Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1941-08-14


At the Embree picnic last Thurs
day, Aug. Z, one of the largest
crowds ever in attendance, went
early and stayed late to take part in
the merry-mak aking, and meet old
friends whom they had not seen
since the picnic year ago. At II a.
m. many gathered under the stately
trees to join in singing old time
songs. After singing approximately
for an hour, the group broke up to
enjoy a bountiful dinner. At one
O'Clock the group came together to
enjoy the program arranged by
Chairman Frank Miller, of Char
1otte, N. c.. The Pennsville band
entertained with several numbers
while the crowd was assembling.
The program opened with invoca-
tion by Paul Haskins. w. H. Pen
rose, lifelong resident of Penn town
ship, and one of William Embree's
closest friends, introduced Chair
man Miller who acted as master Of
ceremonies for the rest of the pro-
gram. Numbers on the program in
.cluded: Reading, Lola Marie Arch
er; old fashioned fiddle playing" :"
"Bub" McPeak; vocal solo, Mrs. Ila
Wilson; reading, Mrs. Jesse Hoop
er; harmonica solo, John McInturf;
duet, Mr.. and Mrs. Clarence Will
1iams; instrumental music, the Van
Oster boys The final number of the
program was a quiz show, "Answer
or Else" with Ralf Benjamin as
master of ceremonies.
Those taking part in the quiz
show were Mrs. Ed Raney, Mrs.
Mary Price, Mrs Ed Humphrey,
Clarence Williams, Jimmie Vanos-
ter, and George Knight. Immedi-
ately following the program, the
crowd moved to section of the
park where the contests were held.
There were contests for young and
old, SO that all had chance to ex-
hibit their prowess at certain
games.
AS the crowd began to separate
all starting toward their respective
homes, it was the common senti-
ment of all that this Embree picnic
had been lone of the most enjoy
able ever had" and as each ponder
ed over the days activities, they
were thankful they live in a land
where such meeting is possible.
For the special treat 700 adults
and 900 children's tickets We're CIV
en- out, and even with that number
they ran out of tickets. Approx
mately 130 gallons of ice cream, L.
500 boxes of crackerjack, 1900
sacks of peanuts, 900 candy bars,
and four barrel of lemonade were
consumed.
The address of Mr.. Miller has
been the subject of SO much favor
able comment, that we publish it
in full, as follows:
Sometimes you wonder how you
come to do this thing or that thing
and then say "If | had not prom
ised l would not do it, and you COM
mence to scheme some way to get
out of it.
/ attended my first Embree picnic
here last year and day or so later
/ had a talk with Bill Penrose and
left with the job of chairman Of the
program committee for the coming
year Frankly, l confess that l was
not "hankering" for this job, but l
also confess that l was deeply i'm
pressed with the spirit and benevo-
1ence of the man who SO graciously
made this Embree picnic grounds
possible not only to the people of
Pennsville and Penn township, but
to the surrounding country as well.
AS years go by, we have a fOnder
feeling for the scenes of our early
days and, personally, | like to come
back, shake hands and mingle with
my old-time friends
AS l take a look backward, / real
ize it is a far cry from the time
when l first roamed these hills to
the present time and during these
past thirty-five or forty years the
people of the entire world have
stepped forward more rapidly than
they did in generations before. Peo-
pie are restless and / dare say that
a very small percentage of the boys
and girls who have been born and
raised in this section Of the country
have elected to live here and the
majority have scattered to different
parts of the United States and 9TH
er countries as we'll. We stand here
proud to say that the boys and girls,
men and women who have left Penn
township and Morgan county, have
in the main, been successful and
given good account of themselves.
Naturally, some have been more
successful than others and it is to
one of these men of whom we are
now going to speak and pay tribute. !
for it was he who made possible this
beautiful park situated close to the
little town of Pennsville, Ohio, and
to be enjoyed by all people as a pic
mic grounds and outing place.
This man, William Embree, was
the son of the late William and
Mary Embree, who were early set
tiers in Penn township, and lived in
Pennsville directly across the street
from the late DR.. Holcomb resi-