The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1924-06-05
PAGEANT DRAWS
IMMENSE CROWD
Development of st. Croix Valley and
R. F. Normal School Depicted
Realistically.


River Falls was nearly swamped
on Monday of this week by the huge
crowd of alumni and visitors from
the surrounding country, who came to
see the presentation of the Histori-
cal Pageant on which students and
faculty of the Normal School, as well
as the major portion of the towns
people have been working all spring.
The Normal ball field and the play
ground, which had been set apart as
parking places, proved too small, and
the streets around the school in every
direction were lined with the cars
which had brought the visitors, whose
number was estimated at about six
thousand. The tax on the hospitality
OF the city was not so severe as
might be imagined, since consider
able number of the visitors eft for
home Immediately after the pageant.
The garages and restaurants, how
ever, were swamped, working over
time to supplythe needs of the pa
geant-goers.
AIIC DO11OI SGc11 IOO SlAO1tl
after eight o'clock, and from then I'M
til about eleven-thirty, the huge aud
fence gave the pageant such close at
tention as is seldom observed at an
outdoor entertainment. Starting with
the dance of the children of the
Night" and closing with the singing
of the school Pledge Song by the en-
tire cast, the pageant went off with
out hitch, fully justifying the
claims made for it as the greatest
dramatic performance ever put on in
River Falls.
The Indian scene was realistic IN
its portrayal of the life of the early
savages, and the coming of the white
man. The Spirit of Education, taken
by Mrs. II. A. Davee, made its first
appearance as the red men knelt to
receive the blessing of the good
priest. Then, in the second episode,
appeared the first settlers. Faithful
to their New England code, one of
their first actions was the establish
ment of school, sheltered I'm a log
cabin, the forerunner of the River
Falls Normal School. And so on,
down through Civil War days, the
growth of the settlement was traced,
until the foundation of the Normal
School. The burning of the original
building was presented symbolically,
by dancers, but no sooner have the
flames died down, than the Spirit OF
n 111oo Mofn1. onG
begin the work of rebuilding. So the
school fiourished, until 1914, when the
God of War, and his hateful atten-
dants, Famine, Misery, and Death,
again appear. The community and
the school give of the best of their
men and their efforts to the cause OF
democracy, eight former students OF
the school making the supreme sacrl-
fee. The scourge of war past, the
work of reconstruction is started, and
the work of the school goes on IN
finer way than ever, until the group
representing the graduating class OF
TODAY appear to receive diplomas.
This closed the action of the pageant,
bv bringing the, history of the school
and the community down to date, ana
the entire cast returned to the MAN
stage, and in song, pledged anew their
LOYALTY and devotion to the school.
Congratulations are due to Mr..
Rexford Mitchell, the Herald, for his
excellent handling of difficult part.
A great deal depended upon clear
and forceful rendering of the heral-
dry and certainly Mr.. Mitchell was
all that could be asked.
The pageant was divided into nve
episodes, a prelude, and four inter-
ludes, each with its separate director.
Episode lin the Days of the Red
Men, Mr.. E. J. Prucha.
Episode II-Pioneer Days, Miss
Irma B. Armstrong.
Episode III-The Founding and
Development of the School, Miss
Mary B. Mcmillan.
Episode VI-Later Days, Mr.. Jas.
P. Jacobson.
Episode V-Recovery and Progress
Miss Elizabeth Fleming.
The dances were coached by MISS
Catherine Roherty, the dramatlcs by
Miss nellie Schlosser, and the chorus
by Mr.. M. d. Geere. The orcnestra-
tion for the pageant, was written, ana
the orchestra directed by Miss Etnel
Iemmer. Miss Alberta Greene hand
led the designing and making Oh the
costumes. Mr.. w. B. Dawson IS the
author of the pageant, and the pro
duction was in charge of Mr.. ID. =.
HAYWARD. The management fell INTO
the capable hands of Mr.. }. M. May.
All these people deserve large
measure of credit for the success Oh
the pageant. A pageant depends, not
so much upon the abilities OF the cast
members as upon their coaches ana
the way in which the directors can
fit the various parts together ana
make the whole a continuous story
rather than the disjointed affair
which it can so easily become.
When the idea was first conceived