Pray for Sunny Weather For This Year’s Homecoming Celebration
BY JOHN E. USALIS - News Item/Schuylkill Saturday
08/26/2007
As you can see from the main story and photos on this
page, the second Upper Schuylkill Homecoming Weekend is less than
a week away.
There are many things during the busy weekend coming
up, but I do want to mention at least two of the events that need
advance tickets. It’s a first-come, first-serve condition, folks.
The race is on!
First, a few comments about last year’s event.
Obviously, communitywide celebrations are not new, especially in the
coal region.
There are well-established events like the ABA Mummers
Parade in Ashland (I’d say 107 years is pretty darned established!),
the Great Pottsville Cruise, Polish Day, Lithuanian Days, Ukrainian
Seminary Day, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Italian Festival, et al.
There are Heritage Day/Parade of Nations in Shenandoah,
AppleFest in Ashland, Schuylkill Haven IslandFest and Borough Day,
Night at the Boardwalk in Mahanoy City, Spirit Day in Minersville,
St. Patrick’s Day parades in Girardville and Pottsville, Tamaqua
Heritage Festival and many, many more.
Sorry if I didn’t mention yours. Time, space and
my aging brain can be my undoing.
However, last year something unique happened. Six boroughs
— Ashland, Frackville, Girardville, Mahanoy City, Ringtown and
Shenandoah — got together for a four-day Labor Day weekend party,
each holding their own events special to their communities, while
coordinating everything so that they complemented events in the other
towns.
“Just the communities working together like this
is a story in itself,” said Patty Rader, who is the executive
director of Upper Schuylkill Downtowns, the umbrella organization
for downtown revitalization in those six boroughs.
The Pennsylvania Tourism Office began a “Pennsylvania
Festivals” initiative last year to highlight 20 events in the
state to promote tourism. The Ashland ABA Mummers Parade was one of
the events chosen due to its popularity and longevity. The idea grew
beyond the borough to where the six boroughs would work together in
promoting themselves and each other based on their history, heritage
and culture.
Everything came together very well, especially for a
first-time project, but the glitch came from the only thing no one
could control — the weather. Hurricane Ernesto came to town that
weekend.
Frankly, it could have been worse. The predictions of
heavy rains and flooding didn’t happen, but there were a lot
of worried people wondering whether months of preparation would go
down the storm drains.
All of the indoor events were relatively unaffected.
The main part of the storm hit Saturday, which was parade
day, and it kept things pretty damp. Ringtown had to move its breakfast
into the firehouse and the farmers market was canceled, mainly due
to the wind. Couldn’t have cantaloupes and cabbages rolling down
Main Street at 25 mph.
In Ashland, the food court was set up, but again it
was making sure the tents didn’t end up flying to the Broad or
Locust mountains.
And the ABA parade was held, keeping the tradition alive
that the parade was never canceled due to weather. I have heard some
argument that there was at least one cancellation, but whatever the
case, it will take a lot to cancel it. Some parade entries didn’t
show up, but most did to move along the wet streets, although the
rain pretty much stopped during the parade.
According to Rader, state tourism officials were very
impressed with the Upper Schuylkill Homecoming.
“They were very, very pleased with the results
of the Upper Schuylkill Homecoming last year. The state was thrilled
with the marketing and promotional venues we chose, as well as the
support of our local newspapers in following each of our events,”
she said. “There were very impressed and actually increased our
funding for Homecoming II as a result. They said we had the best report
and used our report as an example for the rest of the festivals.”
I mentioned two advance ticket events to get to. The
first will be held Friday evening at the Mahanoy City Elks Lodge.
It’s a dinner theater production called “Our
Town, Your Home, One Heritage,” which will be performed by the
Lift Your Spirits Performing Arts group. It has lots of music (much
of it written specifically for the show), history and fun. I went
to one of the rehearsals and from what I saw and heard, the program
is definitely worth attending. We don’t realize how many talented
people are here in the area, but here’s a chance to see some
of them in action.
The other event is the Upper Schuylkill Wine and Food
Pairing next Sunday at the Mine Shaft Café in Ashland.
Last year’s event was a bigger success than expected.
There were 100 tickets available, and it was a sellout. Moving to
a bigger facility brought this year’s up to 150 available tickets.
Last year’s event at the Ashland Elks was something different
for the area. The smooth jazz ensemble sounded great, although I always
liked that style of music, so I’m a bit biased there. The food
was amazing, and there was plenty of wine to go around.
For tickets for the two events, call the Upper Schuylkill
office at 773-1688, Ext. 15 or e-mail info@upperschuylkill.com.
Enjoy the Upper Schuylkill Homecoming Weekend. And pray
for sunny weather.
© The REPUBLICAN & Herald
2007
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