Quincy celebrates centennial

by Matthew Weaver<br>Herald Staff Writer
| April 2, 2007 9:00 PM

QUINCY — The ladies' voices carried through the halls of the fire station a few moments before the big party.

"Happy birthday to us."

It was a popular song Friday, as residents from around the area turned out to celebrate Quincy's 100th birthday with a party complete with a 100 square-foot birthday cake, consisting of 48 sheet cakes and 90 pounds of frosting.

"There's 960 pieces of cake, so if there's 200 people, than everybody needs to eat five pieces, right?" asked party coordinator Nanette Hemberry.

Members of the Thick and Thin Barbershop Quartet sang "Sentimental Journey" to open the festivities, then partygoers heard from a number of speakers, including letters from Congressman Doc Hastings and Sen. Janea Holmquist, who were not able to attend.

Grant County Commissioner Leroy Allison, in attendance with fellow Commissioner Cindy Carter, noted the party was the latest in a line of century celebrations around the region, beginning with the 100th celebration last year of Wilson Creek's annual Plowing Days, and leading up toward the county's 100th in 2009.

"As I look at that huge cake and the number of young people with balloons running around here, I know there's a lot of energy waiting to get into that cake," Allison said before offering the town congratulations and encouragement for the next 100 years.

Quincy Mayor Dick Zimbelman shared a number of memories from his time as a child born and raised in town, recalling his parents talking about wind storms, drought in the Depression and having to walk around the house with rags over their faces to breathe, while his father crawled into the attic to shovel out dirt so the ceilings would not come down.

Once irrigation water arrived, the land lived up to its promise, Zimbelman continued. But irrigation cut down on the rabbit population, and he remembered Canal Days rabbit races until the Humane Society put a stop to them. When the event was short on rabbits, school would be let out to catch them, he said, and children would pile into the school's truck, on the fenders and the back.

"This worked fine until one night we turned one way and the kid on the front, one of my classmates, he was going off the other way," Zimbelman said. "We ended up running over him with all wheels. He was a strong boy, he was in the sand, we were lucky and he played football the next night."

State Archivist Jerry Handfield read a letter from Secretary of State Sam Reed declaring Quincy a Century City, and presented Zimbelman with a bevy of gifts, including a facsimile duplication of the town's incorporation from the state archives, dated March 28, 1907.

"It talks about the corporate name of Quincy, however, it doesn't tell us why the place is named Quincy," Handfield said. "That'll be something you can discuss for the next 100 years."

Zimbelman said the document would be framed and hung in Quincy City Hall.

During his presentation, Handfield showed the audience various methods of recording information which have now become obsolete, such as Edison cylinders and floppy disks, since most people now don't have the equipment necessary to use them.

He urged them to think about how to preserve their information for historical purposes.

"In Quincy, you are preserving the history of the United States with all these data centers," he said. "They hold records, so you need to be appreciative and cognizant of the tremendous things happening in Quincy. It's a truly historic time. You've gone from wood stoves to data warehouses."

Many of those people in attendance were nearly unanimous in their initial uncertainty when asked where they see Quincy going in the next 100 years, but some dared a guess one way or another.

"The world isn't going to turn that long," said Albert Reiman, a member of one of the Quincy founding families.

"I think we're going to lose a lot of the farming because so many farms are being sold, the ones close to town and all the new housing going in," Lorraine Miller said.

Founding family member Karl Weber admitted to mixed feelings about the growth going on in Quincy.

"It'll be on the map," he predicted.

"What an amazing opportunity to get involved with a city and a city turning 100 years," said Mara Jacobs, who moved into the area about four years ago with husband Ken. "We're proud to be residents of Quincy."

"I see in the next 20 years, it's probably doubling in size," Ken Jacobs postulated. "Within 100 years, astronomical. I think it's really going to boom."

"I think it's going to grow," Hemberry said. "A lot of people love here and there's some of us that may move to Winchester because it's getting too big. Some people are expecting next year to have 20,000 people. I don't think it's going to be that fast. The hope is even if we get bigger, we still will retain the small town atmosphere."

"That's a real good question," Jean Reiman said. "Five times what it is now."