Ridgeway News -- April 15, 2026

CITY NEWS: Congratulations to Ridgeway’s new mayor, Todd Jennings! Joe Kerns and Bridget Kampman will continue in their roles as members of the Board of Aldermen. All three were sworn into office last Tuesday.  Congratulations also to Miles McGovney, Zeb Cook and Jessie Fortner who were elected to the Ridgeway R-V school board.  The city Use Tax issue did not pass.  

Are you ready for some more Bingo? After taking a break for April, Bingo will return to the Ridgeway Community Room at 6:30 pm on Monday, May 4. There are always three winners per game and lots of prizes for all ages. Free-will donations are accepted for snacks and prizes and donations of snacks are deeply appreciated. Fun for the whole family!

SCHOOL NEWS: The Owl will dance the night away this Saturday at this year’s Prom. The theme this year is “Kickin’ up Country”. Promenade will begin at 6 pm and the public is invited to attend.

The Varsity Track teams will compete at Trenton at the Gary Ferguson Relays on Thursday and the junior high will go to Stanberry to complete. On Monday, both varsity and junior high track teams will compete in the Jim King Relays at Princeton. Next Tuesday, the varsity teams will be at Worth County and the junior high will be in Trenton to complete.

The varsity Scholar Bowl teams will go to the District meet on Saturday at Stanberry.

The Spring Concert will be held on Thursday, April 23 at 6 pm in the gym. The public is invited to attend and support the students.

Good luck to all the East Harrison scholars and athletes!

SOCIETY: Local authors Shelley Tanner and Rosie Oliver will be at the Bethany Library on Saturday, June 6 from 9 am to 11:30 am to sign copies of their books. Shelley lives here in Ridgeway and has published four books and is working on another. She will have some available for sale also during the signing.

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! Wave to your neighbors!

Upcoming Events

Apr 18 – Ridgeway RV Promenade 6 pm, Ridgeway school gym. Public is invited.

Apr 23 – Spring Concert & Farmers’ Appreciation Dinner, 6 pm, Ridgeway School Gym

Apr 27 – Community Sewing Group, Ridgeway Baptist Church, 1pm – 4 pm

May 4 – Bingo! 6:30 pm in the Ridgeway Community Room

May 11 – Ridgeway Community Betterment Assn meeting, 7 pm, Ridgeway Community Room

May 18 – Board of Aldermen meeting, 6 pm, Ridgeway Community Room,

May 21 – Ridgeway R-V Preschool Graduation, 5:30 pm

May 22 – Ridgeway R-V Last Day of School, Award Assembly, 8:30 am, 9 am, 9:30 am

June 26-27 – Citywide Garage Sales

July 4 – Ridgeway 4^th of July Celebration

Ridgeway News Updates

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Bit of History -- April 15, 2026

 The Scott Grocery opened in 1948 and in 1956, moved to its final location on the corner of Pine and Main Streets. Originally owned by his parents, Dean and Edith Scott, Berl and Christine Scott operated the store until Berl retired in 1990. In 1996, a replica of the old store was constructed as part of the Farm Land U. S. A. exhibit in the Agricultural Hall of Fame. The exhibit was designed and named by Harold Adkins, a “Mt. Moriah native who served for 12 years as executive director of the Agricultural Hall of Fame.”

Berl helped to set up the Scott General Store at the exhibit. “’I have some ideas how I would like it to look’, said Scott.” He donated several things from his store and a commercial ice box from the old Ridgeway Farmer’s Store and an old antique butcher block from the Farmer’s Store in Mt. Moriah. (Bethany Republican-Clipper, Dec 27, 1995)

I looked at the Agricultural Hall of Fame website and while there are no pictures of the store on their website, there is a short video which lists Scott’s Grocery as part of Farm Land U.S.A. The Hall of Fame reopens to visitors on April 25. If you have seen the exhibits in recent years, or plan to go down there, please let us all know if Scott’s Grocery is still there.

Bit of History -- April 8, 2026

Do you remember the day the old Ridgeway water tower “Tin Man” came down? The old tower was built in 1923 during Ridgeway first city-wide water and sewer project. It stood for over 80 years and was referred to as “Tin Man” most likely due to its pointed cap and round bottom. In October 2004, however, a new water tower with an “ellipsoidal” shape was constructed to replace the Tin Man as it was “no longer feasible to maintain and did not meet OSHA regulatory requirements for worker safety" and “was of riveted construction with lead-based paint”. The water was switched over to the new tower in December and in February, 2005, the old tower was taken down.

