"I am careful and I am thrifty.  At least I was until I became a motorist."
~ Confessions of an Automobilist (1925)

  For the last 12 months the Historical Society has been preparing for the October 27^th and 28^th Lakeside Heritage Day and Centennial. Several of our members and the archives committee have been collecting information to share with you about life in the one-hundred year period known as the twentieth century.  It was a time of grand success and equally grand failures, of ideas both good and bad, and of the good and not so good men and women who schemed to carry them out.
  When did the twentieth century begin? Chronologically 1901, but ideas and inventions needed to be experimented with earlier than that. History books say 1870 influenced the century when the Age of Invention started the technological foundations we live with today. 1870 was a significant year for Lakeside as well, for that was when Ben Hill arrived -- a key figure in the town ship.
  A time frame, however, does not by itself make a history. To make history we need a concept, a framework, a point of view, and personalities. We arrived at our Heritage Day theme through study of a major concept in the history of our town: The automobile.
  Automobiles have been around a long time. Henry Ford had built his first one in 1893, and his first Model T was completed in 1908. By 1920 there were 8 million horseless carriages sputtering around the poorly charted roads of the countryside.
  The stars of our history theme charmed by the automobile are: Lindo Lake Park, The Lakeside Inn, John Gay, and Barney Oldfield.
  In 1905 the automobile brought John Gay to Lakeside. He loved to drive his own car over the country roads. Mr. Gay liked the climate, he wanted to stay. He was wealthy. He looked into buying property and purchased the faltering Lakeside Inn. To increase business John Gay capitalized on the craze of the day -- automobile racing -- by building an auto race track on his property, around the lovely lake.
  Opening day event featured a match race with Barney Oldfield, the best racing showman of the time, and fellow racer Bruno Seibel in a grudge match.  For several years car races were performed at the Lakeside Inn track, bringing huge crowds to town--increasing the economy for all of the businesses.
  What if John Gay wasn't a car enthusiast? What if he was not a wealthy entrepreneur? What if he had not bought the Lakeside Inn? What if he had not fenced the park for no public access?  But he was and he did, and Lakeside has a great story to tell. John Gay was really not a bad guy after all.
  Make plans to step back in time by attending the Lakeside Auto Speedway Centennial on Sunday, October 28 in Lindo Park. 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. See the vintage cars perform a pace-lap "parade" around the lake at 12 noon.
  Thought you would like to know that thanks to the automobile thousands of new suburban communities flourished. The car let Americans explore developing

tourism. Road building became one of America's highest priorities. And with each new mile of road came something else new:  The first "mo-tel" (San Luis Obispo, California, 1925). The first set of traffic lights (New York City, 1922). The first shopping center, (Kansas City, 1924). The first national road atlas (Rand McNally, 1924), and the first public parking garage (Detroit, 1929).