Volume 26, Number 1

July 2001

Fountain Given by Round Table Club - April 13, 1930

VICTORY MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN

Sherman county has several unique and interesting monuments which represent the efforts of organizations and people to honor and preserve our historical heritage.  Among them are the “They Came To Stay” monument and the “Old Central” school bell 1908-1950 on the court house grounds; the Lincoln school bell 1889-1912 in front of USD #352 offices at 13th and Main; the Kidder Massacre monument in northeast Sherman County.  Located at the Goodland City Cemetery is the All Faith Chapel built in 1935, and the Soden memorial.  Also there are the individual Civil War monuments, a World War I monument, large VFW monument, and several trees honoring World War I veterans with a bronze marker placed at each one forming a border of the Veterans plot.  Some monuments are no longer in place, —–a six-ton English canon which was to be located at the northwest corner of the court house lawn, according to a May 17, 1934 Sherman County Herald article titled “V.F.W. Receives World War Canon”.  Still other memorials are now unknown; for example, who remembers that there is a George Washington Bicentennial Douglas fir tree at the northwest corner of the courthouse grounds, and that the group of evergreens at the southwest corner of the lawn represent a memorial tree for each of the first three district judges?

Another such unheralded monument in Goodland is the Memorial Fountain in Chambers Park.  This fountain was a gift of the Round Table Club, which was the oldest organization of its kind in Sherman County, established in 1900 with eleven charter members.

The Goodland News-Republic, of November 6, 1929 gives the inscription that was on the fountain:

VICTORY FOUNTAIN DEDICATED TO THE AMERICAN LEGION IN APPRECIATION OF THE SILENT ONES WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE, AND TO THE LIVING ONES WHO FOUGHT FOR GOD AND COUNTRY.  Presented to the City of Goodland by Round Table Club 1929.

This inscription is no longer on the monument, however evidence of its existence can be seen on one of the four pedestals which surround the lower bowl.

In this same issue of the Goodland News-Republic a description of the fountain as it originally appeared when new is given: “The fountain is a beautiful piece of work, and one of which the entire city can well be proud, and should make every effort to preserve.  The fountain is of cast stone, and is placed on a concrete base.  The lower bowl is 20 feet across, and at the four corners of the base is a pedestal on which is mounted a stone frog, from the mouth of which a stream of water still will shoot toward the center.  Above this is an upper bowl of smaller diameter, and on each side of the central shaft will be a lion’s head, from the open mouth of which a stream of water will pour out into the upper bowl.  The central shaft will rise thirteen feet from the base of the fountain, and will be surmounted by a beautiful stone eagle.”

The ladies of the Round Table Club started setting aside funds for some major community effort in 1920 and added to it little by little for many years.   When the city decided to landscape the city park, the ladies decided the time was opportune to form some definite plans for a memorial.  In April 1929 Mrs. Wheeler made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Fenno, that the club ask for the place in the center of the park and use the money in the reserve fund to get some fitting memorial to put there.   Mrs. Brinker moved, second by Mrs. Horton, that money in reserve be used for a memorial for the park.  Both motions carried.  In May 1929 Mrs. Auer made a motion seconded by Mrs. Brinker that the amount in the reserve fund be increased to $500, to be used for the memorial if that amount was needed.  That motion also passed.   A committee was formed for the purpose of establishing the memorial, whose members were Mrs. Clark J. (Artie) Shimeall, Mrs. Anthony (Effie) Shaw, Mrs. Charles (Nell) Fenno, and Mrs. Sanford (Anna) Adams.  After looking over a   number of memorials in various cities, the committee decided on the present fountain, which was obtained from a company in Omaha, Nebraska.

According to minutes of the club, members were assessed a fee of $8.00 each for the Memorial Fountain on January 1, 1930.  Ladies who paid this fee were: Mrs. Sophia Brinker, Mrs. Lena Newton, Mrs. Jeannette Auer, Mrs. Hazel Rouse, Mrs. Effie Shaw, Mrs. Myrtle Shaw, Mrs. Thurma Price, Mrs. Lillian Martin, Mrs. Jennie Coleman, Mrs. Hazel Reed, Mrs. Lou Bower, Mrs. Addie Bower, Mrs. Veva Ann Golden, Mrs. Mattie Warner, Mrs. May Simpson, Mrs. Nell Fenno, Mrs. Anna Adams, Mrs. Mary Fike, Mrs. Mary Euwer, Mrs. Orietta Wiley, Mrs. Ada Horn, Mrs. Ella Gulick, Mrs. Gertrude McArthur, and Mr. Leonard gave $8.00 for the Memorial Fountain in memory of Mrs. Kate Leonard, a long time member who had died in 1929.  At the May 7, 1930 meeting of the club Mrs. Martin reported that the Memorial Fountain debt was paid in full.

Plans were made to have the fountain dedicated on Armistice Day 1929, when the dedication, a free barbecue, football game and dance would be held.   Congressman Charles I. Sparks, of the sixth district of Kansas, was to deliver the address and present the memorial to the city.  Mayor George Kelley was to receive the monument for the city, and Prof. J.C. McArthur was to respond to the dedicatory address for the American Legion.  However, as with the best laid plans, Murphy’s law prevailed and Armistice day plans were spoiled by an early snow storm and the events planned for the park were held in the Grant school auditorium, with the barbecue called off entirely.  The bad weather also prevented the completion of the fountain, as the newspaper reported that the fountain would be “finished when weather conditions permit.”

The fountain has had its share of mischief through the years and even after its completion in the spring of 1930 people were warned that the fountain was not a swimming or wading pool, and children were not supposed to play in the water or throw rocks at the ornaments on the fountain.

June 11, 1983

In a July 1, 1973 photo of the fountain, the eagle at the top of the shaft is missing, and editor Tom Dreiling of the Goodland Daily News was asking “Can Fountain Be Functional Again?”, advocating use of some revenue-sharing money to put it back into operation.  On July 15, 1973 Mr. Dreiling wrote; “Vandals have managed to deface the fountain and make off with some parts of it over the years.   Around the outer rim of the pool, four frogs are to spurt streams of water from their mouths into the pool.  A spreading eagle atop the fountain was taken by vandals.”

When the Goodland Arts Council had an art festival in Chambers Park during June 1982, the city once again put the fountain into operation with streams of water coming from the mouths of the lions.  A newspaper photo shows the fountain, however the top portion of the central shaft is gone, and the four frogs are no longer there.  The fountain was also operating the following year when the second art festival was held at Chambers Park.