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Show Centennial ushered in at Farmington party By MARK EDDINdTON Staff Writer FARMINGTON City officials offi-cials and residents ushered in Farmington Farm-ington s centennial year with a New Year's Eve birthday bash that included in-cluded bonfires, fireworks and other festivities. About 200 people gathered in Shepard Lane park by Knowlton Elementary School to say farewell to the old year and welcome the Dnew. Celebrants drank gallons of hot chocolates, munched on doughnuts, banged on metal pots with wooden spoons, and watched a 5K race and fireworks in a gala celebration that Farmington Coun-cilwoman Coun-cilwoman Pat Achter said was the inaugural celebration to kick off the city's 100th birthday. The pyrotechnic display commenced com-menced at midnight, and Achter said many residents parked in the Mormon stake center north of the park and stayed in their cars to watch. wat-ch. Smith Food King donated 500 doughnuts and Lagoon contributed SEE 1992 ON A-3 1992 CONTINUED FROM A-l paper cups. The rest of the expenses incurred by the gala celebration were paid for by the Centennial Day and Festival committees. "It was just what we wanted," was how Achter described the festive fes-tive occasion. "We didn't want a huge display or anything too big. Everyone I talked to said they had a real good time." At 11:15 p.m. the starting gun sounded for the road race. The event marked what could be one of the great mysteries of the city's first 100 years and could be talked about well into the next. The race was won by a bearded man well in front of the pack, but race officials were unable to determine his identity. "We call him the mystery man and joked among ourselves that it must be Father Time," Achter said. Others thought it might have been Mayor Robert W. Arbuckle running incognito. Whoever it was remains a mystery and Achter and other city officials are inviting him to step forward. Ted Richards, who laid out the course, finished second about two to three minutes behind the leader. Farmington collector centennial calendars and T-shirts were also sold to those attending. Achter said the event was so successful that many residents wanted to make it an annual affair. "That way we could go in and out with a bang," she said- |