Old Settlers Days-Whitley County

09/29/2026

Thank you from our 2026 OSD President, Jim Argerbright -

Old Settlers Days 2026 is in the final wrap up and I would like to extend my gratitude to those who were part of the success of our hometown festival. Being part of Old Settlers has been an honor especially to serve as the 122nd President. We had a safe festival and despite having to cancel one night because of weather this was a very successful year. We had great food, good turn out for the events and the nightly entertainment was outstanding.

I believe Old Settlers Days is one of the oldest festivals as it was officially organized in 1904 and we are proud that the tradition continues. Part of that tradition is the Old Settlers Day registration held at the Whitley County Historical Museum. Since 1904 Whitley County residents and visitors would gather on Old Settlers Day to register they were present on that day. The record books hold names of those who took time to show they are a part of our community on that day. Of those who register we recognize the Oldest resident, the Longest Continuous resident and the Youngest resident.

This year the award went to Matthew Henney for the Oldest and Longest Continuous Resident. Matthew was 100 years old and has lived in Whitley County his entire life. His great granddaughter Lainey Hinen, at age 3, was awarded the Youngest resident. Lainey practiced writing her name all week so she could sign the register. Mr. Henney was the recipient of our recognitions for the last few years. He just recently passed and it was a great privilege to present him with this award.

Old Settlers is not just about the rides, food and the entertainment. It is also about letting our town be the centerpiece of our community. We would like to thank all that were involved in making our event successful and safe.

Mayor Daniel
Every city employee who kept us safe and running behind the scenes
Electric department
Street department
Water department
Fire department
Park department
Columbia City Police Department
The downtown businesses
The Shrine grounds
Poor Jacks Amusements and crew
Blue River Digital
The Whitley County Historical Museum
Charlotte Hurd Blair and the registration team
John Roy
Dan Baker
Shrine Antique Power Club
Vanessa Bills
Mike Christie
Community Foundation of Whitley County
Wh**ey County Commissioners
Whitley County Emergency Management Agency-Edward Scott
The American Legion Post # 98 and crew who brought another great parade.
Past Red Coats
Honorary Red Coats
Treasurer, Dick Buchanan
Secretary and Historian, Linda Hyndman

Thank you to all you who visited and those who participated in our festival events.
Special thanks to our sponsors and event sponsors who we are thankful for their gracious support and participation.

As I am finishing my term as President, I have said many times, this is a fun group to work with. When you are asked to serve as a Red Coat it is for a full 4 year commitment. The first two years you are learning the procedures and filling your responsibilities. Then as President you are overseeing what needs to be done and you serve the last year consulting the team to follow. And the officers meet all year long, starting the planning for the next year, immediately following the close of the current year.

I want to extend a special thanks to Kim Wheeler, our 2025 President, who was an immense supporter and mentor. Old Settlers Days will be confidently steered by a great group of young men who will serve as your upcoming Presidents, Brent Bockelman, 2027 President, Greg Hockemeyer, 2028 President and Brian Bills, 2029 President. We will announce the 2030 President this coming June.

Again my deepest thanks to all who showed support over the years for not only me but for the tradition that proudly continues. I am humbled beyond words that I wear the Red Coat I was honored to be chosen to wear. We look forward to seeing you next year!

Sincerely,
Jim Argerbright
2026 Old Settlers Days President

09/17/2026

Our thank you to Mike Christie.

We use the word “tradition” frequently when referring to Old Settlers Days events and history. After all, Old Settlers dates back to 1904 when a group of Whitley County residents gathered to record their names as being present that particular day. They gathered the next year for the same and continued to so until it became an annual event that still is honored today.

Old Settlers Day continued to grow to include entertainment, food, games and carnival rides. To promote the annual event postcards were designed so residents could mail them to family and friends as an invitation to come to Columbia City to enjoy the hometown festival.