To bring it down, the Steelsmith Tank Company “cut the tank in half” and removed the bolts from the tower’s leg braces. “The technique, known as ‘Rocking the Tower’, ensures the tank folds up when it hits the ground.” “As the tank hit the ground, chunks of ice emerged from inside and scattered around the humbled remains.” (Bethany Republican-Clipper, Feb 16, 2005 pp 1, 4)

The Ridgeway students chose the black and gold colors for the new water tower to celebrate their school colors. (Bethany Republican-Clipper, Oct 13, 2004, p 17)

Bit of History -- April 1, 2026

In Ridgeway’s early days, dressing up for Easter was an event in itself. It was a time to show off your Easter finery and especially your new hat. But in 1909, the weather made wearing those new hats a bit difficult. “While the day was one of comparably clear sunshine and not an extra chilly one, a regular Kansas wind made it very disagreeable one to be out of doors.” On Saturday, the weather was fair, but “On Saturday afternoon, the barometer, which had been pointing to fair weather, took a sudden turn and chased itself rapidly back to the point which reads ‘stormy’ in good big letters.”

Sunday started with the wind: “the storm commenced on Sunday morning in the shape of a gale of wind which kept it up throughout the day until after midnight”. At midnight, it started to rain heavily with intervals of snow and sleet. This continued until around noon on Monday when “the clouds broke away and sunshine prevailed once more.” (Ridgeway News, Apr 15, 1909).

Bit of History -- March 25, 2026

 An article in the April 14, 1910 edition of the Ridgeway Journal proudly announced that “Ridgeway can boast of six automobiles, all of the best makes, three Fords and three Velies.” The latest car to be owned by a Ridgeway resident was a Velie touring car, purchased through the Bridges & Bartlett agency here in town. It was bought by Rev. W. H. Hobbs, pastor of the Christian church and “was brought home from St. Joseph” and cost “something over $2000”.

To bring it to Ridgeway, the drivers started at 2 am, but stopped in every town along the way to show off the car. “The machine is a large black forty-horse touring car and is the best machine in the county.”

I found an ad for a Velie sold by the Stanley & Ranger agency in St. Joseph in 1909. The cost for a completely equipped touring car was $1750, which is a little less than $60,000 in today’s money. (St. Joseph Gazette, Sept 9, 1909.) I didn’t find any automobile ads for local dealers, however, I did find a Bridges & Bartlett ad for a Velie wrought iron buggy.

Bit of History -- March 18, 2026

Sometimes to get an idea for this section, I flip through the Ridgeway: Then and Now centennial book.  On page 3 of the book is a picture of several men working on clearing a train wreck. The caption reads:  “Wreck on the Railroad north of Ridgeway in 1903 or 1904.”  I searched for quite a while to find the story on this (there is nothing more mentioned in the book) and I don’t think I found the right article, but I did find this little item about a wreck near Blythedale in the Feb 15, 1906 edition of the Bethany Republican.  The incident also rated an article in the Feb 15 edition of the Ridgeway Journal.   

While the northbound freight train was running between Ridgeway and Blythedale in February 1903 “at the usual rate of speed”, one of the oil cars exploded without warning, “throwing blazing oil over the entire train.”  The next tank car caught fire as well, “as did two cars of merchandise, an empty box car and the way car, all of which were quickly consumed.”  Four men were injured in the wreck with “painful, but not serious burns and bruises. The explosion was so sudden and unexpected that it was with great difficulty that they escaped with their lives.”  The cause of the explosion was not found at the time of the article.  

“A large crowd from Blythedale and surrounding country were attracted to the scene of the wreck, which was quite an expensive one to the railroad company.”

The engine, tender and the next car were not derailed during the accident but there were several small fires that had to be extinguished before they were pulled away to safety.  The engine pictured in the centennial box appears to be off the tracks, so I don’t think this accident is depicted there.

