HORDVILLE NEBRASKA 110TH YEAR CELEBRATION
A wonderful sunny day and an estimated crowd of 700 people were on hand on Saturday for Hordville’s 110th year celebration, which was called Hordville Hometown Day. The day began with a Grand Parade of over 70 entries. There were a mixture of business floats, classic cars and tractors, school clubs, and local churches. The Hordville Lions Club oversaw organizing the entries which began at the North end of town. The route went South, down Main Street on the west side of the boulevard and back around to the North on the East side of the boulevard up and around the Hordville City Park.
After the parade, a lot of events took place. There were three food vendors in downtown and they were swamped with business. Vendors ran out of food before the end of the day.
From 1:00 – 5:00 the Hordville Park was a flurry of activity where there were large inflatables for the children to burn off some energy. The High Plains Cheerleaders were on hand for face painting for children or adults. The High Plains FFA got into the act with a petting zoo and horse back riding for the kids. There were also barrel rides, pie and ice cream from the Hordville Cemetery association, and a kettle corn stand by the High Plains Spanish Club. This was all sponsored by the Village of Hordville, the Hordville Hometown Committee, High Plains FFA, and Veburg Seed Supply.
On Main Street there were dozens of antique cars and tractors that were brought out for a shine and show and sponsored by the Hordville Lions Club and Lone Tree Tractor Club. Local poet, Hordville Alumni, and published author, Agnes Andreasen was at the Community Hall, selling and autographing her book, “Snips & Tails.” Over at the oldest building in town, the old town hall on the east side of Main Street, people were able to view the historic pictures and artifacts from Hordville, including the Opera House curtain. The Plainsman Museum was on hand to share their history of Hordville. Also, the Hordville Hometown Committee was selling merchandise. And if you wanted to get a photo memory of the day, an old-time photo booth was set up for funny pictures all day. Another item of curiosity was the “viewing” of the extensive renovation of the Café/Bar building on the west side of Main Street. Plans are to make this a wine tasting room/bar sometime in 2017
A Scavenger hunt was held and quickly turned into a family affair as they all went about looking for the 25 items that were scattered all over town. At the site of the old Hordville School building, the Hordville Fire Department sponsored water fights from 2-4.
Toward the North end of town at Rod & Cindy Blase residence, Old School Vineyards was giving vineyard tours and offering wines made from their grapes. At around 4:00 p.m. a concert at the Fridhem Lutheran Church featuring Elton Flodman and the Revival Band played to a crowd overflowing into the street.
At around 6:00 p.m. there was a free meal at the Hordville Event Center sponsored by the First State Bank of Hordville. A crowd of over 500 came through the doors with a line nearly 2 blocks long. Bank president and Hordville Village Chairman, Bill Anderson was incredibly pleased with the crowd and was happy with all the events and turnout for the event.
The big finale was in the evening when a street dance was held next to the Hordville Community Hall. The “Hanyaks” were the night’s entertainment. An estimated crowd of 350 people attended the street dance with refreshments served under the covered patio off the Community Hall.
The Hordville Hometown Committee members were Karla Person, Rod Blase, Rob Anderson, Alison Veburg, and Chandra & Aaron Blase. The Committee was responsible for the organization of the event and selling of merchandise commemorating the event. Hordville Classic t-shirts were designed from an old Hordville High School boy’s basketball jersey with cursive writing. There were Hordville Bulldog glasses and coffee mugs for sale along with Hordville Calendars that had a historic picture of Hordville on every month’s page.