GAYS - The village with the memorable name and the famed two-story outhouse is celebrating its 150th birthday today and Saturday.

Festival co-organizers Nancy Goodwin and Larry Combs are pleased with the response and support from people wanting to help the village celebrate its sesquicentennial.

"It's really bringing the town together," Goodwin said.

Added Combs: "People are coming out of the woodwork to help us."

It's not only Gays residents that want to celebrate, but also area residents, Goodwin said.

"When we advertised for children to participate in our prince and princess contest, we had entries from Mattoon, Humboldt and Charleston," she said. "We have about 20 entries so far."

Several nonprofit groups will set up booths Saturday. Combs said they didn't charge these groups because they wanted them to be able to take home all the profits they made for their respective groups.

Gays, originally named Summit, was founded in 1855 after the railroad was built.

"It was called Summit because it was the highest point on the Indianapolis and St. Louis railroad between the cities of Terre Haute, Ind., and St. Louis," wrote L.W. Gammill, who compiled a history of Gays.

Village officials were forced to change the name from Summit to Gays because another town in Illinois was already called Summit.

According to village lore, when the village was formally incorporated in 1905, it was renamed Gays which was derived from four prominent families: Gammill, Armentrout, Young and Smith, Goodwin said.

The legend of the two-story outhouse started in 1869 when Samuel Gammill built his general store directly across from the train depot on Front Street in Gays, according to records from Goodwin. Apartments were located above the store. The setup of the double-decker outhouse prevented them from having to walk all the way to the ground level and gave them a private place away from general store customers, who used the first floor.

In honor of the outhouse, there is a contest Saturday for whoever can build the best replica of the two-story outhouse. The models must be less than 4 feet tall.

"You can also get your picture taken near the two-story outhouse," Goodwin said.

Krista Lewin can be reached at klewin@;jg-tc.com or 238-6858.