Small town Kansas hosts 150th anniversary of country's oldest annual celebration

Erie, Kansas is a small town in Neosho County. With a population of just over 1,000 residents, this rural community may seem like any other small town in Southeast Kansas. However, this town, affectionately called “Beantown, U.S.A.” by locals, hosts an annual celebration called the “Old Soldiers and Sailors Reunion,” the oldest annual celebration in the U.S., having celebrated 150 years of the annual tradition—a free bean feed. Since 1873, this tradition has been continuous throughout the years including during the pandemic. These events were pulled off in large part thanks to American Legion Post 102 and MainStreet Memories.

Monday, July 10 kicked off a week of events with a scavenger hunt that took participants around town with new clues each day, starting with the first clue in the front window of the Brickhaus on Main St. The scavenger hunt led to a medallion being found in the bean pot at the Mem-Erie Historical Museum by Dana Kepley on Wednesday.

Rodeo coordinator Wayne Shivley, one of only two veterans left who started the rodeo, explained why the rodeo began.

“We had a lot of guys around that were rodeo cowboys that belonged to the Post,” Shivley said. “So, at that time, they thought that would be a good fund raiser, so that’s how we got started.”

A kids’ night was held at the city park on Thursday which included a pulled pork sandwich or hot dog meal sponsored by the Erie Area Chamber of Commerce; American Legion children’s events for ages 1-18 with cash prizes to winners of each event—events included turtle races, bike races, and sack races. Erie is also home to a Dinosaur Park where more children’s events took place before a kids night swim occurred at the local pool from 7 pm to 10 pm.

Friday was the big day for beans. The day started with the Xi Delta Psi Sorority bake sale in front of Pete’s from 6 am to 9 am. An annual automotive swap meet and flea market was held at 306 S. Grant St. all day, starting at 7 am. Friday evening saw heavy rain and over 70 mph wind pickup when the free bean feed began, but this did not keep people from attending.

Since 8 am that day, 1,200 pounds of beans were washed and loaded into 50 cast iron pots, all full of beans, water, bacon, and onions. Fires are lit under each of the pots where the beans are boiled until it’s time for them to be served. Due to weather conditions, the serving started a little earlier than the original 6 pm start time, but there were plenty of beans being served by the literal bucket.

This large supply of beans takes months to plan including getting the firewood cut to boil the beans.

“Most of the classes from school will figure on having a class reunion,” head bean cook Richard McGown said. “This year, we have an old school class reunion that will be held in a big place outside of town. So, people just come back to it for commodity, and a lot of people come because they hear about it on Facebook and we have our own website, and people come just because they don’t believe it and they want to see it.”

Erie class reunions coincide with the bean festival, bringing more families in to see and participate in all of the events.

Due to the storm, inflatables for the kids were cancelled, however the street dance and fireworks still occurred as the storm passed. The night also included a DJ, five food trucks, and a beer garden.

Saturday was the final day for festivities with a morning 5k fun run sponsored by the Erie High School Cross Country Team. A reading of the names at Memorial Wall took place at 9:30 am with a reunion golf classic following at 10 am at Prairie Ridge Golf Course.

At 10:30 am, a big parade came down the town’s Main St.

During the parade, a flyover occurred, allowing people to see a plane closer to the ground than usual.

A car and truck show and arts and crafts were also held throughout the day. People were able to vote on their favorite vehicle, giving one lucky winner a trophy cup.

Over 25 vendors were also at the city park where a BBQ contest was also held.

Civil War Reenactors later told stories of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The reenactors included Daryl Donohue, Gerrie-Ellen Johnston, Jeff Patrick, Michael Gosser, and Steve Welldon.

“Grand Army of the Republic, in this particular instance, is not something that’s thought about a lot in today’s scheme of things,” Donohue said. “We need to keep this out in the public—especially about the war between the states. It almost tore the country in two, and as the old saying goes, ‘If you do not remember your history, you are doomed to repeat it.’ With so much of society being polarized, we can think of things like the GAR which was for fraternity, and charity, and loyalty. That’s a positive thing, and I think the more positive we can focus on, the better off the whole thing’s going to be.”

Concluding events included a cornhole tournament, an Erie High School Reunion Happy Hour and the 7th annual ‘Let The Minis Buck’ Youth Rodeo.

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