Hundreds of people are expected to attend the Alfred, N.D., centennial celebration on Sunday.
"This is kind of the last hurrah of this small, tiny town," said Brenda Mayer, member of the Alfred American Legion Leno-Sclenker Post No. 295 Ladies Auxiliary.
Members of the Alfred American Legion and Ladies Auxiliary decided to plan one last event before the Legion closes, Mayer said. Only about four men and six women attend the meetings and some of them are 90 years old, she said.
The celebration begins at noon and includes catered food from the Ben's Wells Fargo Chuck Wagon and displays of old letters, pictures and other artifacts from early Alfred at the Community Hall.
The Church of God, the only remaining active church in Alfred, will be open to the public, said Shirley M. Nitschke, auxiliary member.
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One of the planned activities is a walking tour of Alfred throughout the day, she said. Alfred residents Sheila Metz and Marcy Nies will post signs on each city block listing the names of residents who had homes or businesses there.
A parade is scheduled at 2 p.m., followed by croquet, volleyball and other games for children. Fireworks will launch at dusk from an island on Alfred lake.
Also available Saturday is a book on the history of Alfred compiled by the Nitschkes. It will be on sale for $30 to cover printing costs.
The Nitschkes compiled the book in 1989 for a community and all-school reunion. The new book has more pictures and 197 family histories of past and present Alfred residents.
The book also has information about Richard Sykes, the founder of Alfred. He founded and named five towns in North Dakota: Sykeston, Bowdon, Edgeley, Chaseley and Alfred, which he named after a king of England, the book says. He owned 3,000 acres south of Alfred where he built a stone home in about 1900. The building is still standing and visitors are welcome to check it out, Nitschke said.
Through the years, Alfred had many businesses, including a grain elevator, the Powers Lumber Shed, a Farmer's Union Oil Co., the Donovan Store, the Klundt Co. and Jake Freedman's General Store.
Today, Alfred has no businesses. The population is 12 in the summer and 10 in the winter.
Nordvick is a reporter for the Jamestown (N.D.) Sun, a Forum Communications newspaper
