Peetz celebrating Centennial

Peetz is celebrating its 100 year anniversary Sept. 29 and 30.

Though its actual centennial fell in May, the celebration was held off until September to coincide with the homecoming game against Briggsdale and yearly For Peetz Sake! Day.

"Peetz has always celebrated For Peetz Sake Day during homecoming weekend, that way we can tie in more activities and we usually get more people who come to town," Mayor Traci Davenport said. "So we're doing the same thing again this year."

Kick-off is Friday at 4 p.m. The evening features a community hog roast, followed by SPYFL youth tackle football game. After, a pep rally is held at the community center.

The evening culminates with the centennial reception, featuring the efforts of the town's historical committee.

"In the small meeting room we will have our history set out," Davenport said. "In the bigger meeting room, we're going to have our celebration. We're going to have cupcakes, refreshments and some entertainment, local people from the community."

Saturday begins with the fireman's pancake feed, and a larger-than-usual parade.

"The students are putting in their floats. We also have the school band. We're also going to have some classic cars riding in the parade," Davenport said. "We're going to have boy scouts, girl scouts, hopefully some alumni, and we have businesses coming."

The celebration concludes with a street dance, featuring Stahla-Ford Band of Kimball.

"I don't believe we've had a street dance in a very long time," Davenport said. "It's exciting to get some of these things back again."

Among the pleasures and challenges of readying the centennial celebration was rediscovering the history of Peetz, Davenport said.

"Before it was called Peetz, it was called Mercer," she said. "It became Peetz when the gentleman who donated the land to the town, his name was Peter Peetz. After that, they changed the name."

Ahead of the event, Peetz school students enjoyed a history walkabout, with several stops providing the town's history, including the elevator, telephone company, churches and town hall.

"Here at the school, one of our custodians has lived here his entire life, so it was interesting listening to him talk about what he remembers," Davenport said. "At one point in time the school had burned down. A lot of kids didn't know that."

Davenport said she's honored to both celebrate Peetz's history and to be a part of that history.

"Having that rich history is something our students are missing out on, and some of our newer community members," she said. "If they don't know, they can't really appreciate everything that happens in Peetz or where some of this history came from."

She added, "It's great we can provide this, and that people are going to be able to experience that history when they come to the reception."

For more information, contact (970) 334-2473 or visit http://www.peetz.co.