2015 Area Fall Festivals LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.COM September 15, 2015
Page 63
Abraham Lincoln National Railsplitting Festival
a tradition of honor and families
The Abraham Lincoln National
Railsplitting Festival, now in its 45th year,
began in 1971 after Tourism chairmen
Daris Knauer and LeRoy Buchheit,
decided to start an event connected
to Abraham Lincoln’s time in the county
and also bring tourism to Lincoln.
Buchheit, who now lives in Texas
returned for this year’s festival said, “All
the activity has been a gift to Lincoln.
It brings people into town and helps us
remember our history. “
Buchheit and Knauer explained that
the first year they had a pageant, they
started setting up at two in the morning.
They noted that in the early days of the
festival, the grandstand used to be full.
In fact, W.G. Colburn, then president
of the Logan County Fair, stated that
is was the fullest he had ever seen the
fairgrounds.
Other favorite memories they shared
are the time that radio personality
Paul Harvey mentioned the festival on
his show, and the time that President
Gerald Ford split a rail while on a brief
stop in Lincoln.
The Rankin family has also been part
of the festival since its beginning.
Heidi (Rankin) Mueller, who won the
women’s Log splitting contest, has
been competing for almost 25 years.
Her sister, Jennifer recalls coming to the
festival most of her life and has also
competed in
contests over the
years.
This year, the rail
splitting sisters
father, Bob Rankin,
is chairman of the
festival committee
and presented
awards to contest
winners. He stated
that those who
compete in the
Cross-cut Saw
competition use
the traditional
pattern saw,
and not the high speed saw many of
today’s competitions use.
The rail splitting sisters grandmother,
Gwen Tibbs, is the treasurer of the
committee, and was in charge of
selling festival T-shirts this year. The
Tomahawk Throw contest, which has
been part of the festival for many years,
is named after Tibb’s late husband
Dean Tibbs, who used to make
tomahawks with son Bob.
For the Rankin family and others, the
Railsplitter Festival has been a fun-filled
way to remember Abraham Lincoln’s
heritage.
Story by Angela Reiners
Heidi (Rankin) Mueller
