Welcome to Early, Iowa's
Quasquicentennial Celebration

You may click on these quick links to jump down to the corresponding notice:

Entertainment 'Generations' rocked the Early Quasquicentennial Three Generations of outstanding musicians came to rock and roll their way to Early to headline four continuous hours of music at the street dance on Saturday, July 21st, 8:30 pm - 12:30 am. Click Here for a full description of the bands.

Beard Contest There was a beard contest for the Quasquicentennial celebration. Those who preferred not to grow a beard, needed to purchase a shaving permit for $5.00. Rich Feilmeier was in charge of the beard contest. He was also  in charge of keeping the peace with the help of the Keystone Cops. Click on Beard Contest History for background of the event. Click on Photo Gallery 4 for pictures of the Keystone Kops, Kangaroo Kourt, and the Beard Contest with winners.

Keystone Cops on the Loose in Early

There were some fellows walking around with clubs, funny hats, a badge and a ticket book with which to issue you a ticket! These fellows were Early's Keystone Cops. Those tickets were issued for standing too close to the curb, not having your shaving permit, using your cell phone in public or even serving your customers a little too slow. The fines weren't unreasonable, but beware! The penalty was an appearance before the Kangaroo Kourt Judge and maybe some time in jail.
Click on Photo Gallery 4 for pictures of the Kangaroo Kourt.

The Big Parade A complete photo album was created from most of the entries in the Big Parade held on Saturday morning, July 21, 2007. See the link above. The theme was "Centuries Past, 125 Years at Last" See photos of the Big Parade in Photo Gallery 3 Kiddie Parade Early residents and visitors participated in a large Kiddie Parade on Friday, July 20 at 7 p.m. See photos of Kiddee Parade in Photo Gallery 1

Quilt Show There was a quilt show on Saturday, July 21st from 10 AM until 5 PM at the Presbyterian Church. Each entrant wrote a few lines about their quilt on an index card and attached it to their quilt. See two photos in  Photo Gallery 4 Cake Walk A Cake Walk was held at on July 21. There were a large assortment of cakes furnished by local volunteers for a successful project.

Antique Tractor Display SATURDAY July 21, 2007 No entry fees or judging   •   All tractors welcome All tractors invited to enter the parade Tractor Display was held on the south side of former Payless Cashways building. 31 tractors participated. Click on Photo Gallery 4 to view two rows of antique tractors.

Tractor Pull SUNDAY JULY 22 South of the Elevator at Early, Iowa 10:30-12:30 Weigh In Pull Started at 1:00 Featured:  Farm 4700-10700 lbs. Stock 11700-19700 lbs. 3000 RPM 9700 - 12700 lbs. Super Farm 8700 - 10700 lbs. WCIP Pulling Rules Applied Photos of part of the participants are found in  the Photo Gallery 5 . Click on Results to jump to the Winner's listing.

Ecumenical Church Service The Ecumenical Church Service was held downtown under the Big Tent on main street Sunday morning. Music was provided by the Community Crooners made up of vocalists from around the area.

Sacred Heart All School Reunion The former Sacred Heart School held an all school reunion on Friday afternoon, July 20, 2007. Anyone who graduated from Sacred Heart or continued their schooling at St. Mary's and graduated from there or attended Sacred Heart grade school were welcome to attend along with their spouses/partners. Click on Photo Gallery 1 for a couple of photos of the group.

Early, Crestland, Schaller-Crestland All School Reunion An all-school reunion was held at the Schaller-Crestland High School on Saturday Afternoon, July 21, 2007. Anyone who graduated from Early, Crestland or Schaller-Crestland were invited along with family andfriends. Bonnie (Hirons) Sprague was chairperson of the event. Click on Photo Gallery 2 for photos of the reunion.

Early High School Alumni Banquet Early High School alumni held a banquet at the Schaller-Crestland High School on Friday Evening, July 20, 2007. Anyone who graduated from Early High School was invited along with family and friends. Carol (James) Story was chairperson of the event. Click on Photo Gallery 1 for photos of the reunion.

Roger Feilmeier's Windmill Display Roger Feilmeier hosted an open house in his yard at 100 Linden Lane where he has an elaborate display of three full-size, restored windmills. He also displayed several models of old pumps and windmill memorabilia. He gave a demonstration on a Windmill Regulator at 4:00 PM. Click on photo to enlarge. Click on these three bottom photos to enlarge.

Fundraising Summary
 

History Book A revised Early History Book has been published. The History Book committee have collected many photos and family histories as a continuation of the Centennial Book published in 1982. These hardcover books are still available and may be purchased at the Early City Clerk's office or at Shear Attractions, 209 S Main. Mailorders are also accepted. Click Here for more information and link to a mailorder form.

Quasquicentennial Afghan A decorative afghan with scenes from Early has been made for the Quasquicentennial. It includes pictures of First Presbyterian Church, Schaller-Crestland School, United Methodist Church, Early Fire and Rescue, Municipal Building, Water Tower, City Sign, Reiff Park Shelter House, Sacred Heart School, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and Faith Luthern Church. These are still available and may be purchased at the City Clerk's Office or at Shear Attractions, 209 S Main.  Click Here for description.

Commemorative Crock The Early Quasquicentennial Committee is proud to present 1 qt. Red Wing Crocks for sale. They have a reproduction of the Old Creamery on the front designed by Sandi Weitzel. There are still some available. They may be purchased at the City Clerk's Office or at Shear Attractions, 209 S Main. Mailorders are also accepted. Click Here for more information and link to a mailorder form.

Scenes of Early Notecards Packets of six notecards with envelopes of scenes of Early are available. One notecard of each view is included in the set or you can make up your own set of selected scenes. They are blank inside and measure 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches. The title, date built, and name of photographer, Sara Weitzel, is on the back. They may be purchased at the City Clerk's Office or at Shear Attractions, 209 S Main. Click here for pictures and price.

T-Shirts The Quasquicentennial T-Shirts are now for sale. They may be purchased at the City Clerk's Office or at Shear Attractions, 209 S. Main. NOTE: There are only "youth" sizes left.

We are fortunate to offer prints made from a painting by Jo Pullen of Main Street Early. They may be purchased at the Early City Library. Click Here for more details.

Quilt Raffle Local Quilters made a Queen-size hand-made quilt for the Quasquicentennial. It was raffled off on Saturday night, July 21, 2007. The pattern - "Rambling Prairie".

Cash Raffle for Early's Quasquicentennial A Cash Raffle was held during the Quasquicentennial. They gave away 1-$500, 1-$250, 2-$100, and 1-$50 cash gifts.

Items  Auctioned to the Public These items were auctioned during the Quasquicentennial. You may Click Here to go to the Fundraising page to view larger photos and descriptions of these items.

Visit Our Fundraising Store

Click Here   to visit our Fundraising Store for these collectibles and more.
Funding for the festival will come from several sources - some traditional, some new.
 

Quasquicentennial Queen Contest Winners At the Lasagna Dinner & Style Show on Sunday, April 15, the 2007 Early Quasquicentennial Royalty were crowned. Kourtney Determan, daughter of Steve and Barb Determan, was selected as the Queen. Kaitlin Franken, daughter of Randy and Kari Franken and Stephanie Robley, daughter of Donald and Kathy Robley, were selected as Princesses. Those attending enjoyed the excellent lasagna dinner followed by the very interesting style show of clothing worn by Earlyites down through the years. These lovely young ladies reigned over the Quasquicentennial. Pictures of them appear in the photo galley of the Big Parade.

Centennial Collectibles