The earliest postcard on file at our wonderful Whitley County Historical Museum is dated 1912 and was drawn by Rob McNagny. Several artist, Tom Heinley and Marilyn Kimble, followed Mr. McNagny. Their postcards were usually using the similar style of landscapes or people enjoying the fair. Over time the cards began to highlight the current Old Settlers Day President in caricature form. The cards would also reflect the President’s personal life and interests.

We want to focus today on our most recent artist, Mike Christie. Mike has been the Old Settlers day artist since 2000 with his first drawing for then President, Jim Fleck. Mike said being the artist for the postcards was something he always thought he would like to do. His unbelievable talent has captured the remarkable likeness of all the Presidents who have been fortunate to have their card drawn by Mike. He shared preparing the cards did make him a bit nervous in hopes his drawing would be approved by the President being portrayed.

Speaking for myself, when inducted as a Red Coat (upcoming OSD President) and knowing the history of the postcards, I was excited to think about the possibility of what my future postcard would look like. This is something that I think most of the Presidents felt was a huge part of the honor as serving Old Settlers Days.

However, tales have been told that there may have been some orneriness between the artist and the subject. Some cards may have been especially designed but not made available for the public and presented only to the subject. We enjoy the story of their camaraderie.

For many years Mike was a Detective for the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department and most recently as Investigator for the Whitley County Prosecutor’s office. He has recently retired and is enjoying a new chapter in life. And with new adventures on the horizon, he has let us know that his last postcard subject will be our 2026 President, Jim Argerbright. He said both Jim’s are dear friends so having them bookend his career as the postcard artist seemed fitting. Mike said now that he is retired there are other creative areas he wants to pursue.

Although we wish him well on his future endeavors we will miss his wonderful creativity, care and attention to detail he included in his artwork. We cannot thank him enough for his time and talent devoted to Old Settlers for the past 26 years.

Also, with this being said, please follow us for updates as we begin the process of searching for our next artist so we can continue this 100 plus year old tradition. We will all agree this will be a a tough task to find someone of Mike Christie’s caliber!

Thank you Mike and best wishes from all your friends at Old Settlers!

09/03/2026

Old Settlers Days is full of traditions and one most recently added was the President’s Parade Award. The current OSD President has the honor of selecting their favorite entry from the American Legion Post # 98 Parade.

This is only the second year for this award as it was introduced last year when our 2025 President, Kim Wheeler, selected the Lawrence E. Wolfe Community Handbell Choir. This year our 2026 President, Jim Argerbright, chose Sugar Creek Fellowship Church.

We thank the American Legion Post #98 for another great continuing tradition of organizing and conducting a wonderful parade, to all those who prepared and participated with the parade entries and special thanks to the Sugar Creek Fellowship Church for their many hours (48 hours we were told) in constructing their outstanding float.

Pictured is Roger Lundblad from Sugar Creek Fellowship Church accepting their prize money and certificate from Jim Argerbright, 2026 OSD President and pictures of their parade entry.

09/03/2026

Each year the Old Settlers Day Association donates a large portion of our annual proceeds to local not for profit groups. We estimate that over the many decades we have reinvested well
over $1,000,000 back into the community. This year over a total of $10,000 was recently
donated to the following local organizations.

Pictured are Old Settlers Day Association officers and representatives from local not for profit grant recipients for 2026.

Front row-Jim Argerbright, 2026 OSD President, Cindy Baker, T.R.O.Y School, Samara Pfeiffer, Warriors, Inc., Vanessa Bills, Night to Shine and Kim Wheeler, OSD 2025 President.

Second row-Greg Hockemeyer, OSD 1st Vice President, Hank Workman, The Forklift of the
Warehouse Church, Lauren Shinneman, Whitley County Family YMCA, Christy Pfeiffer,
Warriors, Inc., Danielle Arnold, Warriors, Inc., Jenny Antanovich, Warriors,Inc., Payton Rhodes
Yarian, Junior Achievement serving Whitley County and April Clear, Boomerang Backpacks.

