Eudora ? The topic of conversation at Eudora’s CPA Picnic has changed since the event began back in the early 1900s.

That’s when a group of ranchers and farmers formed the Cattleman’s Protective Assn. to help curb horse thievery in Douglas County, said Jerry Trober, CPA committee chairman.

The men would use the annual picnic in Eudora as a chance to swap notes about how many horses were missing and whom to keep an eye on.

You wouldn’t want to cross paths with these fellows, Trober said.

“People were scared of them,” he said. “They took the law into their own hands.”

These days, the CPA Picnic is more of a family event than a vigilante gathering. It lures 2,000 to 4,000 people to town the third weekend of July each year, Trober said.

Festivities are set to begin at 6 p.m. today with carnival rides, which will continue through Saturday night.

At 4 p.m. Friday, St. Paul United Church of Christ will open a booth at CPA Park, where festival-goers can purchase food to get ready for an evening complete with a children’s parade at 7 p.m. on Main Street, a community band concert at 7:30 p.m. and entertainment from two live bands beginning at 8 p.m.

Saturday’s activities will get under way early, with a 7:30 a.m. four-mile run and fitness walk that will begin at the Eudora High School track. A festival mainstay, the grand parade, will begin at 7 p.m. at 15th and Elm streets and end at Seventh and Main streets. Capping off the festival will be two bands playing live music from 6 p.m. to midnight.

The CPA is now a nonprofit organization that contributes money to community groups and causes, Trober said.

The group has raised $3,500 to $5,000 at past picnics.

Trober said people often planned their vacations around the festival.

“People who grew up in Eudora come back,” he said. “It’s a chance for people that haven’t seen each other for quite a while to get together.”