Ridgeway News -- July 1, 2026

CITY NEWS: A huge Thank You! goes out to all the volunteers who spent an afternoon or two putting together the new play equipment for the Ridgeway parks. A climbing dome has been installed at the City Park while a new play set has been assembled for the Centennial Park. These are sure to bring smiles to our kids and give them something new to do!

Ridgeway was definitely hopping with garage sales and shoppers this weekend despite the rain. It was a fun atmosphere as people shopped and visited. Hope all the sellers did well and that the buyers ended up with some great items!

The biggest party of the year will happen this Saturday as Ridgeway celebrates the 250^th anniversary of the founding of our nation. The day will include the annual parade, the post-parade lunch, games and music in the park in the afternoon and fireworks.

Parade entry registration and line-up begins at 10 am in the school parking lot. Parade entries will be announced as each one approaches the city hall. The veterans will once again lead the parade.

After the parade, head over to the old Ridgeway Hall or the Community Room for lunch served by the Ridgeway Community Betterment Association The menu will feature hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, pasta salad, baked beans, desserts and drinks. Both the old Ridgeway Hall and the Community Room will be open to the public for lunch. Free-will donations will be gratefully accepted to help with the cost. Also, if you can donate a dessert, that would be very appreciated.

Family Fun in the Park will begin at 2 pm in Ridgeway City Park with games, activities and music for all ages. Games (so far) include a tug-of-war competition, sack races, relays, water spray, Ladder Ball, Stuffy Toss, egg race, Simon Says, scavenger hunt, Who Dropped the Hankie?, and more for all ages! A bubble station, horseshoes, corn hole boards, croquet and a volleyball net will be available for anyone to play. Bring a lawn chair and plenty of water.

The Threads of Freedom quilt, created by the sewing group that meets at the Ridgeway Baptist Church, will be raffled off at the end of the afternoon’s games. Tickets may be purchased at the park or at Paula’s Sewing Corner, 1 ticket for $1 or 6 for $5. Proceeds will benefit the Ridgeway Community Betterment Association.

The day will end with the Ridgeway Fire Department’s annual fireworks display at dusk in the school parking lot. This display is one of the best around and made possible by donations from multiple organizations!

SOCIETY: Condolences to the family and friends of Fred Baker, who passed away last Thursday. He graduated from Ridgeway High School in 1970.

Condolences also to the family and friends of Steve Booth who passed away Saturday. He was a 1959 graduate of Ridgeway High School and long time resident.

The sewing group will meet next on July 6 from 1 pm to 4 pm at the Ridgeway Baptist Church. All are invited to join the work and fun! You do not need a sewing machine or experience, only a willing heart and hands. The group creates quilts and other sewn items as service projects for both local and distant needs.

CLOSING: If you know of any events or plans around town that you would like to see shared with others, please send me the details by Sunday evening! Thank you for reading!

Upcoming Events

July 4 – Ridgeway Fourth of July Celebration

10:00 am: Parade line up at Ridgeway School parking lot

11:00 am: Ridgeway parade begins up Main Street

Post Parade: Lunch served at old Ridgeway Hall and Community Room.

2 pm – 4 pm: Community Games in Ridgeway City Park

Dusk: Fireworks sponsored by Ridgeway Fire Department, Ridgeway School grounds

** No Bingo or Scrapbooking due to the holiday!

July 6: Community Sewing Group, 1 pm – 4 pm, Ridgeway Baptist Church

July 13 – RCBA meeting, 7 pm, Ridgeway Community Room

July 20 – Board of Aldermen meeting, 6 pm, Ridgeway Community Room,

Aug 3 – Bingo, 6:30 pm, Ridgeway Community Room

Aug 8 – Electronics Recycling event, 9 am – noon, Old Ridgeway Hall.

Ridgeway News Updates

To send in an item for the Ridgeway News or subscribe to the email list, send an email to RidgewayCBA@gmail.com. Emailed copies are sent out Friday mornings at 6 am.

You can find every Bit of History item as well as flyers for upcoming events on the RCBA website: ridgewaycba.blogspot.com

For the most current updates, follow RCBA on Facebook! Find it by searching for @RidgewayCBA.