Third row-Brian Bills, OSD 2nd Vice President, Jeff Wike, The Center for Whitley County Youth,
Aaron Mathieu, Whitley County Historical Museum, Brent Bockelman, 2027 OSD President and Dick Buchanan, OSD Treasurer.

We appreciate the hard work and dedication from each of these worthy organizations and the impact they have made in our community. Old Settlers Day will accept grant requests next year from June 1, 2027 to August 1, 2027.

08/25/2026

It is with sadness we share the passing of Matthew Henney. Matthew celebrated his 100th birthday in January 2026. Born and living in Whitley County all his life he was well known in the community. He was recognized as Old Settlers Days Oldest Resident and Longest Continuous Resident for several years. He was awarded Longest Continuous Resident from 2023 to 2026 and was Oldest Resident in 2023 and 2026. This year’s recognition was extra special as his great granddaughter Lainey Hinen (age 3) was the Youngest Settler registered on Old Settlers Day.
Matthew was known to be a hard worker and enjoyed spending time outside. As a side note, he registered the first time as a young 97 years old in 2023 and when his family brought him to register he let them know they interrupted his w**d trimming.
Mathew’s sweet smile and humble character will be missed. Please join us as we extend our sympathies to Matthew’s family and friends.

View William Matthew Henney, Sr's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

07/30/2026

Join us August 8th 10AM-noon for free petting farm at Morsches Park near the Pavilion area. Available this year $5.00 pony rides. Questions call the park office 248-5180.

07/29/2026

We are saddened to share the passing of Toban “Toby” or as he preferred “Tob” Chapman. Tob has been part of our community all of his life and served as our Old Settlers Days President in 2012. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

View Toban James Chapman's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

07/18/2026

We would like to extend a big thank you to John Roy for helping Old Settlers Days this year. Our 2027 President, Brent Bockelman, has recently been our entertainment coordinator. However, this year as Vice President and next as President will be busy times for Brent.

Fortunately John stepped in to oversee the nightly entertainment. This involved working with each band to meet their specific needs. John also would arrive early to help with set up, provide beverages and food for the bands and then stay long after most of us had left to help with tear down.

John and his wife Karla also generously hosted lunch for the annual Mizpah Shrine Power Club Antique Tractor Drive held the Saturday before the kick off of Old Settlers Days.

We hear John is already working to schedule bands for 2027. Thank you John for going above and beyond as an outstanding part of our Old Settlers Days festival. We look forward to working with you next year!

07/12/2026

We want to thank the staff at Whitley County Historical for displaying our oldest, longest continuous and youngest resident plaques. They not only host our annual Old Settlers Day registration and they also bring items out from storage reflecting our 122 years of history.

At one time, many years ago, Old Settlers awarded the winners with a “loving cup”. Over the years some of these have been donated to the Historical Society for safekeeping and because of two families donating their Loving Cups, we recently rediscovered the story behind dual presentation to two residents for the Longest Continuous resident in 1936.

Both recipients arrived by covered wagon in September 1849 and both lived in Whitley County for 87 years! The recipients were Margaret Cassell and Alonzo Lancaster.

Margaret, from Etna Township, was 2 years old when her parents arrived in Whitley County. She was 88 years old when she received her Loving Cup.

The Lancaster family was on their way to California to be part of the Gold Rush and decided to settle in Richland township. They
discontinued their journey because of the hardship of the trip on their 8 month old baby, Alonzo. He was 87 years old when he received his Loving Cup.

The original Loving Cup was presented to Margaret and a duplicate was obtained, engraved and sent to Alonzo. This is most likely the only time that two residents were recognized at the same time for living in Whitley County continuously.

Thank you to the families who donated these to the Whitley County Historical Museum. They helped preserve a precious moment of our history we may not have discovered.

Thank you to the Whitley County Historical Society for their wonderful safekeeping of our records including the Post & Mail newspaper clippings that detailed this story.