Singing in the rain

On Sunday, July 4 the Jasper County Historical Society commemorated the centennial of the dedication of the General Milroy statute in Milroy Park with a small program. It got underway with a small parade from the corner of Austin and College to Milroy Park. The picture below shows pretty much the entire parade.

After the parade reached the park, there were several speeches. Everyone stood for the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

Midway through the speeches the rain started. Ms Risner, who did much of the work organizing this event, wanted me to inform everyone that the rain did not dampen the spirits of the spectators or participants. It was actually pretty refreshing because the day was hot and humid.

And the band played on--the rain did not stop a short recital by the Rensselaer Central High School band.

Some people had the foresight to bring umbrellas. 

Maybe you can see the rain in this short video:

Next on the program were some Civil War songs by the Broussards. By this time the rain had stopped and the sun had returned, but those umbrellas worked just as well in blocking sunbeams as blocking rain drops. Meanwhile the Civil War reenactors posed for pictures.

The crowd was small, probably a bit over 100 people. That is pretty good considering that nothing free was being given away.

Last to make her appearance was Mary Milroy (aka Missy Ahler), the wife of General Milroy, who told the crowd what her husband was doing in Virginia.

After the event, I stopped by the almost empty Brookside park and the almost empty LaRue Pool. What were people doing this weekend? Did a lot of people leave to attend the Fourth of July programs in area towns?

My kids remember watching the fireworks at the fairgrounds from Brookside Park. How many years ago was the last one? There are plenty of fireworks being set off in Rensselaer, but I do not know where the best vantage point would be to view them. How would it look from north of town?

Have a nice Fourth of July

Milroy open house

The Library had their open house on Friday as part of Rensselaer's "Honor Milroy weekend."

The swords and guns were back in their display case, which now has a new and improved lock on it.

I had mentioned a theft of some of these artifacts in the past. The library had found an article from the Lafayette Journal and Courier that mentioned it, and had a long piece explaining the story of Milroy. He really wanted to be a soldier, and had failed to become on officer until the Civil War. Early in that war he had success, but after a battle in which his division was surrounded by the Confederate Army, he retreated with a great loss of troops and never overcame that defeat.

There were about a dozen people attending while I was there. As promised, they had some food. The cake was very good, but more interesting were some of the other items. In the front of the table you can see peanuts, beef jerky, and hardtack. I tried one piece of hardtack and had no desire for any more. It was definitely hard. Apparently the soldiers would put it and the beef into a pot of water and cook it to make a stew-like meal. They also ate peanuts, which seems a bit strange since they are primarily a crop of the south. (The cookies were not part of the historical meal.)

Below is the lady who made the hardtack, Nancy the Librarian. She and her daughter (not pictured) were wearing hoops skirts that looked uncomfortable

If you missed this bit of Milroy fun, you can still check out the display case in the library, or go to the Historical Society today (hours 10:00 to 1:00) and check out their Milroy holdings, or you can attend the Fourth of July centennial celebration from 2:00 to 3:00 in Milroy Park, sponsored by the Jasper County Historical Society. There will be a parade from Austin Ave to Milroy Park, In the park there will be music and some Civil War reenactors, and who knows what else. Maybe Nancy will even bring some of her hardtack and you can see if it will break your teeth.

Moving law, pulling cable

On Tuesday I noticed a new sign in front of the office that used to be a house on the intersection of College and Washington. It had been an office of Alliance Bank, but now had a sign for Tonner Law.

A sign in the door of his old office said that the move took place last weekend. By Wednesday all evidence that the Tonner Law office had been in the building was gone. I wonder if CenturyLink is planning expansion.

They were busy expanding under the streets of Rensselaer on Wednesday. Below workers are putting conduit under the alley. It was being pulled by another group a block away. I asked one of the workers who was installing the optic cable, and he said it was Century.

A week or two ago I noticed other optical cable being installed. My guess is that this was also Century, but I am not sure of that.

I did think the spray-painted notice, "Not copper No scrap" was interesting.

I am sure there are some interesting back stories here, but I do not have them. If you know more, please comment.

Update: The spool in the last two pictures may have been part of an optical line run to the library. They do not have their optical link up and running yet, but it is on the way. The worker helping with the conduit said that it was intended for the court house.

Milroy was here

The Jasper County Library is getting ready for the Milroy celebration on July 4, when we celebrate the centennial of the dedication of the General Milroy statue in Milroy Park. The Jasper branch library has one of its display booths appropriately decorated.

The library will also have an open house on July 2 from 1-3. The library has a collection of Milroy artifacts that are on display, and you can see some of them on-line.

You may remember that earlier this year a fellow was  arrested for stealing things from the display case shown above. The things he took have been recovered. He had stolen them for money and had fenced them for a small fraction of their real value. Did you know  that 20 or 30 years ago some other fellow stole some of the same items. He did not sell them. His motive was that the liked them. The items were eventually recovered, but I do not think charges were ever brought. If I go to the open house tomorrow, I will ask what they know of that previous theft.

Much of the planning for the celebration on the Fourth has been done by the Jasper County Historical Society. They recently got a web presence. Take a look at it at jchsmuseum.blogspot.com