Snapshots of History

By Editor | February 28, 2024 |

Ayr Days in Mount Ayr – 2010.

By Mike Avitt
This week’s photo shows Norm Klejch, representing the Mount Ayr Lions Club, driving a Kiddie Train at the 2010 Ayr Days celebration.
I sometimes get asked about Ayr Days and its predecessors, so let’s look at the history.
It all started in September 1956 with an event called “Ridiculous Days.”
A committee made up of Arch Dunfee, Jim Burge, Charles Skinner, Keith Cole, and Art Schmidt organized a two day event centered on local merchants offering prices that were “ridiculous.” Merchants also dressed in costumes to add to the “ridiculous” nature of the event. A parade was held that included a costume contest.
In 1961 a new feature was added to the celebration in the form of a queen contest. Local businesses were asked to select and sponsor a candidate.
Participating in the 1961 contest were: Jeani Bastow, Melanie Lane, Karen Huffman, Judy Black, Judith Huff, Kay Ryan, Vickie Newton, Carolyn Reynolds, and Karen Rice. I was unable to find who won from the Record-News newspaper!
In 1963 the Mount Ayr JayCees started an annual celebration called Frontier Days. Raffle prizes included a new car the first two years and the barbecue sandwiches are still remembered.
Frontier Days was extremely popular, but it had two liabilities: the event was exceedingly difficult to pull off and it was in competition with Ridiculous Days.
The solution was the merging of Ridiculous Days and Frontier Days in 1969 – the new name was Appreciation Days.
Many of us recall the BBQ pit on the north side of the courtyard, the carnival rides, the circus atmosphere, and hundreds and hundreds of kids having fun. But it didn’t last.
I have heard the blame placed in different areas including: declining population, the farm crisis, inflation, liability insurance rates, lack of sponsorship, and apathy.
Whatever the reason, Appreciation Days re-invented itself in 1984 with the theme of “Ayr Days.”
This theme celebrated our Scottish heritage and was spear-headed by the group that would make up the Robert Burns Society in 1985.
The first officers of that group were Judy Cunning, Craig Elliott, Helen Terry, and Max Mekus. Robert Burns was a famous Scottish poet from Ayr, Scotland. Our Scottish heritage is very thin, but it is there.
So in 1985, Appreciation Days became Ayr Days but sponsors and participants continued to use the name Appreciation Days for years.
You might remember the bagpipe musicians and Scottish dancers during these years. I do, but I remember everything.
The celebration stayed under the name Ayr Days until 2001 when the name was changed to Autumn in the Ayr.
As a former member of the Mount Ayr Chamber of Commerce I can tell you we got many complaints from people who wanted the event moved to autumn because summer was too hot. When the event was held in the fall, people complained because fall was too cool.
Another thing most people don’t consider is conflict with other major events such as the Ringgold County Fair, Iowa State Fair, homecoming, Mother’s Day, the list goes on.
A Living Cemetery Walk was one of the newfeatures of Autumn in the Ayr.
The schedule was rearranged and other new things were added but a bigger change came in the 2006 celebration.
The first barbecue contest was held in 2006 with Brian Cox selected as the first winner.
The barbeque contest remains very popular to date and with good reason.
Well, I find myself running out of space so I’ll see you next week.