Last week, I did a post about the July 1962 celebration of Steelmark Days, a sales promotion sponsored by Lorain Merchants to honor the city's steelworkers (and drum up some store business).
During that same month in 1962 over in Amherst, the Western-themed Frontier Week sponsored by Amherst merchants was taking place. Above is a page from the July 9, 1962 Journal with some photos of the parade.
As the article notes, "A gigantic parade, a parachute drop, fireworks spectacular and crowning of the Frontier Queen combined with other scheduled events to open Frontier Week – a week of fun sponsored by the Amherst merchants.
"A crowd of 8,000 lined the parade route to watch the hour-long procession of floats, bands and marching units. The parade was the longest ever held in Amherst and one of the most colorful.
"The climax of the opening day was the crowning of Miss Leslie Ann King as Frontier Week Queen of 1962.
"The first day of Frontier week concluded with a fireworks display."
The inaugural Frontier Week had taken place in the summer of 1957. By 1958 the celebration included a beard contest, and the fining or imprisonment of any Amherst residents not wearing western hats!
The 1962 edition of Frontier Week included a regular midway downtown with a Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, coaster and rocket, as well as a penny arcade, a rifle gallery, a duck pond, dart games and a cigarette game. The Erica Melchior Marionettes entertained from the bandstand, and street dancing with prizes concluded each night.
The last Frontier Week was celebrated in 1966. In a letter that appeared in the February 9, 1967 Amherst News-Times, Wayne Garland, the Frontier Week Chairman, felt that Frontier Week had "run its course." He also wrote that "any future celebrations would have to be moved away from the downtown area and be shorter in duration."
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