Sunday, October 13, 1974, Brunswick became Missouri's 59th Bicentennial Community. Mrs. Jessie Schuchmann, Community Betterment Chairperson, was responsible for bringing this honor to Brunswick through her early planning of possible projects and community involvement.

Mr. & Mrs. William R. Koch have served as Co-Chairpersons for Brunswick's Bicentennial Commission and it has been a busy and eventful two years for all the community.

The Commission applied for, and received, an ARBC grant of $2500, which has been matched by local funds. The grant will be used for the Improvement and Beautification of the Herring Memorial Park.

Our first project was the publication of a 300 page cookbook entitled, "200 Years of Cookin' in Brunswick, Mo., The Pecan Capital". We have sold over 1500 copies and they are still available. The cookbook committee was Mrs. Muriel Myers, Chairperson, Mrs. George Walker and Mrs. Raymond Reichert.

One of the nicest events was the Arts and Crafts Festival held on Labor Day Weekend last year under the direction of Mrs. Kenneth Richardson. We are having the second festival this Labor Day Weekend and it is hoped that this will become an annual affair.

Mrs. Joey Reichert and Miss Janie Joseph will direct a Patriotic Musical Program on July 3 at the Brunswick High School. There are around 50 people in the production.

Brunswick church bells will ring for 2 minutes at 1 p.m., July 4 to mark the 200th birthday anniversary of the United States of America.

The following pictures will show several events that have occurred during the Bicentennial celebration.

In the July 1, 1976 issue of The Brunswicker, Mr. and Mrs. Tyson Nichols announced that the building where the former Hill's Food Center was located and the O'Reilly building will be given to the people of the Brunswick area to be used as a museum. Two large double doors now connect these buildings, which have recently been remodeled, and redecorated.

Ever since 1919, when Tyson Nichols and his sister, Ilo Heeren, bought the Florence Hotel and remodeled it, he has been working to improve the business district of Brunswick. In 1928 Mr. Nichols bought the Brunswick Oil Company, expanding it from a small office and women's restroom to its present size. This business he sold to Raymond Reichert in 1965. During the 1940's Mr. and Mrs. Nichols bought the First National Bank building, redecorated the interior and put porcelain siding on the exterior. It now houses the Kansas City Power and Light Company.

A group of 64 businesses and individuals congratulated Mr. and Mrs. Nichols with a Brunswicker full-page ad in October 1947 on their building and remodeling projects. One line in the ad read, "It took courage and FAITH IN BRUNSWICK to forge steadily ahead." They had at that time finished remodeling the old opera house building, providing modern and attractive locations for two businesses. Finkle Drugs and Triangle Electric are now located there.

Mr. and Mrs. Nichols have continued to "have faith in Brunswick and to forge ahead." Since that time they have purchased and remodeled the following buildings: The Knight and Rucker Building, now occupied by Reichert's Department Store and Birch Furniture Store; buildings which now house Leo's Bike Shop, The Beauty Box, Lee Widhalm's MFA Insurance office, the garage east of Minks' Builders Supply, the building where Koch's Color Center was located before moving to the Uptown Store, and the building occupied by The Little Dutch Donut Shoppe. They tore down two old buildings and built the present Mattingly Building and the Pool Hall. An old hamburger stand was razed by the Nichols and replaced with a parking lot. A garment factory and small transformer factory were once located in what is now the IGA building, also built by Mr. and Mrs. Nichols.

Mr. Nichols believes that maintaining an attractive business district helps keep other business in town by bringing shoppers in from surrounding areas. In an interview in December, 1975, Mr. Nichols told the Brunswicker editor, "I don't want to be ashamed of anything I own." The staff of the history book committee says, "THANK YOU, MR. AND MRS. NICHOLS."

Brunswick, though proud of its past, looks forward to the future. Our fine public school; our churches, the rich farm lands, abundance of water, important railroad center, and navigable rivers are still assets on which we can depend. We have large grain elevators to store and ship grain, and a large alfalfa mill to process the alfalfa grown on the rich lands; we have a fertilizer plant that makes and transports millions of gallons of fertilizer; our community sale is one of the largest in the country, attracting people from a large area; the Midwest Glove Factory employs a few men and many women from the surrounding towns as well as Brunswick.

One of our greatest assets-our youth- are beginning to remain in our area; many are staying home to farm and be a part of the business community, of which we are justly proud. We are proud, too, that former citizens and people from other communities find Brunswick a pleasant place to live after retirement.

Everything from a spool of thread to the most sophisticated piece of farm machinery, costing $70,000, which can be bought in Brunswick. COME SEE!