CHESTERTON INDIANA
WIZARD OF OZ FESTIVAL 2001

The 20th Annual Celebration

SEPTEMBER 14-16th, 2001

The week of September 11, 2001 was possibly the worst week in American History. It affected every citizen in ways that in our wildest imagination we could not have believed was possible. At the time of the festival we were all in shock and disbelief that any human could have perpetrated such an inhumane act on so many innocent individuals.

Toward the last of that week many people began to feel rage at this madman and his cohorts who had the audacity to pass judgement on this Democracy and then execute nearly 6,000 of its citizens in a manner that puts the scariest horror story to shame. Demonic is not even a debased enough adjective to describe this evil excuse for these animals.

For anyone who was not at the festival this may seem like a sidelight of the 20th Oz celebration but it wasn't. It was the heart and soul of the weekend. When I arrived on Wednesday evening I was told that the Town Counsel had tried to cancel the Festival because every town was canceling all planned celebrations and all sporting events were also canceled. I could understand this conundrum but the more I thought about the situation the more I knew that this festival had to go on or the "madman" had proved his point. He, Osama bin Laden, bragged later that he would take our freedom away from us through our fear of him and his terrorists. NOT!

The town counsel at the urging of the Duneland Chamber of Commerce had already decided to go ahead with the festival but its focus was changed. Of course it was a celebration of Oz but more than that it became a celebration of who and what America is about. Out came the flags and the patriotic T-shirts and the open pride that everyone there felt about their beloved country. Everyone took his or her disbelief and despair they were feeling and began to come out of the first stages of what we felt for those who died. We began to translate those emotions into rage. It became "how dare you do this to us, how dare you do this to any one of us. We are American's was the cry still amongst the tears that fell from all our hearts and eyes. Then came the miracle that I was fortunate enough to witness. It was a quiet determination to turn this festival into something that none of us who were there will ever forget. As in the movie, Independence Day-----in mass the people of Chesterton and the surrounding communities said, "We will not go quietly into the night....". The people of Chesterton came out in force along with all its visitors and heralded from the rooftops that NO ONE was going to take neither our country nor our pride away from us as American Citizens. I have never been as proud of my fellow American's as I was of the smallest child to the adults who attended the festival.

The single purpose of this group of people who came together was to celebrate our love of this country, our solidarity of purpose and of course our love for Oz. I want to give my thanks and congratulations to all the people at the Chamber of Commerce, the Town Counsel, and everyone concerned who were able to shift gears so quickly and put together a cohesive reply to answer the need of all concerned. To all the many volunteers who hung in there and helped so much when their collective hearts were breaking, I thank you. You were incredible. We all give you our profound thanks for a job well done.

There was one part of this festival that was, outside of the obvious pain, a mar on this assemblage. The beloved "little people" were not able to attend. They were sorely missed. Due to the airline problem, there were no flights going anywhere. Those of us who could drive there were in attendance. The volunteers, who were the ambassadors to the celebrities that usually attend, carried their images on signs of the missing Munchkins who are normally there. They were in our Parade on board the Munchkin float and in the Grand Parade to the stage where John Fricke, our master of ceremonies, conducts the fun question and answer portion of the entertainment. We can't wait until next year when we can all be with them again and enjoy their special talents. The "little people" are most dearly loved and appreciated by all.

I am including some of the photos that were taken by my husband and Patti Linderman at the festival. I have tried to list them in a sequence that depicts the events that took place.

CLICK ON THE PHOTOGRAPH TO ENLARGE

Signing autographs with Brook May one of the Dorothy's of the festival.
Brooke won the Dorothy contest 2 years ago.

Two adorable Lullaby Leaguers at another autograph session at the Centier Bank at Chesterton.

Myself, Basha Puelo, (The Emerald City Lady), and Patti Linderman, my ambassador.


This first photo was actually taken on Friday Evening at the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso.
The child with me is Patti Linderman's child, Tricia "Dorothy" Linderman.


The Tinman of Chesterton, Dorothy, the Wizard, the Wicked Witch, a flying monkey, and Mary Ellen St. Aubin are shown coming down the Yellow Brick Road to the stage of the County Expo Center in Valparaiso.

On Friday morning I was in the K-mart store in Chesterton to pick up a few things and when coming back to the parking lot I saw a motorcycle parked with a license plate saying Oz. I had to find out what this was about so I approached the owner. Here are the photos that came out of that brief encounter that was most pleasant.

These guys are: Kevin Kraemer, State Trooper, Indiana; Joe Clarke, Deputy Sheriff with Johnson County in Indiana; Jerry Shepherd, retired Chief Deputy of Jennings County Sheriff Department; David Kipper, police office with North Vernon Police Department; Dave Gerth, Director of Rescue 20 Ambulance Service in North Vernon; Paul Fox, an EMT with Jennings County EMS services; Tom Earnhart, a Maintenance Engineer for a manufacturing company and a reserve Police Officer with the North Vernon Police Department. (Left to right in group pix is:
Paul Fox, Dave Kipper, Dave Gerth, Joe, Joe Clark, Joe Clark, me, Tom Earnhart,
And Kevin Kraemer. The jacket picture of Scarecrow is Tom Earnhart.

They come to Chesterton every year for the festival. There are pictures of Oz painted on their bikes. As you can see one of them has the Scarecrow painted on his leather jacket. They were so polite and nice to me that I have now become an E-mail pal with one of them who gives messages for me to them all. I am sure I will see them next year.

How nice it was to see Mary Ellen St. Auban. She also lives close enough to drive there. It was so nice to spend time with her. She is a lovely, gracious, and funny lady that I had a wonderful time with as we both signed autographs together.

Tom Jones and his wife Betty were the only Town Criers that were able to attend the event this year so there was not the usual contest. Next year, God willing, they will all be back again. Thanks Tom---you were great and I for one nominate you as the winner of the festival.

Nelson Hardway, my husband, is poised at the beginning of the Parade Saturday
morning saying, "Lights, Camera, Action."

Saturday morning we all assembled for the parade. Of course my husband had to go shopping with his personal grocery cart. If you look closely at the very top of the grocery cart, to the right of the tree trunk, you can see Nelson in the cart. It was so funny and wonderful at the same time. It would take a year's wages to afford to fill this basket and the Taj Mahal to have enough room to store it.

John Fricke leads the parade.






Barbara Pinks our Festival Chairman and Laurie Franke-Polz the Executive Director for the Duneland Chamber of Commerce.

Grocery Cart in Parade. I wish my grocery cart had wheels that don't
stick and actually turn when I need them to----



Patti Linderman is holding the Oz Trumpeter on the Munchkin float that is like our very own Karl Slover. Alice Nale is holding the sign of Jerry Maren the Lollipop Kid. Michelle Pocock who is usually the ambassador for Caren Marsh Doll is holding a sign that can't be seen from the camera angle but it is ………..

Friends---Patti Linderman is the ambassador to me each year, Jane Craddock who also lives in the state of West Virginia as I do, and Chris Lascody who is in charge of all the ambassadors for the celebraties.

Far left is Janet and Jim Dolph friends at the Chamber of Commerce.
Roger Baum, Charlene Baum, Mary Ellen St. Auban and Ozma.


Sonny and Basha Puelo from Cleveland, Ohio.