This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the September 5, 2013 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            It has been an exciting and interesting time here in Salyersville as our 35^th annual Magoffin County Founders Days is in full swing!  It is hard to believe that by the time you read these comments the last events of the celebration will be over. The Rudd family and all their friends have made this a memorable occasion.  We have already begun collecting pictures of the happenings so we will get to enjoy reminiscing.  We want to take this opportunity to invite anyone who wishes to share their Founders Days pictures with us to do so.  We have made albums of all the past Founders Days and when we look back on our earlier years we always wish we had taken more pictures.  With the new digital technology of today it is a lot easier and less expensive to have a pictorial memory of events.

            We started off our Founders Day events with a most wonderful Opening Ceremony!  Two of our fine Magoffin County organizations, the Muzzleloaders and Chapter 15 DAV, helped us out by their presence and participation.  They add a great deal to any event in which they participate.  We asked Steve Rudd to preside over the ceremony and what a terrific job he did!  He has added much to our knowledge of our history and genealogy down through the years and we appreciate all that he does.   We are very grateful to his wife Katrina this year as she filled in for Diane Rudd who was to sing the National Anthem.  It seems Diane’s daughter has added a new member to the Rudd generation. Diane is now the proud grandmother of a fine new baby girl and couldn’t get back to Salyersville from the hospital in time for the program.  Congratulations to all the family!

            Dairel Minix started our program off with a fine invocation and set the tone for the rest of the evening.  Henry Joseph and his DAV members raised the flag as the Boy Scouts led us in the Pledge to the American Flag.  What a fine group of youngsters these are and we thank their leaders, Ralph Mullins and Haskell Sizemore for all their good work.  Next we were in for a wonderful treat as young Miss Erin Grace Rudd, daughter of Steve and Katrina sang God Bless America for us.  It was amazing to see the poise and talent displayed in one so young. 

            County Judge Executive Dr. Charles Hardin and City Mayor Dr. James “Pete” Shepherd were on hand to welcome everyone to our 35^th Founders Day event.  We thank them for their efforts to further the progress of our city and county.  We appreciate the time they so graciously spend to help promote and carry on the improvement of the area where we work and live.

            Last year we had the wonderful help of Herley Manns’ wife Margie and his children Lena Auxier Manns and Adam Manns who made a “Family Tree” for us.  We put it to use again this year and it was a resounding success.  Veronica Rudd Hall took charge of getting the materials ready and organizing this event featuring many young children who are descendants of our early settlers Archibald and Nancy (Woosley) Rudd.  Over 50 youngsters volunteered to participate in this activity which was enjoyed by everyone.  At the top of the tree were the names of their ancestors.  The rest of the tree was filled by the children with leaves with their own name inscribed.  It is our hope that our children will remember their participation in this event and that it will make them more aware and more knowledgeable of their ancestors who did so much for the growth and development of our county.  Our future is in the hands of our children and we believe knowing our history and heritage helps make better citizens of us all.

            Three of our grand marshals were on hand to unveil the Rudd name addition to our Founders Day marker.  We were very proud to have Barbara Rudd Daniels, Augustine Rudd Castle and E. J. Rudd to unveil and read the marker inscription to those in attendance.

            I invited all the little children in attendance to ring the courthouse bell to welcome in the 35^th Founders Days.  Jesse Rudd came over and helped lift the little ones up so they could do this.  We believe it will be a memorable event in their lives.

A picture taking time followed and then the group went to the stage area to enjoy a performance by the Signs of Worship, a youth group from the New Generation Church. 

            A very pleasant evening followed for all in the audience for the Baby Pageant.  We thank Jessica Howard, Lisa Preston, Abbie Conley, Carol Jean Howard and Theresa Dotson along with all their co-workers for their fine work.  Everyone enjoyed seeing the children dressed in their old fashioned costumes and performing for the people.  They all did a great job!  Thank you, parents, grandparents and friends and relatives for helping your children be a part of this event.

            On Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. we once again met in the stage area of the Pioneer Village where we were entertained by the Rhythm and Dance group, a very talented young group of people.  Lisa Swiger and Tonya Ward were the directors of this event and we also thank Randy Ward for all the work he put into making this part of our program such a success.  One of our goals for Founders Days is to give our young people a chance to show the world their talent and this year we were treated to some of the best!  We got a chance to see our youngsters from ages of a few weeks to a few years and we were impressed with all of them.  There is a great deal of talent in our county and we will look forward to seeing what the future may bring from these fine young people.

            We are looking forward to the rest of Founders Days at this writing.  On Thursday the Black Powder Express Bluegrass band will play for the audience.  Next will be the ever popular Miss Teen Pageant.  Following will be a full day’s events on Friday with the 4-H Pet Show, the Magoffin County School Events, some Cabin Porch Pickin’ and Singing, then comes the long awaited Miss Magoffin Pageant.

            Saturday and Sunday will be filled with many family oriented events from parades, a Hog Roast, more talent showcases, church services, a scrumptious dinner and a Gospel Sing.  We will try to give an account next week of these events.