(Independent, August 16, 1917)
Four miles from Kensal, the nearest town, and placed right on the level prairie is the white and comfortable looking club house of the McKinley's Farmers' club. It was erected by the members themselves in four days and furnished by the ladies, who gave a series of entertainments to pay for the furniture which they have installed. The club was first organized in 1914 when eleven farmers gathered together and planned to do something to improve the social conditions of the community, and to establish a place where men could discuss their common problems. Now there are over five hundred members living within a radius of twelve miles of the club hall. During the first two years of its existence the club held meetings in the country school but the membership increased so rapidly that it was soon found necessary to erect a special club house of its own. They formed a sort of a stock company, each member subscribing, and having thus secured the money with which to buy the material, they donated their labor and built the hall. The main hall has a generous sized stage and seats several hundred people. In the basement is to be found a kitchen, dining room, and ladies' rest room. While the men are meeting upstairs discussing farming problems the ladies hold a meeting of their own in the basement, and later they all join for lunch and then they spend the rest of the evening playing games, dancing or perhaps witnessing a home talent play. The ladies also have installed a gas lighting system and the men have bought a hot air furnace to be used during the bitter winter months when the mercury coils up in its tin tube as though forgetting the days when it reached the majestic height of 106.
The young members of the club frequently give concerts, present plays or take part in debates and hold socials. A few weeks ago Mr. Arnold's Little County theater players who visited forty towns in the state, were secured to present their play, "Back to the Farm". Delighted with the prospect of securing this attraction the club organized a Boosters' trip and accompanied by the Kensal Cornet band they started with twenty automobiles on an advertising tour. As a result the players were forced to five, two performances and the evening crowd was so large that spectators were placed in the open windows. After the play was over the members of the club held a dance and it is safe to say that no one was happier that evening than the old folks who gathered at the edge of the dancing floor and watched the young people, thankful that they had driven out the monotony of farm life which had been so discouraging to them when they came to the wilderness as pioneers years ago.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 353