By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review
SIGOURNEY – The annual Webster town reunion was held at the Keokuk County Expo on April 26, bringing in dozens who either live in or used to live in the tiny town of Webster, Iowa. The town reunions began in 2010, when Denise Wright, formerly of Webster, moved from Florida back to Iowa. Wright, along with Shirley Glider Knight, organized a reunion for women from Webster, bringing in 60 women. The next year, they expanded it to invite anyone who ever lived in Webster. The reunions have been held ever since, although it was skipped for two years due to COVID.
“We’ve got 71 coming today, so that’s a good number,” said Knight. “We’ve lost 106 Webster friends that we know in the last 15 years, that we just know of. I mean, there’s pry other people, but 55 of them had been to at least one reunion.”
Among those who passed away since the town reunions began is Wright, who was memorialized with a table at the Saturday reunion. Knight, who grew up on a farm in Webster, left after graduating and now lives in Solon, stated that the goal of the annual reunion is to reconnect with people from the small town. “It’s just fun to see people get together,” she said.
Knight noted that the population of Webster is currently 90, down from the 150 when she was a kid, and that there used to be other businesses, but now there’s only the grain elevator. She noted that the Webster school closed in 1974. One attendee at the reunion, Webster resident Scott Shifflett, displayed a collection of old trophies from the Webster school, which he has restored and repaired over the years.
“It’d be pretty easy, if you don’t do these things, people forget pretty quickly about your hometown, and you know the history and everything,” said Shifflett.
In the past, the town reunion has brought in crowds as high as 134 people, from as far as Texas and Oregon. The 2025 town reunion featured a meal, a silent auction, door prizes, and displays of old memorabilia from the small town.
