By BEN KLEINE

Staff writer

Residents of Lost Springs will host a Cinco De Mayo celebration May 15 to honor the town’s position along the Santa Fe Trail.

The festivities were originally planned for May 8 to closely coincide with the Mexican holiday, but a wedding expected to draw many Lost Springs residents forced organizer and Marion County Economic Development Director Teresa Huffman to move the celebration back a week.

Festivities are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. with a breakfast in front of Al’s Café.

“I just wanted them to have a community event since Al’s Café has been there for 30 years and they have a very nice Santa Fe Trail marker,” Huffman said.

Three performers will take the stage on Berry Street — cowboy poet Ron Wilson at 11 a.m., singer Jeff Davidson at noon, and a mariachi band at 1:30 p.m.

“Jeff Davidson is a very well known singer,” Huffman said. “He’s a draw.”

The Marion County Tourism bus will take visitors to the springs and original location of the town about two miles from the city. All day, Glenn Shields will guide people to the monument trail marker and talk about Lost Springs history.

“My family owns the land on the Santa Fe Trail,” Shields said. “My piece is just a small part of the event.”

The event will include craft booths, wagon rides, inflatables attractions for children, and a piñata for 4- and 5-year-olds. An art contest will include pieces by students of Megan Stuchlick’s Centre Elementary School class.

The event concludes at 4 p.m. with a performance by Cow Town Gun Fighters, who will perform an Old West play.

Les Kitchenmaster, who will provide the electricity for the event, and Tri-County Telephone are the main sponsors of the event, along with 19 area sponsors.