St. Leon Celebrates Election Tradition Saturday

By Mike Perleberg Photo by History in Your Own Back Yard. (St. Leon, Ind.) - It’s an election time tradition that dates back to the 1800s. St. Leon will hold a good, old fashioned pole raising on Saturday. Before the advent of television, radio, and the internet, pole raisings were how residents in rural areas were alerted to upcoming elections. While the practice has largely died off, St. Leon has been doing it each presidential election season since 1892. On Saturday, volunteers will meet at the St. Leon Firehouse at 8:00 a.m. then proceed to some nearby woods to find and chop down a hickory tree. “They cut the tree down by hand with crosscut saws. They cut most of the branches off, then pull it out of the woods with a tractor and haul it down Old Hickory Road (obviously named for this custom) and into town with a tractor and wagon,” says committee member Debbie Zimmer. What will be left is an 80-foot pole, which will be featured in a parade through town starting at 2:00 p.m. It will end at St. Joseph Catholic Church, where the pole will be raised upright. The pole will remain standing until after Election Day, November 8. The St. Leon Historical Pole Raising used to be a function for local Democrats, however, organizers are now billing it as a non-partisan event. “We’re trying to get away from the politics. The politicians are welcome to come if they want. They can speak to the people on the side of the road. We're not going to have a stage set up,” says Zimmer. Girl Scout Troop 43712 will be serving lunch at the St. Leon Fire Department from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. St. Joseph American Legion Post 464 hosts a chicken dinner from 4:30 until 7:30 p.m. The event will also feature live music.