Fabius 100-year celebration June 18

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A 100-year celebration will be held for the Fabius Community House Saturday, June 18.

The celebration, to be held at the historic site at 5979 CR 316 north of Palmyra, will begin at 1 p.m. and include numerous activities to mark the occasion until 6 p.m.

There will be an ice cream social during the entire event which will also include special speakers at 2:30 p.m. and an old-time auction at 3:30 p.m.

Memorabilia will also be available for viewing during the event.

Auction items reminiscent of  100 years ago are being accepted. Persons wishing to contribute auction items should contact Curtis Robbins at  573-248-9280.

The original structure, built in 1921 and 1922, has been modified at various times, but fellowship and keeping the rural community strong in the Smileyville area between Taylor and Palmyra continues to be its focus.

The origin of the community house can be traced back to Oct. 8, 1921 when a majority of people attending a meeting at Harry Carson’s Store in Smileyville voiced their favor for building a community house.

The support for raising funding for the project was so strong that work began to erect the structure on Dec. 6, and in just a  few days, 24 teams of horses hauled gravel, cement, lumber and more to the site and a cellar was dug.

The original 50 feet by 32 feet structure was built by local volunteer labor with 40 to 50 farmers and their sons working day after day to finish it by the early part of the next year.

Thanks to donated materials and labor, as well as a large community sale and dinner which raised over $650 along with other donations, only one loan of $2,500 was needed from the Marion County Savings Bank to fund the building.

That debt was retired in 1937 when the annual Fabius Community sale provided the final funding needed  to go debt free.

Reports of the total cost of the building vary from $7,000 to $10,000, according to differing sources.  

The community house has always been overseen by an elected board of trustees starting with H.S. Gillespie, James F. Reber, Will Hoehne, O.W. Ping and Frank L. Keller.

The current board includes: Curtis Robbins, president; Mark Kroeger, vice president;   Tyler Stuhlman, secretary; Bill Goellner, treasurer; Steve Lehenbauer, member; and David Porter, member. 

The constitution of the community house stated the building was to be used, free of charge, for social and educational purposes, and it is currently available for rental for events.

The Fabius 4-H Club meets at the Community House on a monthly basis, and the club does its part to help with upkeep and even helped in building an outside pavilion for picnic tables.

Two Eagle Scout projects focused on improvements to the community house grounds including the installation of a fire-pit and a half basketball court.