope-pulling contest, game of donkey baseball, pageant, behemoth beef barbecue, kiddie carnival, and a pie-eating-turned-pie-throwing contest. Partygoers even wore the attire of early settlers.

Next year’s event will be concurrent with the annual Bean Days celebration occurring August 17th-20th 2023. Mayor Korey Peterson says he plans to, “Clean up and beautify the town for the celebration,” in an interview with Nadir Mohamed. Friday and Saturday will see the usual Bean Days lineup planned by city staff. For more information on that see https://www.horacebeandays.com/. There are two volunteer groups, each responsible for planning one day of events.

The following is a possible list of activities for Thursday

-Horace all-school reunion

-BINGO

-Movie in the park

-Kettle corn and pop

-Wing competition

-Pickleball competition

Sunday’s tentative list consists of the following

-Ecumenical services

-Community picnic

-Barbecue feed

With such a large event sponsors are needed, and very much appreciated.

Aside from the main event, other goals include a Horace 150 History Book, Monuments, a Calendar, a Trolley Tour of the area, and a Time Capsule. The history book is in the works with Sally Showalter, who is working on writing and laying out the design for the hardcover. They are also hoping to interview senior citizens from the area who have stories to tell. As far as monuments, the goal is to place monument signs North and South of the city similar to Detroit Lakes. The calendar will be a commemorative calendar containing artwork from local elementary students.

To everyone who has played a role in building the history of this charming town, we thank you. We invite everyone to celebrate with us and we hope to see you there.