These young Hula dancers were one of many special entertainment groups performing during the Blackburn's 128th anniversary celebration. They had been practicing for several days before the Luau. (Contributed photo) [Click to enlarge]

Blackburn had a good turnout for the 128th anniversary celebration on Saturday, June 23, as residents and friends celebrated in a Hawaiian Luau style.

The event kicked off with several teams participating in a horseshoe tournament at the Blackburn Pond Horseshoe Courts.

"We have a Blackburn Horseshoe League that sponsored the event but without Tom (Ebers) we could not have had the tournament," said Carol Dial, secretary of Blackburn Community Builders. "He is our statistician."

A division winners were first place, Mike Watson and Dennis Mills of Warsaw, second place, Jeff Spry and Ryan Spry of Warsaw, and third place, Paul Vaughn of Sweet Springs and Tim Vaughn of Knob Noster.

B division winners were first, Galen Kueck of Concordia and Kathryn Mueller of Blackburn, second, Mike Canon of Odessa and Phil Schrier of Odessa, and third, Freddie Falls of Blackburn and Doug Bartlett of Higginsville.

C division winners were first, Jeff Sims of Marshall and Mike Reynolds of Sweet Springs, second, John Pace and Darren Russ of Marshall, and third, Teresa Filkins of Malta Bend and Debbie Koss of Odessa.

The traditional Blackburn turtle race was a big success as always. Fred Eberle, event coordinator of the turtle race, said there were 32 turtles checked in for the event. Participants were of all ages and the grand prize winner was Sharla Wright. The second place recipient was Shelby Strickland and third went to Katerina Langan.

The children's games included a sack race, Rolling Stones, The Limbo, Tacky Tourist race and a few swings at a monkey piņata.

Under the age of four, winners of the sack race were Kylie Sims, Caedon Bergman and Kylie Steffens. Connor Bergman, Kaitlyn Topel and Kristin Steffens were the three winners in the five- to seven-year-old race. In the eight- to nine-year-old division, Gabby Kueck, Taylor Langan and Cody Dierking won the event. The 10 and over was won by Aaron Wright, Shelby Strickland and Malorie Sinklear. Even the adult ladies enjoyed this event as seven ladies suited up in the Hawaiian-design sack and raced. The winner was Tonya Topel and tying for second were Hadley Sims and Lisa Permberton.

There were several winners in 11 age divisions in the Rolling Stones event, which is an ancient Hawaiian game similar to horseshoes. Several small posts were set up in the ground and each participant chose a stone and tossed it at the post. Whomever's stone lands closest to the stick wins.

After the children's games, the luau feast began. The area was decorated with flamingos, Hawaiian flowers, grass skirts, Hawaiian leis and other traditional luau pieces.

The Blackburn Community Builders (BCB) provided the beef brisket and pork loin.

Entertainment was provided by Blackburn's Little Hula Dancers led by Janice Langan and her daughter, Kinsey Crutchfield.

Senator Bill Stouffer and State Representative Stanley Cox were present at the luau festivities.

"The senator and representative had a really good time," Dial said.

During the dinner, Sekeliario Dancers from Independence provided the entertainment.

"The dancers also did a special dance with folks pitching in dollars to raise funds for the Blackburn tennis courts," Dial said. "Over $200 was raised for the tennis courts."

The BCB would like to thank everyone who made the event possible. Everything at the luau was donated, including prizes and table decorations, Dial said.

Contact Rachel Harper at

marshallcity@socket.net

To see more photos of Blackburn's celebration, visit our photo gallery at www.marshallnews.com/gallery/blackburn128/.