Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1905-06-07
A perfect day, al

immense crowd.
~ m everybody well and
~. quickly fed. and
II19||5 program Of the
finest kind Of amuse-
ments carried out as adve4 tised with
out hitch or failure. place the De.
corah Woodmen Picnic for 1906 with
out an equal in the history Of the as
sociation.
For a couple of weeks previous to
last Thursday the people of Decorah
had been making preparations to pro-
perly welcome and entertain the large
crowds expected. The committee
having the picnic in charge began inn.
mediately after the first Of January to
lay out their plans and to get into
communication with the Woodmen Of
northeastern Iowa. and a month be-
fore the date of the picnic commenced
q systematic plan of advertising which
covered the territory completely and
thoroughly several times. Besides
this, men were sent out to all the
principal towns within the district to
create enthusiasm and work up a
large attendance for the picnic. The
result was the railroads were taxed
to handle the crowds that wanted to
come. Every excursion train that
came in was packed to the steps, and
in some instances many who desired
to come could not get train service.
AS it was, four special tiains over the
Milwaukee from north. west and east,
and two specials over the Rock Island
from Cedar Rapids, besides three re-
gular trains on the Milwaukee and
one on the Rock Island brought in be-
tween $500 and 1000 people, while
from the east as far as beyond Waukon.
north into Minnesota, west to CrescO,
and south to the border Of the county.
thousands came in by team. Every
vehicle that could be secured at any
price within twenty-five miles was
engaged for the day, and this vast
number. included with every citizen
of Decorah who helped to make the
day a success, swelled the crowd to a
conservative estimate Of Is, 900 people.
The day was an ideal one. The
heavy rains of Sunday cleared the
atmosphere. and for the rest Of the
week the weather was as delightful
as could he asked. During the day
Wednesday the final decorating of the
streets and business houses was CON-
pleted, and these, with the magnifi-
cent window displays, presented
right royal welcome to the city's
guests.
Early Thursday morning continuous
lines of teams headed for Decorah
could be seen on every road leading
this way. and it was not long before
it became evident that there would
be a great crowd here. At 8 80
O o'clock the Waukon contingent, band,
foresters' drill team and citizens, and
at 9 :25 the first excursion from the
west, bearing Thousand people, ar
rived. From that time until eleven
O'Clock, the trains came in as fast
as they could be handled. and as soon
as the delegations arrived they were
conducted to their place in the
parade. forming on lower Washington
street.
The parade was formed under the
supervision Of L. L. CALDWELL, G. o.
Maltby, A. L. Abbey and others on
horseback, and shortly after eleven
O'Clock. moved north to Main street.
east to State street, north to Water
street, west to Mill street, and north
to the entrance to the city park. It
consisted of six fine bands in uniform,
q dozen or more Of uniformed Fore
sters' drill teams and large delegations
from each camp represented here,
together with the citizens Of several
of the towns in the district. 1t was
one Of the finest parades ever seen on
our streets, the abundance of music,
the drills Of the Foresters' teams, the
officers Of the association and speak.
ers in carriages etc. all combining in
q aspectaole of beauty and precision.
Immediately after arriving at the
city park, where under the shade of
beautiful trees speakers stand and
seats for the crowd had been erected,
DR.. II. w. Daubney. ~ Mayor Of the
city in his we'll known felicitous and