Bit of History -- July 1, 2026

Per the Ridgeway: Then and Now centennial book, Joe M. Peasley opened the first blacksmith shop in Ridgeway about 1880. First known as Peasley and Heizer, they built wagons, buggies and carriages and did general blacksmithing and horseshoeing. They also built school wagons in later years . From 1890 to 1892, he partnered with J. B. “Jack” Mirgon. When their partnership broke up, he renamed the business as Peasley & Co and later as Peasley Manufacturing. His shop was a large two story building. “The lower part was the blacksmith shop and the upper part, which had a ramp, housed the wagon, buggy and repair shop”. It was located long Cedar Street, on the west side of the alley behind City Hall. Joe Peasley remained in business until the 1920s.

One of Peasley’s wagons is still in existence. It was owned by the family of Dale Pontius for many years and was sold to Roger Bayless in 2016. It can be pulled by horses or a vehicle. The wagon is wooden, painted green and has Peasley written on the side. Look to see if Roger brings it to the Fourth of July parade this Saturday!

Ridgeway News -- June 24, 2026

CITY NEWS: Ridgeway’s City Wide garage sales are this weekend, Friday Jun 25 and Saturday June 26. As of this writing, there will be sales at eight different addresses with a wide variety of items for sale! Pick up the garage sale list from City Hall, the Little Free Library, Ridgeway Technical Services/Paula’s Sewing Corner or download a copy from the RCBA website at ridgewaycba.blogspot.com.

Are you entering a float in this year’s parade? Entries may begin lining up at 10 am in the school parking lot and will start north on Main Street at 11 am. The parade will be led by local veterans. The day will also include lunch after the parade, games in the park from 2 pm to 4 pm and a fireworks display at the school put on by the Ridgeway Fire Department.

The Ridgeway Community Betterment Association will again serve lunch after the parade to celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation. They need volunteers to help prepare, serve and clean-up this year’s post parade lunch. Please consider volunteering to help make this the best 4th of July celebration possible! We will need help with cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, transporting food to the servers, serving, and clean-up. They could also use extra desserts! A free-will donations will be accepted to help defray the cost of the meal and fund park projects and local activities.

In addition to the usual 4^th of July activities, the Ridgeway Community Betterment Association is hosting games in the park from 2 pm to 4 pm. Everyone is invited to join in the fun. Games (so far) include a tug-of-war competition, sack races, relays, water spray, Ladder Ball, Stuffy Toss, egg race, Simon Says, scavenger hunt, Who Dropped the Hankie?, and more for all ages! A bubble station, horseshoes, corn hole boards, croquet and a volleyball net will be available for anyone to play.

For more information about any of the day’s plans or to volunteer to help with lunch or games, please contact a board member or email ridgewaycba@gmail.com. RCBA board members are Gloria Craig, Susie Rollheiser, Kristi Reeder, Tammy Harding, Sydney Craig, Paula Scott and Joni Sequira.

SOCIETY: The community sewing group has completed a lap quilt with a patriotic theme that they will raffle off to help raise funds for the Ridgeway Community Betterment Association. The quilt measures 60” x 70” and was created by the Ridgeway sewing group to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. The blocks were lovingly pieced by various members of the group coming together to honor our nation’s heritage with stars, stripes, and enduring symbols of freedom. They will sell tickets in the park during the 4^th of July games for $1 for one ticket or 6 for $5. Tickets may be purchased before July 4 at Paula’s Sewing Corner at 408 Main St.

The sewing group will meet next on July 6 from 1 pm to 4 pm at the Ridgeway Baptist Church. All are invited to join the work and fun! You do not need a sewing machine or experience, only a willing heart and hands. The group creates quilts and other sewn items as service projects for both local and distant needs.

CLOSING: If you know of any events or plans around town that you would like to see shared with others, please send me the details by Sunday evening! Thank you for reading!

Upcoming Events

June 26-27 – Citywide Garage Sales -- Sale list available at City Hall, Little Free Library, and the shop at 408 Main St.

July 4 – Ridgeway Fourth of July Celebration

10:00 am: Parade line up at Ridgeway School parking lot

11:00 am : Ridgeway parade begins up Main Street

Post Parade: Lunch served at old Ridgeway Hall and Community Room.