Bit of History -- March 11, 2026

An inspection of the City Park by the Park Board in 1937 resulted in a decision to plant between 40 and 50 new elm trees.  Many had died as a result of the dry conditions of the previous two years.  Most of the remaining trees in the park were not expected to live more than a few years “because of wide breaks in the cambium layer and these trees may be removed before the planting of new trees is done. “

The new trees were to be replaced by “Beefsteak” Goodwin when the weather was favorable.  Before he could replace them, he first had to find the saplings himself.  “Plenty of good sized elms can be obtained within a short distance of town and these will be transplanted at the park.”

The members of the park board in 1937 were T. MeHugh, John Adam,  Chris Bush, Max Fancher and Smith Clark.  (Ridgeway Journal, March 18, 1937). 

Bit of History -- March 4, 2026

The Ridgeway Journal’s big story from this week in 1939 was a huge snow storm and high winds, causing drifts several feet deep in some places. The wind blew away the snow in some places, causing bare spots on Main Street in front of the Journal Office, but there were drifts 3 and 4 feet deep in front of the Ragan undertaking parlors.   Ridgeway residents and business owners spent Tuesday digging themselves out.  “The weather was comparatively mild after the storm passed, the thermometer registering 34 degrees at 6 a,m. Tuesday and bright sunshine began the task of melting the drifts before the noon hour.”

The snow disrupted the train service and caused mail delivery to halt, “though an effort was made to do so on foot, which complies with government regulations. If roads are impassable, carriers make the effort to navigate them and then return to the post office and report ‘nothing doing.’”

Despite the necessity of having to clear away the snow and wait a couple of days for the mail and train services, Ridgeway was glad for the snow:  “Moisture is badly needed in north Missouri and this storm will help to relieve the situation as the water should all go into the ground as the snow melts.”  (Ridgeway Journal, March 3, 1939)

CLOSING: Don’t forget to “spring ahead” Saturday night and set your clocks ahead an hour for Daylight Savings Time!  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! Wave to your neighbors!

Bit of History -- February 25, 2026

Many people may remember the old Branding Iron restaurant in Ridgeway which opened for business in 1987. It was located just north of the new Centennial Park, where City Hall now sits. The restaurant was the result of an initiative by the Ridgeway Improvement Corporation, started by a group of Ridgeway businessmen twenty years earlier. This group had been responsible for building 26 new homes in Ridgeway during that time and assisted with other projects such as a baseball field and improvements to the water tower. They saw opening a restaurant in town as an extension of their mission. Francis Shepard, president of the group was quoted as saying: “Anything good for the town we will do.

The former Middleton Sundries building was donated by Max and Jane Fordyce to the corporation. They then leased the building to Dave and Kathy Madden who operated another restaurant at the Lamoni sale barn. They renovated the building with funding from the Ridgeway Improvement Corp. and opened for business a short time later.

The Branding Iron served Ridgeway as a community gathering place for 5 and a half years. They saw many family get-togethers, class reunions and community meetings during that time. In March 1993, however, the Maddens closed the restaurant here and reopened in Trenton. Although others expressed interest in opening another eatery at that location, at that time, it was unsure if or when that would happen. (Bethany Republican-Clipper articles dated, May 20, 1987 and Mar 24, 1993).

Bit of History --- February 18, 2026

From the Ridgeway Journal dated February 17, 1910:

On Saturday, March 5, a special train was expected to arrive in Ridgeway at 11 am. This train, sponsored by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, featured speakers and exhibits to provide education on “dairying”. The train included “an Arms Palace Car, containing some of the most improved dairy bred animals to be used at each stop to demonstrate the essential points to be observed in selecting and breeding great economical and profitable milch and butter producing cow” and a baggage car that had “ miniature silos, cow testing machines, dairy literature and other necessary equipment for demonstration.”

On hand to talk about dairy farming were men from the Department of Agriculture, the Iowa State Dairymen Association and other experts in the field. These men are recognized as authorities on subjects pertaining to dairy farming, who will lecture on the subject of breeding and caring for the dairy herd and making the farms more productive and profitable. All of this was free to the local farmers and they were strongly encouraged to take advantage of this educational opportunity to learn more to improve their herds, milk production and their farms. They were encouraged to bring their families as well: “Bring your wives, sons and daughters along. They need the training as well as you, for they are to be the farmers and farmers’ wives of the future.”

The train was due to leave Ridgeway at 12:00 when it would “depart for Blythedale and other northern points.”