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Pengilly "The Town That Never Was" |
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of Northern Minnesota's Iron Range
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| "Pengilly - The Town That Never
Was is 100" Grand Rapids Herald-Review Wednesday, August 27, 2008 By Lisa Rosemore A three-day holiday weekend is coming up, but it’s not just any three-day weekend in Pengilly. The town which really isn’t a town has turned 100 years old and a three-day party, from Friday, Aug. 29 to Sunday, Aug. 31, has been in the planning for two years. Organizers are expecting a huge turnout. Pengilly will be packed, said Centennial committee member Jean Blaine. Campers are in Pengilly yards that normally don’t have campers in them, added committee member Dana Shofner. Both Blaine and Shofner said during separate interviews they’d heard rumors that hotels in Hibbing were booked full with out of town people coming to the Centennial. A search of hotels on Expedia.com and on Orbitz.com, travel Web sites, showed no open rooms in Hibbing for the weekend, but did not specify if those unavailable rooms were booked for the centennial. The weekend starts Friday morning. The hospitality room at the Pengilly Community Center will open at 10 a.m. and will feature a memory room, souvenirs for sale and registration for those attending the festivities. At 4 p.m., a flag raising and opening ceremony will be held, also at the community center. A parade which will feature more than 63 entries will begin at 12 p.m. with parade line-up to start at 11 a.m. at Budrow and Half Circle Drive. Following the parade, there will be games, a sawdust pile and races at the park. “We wanted this to be family-friendly,” Shofner said. “We wanted families to be able to come and not have to spend a fortune.” Shofner pointed out there will be music all day on Saturday in addition to not one, but two street dances “ one on Friday and one on Saturday. Both dances feature Jig Rock’n Ore Dawgs and run from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday’s events include a golf tournament at Swan Lake Country Club, a cribbage tournament and a baseball game at the Pengilly Baseball Field. These events and more make Pengilly the place to visit this weekend. So why does the Pengilly’s centennial logo proclaim it “The Town That Never Was”? Technically, Pengilly isn’t a town. The area, which does have its own zip code, is unincorporated “ no city council, no mayor. Lone Pine, Greenway and part of Goodland townships make up Pengilly. According to Blaine, there had been two or three attempts to incorporate Pengilly, but those efforts were never successful. There are countless volunteers that have made the celebration possible, said Shofner after crediting Pengilly native and resident Shirley Marshall for coming up with the idea for planning the centennial celebration. Committee members met once a month since August 2006 to plan this weekend’s party and Shofner said it wouldn’t be possible without all their hard work and the numerous fundraisers the committee has put on and the donations it’s received. Parking will be available at St. Kevin’s Church, Pengilly Methodist Church and Evergreen Industries (the old Pengilly Grade School) with a free shuttle bus running every ten minutes on Friday and Saturday to Half Circle Drive where the majorities of the festivities will be taking place. For a full schedule of all weekend events, visit www.pengillymn.com. |