The dedication ceremony at the Perry Reservoir began with a demonstration of precise formation jumping by the Golden Knights, the U.S. Army parachute team. George Stafford, chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission and former Valley Falls resident, told the assembled crowd of about 2,000 people that he and his boyhood friends had sometimes daydreamed about damming the Delaware River, where they swam in the summer and cut ice in the winter. He added, “But we didn’t have in mind anything quite this elaborate.” Other speakers included Gov. Robert Docking and representatives of the Corps of Engineers.

The blue uniforms which had been authorized by the 1970 legislature had arrived in the Douglas County sheriff’s office. Formerly, no state statute covered the colors of uniforms, and most counties, including Douglas County, provided brown and tan uniforms for deputies.