Hometown Days
March 24th, 2008 by 
Alica
Will you participate in Hometown Days this August? Volunteers are working on three main activities: a karaoke contest, family games in McHardy Park, and a tractor pull. The Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce is administering the event, and they need help.
The prize for the karaoke is $1,000, so that should draw some contestants.
The tractor pull is being organized by the Brandon Valley Vintage Power Association.
The park games are still being discussed.
Would you volunteer to help plan or work at the event? The next Hometown Days committee meeting is at 7 p.m. April 3 at the chamber office.
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March 24th, 2008 at 7:43 am
I’m confused, I thought Hometown Days was going to replace Loyalty Days because of the early weather in May?? But I see the parade is still on May 4th? Now we’re having 2 celebration “Days” in Brandon?
March 24th, 2008 at 7:49 am
For many years, the VFW was the sole organizer of all the Loyalty Days activities. A decade or so ago, the Chamber of Commerce got involved. The VFW still sponsored the parade, but the Chamber sponsored most of the other activities. The name of the weekend was changed to the American Festival, which featured the Loyalty Parade.
Now the Chamber is leaving the American Festival and creating a new festival, Hometown Days, instead, and is moving the date to August.
As I understand it, the VFW will still continue the tradition of the Loyalty Parade the first Sunday of May. But there won’t be any other activities that weekend.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:46 am
That explains it, too bad the parade couldn’t be later too.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:17 am
The chamber of commerce & heritage festival committee really needs to support the VFW in the Loyalty Day events. When you think about it, Brandon’s heritage is the Loyalty Day. There isn’t a native Brandon-ite over 30 who wouldn’t tell you how much they looked forward to the weekend, and the parade, as a beginning point to their summer planning. So what if it is rainy/windy/cold? Don’t let a good tradition die. It seems like a slap in the face to the VFW …”you can have your parade, but we’ll do something different”
March 24th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Hometown Days will never be a big annual event like the Loyalty Day Parade. I would be willing to bet that Hometown Days will not exist in 3 years, if it even happens this year. Just a terrible idea…
March 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Let me set the record straight on Hometown Days and The Loyalty Day Parade. As a Brandon native, I know the parade is a wonderful tradition of the city of Brandon. The idea of the American Festival that was in addition to the parade was a great idea but it was difficult to plan outdoor activities that time of year. The Hometown Days is another event for Brandon residents to get outside and have a wonderful time as a community. In no way is this being created to replace or take anything away from the Loyalty Day Parade. They are two seperate events to enhance our community. These are both for the enjoyment and service of the community. In no way has the Chamber tried to take anything from other community organizations such as the VFW. On the contrary, it is quite the opposite. The job of the Chamber is to enhance the businesses in the community. If we can do that by adding to the traditional parade or by adding other events to bring people into our town for a weekend, we are going to work with members of the community that are interested in doing just that. If you have any other questions about the Hometown Days event I invite you to come to our next planning meeting.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Thanks Alica for trying to clear things up. You are the only one who mentions American Festival. The Chamber has always supported and worked with the VFW to help administrate and organize the Loyalty Day Parade. As it did for the American Festival. The Chambers involvement with the VFW and the Parade is not changing. Unless directed otherwise, the Chamber intends to continue to support the Loyalty Day Parade just as in years past. But as these blogs suggest, because it isn’t even mentioned, the American Festival apparently was rather forgettable. And the likelihood of improving it was bleak. The very existence of American Festival was threatened. Recognizing that, and in order to try to improve/save American Festival, the idea was born to try to create a real citywide celebration. Like many other towns have. A group of citizens, originally about 15-20 people, from various clubs and organizations got together to see about coming up with ideas for creating it. Many of these people were the same people who had been involved with American Festival. From that group came the idea of changing the name “American Festival” to “Brandon Hometown Days”. That name seemed to better convey the message of what was being attempted. The date would also be changed to better accomodate outdoor family events. After much consideration, the 1st weekend in August was decided upon. Just like its predecessor, American Festival, is lacking enough volunteer support to really make it go. Peoples time is precious, and it takes much effort to organize a real Hometown Day celebration. Hometown Days will need more support if it is expected to evolve into anything beyond what American Festival was. This year, because of the boys National Fast Pitch Softball Tournament that 1st weekend in August at Aspen Park, Hometown Days events will be held at McHardy Park only. The hope would be that although small this year, it will be fun for those who participate. Then perhaps it will evolve into something bigger and better in the years to come. It is expected and intended that the creation of “Brandon Hometown Days” will have no effect on the continued success of Brandon’s “Loyalty Day Parade”. Anyone interested in helping out can contact the Chamber. Thank you.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
It can be one big weekend for everyone. Some venues may have to change, but that didn’t stop the Easter Bunny….Also, why another weekend? Maybe the arts festival can be brought back to 2 days, and more activities can be planned then. It is usually not as hot as it would be in August. But then again, if we had to plan our lives around the weather, nothing would get done!!
