Re: Wesley Pottorff
-
In reply to:
Wesley Pottorff
judith MIX 1/16/03
Article from the Hartsville, Bartholomew Co. IN Paper
UNCLE WESLEY REACHED MARK
Hartsville Man Was 100 Years Old today and Town Celebrated
PLAN TO GIVE DINNER AND PROGRAM IN THE OPEN HAD TO BE CHANGED- CAKE WITH HUNDRED CANDLES PRESENTED
Rain interfered to a considerable extent with the celebration of the one hundredth birthday of Wesley Pottorff, at Hartsville, today. However, Uncle Wesley viewed the matter in the light of a philosopher and declared that the rain was needed. His potatoes have been looking rather peaked and the rain will help thepatch considerably.
Mr. Potttorff was one of the first men up in Hartsville this morning. Because of his deafness, he did not hear the patter of the rain drops on the roof, but when he dressed and peeped out he sighed because rain was falling. He realized that the extensive plans made in his honor were going awry, but, as has been said, he also realized that the rain was badly needed, and he would be one hundred years old just the same, rain or no rain.
The downpour caused the people of Hartsville to change their plans for the celebration, as the morning wore on and their was no sign of clearing skies. They had planned to hold the celebration in the public square, have a big basket dinner there at noon, and then listen to speeches during the afternoon. But this program had to be rearranged. There was nothing doing this morning aside from the arrival of many people who had gone to the town to see a hundred year old man and shake him by the hand. It was a sort of reunion day for Hartsville as many former residents of the town went back and while there they renewed old friendships and had a happy time of it, even if they had to do their greetings under umbrellas.
At noon a dinner was served in a vacant store room in Hartsville. Dinners that had been brought by visitors were spread on a long table, and in addition to these "visiting dinners" the good people of Hartsville turned out with so many good things to eat that it would have taken another hundred years to digest all of them had Uncle Wesley tacked the whole meal by himself.
Following the dinner, the crowd went to the Christian church, where as many got in as possible and those who could not even find standing room stood outside the open windows and listened to speeches from various people who had been asked to talk during the afternoon.
The people of Hartsville presented Uncle Wesley with a handsome cane, and he was mighty glad to get it. But one thing that took his eye, perhaps, more than anything else, was a birthday cake brought over from Shelbyville by Mrs. Fannie Vaught, a relative. On this cake were one hundred candles, one for each year of his life. Another handsome birthday cake was taken from this city by Mrs. Lillie Sharp. It did not contain any candles, but bore the words, "Birthday Greeting'" and under the greeting were the dates.
The attendance of the celebration was materially increased this afternoon. Uncle Wesley was the center of attraction. He had announced that he intended to shake hands with every visitor, and he did his best to make his promise good. During the greater part of the morning, he remained at home, but he went down town to the big dinner and he did not miss any of the program in the church this afternoon. It was a great pity that his hearing was so poor he could not hear all the nice things the speakers said about him.