Last week my home town, Java, celebrated 125 years with a Quasicentennial celebration.
current population
welcome sign at the city park
entertainment happened under the big tent
drone shot of Main Street where the action was
three food trucks to feed the attendees
another drone shot of Main Street
the blue building in the center is the Java Bar
the Post Office is to the left of the bar
insurance building is to the right of the bar
the Community Center (used to be the Legion Hall)
is across the street from the buildings in the above photo
photos were on display in the Community Center
the first Java School building 1903-1921
the school building I attended, 1956-1968
it does NOT look this good today, but it is still standing
at the south end of Main Street
also on display were two Community Calendars
from 1964-1967
I am in the white outfit in each of the photos
band majorette
display of school uniforms and
other donated clothing for the Quasi Celebration
the class of '68 got together Thursday afternoon
9 of the 13 surviving classmates attended
4 classmates have passed away
a souvenir from the Quasi Celebration
a Java icon
the drone photo
I never climbed the water tower, but I had classmates and know of other foolish kids who did.
the photo of Main Street looking north to the end of town
in 1956 when we moved to Java, both sides of Main Street
had businesses; there were no empty lots
no longer there, but a great memory from my teen years
still standing, but no longer in use, is the women's bathroom
it is just north of the Community Center
There is no way of knowing how many people attended the Quasi Celebration. I looked for people whom I knew were there, but did not find them. Sometimes, I saw a familiar name, but when I was ready to walk over and say Hi, they had disappeared. It was VERY HOT and HUMID Thursday through Sunday; temperatures were in the high 90s.
This was the sunset as I drove to Mom's house on Friday evening. I pulled off the road to take some photos.
this band of clouds was on the north side of me
Three miles from this spot, the wind hit the area. There was so much debris (leaves, dust) blowing across the highway, I could hardly see. It was hard to keep the car in my lane as the wind was so strong. The area was in a tornado watch, but I did not know that until I reached the house. There wasn't a tornado in that area, but it is the same evening when tornadoes killed three people in North Dakota, destroyed farms, and tipped grain-filled train cars off the railroad track.
