Oct 1, 2020
Reprinted from The Sabbath Recorder
dated July 21, 1969
On the weekend of June 15 the village of Dodge Center, Minn., celebrated its centennial with the festivities and contests characteristic of such celebrations, with beards and bonnets harking back to pioneer days. The Star Record comments on the time of beginning thus:
Because the population of Dodge Center has a large percentage of Seventh Day people, the celebration was scheduled to be held after their weekly Sabbath. Many of the town’s early settlers were members of the Seventh Day Baptist faith who organized the first church in Dodge Center in 1859. The Seventh-day Adventist church was moved here from Concord a few years later. Community affairs are traditionally planned to respect the religious beliefs of these groups and thus the dates for the centennial events were set for Saturday night, June 14, and Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, June 15, 16 and 17.
On Sunday night there was a talent show for youth of various ages. Of the seven entries, five had Seventh Day Baptist teenagers in them. The trio and octet from the church were the winning groups, it is reported. It would appear that the church youth lived up to the respect that was given to them and their faith. They took part in the festivities after the Sabbath when they could with good conscience participate.
Five teenagers from the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Dodge Center are volunteers this summer in the dedicated service program of the denomination.
https://www.sdbhistory.org/resources/sabbath-recorder-archives/