Some glimpses into life in a small, rural town on the front page of the Ridgeway Journal dated July 23, 1931:
The NW Missouri Fox Hunters Association was having trouble deciding on a date for their annual hunt. Traditionally, the hunt was held two weeks before the State Fair in Bethany and “the expense is always an item”. “The business men of this city, the fox hunters as well as the town have always helped, but others feel the task is too great to undertake under present conditions.”
The oat crop was expected to be a good one that year. Frank Harrison reported that he got better than 50 bushel to the acre on his twenty acres of oats. Dean Leazenby reported the loss of a 200 lb hog as the result of “rifle shot, presumably by some of the small boys about town.” The Ridgeway ball team played New Hampton’s team in an eleven inning game, but lost the battle. They were a newly organized team and practiced on a diamond on the Dean Grinstead farm.
The public well located under the city bandstand was condemned again and the handle removed “for safety’s sake”. The well had just been cleaned and declared pure a few months earlier and “we are at a loss to know just why and how the water could become unfit in such a short time.”
The editors had a snarky comment regarding the weeds in town: “We are mightily afraid a big robbery is going to take place in Ridgeway before frost comes to mow down the many big weed patches on the vacant lots, streets and alleys. We will not mention all of them for it might give some bandit a tip as so where to hide.”
