Carthage honors Maple Leaf Festival founder 60 years after it began

Sixty years after Robert S. Dale helped turn a fall celebration into one of Carthage's biggest traditions, his family will ride in Saturday's Maple Leaf Festival parade to honor the late community leader as its grand marshal.

The festival's first chairman is being honored posthumously this week.

His daughters, Sue Neely, Kathy Atwood and Julie Dale, are accepting the honor on his behalf.

Neely said her father would have been thrilled to see what the festival has become.

"Carthage was his first love," Neely said. "Anything to promote Carthage and the state of Missouri would be very important to him."

The festival traces its roots to 1966, when Dale, then editor and publisher of The Carthage Press, brought together a committee of community leaders to plan a celebration of Carthage's 125th anniversary.

The celebration was paired with the Four-State Invitational Band Festival, and the first festival in 1967 included a large parade, Marching Mizzou, dances, shows, contests, and other activities throughout the week.

Neely said her father deserves credit for helping get the tradition started, but she stressed that he did not do it alone.

"He had a great committee," Neely added.

What began as a local celebration has since grown into an event the Carthage Chamber of Commerce says attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year.

Dale remained connected to the festival for decades and attended the parade into the 1990s. Neely said he enjoyed seeing people return to Carthage for family reunions and other gatherings surrounding Maple Leaf Week.

"He would love to see the excitement around the city," she said.

The nearly two-mile Maple Leaf Parade begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at the historic Carthage Square and travels down Grand Avenue before ending at Carthage Junior High School.