March 25th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Congrats on the concept……. It’s awesome for me to see the excitment generated from this. You can count me in! Let’s show everyone our PRIDE in Brandon.
March 25th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
First off, I am very sad to hear the American Festival was “forgettable” as I know so many volunteers who worked so hard on the American Festival. For example, Nancy Bahr & her family had 500 community members at her Barn Dance the first year we had it as part of the festival. It was one of the most successful things we did in the three short years I worked with this. That said, I do like the changes as May weather can be great, or it can rain & snow. I don’t think anyone is saying the parade isn’t great, just that May weather leaves something to be desired when you want to have large groups of people gather outside.
March 27th, 2008 at 7:45 am
So you don’t like the weather in May, then move it to the same weekend as the Pigskin Classic. Most people I know make plans to be around during the weekend of the Pigskin Classic, I can’t see a lot of families making plans to attend a Karaoke contest in the park. I don’t see Hometown Days ever becoming an annual event, I feel the people on this committee will work very hard this year on an event that will be very poorly attended. I think the concept of having a celebration is great, I just feel with two annual events already, it is going to be hard to create a third. With that said, I would say deal with the weather in May or work with the Pigskin Committee to enhance their event.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:41 am
To Anonymous:
The idea of combining with the Pigskin Classic was explored, however, that group did not feel they wanted to combine the two events. The Hometown Days committee respected their wishes. I think Hometown Days can be a great event, but we should be supportive of the idea. Attitude, they say, is everything. As was printed in a recent edition of the Challenger, this group is looking for more help - why not give them a hand - the more volunteers, the bigger and better it can and will be!
March 27th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Guess we have to agree to disagree Editor Jill-
I do not see people scheduling their vacations around a day of karaoke in the park. Maybe the Hometown committee should have stepped up and tried to work with the gentleman that wanted to bring a concert to town. That’s to bad if the Pigskin Committee didn’t want to combine the events, because I think there is great opportunity to do that without taking away from what the committee has already established. As far as I know the Pigskin Classic weekend has nothing on Friday or Sunday, not to mention the down time prior to the game. Lock the two committees in a room and not let them out until one great weekend is planned.
March 27th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Quite honestly I would rather have kept all of Loyalty Days events(American Festival) and had the concert in the park. And as far as Bob’s comment about more volunteers….with all the summer’s events in Brandon (ball tourneys, pigskin, arts in the park, Loyalty Day) there’s only so many volunteers to go around in a couple of months. I think adding another event is taxing the volunteer pool. All the above activities are volunteer driven.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Why don’t they put Hometown days with Arts in the Park? Give people a variety of things to do. Maybe have a small fair ground area (rides), open the museum for visitors. Maybe see if the firedepartment would put on some kind of demonstration. This might be a good time for the the bike safety (presently done by fire dept and police).
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
I see the dodgeball tournament is in April, I thought that was going to be part of Hometown Days…
April 8th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Just so I have this straight…
The VFW puts on Loyalty Days, but isn’t interested in making it a true weekend event that would draw people from outside of Brandon. It has a good draw for the parade, but honestly I couldn’t tell you what else there was last year, and I live in Brandon and went to the parade! I think I heard there might be a tractor or truck pull, mud races or something this year. So, maybe we have half a day on Saturday with events. Is there anything planned for Saturday night, or even Friday night?
The Pigskin committee isn’t interested in having any activities other than the BBQ and a football game? Not much reason for Brandon natives from surrounding communities to come before the game, and it’s sure not a reason for non-Brandon natives to come if their team isn’t playing. This game draws a huge crowd, but that’s it! Go to the game and see you next year! I think they tried a DJ after the game in the parking lot for the school kids. That is a great idea; give them something to do after the game. How about also having a street dance for adults?
The Chamber is putting on Hometown Days, but doesn’t want to step on anyone’s toes? Even though neither Loyalty Days, nor the pigskin classic has anywhere near enough events to make a weekend worth staying in Brandon for. So, now we are making a third weekend with too few events to make it worthwhile, and people say we need to volunteer more? You already have people volunteering for these weekends, plus Arts in the Park, plus a dodge ball tourney. I’m sure there will be people volunteering for the National softball tourney as well. There are so many events on different weekends, there’s no way there will ever be enough volunteers.
Now, don’t get me wrong I think both Loyalty Days and the Pigskin Classic are great events. I also like the idea of Hometown Days. The problem is, there are not enough activities to make a weekend out of any of them, unless you live in Brandon and don’t have to work that day. For those who have to work weekends, it’s not worth taking a day of vacation to attend, and that is sad. What’s even worse, it doesn’t appear the people putting these events on really want to work on making it worth attending. It seems each is trying to make their weekend better, instead of working together to make it better for Brandon.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Try to push a big heavy box with one finger. Difficult. Now try it with two fingers. That’s a little easier. Three … four … now use your whole hand.
It’s true that we can pack a bigger punch when we combine forces.