The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 19

Glass Festival mapping plans Two stars of the Grand Old Opry and the world's only sky-diving clown have been booked for the fifth annual Greentown Glass Festival. Jack Greene and Jeannie Seety, both with top selling country hits, will per- from Friday, June 7, in the gym at High School. The clown, who calls himself Thunder Chicken, will make two jumps. The first is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on June 8, and the second at 5 p.m.

on the same day. The festival will begin with preliminary events on June 6 and will run until June 9. Tickets for the show by Greene and Miss Seely are available at $2.54 each for reserved seats and $2 each for gen- eral admission. Advance tickets may purchased by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope with check or money order to Glass Festival, Box H. Greentown, 46936, care of Tickets.

Tickets also may be purchased by writing Tickets, Box 2333, Kokomo, 46801. Thunder Chicken, whose real name is Dallas Wittengenfeld, has made more than 350 jumps in his career. He served with the Airborne Rangers in South Vietnam in 1969. During his second jump, he will dump 300 ping pong balls over the landing site. All the balls will be numbered, and 20 of those can be turned in by children for prizes.

The winning numbers will be announced at the event. An added attraction to the festival this year will be the "Cutie Queen and King Contest." Contestants must enter as a couple and must be of preschool age (4-6) and not have attended first grade. A parade and judging will be held Thursday, June at 7 p.m. The first place winner will be presented a Savings Bond and a trophy. First and second runners up also will receive trophies.

All contestants will receive a gift. Entry blanks and contest rules may be obtained from Howard Winey, 419 Greentown, or Marty Whitesell, 412 Holiday Greentown. Saturday, May 18, 1974 KCT Emmas to be voted Kokomo Civic Theatre will recognize its top performers of this past season at KCT's silver anniversary meeting and awards Members of record in attendance at the annual meeting banquet will vote in 12 categories for those who will receive Emmas, KCT's top awards for performers. Those nominated and the plays in which they appeared are: best actor in a leading role Curt Andrew, Butterflies Are Free; Les Willis, Bus Riley's Back in Town; Robert Larrick and Merreil Kenworthy, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton; and Jim Cook and Joe Scionti, You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running. Best actress in a leading role- Sandy Brown for her roles in Butterflies Are Free and Hands Across the Sea; Evelyn Ratdiff, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton; and Marge Scionti, You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Best actor in a leading role in a musical- Greg Enstrom, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; and Dick Stewart, Gypsy.

Best actress in a leading role in a musical- K.C. Earle, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; and Kelley Porter, Gypsy. Best actor in a major supporting role- Dick Stewart, Bus Riley's Back in Town; and Bill Hallerberg, You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running. Best actress, major support-Mary Jean Deegan, Butterflies Are Free; and Judy Cook, Bus Riley's Back in Town. Best actor, major support in a musical- Keith Andrews and Kim Miltenberger, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Best actress, major support in a musical- Michal Dawson and Beth North, Gypsy. Best actor, minor support- Ed Hubbard, Butterflies Are Free; John Ellers, Bus Riley's Back in Town; and Dorwin Starr, Hands Across the Sea. Best actress, minor support- Kathaleen Graham, Hands Across the Sea; Pat Williams, June Thacker and Kathryn Thompson in Queens of France; and Joan Mitschlen and Cathy Hubbard in You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running. Best actor, minor support in a musical- Doug Stewart, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; and Doug Conner, Gypsy. Best actress, minor support in a musical- Linda McKean, Mary Ann Ruch and Marilyn Thompson, all in Gypsy.

'Gas Buggy' revisited: Jeannie Seely and Jack Greene A Most' novel of Kokomo, Indiana (Editor's Note Ralph D. Gray, a professor of history at Indiana University- Purdue University, Indianapolis, did same extensive research and analysis of a book published in 1933 that apparently has an underlying historical theme based in Kokomo. The following article was first published in the Indiana Magazine of History. Both Gray and the edito of the magazine have granted The Tribune permission to republish the article. The article is being published in two first in today's KT Marquee, and the second in next Saturday's KT Marquee.) BY RALPH D.

