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Hartsburg Founders Day a fun way
to celebrate the village’s 155 years
[June 24, 2026]
Saturday, June 20, the village
of Hartsburg celebrated Founders Day with several fun filled
activities.
This year’s event was extra special because it marks 155 years since
the village was surveyed by county surveyor Thomas Gardner.
Hartsburg is named after David Harts, who owned the plot being
surveyed.
Hartsburg Mayor Darien Ritterbush said he was excited for the night
and glad to see a great turnout. For Ritterbush, the event was
sentimental because his father was the village’s mayor for its 100th
anniversary. He loved seeing community pride and spirit.
Ritterbush said the village board worked so hard and great things
were coming. The village received some grant funding and will be
able to do a park addition plus enhancements to the Hartsburg
Village Hall.
A kiddie tractor pull kicked off the evening’s activities. There
were three weight classes: lightweight for kids up to 45 pounds,
middleweight for kids between 46 and 65 pounds and heavyweight for
kids between 66 and 100 pounds.
The two kids who competed in the lightweight class worked hard to
pedal the tractor and the winner pulled the sled 38.6 feet. In the
middleweight class, two kids did a full pull then had to do a pull
off. Since they both did a full pull the second time, they each had
to do one more pull. This time, one of the kids made it 33.11 feet.
In the heavyweight class, with more weight in the sled, the longest
pull was 36.8 feet.
Each of the twelve who entered the
tractor pull received a participation ribbon and the top three in
each category were awarded trophies. Mia Conrady won first place in
the lightweight class, Kam Tuttle won first place in the
middleweight class and Wyatt Charron won first place in the
heavyweight class. All participants posed for a photo after the
event was over.
The pork chops and hotdogs being
grilled by the Hartsburg Fire Department drew in many. The donation
only dinner included macaroni salad, chips, dessert and a drink.
Just outside the fire house, raffle tickets were available for one
dollar each or six for five dollars. Raffle prizes included two St.
Louis Cardinals’ tickets, an autographed Chicago Bears football, an
autographed White Sox baseball, a 32-inch television, a summer beach
basket and an Igloo cooler.
Other activities included a ring
toss game, dime toss game and bags. A face painter who could do a
variety of designs and Aaron Davis of Davis party balloons were both
very popular with the kids.
Several members of the Hartem girls’ volleyball team braved the dunk
tank and many lined up to throw a ball at the target. With the warm
weather, it was undoubtedly nice and cool when they went down into
the water.
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On one side of the street, St.
Peter’s Lutheran Church offered free prayers. Anyone who wanted
prayers could write requests on a piece of fabric and hang it on
their banner.
Educator Nicole Folkman had a table set up with free books. Over
the past several years, Folkman has given away over 10,000
books.
By the bandstand, Hartsburg
Founders Day committee members were selling popcorn, bottled water
and 155th anniversary shirts.
Stereo Typical provided the
evening’s musical entertainment with their blend of rock, pop and
dance tunes. Their upbeat music had a few people dancing.
Before the band played, Lesleigh
Bennett sang the National Anthem as everybody faced the flags. Event
co-chairs Cindy Gleason and Mary Conrady thanked all the committee
members who helped plan Founders Day.
Mayor Ritterbush then thanked all who came to celebrate 155 years of
great town plus all the volunteers, sponsors and fire department who
helped make the event possible. He was also thankful to the Logan
County Tourism Bureau for grant funding to help support Founders
Day.
Around 7:15, the band took a short
intermission, and everyone could hear the music from an ice cream
truck driven Mayor Ritterbush. When the truck arrived, many lined up
to get a cup of vanilla or chocolate ice cream plus sprinkles.
As the evening continued, people enjoyed visiting, playing games and
listening to music. It was a good time for people to catch up with
those they rarely.
On the village’s special anniversary, it was a great evening of
food, fun and fellowship.
Hartsburg Founders Day photo slideshow
2026 Hartsburg Founders' Day
Kiddie Tractor Pull video
[Angela Reiners]
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