Rexburg is a place with rich history, spanning back to its founding in 1883. Doug Ladle is the president of the Rexburg Historical Society, he feels as though many Rexburg residents, especially youth, are not aware of the deep local history. This is why the Rexburg Historical Society is holding the Rexburg Founder’s Day Fair with the city.
“We think this is a great chance for students on the campus to find out why Rexburg is a historic spot,” Ladle said. “BYU-Idaho has a lot of great things, but Rexburg itself offers a lot besides that too. So, we want them to know the history of our city.”
Although the Rexburg Historical Society has been around for decades, they are seeking to reestablish themselves in the community.
“Our society is really relaunching itself as a very important dynamic society to try and preserve and promote Rexburg's history,” Ladle said. “So, we've just been reorganizing for the last year and we thought, let's have an event that gives us as a society and the city of Rexburg a place to showcase.”
The Rexburg Founder’s Day Fair hosts historical Rexburg businesses and organizations to share and celebrate their connection to early Rexburg.
“We have about 35 of these institutions, families and businesses,” Ladle said. “So that'd be fun, just to browse up and down those booths and hear their stories.”
The Founder’s Day Fair will also offer various activities for attendees. There will be a bingo game, quilt display, heritage quilt raffle and tours of the old seminary building and school district building before they are torn down in the summer.
“I just hope people will come to the Founders Day Fair — families, teenagers, BYU-Idaho students, tourists — I hope they all walk in and discover Rexburg's heritage and walk away saying, ‘I didn't know that what a great place this is,’” Ladle said.
The Rexburg Founder’s Day Fair will be held Friday, Mar. 14, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Madison School District building gymnasium.