GRAY In December, 1933, the New York publishing house of Napier Noycs issued a novel by Robert Paterson. The 337 page book, entitled Gas Buggy, at- tracted very little attention and was not widely reviewed. The only known reference contemporary to its publication appeared in the Literary Digest with the single comment: "An account of the origin of the automobile woven into a rather crude No mention was made of the fact that the characters in the novel were thinly disguised real persons or that the setting was Kokomo, Indiana. In reality, however, the book develops with great faithfulness the automobile manufacturing careers of Indiana's two great pioneers in this i Elwood Haynes and Elmer Apperson. Yet it appears that no one in Kokomo learned of the novel's existence at the time of its publication or became aware of its close depiction of the men and events upon which the city today bases many of its claims to distinction.

(2) On the surface Gas Saggy purports to be a purely fanciful account about the early days of the automobile its invention and its manufacture set in the mythical midwestern town of Richford, Indiana. The author attempts to give romantic and dramatic appeal to the story through a full airing of (he domestic problems faced by one of the Hlchford automobile manufacturers. The industrialist's marriage to a young girl from a working class family Is complicated by the incessant demands of the girl's relatives for jobs, favors, and social advantages. This eventually leads to a divorce and the complete disruption of communications between the young woman and her importunate re- (Ccnlmucd on Page 7) Ralph D. Gray Is professor of history at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indl- anapolls.

He is the author of The National Waterway: A history of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, 1769-1965 (Urbana, 1967); Stelllte: A History of the Haynes Stelllte Company, 1912-1972 (Kokomo, ISM); anil a forthcoming biography of Elwood Haynes, (1) Literary Digest (CXV1 (December 30, 1933), 31. Gas Buggy was Included in a listing of books "worth reading." There is no mention of Gas Buggy, however, In the Book Review Digest or the New York Times Index for 1933 or 1934. (2)'Kokomo is known as the adopted home of Elwood Haynes and the place where Haynes, with the help of Elmer Apperson, designed and built one of the first automobiles In America. This was done In 1803-1894, with the Haynes "Pioneer" making Its first run on July 4, 1894. Subsequently, in 18SS, Haynes and Apperson formed a partnership to manufacture Haynes-Apperson automobiles.

This Joint venture lasted only until 1901, but for nearly a quarter of a century after that date Haynes and Apperson cars were manufactured separately In Kokomo. For a brief chronology of the main events In Haynes' life sec W. Spencer Huffman, Eos Petty nicbardson, and Mary Cedars, Elwood Haynes, 1857-1925 (Kokomo, n.d.). This booklet was published by the Howrd County Historical Society, probably in 196S when Kokomo celebrated Its centennial. See also the sketch in National Cyclope- 'dia of American Biography (New York, 1906), XIII, 391-92, and the more extended account in Jacob Platt Dunn, Indiana and Indlanans: A History of Aboriginal and Territorial Indiana and the Century of Statehood (5 Chicago, 1919), III, 1215-19.

There is a recent brief summary of Haynes' life and significance In (Ralph D. Gray), "Elwood Haynes," Indiana History Bulletin, XLVII (November, 1970), 134-35. The latest and fullest account of the Apperson Brothers Automobile Company ts by W. Spencer Huffman, "The Apperson Brothers and Their Automobiles," Indiana History Bulletin, XL! (January, 1964), 195-202. Industrial activity connected with the automobile greatly augmented Kokomo's Importance as a manufacturing center, an Importance which has continued despite the demise of the automobile companies.

The official motto of Kokomo, "City of Firsts," Is based not only upon the automobile but also upon such things as Innovations in the pack- aging of canned goods, the construction of lifeboats, the Introduction of new alloys (also an Elwood Haynes legacy), and breakthroughs In the production of car radios, See the clipping file on Kokomo history In the Kokomo Public Library; see also Edith Roberts, "The Town with the Funny Name," Coronet, XV (May, 1941), 96-100, and Jcssyea Russell, "Kokomo: The Town That Is True to Itself," Magazine Digest, XXXIII (July, 1946), 119-21. There Is no copy of Gas Buggy In the Kokomo Public Library, nor had any of several people knowledgeable In local history any recollection of the novel when Inquiries were made recently. The persons consulted Included C. (Clarence) V. Ha worth, the well known nonagenarian educator and historian of Howard County; Dow Richardson, editor of the Kokomo Tribune; and the staff of the Kokomo Public Library.

A copy of the book was first located at the Detroit Public LI. brary, and a photocopy of It Is now In the collection of the library at Indiana University, Kokomo. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Chancellor Victor Af Bogle and Librarian Richard Ardrey of Irldlana University, Kokomo, in obtaining the copy of the book used In preparing this.