A couple of special events
occur each September in this neck of the woods. This past Sunday nearly two
thousand people came out to Maple Grove Airfield, located north of town, to
attend Dawn Patrol, while this coming weekend several hundred people will enjoy
the various activities scheduled over a three-day period at the Leroy Fireman’s
Field Days & Ox Roast in Webberville.
According to the organizers, this marks the
66th straight year that Dawn Patrol has been held. The fly-in initially
took place in mid-August at Newton Field, an airstrip on Sargent Road south of
Fowlerville, with the Sunday morning breakfast served by the Fowlerville
Commercial Club.
I did not find mention of a Dawn Patrol in
any of the August 1951 issues of The
Fowlerville Review, presumably the inaugural year for this now annual event,
but there were articles in The Review
publicizing it the following year.
The late Stirling ‘Doug’ Douglass was
president of the club in 1952, and I’m guessing he supplied the press releases
to the newspaper. In the article prior to the fly-in, he noted that it would be
held on Sunday, August 17, with breakfast served from 7 a.m. “until all are
served.” He predicted that a “very large crowd is expected, both from out of
town and locally.”
In addition to “over 150 planes expected to
be at the field” and the breakfast, the Patrol was to feature Chuck Hills (the
high school band director) and his German Band, a model airplane show, prizes
donated by area merchants, and 75 free plane rides.
In his follow-up article, Doug reported
that “…it turned out to be one of the most successful ever held here,” adding
that “Ninety-one planes from outside Fowlerville flew in for the event.”
This statement seems to indicate that more
than one Dawn Patrol had taken place in the area prior to that year. However,
he might have been referring to meals put on by the club.
“The men of the Commercial Club served over
400 breakfasts including the entertainers and workers,” he said, adding, “The
local interest was by far the greatest with a big crowd on hand, all hoping to win
one of the 75 free plane rides that were given by the boys who fly out of
Newton’s Airport.”
Later in the article, Doug pointed out that
“The interest in these Dawn Patrols is growing every year and it is hoped that
all who were present will come back next year and bring someone else with
them.”
This hope has certainly been realized as Dawn
Patrol has become a highlight on the community calendar. In the early 1970s, Fowlerville
Rotary took over serving the breakfast after the Commercial Club was disbanded,
and the Patrol was switched to Maple Grove shortly after that airport opened.
The date for holding it was also changed from mid-August to the first Sunday
after Labor Day.
The first Field Days & Ox Roast took
place in 1947. My memory from an interview done years ago with the late Jim
Lowe, who was then serving as the Leroy Township Fire Chief—a post he held for
21 years--was that several young men (he included) who had served in World War
II came home and joined the volunteer fire department. Lowe explained that the Field Days,
featuring the sale of ox burgers, had been started by them as a way to purchase
needed equipment, above and beyond what the township board had earmarked in its
budget. This was done through the Fireman’s Association, comprised of the
firefighters and supporters.
“Before (the organization of the fire
department), there was only an old Model A truck and some similar vintage
equipment,” he had recalled. “The township bought the first pumper, and it
started with that.”
That’s still the main intent of this annual
event which is observing its 70th anniversary. Over the ensuing
years, a carnival, a Saturday afternoon parade, a kids parade, various
activities put on by other community groups, a Social Barn hosted by the
Webberville Lions, tractor pulls, live music, and a Sunday chicken bar-b-que
put on by the Webberville FFA and FFA Alumni have become part of the itinerary.
For most of its history, the event was
centered in Downtown Webberville with the ox burgers served at the fire hall when
it was located on South Main Street. When the new fire hall was built in 1989
at the corner of Walnut Street and Elm Road, most of the activities were
re-located to this location.
While each of these events is put on by
their respective organization and staffed by either Rotarians or firefighters,
neither would be possible to stage or have lasted as long without the help of
many others, including family and friends. In addition, other community groups
have piggybacked onto these main events by including their special offerings,
thus adding to the overall enjoyment by the public.
A good meal, though, serves as the
foundation for each. Having consumed a fair number of breakfasts at the fly-in
over the years, and a goodly amount of burgers at the the ox roast in
Webberville, I can add my testimony as to the importance and excellence of the
food.
What I also have come to realize is that
each of these events serves as a homecoming for current and past residents.
It’s a place you can go to visit with those you know or have known. One of the
pleasant surprises is to run into relatives, neighbors, fellow residents, or
former schoolmates who you haven’t seen for several months or even several years.
Of course the goal is to raise funds, and
to that end there is sometimes a reflex to make the attraction “bigger and
better” in hopes of drawing an ever-larger attendance. I agree that adding new
and interesting features always keeps things fresh, and it never hurts to draw
a few more customers, but what I like is that neither of these local events is
overwhelming. They’ve found a plateau where enough people show up to make money
for the organizers, but are not so overwhelming in numbers that the ambiance is
ruined by an overcrowded situation.
They have been, and still remain, a familiar
and comfortable place for people to return to each year—both for the
hometowners (present and past) and our guests.
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