2 pm – 4 pm: Community Games in Ridgeway City Park

Dusk: Fireworks sponsored by Ridgeway Fire Department, Ridgeway School grounds

** No Bingo or Scrapbooking due to the holiday!

July 6: Community Sewing Group, 1 pm – 4 pm, Ridgeway Baptist Church

July 13 – RCBA meeting, 7 pm, Ridgeway Community Room

July 20 – Board of Aldermen meeting, 6 pm, Ridgeway Community Room,

Aug 3 – Bingo, 6:30 pm, Ridgeway Community Room

Aug 8 – Electronics Recycling event, 9 am – noon, Old Ridgeway Hall.

Ridgeway News Updates

To send in an item for the Ridgeway News or subscribe to the email list, send an email to RidgewayCBA@gmail.com. Emailed copies are sent out Friday mornings at 6 am.

You can find every Bit of History item as well as flyers for upcoming events on the RCBA website: ridgewaycba.blogspot.com

For the most current updates, follow RCBA on Facebook! Find it by searching for @RidgewayCBA.

Bit of History -- June 24, 2026

 The Ridgeway City Park has always been a vital part of the community events. In 1929, S. C. Spence and J. P. Stanley were in charge of the task of “securing of the concessions” for the park spaces. As of June 27, the park was nearly full of vendors for that year’s Fourth of July celebrations, which helped to fund the festivities. “These concession rights usually pay for about a third of the expenses of the celebration, but this year, they are exceeding all previous records.” The offerings included “everything from a general stand to a popcorn right, including a ‘juice spot”, the latter meaning of course a place to buy the lemonade of reddish hue”. The writer added “Concessions make a big celebration and if that phrase is true this year, the celebration is to be an extra big one”.

The last line is just as true for this year as it was in 1929: “Come and bring all your neighbors.” (Ridgeway Journal, June 27, 1929.)

Bit of History -- June 17. 2026

While we have some pretty heavy storms lately, another “fierce wind storm” hit Harrison County on June 16. 1973 caused a lot of damage all over the county. “The storm destroyed barns, damaged homes and uprooted trees in an area extending from the New Hampton vicinity to Cainsville.”

“The worst damage seemed to be concentrated in the Ridgeway area.” Mark and Barbara Reeder’s new mobile home, set in place only two days before the storm in its new location in the north part of Ridgeway near the railroad tracks “was overturned twice by the wind and was shredded apart.” Barbara was inside the home when the storm came up. She “landed across the railroad tracks where she was able to escape from the debris of the trailer.” She suffered cuts to her right hand and knee and was taken to Noll Memorial hospital for treatment. Later she was found to have additional injuries and was taken to the Missouri Methodist hospital in St. Joseph.

In addition to the Reeder home, Mrs Clayton Polley, the Ridgeway correspondent at the time, reported that “the railroad depot was demolished and the porches of the Alma Craig and Ethyl Lobba homes were severely damaged.” (Bethany Republican-Clipper, June 20. 1973, p 1)

Bit of History -- June 10, 2026

On July 4, 1882, “some miscreants obstructed the railroad” between Bethany and Ridgeway. They covered the track with wood, poles and brush and it was assumed they intended to cause an accident. “The scoundrels who did it evidently intended to wreck the excursion train down at night”. They had forgotten about the two five o'clock trains which saw the obstruction “in time to prevent accident and removed” everything from the tracks before continuing onward.

The criminals piled more brush on the track again after those trains left, hoping the next train wouldn’t see It and hit it. “The excursion train down that night contained at least 500 people from Bethany, and points west, and had an accident occurred the loss of life would have been terrible. The excursion train men were notified to run very slowly and keep a sharp lookout and did so, not running faster than ten miles per hour at any time coming down.” There was no accident and all the passengers must have arrived home safely. The scoundrels must have gotten away with their evil deed as there was no follow-up article. The editor did feel that “No punishment is too severe for such wretches.” (Bethany Republican, July 6, 1882)

Bit of History -- June 3, 2026

In 1900, the Ridgeway board of education awarded the contract to build the new school to Wm. Peatman of Centerville, Iowa. The total amount of the contract was $7045. A second contract was given to a St. Joseph firm to provide the “steam heating outfit for $1, 100” bringing the total cost of construction of $8,145, the equivalent of $322,910.46 today. The Journal was “not able to give a complete description of the proposed building, etc” as the contracts had only been approved the day before.

