Gilbert 125th anniversary

The Gilbert 125 Group disbanded at its meeting on August 30, 2004.

If you have questions, comments, or requests regarding the G125 celebration,
you can contact the Gazette.

If you want, scroll clear to the bottom of this page.
There is plenty of G125 information and links to more G125 material on other pages..

After the party
We have posted some images of the Gilbert 125 festivities held on July 30-31. The photographs are by Gazette editor, Helen D. Gunderson. She got several good ones of a variety of events but is sorry that she didn't get more.

The celebration was an awesome success, and Helen, who was a member of the G125 planning group from its first meeting on March 6, 2003, until it disbanded at a meeting on August 30, 2004, has posted a personal, unofficial letter of thanks.

If you want to submit photos, an essay, reflection, or letter about the celebration to include on this website, feel free to send the material to us. We don't guarantee how soon we will post the material, but it seems a good idea to let you tell us what the experience was like for you. Also, feel free to check out the designs for G125 souvenirs. We will sell them until we run out of supplies or interest, whichever comes first.

Parade marshal
Bessie Gildersleeve was the G125 parade marshal. Bessie is a 100-year-old woman who lives just north of town with her daughter Millie Rice. Bessie's daughter, Ruth Shickel, lives in Ames. The three are members of the Gilbert Evangelical Free Church. Bessie is the oldest living graduate of Gilbert high school. She and her parents moved from Illinois to the Gilbert area when she was three years old. She taught school then was married 72 years to the late John Gildersleeve. The well-known and affable farmer died in 1994.

	Bessie rode in a 1949 Buick Riviera Roadmaster owned and driven by her neighbor, Gene Upstill. He says the car is unique because, in 1949, Buick was the first company to come out with a hard top car, meaning that there was no door post. Also, 1949 was the year that Buick introduced portholes. Click on car photo for larger view.
Click here for photos of Bessie and an interview we did with her last February. Click here to find out about a button that we have created that shows Bessie and the car.

Reports of Meetings of the G125 planning group:
(Note: to read minutes meetings from October 16, 2003, to August 30, 2004, when the group disbanded, please contact the Gilbert city hall where G125 vice president Bob Jaquis says that records are to be archived.)

August 30, 2004 (NA)