BROOKVILLE — Fifty years ago, the Brookville Community Picnic was held on July 31, 1974. Back then the picnic was a one day event held on Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Steam engine races were a big draw for attendees. Kenny Mears and Ed Troutman put together a beautiful educational program. The steam engine area had many visitors from a long way off including Sabina, Springfield and Union City, Indiana.

Special honors were carried away on the beautiful Advance steam engine guided by the skillful hands of John Hoop, Jr. of Lewisburg. Miss Congeniality – the smallest of the entries – the GarScott came in second, steered by senior engineer, Homer Holp of Brookville.

Brookville merchants gave tickets for the evening prize drawing. That year, 1st prize was $500 Brookville Dollars, 2nd prize was a Portable Color TV, 3rd prize was $250 Brookville Dollars. The drawing was usually held at 10 p.m. and winning ticket holders had to be present to win.

Area women had the opportunity to show off their skills by displaying their handiwork in the recreation building. Ruth Brandt and Thelma Denlinger chose the winners from many fine entries.

The different categories for prizes were Quilts, Afgans, Paintings, Arts & Crafts, Cakes, Ecology, Pillows, Embroidery, Crochet, Baby Items, Knitted Articles. There were three winners in each category.

Another big attraction that year was the Antique Car Show. They had everything from a 1919 Model ‘T’ Fire Truck to a 1957 Chevrolet Nomad Station Wagon. The organizer was Roger Kauffman. The car owners expressed that they would like to do it again the next year.

Each year a young lady was chosen as Picnic Queen. There were 12 contestants at the 1974 picnic. Kristy Hoover was named ‘Miss Brookville’ that year.

Some other items of interest at that picnic included a Ladies’ Goat Milking contest, a watermelon eating contest, entertainment by students from the Margaret Leiber School of Dance, square dancing on the tennis court, John Haupt’s miniature circus, and a local oriented group ‘The Four Coachman’ entertained in the evening.

On Tuesday evening, a ‘Teen Night’ dance was held with music provided by a rock and roll group ‘White Savage.’

All information and the photo for this Look at Brookville article were supplied by the Brookville Historical Society.

Do you have a photo or historical information to share or add? Please contact the Brookville Historical Society at 937-833-0285 or email to [email protected].