LISBON

Over the past 35 years, the Moxie

Festival has become part of Lisbon’s identity. With the theme of this year’s festival “Moxie Through The Decades,” one float will remember the origins of Lisbon’s community celebrations, before the town was festooned in Moxieorange.

The idea came last year, as Linda Barschdorf was watching the festival parade, feeling that something was missing — honoring Frontier Days. So, she decided to create a float for this year’s Moxie Festival that will honor a celebration from the past.

The Originators

Organized by the Lisbon chapter of the U.S. Junior Chamber — the “Jaycees,” a leadership and training organization — Frontier Days ran from 1958-1962 and again from 1977-1982.

On Tuesday, visiting Barschdorf ’s float and drinking the carbonated beverage synonymous with the town, Bud Agathos and Noyes Lawrence recalled the early days of the Jaycees and Frontier Days.

“We’re the originators of the weekend celebration in the town of Lisbon,” said Agathos. “We were just excited about the town that’s all.”

The Jaycees were active and at the forefront of the community in the late-1950s and early-1960s. Both men recalled building a skating rink for the town in the early days of the Jaycees. A program to help provide glasses for kids in the community stuck out as one of Lawrence’s most proud accomplishments. As they sipped on their Moxie, they admitted listing all of the projects they took part in would be tough to do — the Lisbon Jaycees were once nationally recognized for completing 63 projects to benefit the community in one year.

“The great thing about it we were all young enough that when somebody decided a project, nobody ever said anything negative,” said Lawrence. “If you suggested a project, it was ‘hey, let’s do it,’ and you usually ended up being the chairman.”

“But, you always had help,” added Agathos.

The group had close to 100 members at its peak with the first Jaycees in Lisbon and its largest project was Frontier Days.

The frontier-themed community event was a first of its kind weekend to celebrate Lisbon. To pay for it, the Jaycees hosted fried clam suppers and barbecues, and used their connections in the community to raise money.

“It wasn’t like a merchants association but there were a lot of businessmen,” said Lawrence. “The businessmen really got involved.”

Lawrence and Agathos, both 87, have lived in Lisbon their entire lives, graduating from high school together in 1950, and Lawrence worked for Agathos when he was postmaster. Some of their fondest memories — the ones that bring the most laughs — come from Frontier Days and the Jaycees.

While the group’s membership dwindled and those involved got burnt out, Lawrence helped organize the parade in future years. He remembers a specific Moxie parade, one he calls a “two stogie parade.”

“We put on some wicked parades I’ll tell you,” said Lawrence. “The year the town had a 200th anniversary and Moxie days.

“We got together and said ‘let’s put on the biggest parade they’ve ever seen in the town of Lisbon,’” he added. “The parade had 40 floats, we figured it had 4,000 people. It was 3 hours long.”

Lawrence said a neighbor watching from his lawn would later tell him he went through two cigars during the lengthy parade. And he admitted, when he saw the finished product, it may have been a little long, but it shows a commitment that drove the two men in those early years.

That passion drove them to try a musical comedy at one of the early Frontier Days.

“Isn’t that the one we found out you couldn’t sing?” Lawrence joked with Agathos.

Those early efforts will be honored with Barschdorf’s float. She has worked meticulously with former fellow Jaycee Jo-Jean Keller and friend Sandra Marstaller over the last three weeks to prepare a proper tribute.

While the Jaycee organization was only open to men age 18-40 at the time, Barschdorf and many other women who were spouses of Jaycees played influential roles in the group. The Jaycee women were just as involved in the community projects and planning, and considered part of the group. Barschdorf and Keller were part of the second incarnation of the Jaycees in Lisbon from 1977- 1982. They will honor those years and the original members with their float.

Barschdorf and Keller’s Jaycees brought a return of the Frontier Days to Lisbon. They introduced new attractions to the event. Barschdorf said the Miss Frontier Days Pageants were a hit.

“It was very popular, hundreds of girls signed up for it,” said Barschdorf. “Every year at least 100.”

Moving to Moxie

While some events have come and gone in Lisbon since Frontier Days, many of them still exist as part of the Moxie Festival, including the parade, music and car show. And the inspiration for the current celebration can trace its origins to the last of the Frontier Days.

As the second iteration of Jaycees began to dwindle around 1982, Barschdorf said a timely photo provided the spark for the Moxie Festival. She snapped a photo of Frank Anicetti in 1978 that was later used in a book — “Moxie Mystique” by Frank Potter. At the last Frontier Days, Anicetti invited Potter to come to his store and sign copies of the book. The signing was such a hit, Potter was invited to come again the following year when Anicetti decided to continue the festival and rebrand it with Moxie.

“Thank God that man took that picture,” said Barschdorf. “It happened just at the right time. Frank Anicettti picked it up from the second book signing.”

As much as she enjoys telling the story of her piece of Moxie history, she wanted the float to honor her fellow Jaycees and Frontier Days. Barschdorf is hoping many former Jaycees will join her for the parade.

Agathos and Lawrence will likely do so, leaving their usual Main Street vantage point — though Agathos was concerned being in the parade would mean missing it.

The two men remain impressed with the festival considering the new challenges it faces today.

“We didn’t have the diversification in activities. We had people looking for a good time,” said Agathos. “We didn’t have cyberspace and smartphones and everything to compete with.”

“You’ve got to promote your town,” said Lawrence. “We’ve got a nice town here. It’s come a long ways.”

The festival has also come a long way too, but its roots can be found in those Frontier Days.

chris@timesrecord.com