The local residents appreciated the hard work of the board: “It is the general opinion that so far the directors have done a good job and virtually secured an $10,000 building for a trifle more than $8,000.” The editor added “Now a good man should be secured to see that the work is done right and according to the plans and specifications. Then Ridgeway will have a school building second to none in any town her size in this part of Missouri.” (Ridgeway Journal, June 28, 1900)

 

Bit of History -- May 27, 2026

A few items from the front page of the Ridgeway Journal dated May 28, 1930:

Commencement exercises for the Ridgeway class of 1931 were held on Friday, May 15^th. The attending crowd was so large that the building “would not hold all of them” and some were not able to come in to watch the ceremony. There were thirty-four graduates that year, “this being a very large class for a school of this size.” The commencement address was given by Dr. Dildine “from the college at Maryville” and the valedictorian speech was given by Roberta Nible. Her speech was printed in the paper as well.

The Memorial Day program was published in the paper that week. The service was to be held in the City Park. The Ridgeway band and the scout troops were to meet at the Methodist church for the park to the park. The program included the song "America", an invocation by Rev Stanley, the scouts' Pledge to the flag, a speech titled "The Mission of America" by Rev. Reed and music by the Ridgeway Band.

The Burlington Railway Company announced changes to the train schedule that would allow Ridgeway to get both morning and evening mail delivery as well as the afternoon newspapers. The Ridgeway band announced that they were ready to start their summer concerts if the local businessmen wanted their services. The Yankee Ridgeway Cemetery board published their annual financial statement showing that they had moved from being $7.23 in the red to $7.27 in the black for the year. They would also hold Decoration Day services and officer elections that Sunday.

Bit of History -- May 20, 2026

BIT OF HISTORY: Among the many social groups that once were active during Ridgeway’s history was a group that called themselves the Merry Matrons (MM). This was a social and service club where the rules (at least at the beginning) was that they would not accept “more than 20 members and no one over 40 years of age and all must be married”, according the description in the “Ridgeway: Then and Now” centennial book (page 36.) The marriage rule was broken only once, but a “mock wedding was held to make it legal” and the age limit was eventually dropped: “The age of a member is no longer limited by years, but by capabilities.”

There is a little discrepancy about the year the club started. The club history and the centennial book both give the first meeting as occurring in November 1932, but the Ridgeway Journal wrote about the first meeting happening in November 1933.

The members met twice monthly and took turns hosting the group. During their meetings, they quilted, crocheted or did other hand crafts, talked and shared a meal. They also gave of themselves: “donations to the Red Cross, Heart and Cancer funds, gave a bench and a table to the city park, took Christmas baskets to the needy and sent cards, flowers and gifts to the members in the hospitals.”

The group continued to meet until 2009 when they had dwindled to just 5 members. At the December meeting that year, three members and two guests met at Becks Convenience store for lunch. They voted to disband and applied their remaining funds, $21.39 to the cost of their lunch. They noted that Eleanor Rinehart had been a member for 73 years.

Bit of History -- May 13, 2026

0ne hundred years ago, there were 16 graduates in the Ridgeway School class of 1926. You can find their class picture on the Ridgeway school website in the alumni section. (www.ridgewayr5.net). Some are smiling; some are serious. The girls all have their hair bobbed in the 1920’s fashion; the boys are all in suits. Many of their surnames can still be found in current Ridgeway families. Among the graduates was gifted athlete Cecil “Twister” Smith, who would go on to become a beloved Ridgeway coach and teacher.

Their senior play, titled “A Poor Married Man”, had been given at the Rex Theatre to a “well-filled house”. “The play was a three act farce comedy, and was muchly enjoyed, considering the generous applause given at every possible cause.” The class collected a proceeds of nearly $80. (Ridgeway Journal, May 6, 1926)

The seniors had also enjoyed their Senior Walk-out. They took a day trip “to Arkel Ford where they spent the morning fishing and taking pictures.” After a hearty picnic lunch, they went to Brooklyn Falls. About 3:30 pm, they headed back to town where “they were treated to brick ice cream and cookies at Ham's Cafe.” They were accompanied by “post graduates and their sponsor, Miss Gross.” (Ridgeway Journal, May 6, 1926)

The honors of valedictorian were shared by two graduates, Thelma Bartlett and Helen Linthacum. They each presented an address during graduation. Gertrude Dale was the salutatorian.