Eudora to celebrate 100th CPA Picnic Thursday

Events schedule

Here is a brief listing of some of the highlights from the planned three-day CPA Picnic in Eudora:

Today

Carnival opens 6 p.m.

Friday

CPA Golf Tournament, Eagle Bend Golf Course, Lawrence, 8 a.m. Golfers should arrive by 7:30 a.m.

Holy Family Catholic Church food booth opens, 4 p.m.

Children’s Parade, 7 p.m. Registration starts at 6:15 p.m. at City Park, across the street from City Hall at Seventh and Main streets.

No motorized street vehicles are allowed, and the parade committee will make the final decision on all entries.

Call Dirk Lehmann at 542-2189 for information.

Live music at CPA Park gazebo,

8 p.m.

Saturday

Children’s pool activities, Eudora Community Aquatic Center, 1 p.m.

Holy Family Catholic Church food booth opens, 4 p.m.

Grand parade, 7 p.m. Registration beginning at 6 p.m. in the parking lot at Laws Stadium.

Because of the downtown beautification project, the parade will end just past CPA Park at Ninth and Main streets. Call Lehmann at 542-2189 for information.

Live music at CPA Park gazebo,

8 p.m.

Eudora ? Eudora’s CPA Picnic will celebrate its 100th year when festivities kick off at 6 p.m. Thursday with carnival rides and games in downtown Eudora.

CPA President Jerry Trober said although construction on the city’s downtown beautification project will present some challenges, everything would be business as usual.

“We’ll work around the construction,” he said. “As long as the kids have fun, that’s all that matters.”

The three-day event draws people from throughout the region.

“A lot of people that come are small-town people or are coming back for their class reunion,” said Trober, who has been in charge of organizing the event for the last 20 years.

CPA stands for Central Protective Association or Cattleman’s Protective Association, depending on whom you ask. The annual event began as a picnic to honor members of a group that protected Eudora from cattle rustlers and horse thieves in the late 1800s.

Proceeds from the event go to various groups throughout Eudora.

“Every penny that we make we give back to the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the churches. If it’s a nonprofit organization in Eudora, we donate money to them,” Trober said.