From 1868 through 1970, Memorial Day was observed on May 30. In 1915, however, May 30 fell on Sunday, and the G. A. R. (Grand Army of the Republic) had opted to hold their Memorial Day services in Odebolt on Saturday, May 29.
The original article in the June 3, 1915 Chronicle was in the left margin, and some of it is illegible in the digital image. We've taken the liberty of supplying some of our own best guesses for missing text. Nevertheless, we've left some blanks.
Below is our transcription:
Upon the advice of the committee for the G. A. R. the Memorial Day exercises planned to be given here Saturday were called off. A fine program had been arranged, to be given in the park, but as the weather was about as abominable as it could be and the roads almost impassable, it was thought best to call the program and exercises off. Rev. C. G. Butler of Sac City was to have been in town to deliver the address of the day. There was to have been music by the band and other numbers by local talent The company was then to march to the cemetery to decorate the graves and hold appropriate services. As the roads were a sea of mud, and rain fell steadily throughout the day the planners thought it best to abandon the services. The heroic dead were not to be forgotten, however. On ______ afternoon a considerable company of people went to the cemetery, and in a private way decorated the graves of those who are sleeping the __________. Had the local committees been fortunate enough to have chosen ______ as the day of celebration the program could have been carried out as advertised, as the weather was appropriate. The general orders, however, called for an observance of the day on Saturday, if possible, and it was the wish of the local G. A. R. that the program be held that day.
Read the original June 3, 1915 Chronicle article here. Scroll down to the last article in the left column.
Read the May 27, 1915 article from The Odebolt News at the top of Column 4 which described plans for the Memorial Day services that were later called off.
Some of Odebolt's residents would have spent that Saturday afternoon at The Princess watching "The Heart of Lincoln," a "three reel Civil War Drama." Look at the bottom of The Princess ad in The Odebolt News.
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