Party Marks Napoleon’s Return

It’s understandable if some celebrants were a little confused at the birthday party for the town of Napoleon, Mo. The 271 citizens of the town, about 25 miles east of Kansas City, marked both its centennial and its sesquicentennial, which officially was last year. The confusion stems from name changes by early settlers. Marlene Strodtman, a resident since 1948, said two farmers started the town in 1836, naming it Poston’s Landing. Several years later, its name was changed to Napoleon. Then, in the 1850s the name was changed again, this time to Lisbon. That name stuck until July 5, 1887, when the name Napoleon returned. Don Jeffries, president of the Napoleon Bank and a city historian, said at the time the town had developed a rivalry with nearby Wellington, Mo., to become the commercial center of the area. Napoleon residents decided to honor Napoleon Bonaparte, the nemesis of the English Duke of Wellington. “What’s more, there’s a Waterloo about halfway between,” Jeffries said.

--Another birthday was celebrated in Washington. President Reagan decorated Nancy Reagan’s breakfast table with “a ton of birthday cards” and about 30 members of her staff treated her to lunch at a suburban Virginia restaurant, her spokeswoman Elaine Crispen said. The staff presented Mrs. Reagan with four white ceramic pots for potted plants. The issue of the First Lady’s age did not come up at the luncheon, since there was “no numerical decoration” on her birthday cake--a chocolate mousse cake topped with raspberries, Crispen said. Mrs. Reagan’s college records show that she was born on July 6, 1921, but records from her acting days have listed her birth year as 1923. Asked once about the discrepancy, Mrs. Reagan said she had not decided which birthday to pick. The Reagans had arranged to have an intimate dinner for two in the White House, Crispen said.

--Bonkers the deer has earned a reprieve, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Steve Wright said. The deer affectionately named Bonkers by area residents lost her freedom earlier this year after a jogger complained the doe was bothering her in Shoreham. The deer was taken to a zoo, but a public outcry prompted state officials to move her to a privately owned island in Lake Champlain. But Bonkers swam away from the island nearly two miles to Grand Isle on Saturday and Wright said officials will not try to recapture her unless she causes some trouble or poses a threat to motorists. “Quite frankly, I’m spending entirely too much time on one deer,” he said.