Red-Eyes Kickoff 150th Anniversary

Flemington Events Start Sunday

FLEMINGTON – The Borough of Flemington will kick its weeklong 150th anniversary celebration into high gear starting this Sunday.

The borough’s “Old Home Week” activities begin Sunday with a community social at Grove Community Park. The event will run from 2 to 5 p.m., and Anniversary Committee volunteer Jo LaRocque encourages Flemington residents past and present, as well as friends and neighbors, to bring a picnic lunch, their lawn chairs or a blanket and participate in the community social (there will be hotdogs and ice cream sold as well). In addition to being able to picnic in the park, there will be musical entertainment and old-fashioned children’s games, as well as some very special events for people of all ages.

A salute to veterans and the dedication of the Park’s Little League ball field will be two highlights of the Sunday community social.

At 3 p.m. there will be a gathering at the Veteran’s Memorial at Grove Community Park. More than 120 veterans and active military – current and past borough residents – will be recognized during a roll call of honor. Each veteran’s name will be read, and there will be a gun salute. Anniversary Committee volunteer Ed Higgins is coordinating the veteran’s tribute.

Immediately following the veteran’s ceremony the park’s Little League ball field will be named in honor of Raymond “Rube” Bressler, a professional ball player and Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer who grew up in Flemington. Back in 1912 Bressler was working in the Renovo railroad shops when he pitched a baseball game and beat the All-Star team of Earle Mack, son of the noted big league manager Connie Mack. In 1913 Bressler began pitching for a Harrisburg team in the Tri-State League and the following year (1914 – one hundred years ago) was called up to Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics. A left-handed pitcher, Bressler played the next two years for the Athletics, and then the Cincinnati Reds from 1917 to 1920 before converting to an outfielder and first baseman for Cincinnati from 1918 to 1927. He also played for the Brooklyn Robins, the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals before retiring in 1931. Bressler was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1963. He died in Cincinnati in 1966 at the age of 72. Flemington borough councilman Wayne Allison will lead the ceremony naming the Little League Field “Rube Bressler Field.”

The remainder of Flemington’s “Old Home Week” will be filled with a variety of activities, including tours of one of the borough’s newest enterprises, the Clinton County Department of Emergency Services/911 Communications Center, and a festival which will run from Wednesday through Saturday with entertainment nightly.

After a complete renovation, the Clinton County Department of Emergency Services (DES) moved into the former Flemington Elementary School on Frederick Street late last year. Tours of the new operation will be available to the general public and will take place Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. The DES houses the County’s 911 Communication’s Call Center, Emergency Management Agency and Chemical Safety & Planning organization.

Beginning Wednesday, Flemington’s carnival grounds at Huston Street at the traffic light will come alive. The Old Home Week Festival will run from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and from noon until 10 p.m. on Saturday. The festival is being coordinated by the Anniversary Committee and Flemington’s all-volunteer Hi-Neighbor Committee and will include carnival rides and games, food, drink and product vendors, and bingo and entertainment nightly.

The youth of Flemington will be featured Wednesday evening as part of the Future Flemington Pageant. Ten children – seven girls and three boys – are participating and will sing and entertain the crowd at 6 p.m., culminating with the crowning of a Future Flemington Prince and Princess. Pageant coordinator Judy Durkin encourages people to turn out and support the pageant participants.

Thursday evening’s entertainment will feature a Central Pennsylvania rock/country/variety band “Shot in the Dark” starting at 7 p.m. at the carnival ground stage.
On Friday evening, Bob Nickerson, the Jockular Juggler, will perform, beginning at 6 p.m.

Old Home Week will culminate Saturday, May 31, will a phenomenal anniversary parade, starting at 1 p.m. The parade route will run along High Street, from Burger King down to Canal Street. It will feature more than 70 units, from marching bands, Ronald McDonald and Smokey Bear, to floats — including a float carrying a group of the borough’s elders — and local emergency response apparatus and classic cars. Flemington native and the borough’s oldest resident, Tom Walker, will serve as Grand Marshall. Magisterial District Judge and Flemington native, the Honorable John Maggs will serve as parade announcer. He and parade judges Sharon Best, Maria Boileau, Kenneth Lynn, Lana Muthler and Donald “Woozy” Walker will be stationed just off of High Street at Sturdevant Street near Rachel’s Dance Studio. Parade coordinator Anniversary Committee volunteer Kerry Stover, promises lots of candy will be thrown during the parade.

Immediately following the parade, people can enjoy a car cruise-in which will feature all types of vehicles. The cruise-in will take place in the parking lot of the Flemington United Methodist Church. Anniversary Committee volunteer Ron Fox is coordinating the car cruise-in.

150th Anniversary Committee chairperson Judy Quigg McKeague will call all beard-growers to the carnival stage around 6:00 p.m. Saturday to recognize the effort undertaken by men to grow beards to commemorate the Borough’s anniversary. She says everyone will be a winner in the informal contest.

Capping off “Old Home Week,” local favorite the Lockport Drifters will entertain the Saturday evening crowd at the festival grounds, starting around 7 p.m.

As part of the Anniversary festivities, there will be several commemorative items for sale. During the Community Social on Sunday and throughout the festival, a booklet commissioned especially for the borough’s anniversary will be sold for $5. The 60-page, full-color booklet looks at the community’s past, present and future. In addition, specially-designed commemorative “Red Eye” pins will be for sale, also for $5, and Martha Ziegler’s historic book, The Flemington Mosaic, 1864-1975, will also be sold for $5. The Hi-Neighbor Committee will also have anniversary t-shirts and hats for sale during the festival.

McKeague is encouraging borough residents to decorate their homes in patriotic fashion. The Anniversary Committee also hopes to collect small items (notes or other memorabilia) to place into a time capsule to be opened 50 years from now during the borough’s 200th anniversary. She says Flemington’s “Old Home Week” is a way to celebrate the borough’s historic milestone and to share in the fellowship and pride residents and friends have for their community.

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