Among all the celebrations honoring the 100th anniversary of Walt
Disney's birth, none have been remotely like the one held in Walt's
hometown, Marceline. After spending the first several years
of his life in Chicago, Walt's parents brought him -- and his four
siblings -- to this small Missouri town in 1906.
There, the family lived on a 45-acre farm on the outskirts of the
town. Many of Walt's traits seen in later life were likely
influenced by the years he spent there -- including a love of animals
and a dedication to the kind of group effort that was a hallmark
of American farming around the turn of the century.
Today Marceline has about 2,600 residents. But Walt's birthday
celebration drew something in the neighborhood of 40,000 to 50,000
visitors anxious to participate. Among those who attended were the
governor of Missouri and his family, as well as Walt's grandson
Brad; his nephew Ted and Ted's wife, Carolyn; and a number of
members of the Missouri legislature. Many of the honored guests
came into town on a train especially prepared for the event, called
the Disney Special.
Among the highlights of the event were an old-fashioned barn raising,
a fiddle jam, and a huge parade down Marceline's main street (which,
not surprisingly, bears a striking resemblance to Main Street in
Disneyland and Walt Disney World.) The parade alone attracted some
25,000 people. "The streets were just lined with people who
wanted to experience what Walt had when he was a child," says
Kay Malins, one of the celebration's organizers. "Disney fans
came from all over the world just to walk in the parade. It was
an old-fashioned walking parade, with high school marching bands
and people walking all the way down."
Marceline residents took advantage of Walt's birthday to mark the
official opening of the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, which is housed
in the historic Santa Fe Depot in downtown Marceline. The museum plans to feature photographs, papers, and artifacts from
Walt's years in Marceline, including the tool kit that Walt's father,
Elias, used to build houses and barns.
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