MINOT — Selectmen on Monday agreed to help out with the Minot Historical Society’s celebration of Mesannie Wilkins Day, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9.
That’s the anniversary of the day, within a day or two, when, 59 years ago, Mesannie “Jackass Annie” Wilkins left Minot on horseback, bound for Southern California and a dip in the Pacific Ocean.
According to society member Hester Gilpatric, the celebration will be marked by the arrival of Sea G. Rhydr, who some months ago set out on horseback from California to retrace Jackass Annie’s 1954 journey to its point of origin.
Gilpatric wanted to know whether the town would help out with traffic control for a horse-and-people parade that will run from an assembly point at Hemond’s Moto-X Park up Woodman Hill Road to Wilkins’ former farmstead at the top of Jackass Annie Road.
Gilpatric said she expected Rhydr would be accompanied on the last leg of her journey by 25 or 30 riders from the Long Rider’s Guild in upper New York State and some from Texas as well.
Selectman Dean Campbell said he was sure the Fire Department would be more than willing to help out with traffic control and also act as an escort.
Selectman Eda Tripp asked town administrator Arlan Saunders to see if he can come up with an official key to the town to be presented at the occasion.
Gilpatric said that after ceremonies at Jackass Annie’s farmstead, the parade will continue down to West Minot for a 4:30 p.m. bean supper at the West Minot Grange, where a documentary on Mesannie Wilkins will be shown and various townspeople will share their memories of Jackass Annie.
“Everybody is welcome to come,” Gilpatric said.
In other business, selectmen met with Code Enforcement Officer Ken Pratt to discuss a number of properties that are messy to point of qualifying as junkyards.
Pratt told selectmen that he is doing what he can to encourage cleanup.
“You pretty much have to go after the same ones about every six months,” Pratt said. “Most comply for a short time and then you have to do it all over again.”
Selectman Dan Callahan noted that full enforcement procedures are costly and time consuming, and wondered if the town’s ordinance had enough teeth.
“Conditions in Minot are better than most towns I work in,” Pratt said. “These are tough times for a lot of people; most make an effort.”
Selectman Steve French reminded Pratt how important it was that he keep the pressure on.
Saunders reported that work putting up the winter sand pile should be finished this week, despite having to replace the hydraulic motor on the stacker that took a day to complete.
“That’s the first thing gone wrong with it; it has served us well,” Saunders said.
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