Winside celebrates its heritage, welcomes back former graduates with Old Settlers Days

WINSIDE, Neb. – Scores of Winside natives returned home to celebrate Old Settlers Days over the weekend.

Showing off the town’s history and welcoming back Winside graduates, Old Settlers was first held in the northeast Nebraska town in 1915 after originally being held in Wayne.

Despite weekend temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, hundreds of people gathered in the small village of approximately 500 over the three-day event. Among the festivities were a parade, a street dance, a classic car and tractor show, and a Winside Museum open house showing off many of the community’s artifacts. The weekend also included an all-class reunion for Winside High School graduates.

The weekend festivities were organized by Winside P.R.I.D.E., which focuses on modernizing the town’s park and recreation areas, promoting industry in the town, and promoting education and service in the community.

According to Bill Burris of the Winside Museum, Winside was incorporated in 1890, defeating an already established town named Northside for the plat of land that became the current town. Dr. R.B. Crawford named the town “Winside”, touting that it would “win” over Northside, which it did.