CENTENNIAL PAGEANT - Historical Albion Michigan

Fifty-five years ago from July 1 to 7, 1935, Albion staged the most spectacular celebration and pageant in its history, as our community celebrated its centennial. There were numerous special events, displays, and programs, which drew thousands of persons from across Southern Michigan. Included in the events were: window displays, sports contests, airplane stunts over Victory Park, historical homes tour, parades, carnivals, sporting events, a "Parade of the Century," and a special centennial edition of the local newspaper.

Most prolific of the Centennial celebration was a spectacular historical pageant involving hundreds of Albion residents. Produced by the John B. Rogers Producing Company of Fostoria, Ohio, this massive endeavor consisted of fifteen episodes, culminating in an all-cast "Wheel of Life," with everyone singing "The Star Spangled Banner." Thousands of persons swarmed into Albion to view this entertainment spectacular which has seen no equal to this day.

This week we present a memorable photograph of the Wheel of Life, concluding the Albion Centennial Pageant. How many persons still living were in this? Do you remember?

In the pageant, pioneers were played by various local individuals. We list a few: Tenney Peabody played by Richard Wheeler; Wareham Warner played by Stuart Noakes; Jesse Crowell by Stanley Noakes; George Hannahs by M. A. Pahl; William H. Brockway by Fred Carnell; Mrs. Juliet Calhoun Blakeley by Mrs. Stanley Noakes; Augustus P. Gardner by Clyde Emery; James W. Sheldon by Harley Transue; Samuel Dickie by Ralph Clark; and Washington Gardner by R. G. Spencer.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
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