100 Years Ago

June 15, 1921

Men who fought on the bloody fields of Gettysburg; men who were with General Wheaton at the Battle of Malabon, and men who felt the deadly peril of the Argonne fight made up the three generations of America’s defenders who marched today in the great G.A.R. parade. The fitful sunlight gleamed on scores of G.A.R. men marching with a firmness which belied their years and on members of the Veterans’ Drum Corps, some of whom played at Lincoln’s funeral, and all of them brave in uniforms of blue. The clear notes of the fife and the roll of the drum mingled with the music of the Pendleton band and furnished cadence for the scores of veterans who marched or rode. Over a thousand flags in the hands of the crowds who lined the streets waved in salute and again and again ripples of applause from the sidelines caused the old fellows to bow in acknowledgement.

50 Years Ago

June 15, 1971

One of the most colorful, distinctive personalities to come to Condon in a long time entertained at the Roundup Room a while back. He is not the type of entertainer that one would expect to find in a cocktail lounge or tavern, but he is certainly an entertainer in his own right. He is billed as the world’s fastest artist and Joe Breckenridge can paint a picture while other artists are putting on their smocks. He has been known to paint a picture in 45 seconds, but it usually takes him, when he is not in a hurry, three to four minutes. Breckenridge, 75, is a cowboy artist, painting pictures typifying the west, and he is the old west personified.

25 Years Ago

June 15, 1996

As far as Chance Bissinger is concerned, the jubilant June 14 Flag Day celebration is a backdrop to his personal celebration of life. The third grader turned 8 on Friday and despite dealing with a medical problem since birth, nothing seems to slow him down. Bissinger was born with a condition called tracheal mylasia in which the cartilage rings that normally keep the windpipe open are instead soft and collapsible. That means the tube entering his trachea at his throat filters the air he breathes, and also needs some maintenance, much like a nose does. But Chance, the “self-manager,” has learned, with the support and direction of his mom, to mechanically suction mucous that could block his airway.