Hometown Days
August 4th, 2008 by 
Alica
Did you attend any part of Hometown Days on Saturday? This was the first year of the event, designed to bring Brandon residents out and about so they can meet each other and learn more about the place where they live.
How do you think the event went? What suggestions do you have to improve Hometown Days?
Posted in Uncategorized | 
August 4th, 2008 at 9:44 am
The following comment was posted by user roxie1977 under the story about Hometown Days. I am reprinting it here in the blog:
From roxie1977:
I attended the 1st Annual Brandon Hometown Day on Sat. And although fun, I was a little disappointed. A good friend of mine had entered the photo contest. And not only were the pictures not displayed, she wasn’t even called up to be recognized with her teammate. There was no way of knowing whether or not any of the answers were correct. I find it ridiculous that they made this huge deal about the karaoke contest, and didn’t acknowledge the photo contest, that I know people worked very hard on. Hopefully, if this event is done again, they will do things a little differently.
August 4th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
It’s interesting that you bring up this topic and Roxie1977’s comments are appropriate. A fellow Brandon man and I were preparing to golf this past Saturday morning and were discussing whether or not we were going to be a part of the “Hometown Days” activities. We both agreed we probably would if we had any idea what the heck they were and where they were. Virtually NO information about, who, what, where, when, how etc. seemed to be anywhere in Brandon. I checked my address, and I don’t live in a cave, but apparently I live outside the information bubble about this event, and I don’t think I am alone.
August 4th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
No. 2: This event has been reported in the Challenger for well over a year from the time organizers first started planning it: i.e., what to name the celebration, when to have it, etc. All community organizations, businesses, etc. were invited from the very beginning to take part in the planning. Hometown Days was advertised on the radio, in the Valley Resident and a story was in last week’s Challenger - right on page 1. You could also read about it on brandoninfo.com or on the Chamber’s Web site, brandonsd.com. With that in mind, I have to ask how you could not have been informed of the what, where, when and how. Any suggestions how to better publicize it next year? We’re eager to hear suggestions from you and from the community, and of course, we’re always looking for more people to volunteer their ideas, their time or talents for endeavors such as this.
August 4th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
we tried very hard to get the word out as well as possible. We really appreciate all the help from the local media. We also launched our own website to keep people informed.
We look forward to year number two and welcome your input. We want this to be a community event for all to be a part of, not just a few of us, but everyone.
if you have suggestions, please get them to us.
thank you,
John Small
August 5th, 2008 at 8:34 am
I thought Hometown days was a great idea.
The karoke contest was nice, but that really didn’t involve many people from Brandon. That draws people from elsewhere that are good at singing and saw the dollar signs involved. They came, they sang, they took the prize money and they left town.
The photo scavenger hunt was a great idea. It involved people from Brandon, but it didn’t get any recognition at all during the event. Hopefully, that will be different next year.
I would like to suggest a few other ideas for next year- How about inviting some of the martial arts kids to perform? Or ask the Ballet or tap dance kids from businesses in town put on a show? Or ask the High School band to put on a concert? Have tables set up for face painting and activities like that. Or invite some of the local daycares to have the kids put on a play or concert.
Families attend when their child is involved in activies such as those. Once the families are at the park if there are things set up for the kids to do- they normally stay for a while.
I hope some of these things helped to give some ideas. It would be great to see more people involved next year!
August 5th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I wish that the school district and the chambaer could work together on this event. I think the best time to have these events are the weekend of the Pig Skin Classic. Most people stick around that weekend. I think they could draw a lot more people that way. Hometown Days could have events Fri night, Sat afternoon and all day on Sunday. Just a suggestion for the upcoming years.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:33 am
To #6: It does seem that Hometown Days and the Pigskin Classic have the same goal in mind-to bring Brandon residents together to celebrate their town.
When you consider the amount of work involved versus the benefits received, would Hometown Days benefit or suffer by joining forces with the Homecoming event?
I can see where having two separate events on the same weekend could look like competition.
The Pigskin Classic already is established. Are there activities the Chamber could sponsor that would blend in with and complement the Booster event? The Chamber might have to give up the “Hometown Days” name, but it’s possible that by blending with the Pigskin Classic, the Chamber could still achieve its goals.
Just a thought.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Again, when volunteers sat down to come up with a celebration name and date over a year ago, teaming up with the Pigskin Classic weekend was suggested, however, the Boosters were not in favor of the idea. It is their one big fundraiser of the year. Their event has proved to be successful and profitable, so it was agreed that event would remain on its own. I am reading lots of good suggestions and ideas, and very soon, residents, community groups, etc. will be invited to join in the planning process for next year. But Hometown Days doesn’t only need ideas - it needs volunteers - lots of them to carry out these ideas. A dozen people (if that) can’t do it all on their own. Please, think about helping out with next year’s celebration.
August 5th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I think the Chamber will struggle with this event. You have Loyalty Days and the Pigskin, plus people are busy with the kids ball season. There’s just too much to do during the summer. Add in a vacation, Jazzfest, Lifelight, Summerjam and other things that Brandon just can’t compete with.
They probably only got a dozen volunteers because it just wasn’t a priority event for people
August 6th, 2008 at 1:12 am
To #8: When you say “teaming up,” do you mean it was suggested to run two separate events on the same weekend? I probably would disagree with that too.
Was it discussed that the Chamber help with and support a couple extra activities as part of the Pigskin Classic?
August 6th, 2008 at 9:33 am
No. 10: What I simply meant is the Pigskin Classic folks want to maintain a “stand alone” event. There’s no need to continue to hash that over. Once again, the invitation was extended to organizations, community residents, business owners, etc., to attend the planning meetings, but very few showed. To No. 9: Yes, the Chamber will continue to struggle with this event if people refuse to take time to help out in their own community. Events such as Jazzfest, Lifelight, Summerjam, etc. all take place outside of our community - it’s great these events are available nearby, and I enjoy taking some of them in as well, but I believe there’s a little bit of time in each of our lives to help out with and attend our hometown events.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:01 am
#11,
What I simply meant was that Brandon has always had lots of events and adding another wasn’t necessary perhaps. Why would people want to take time out to volunteer if they’re not interested in the event?
We did have a promoter trying to have an outdoor rock concert at McHardy park. The council nixed the idea and he held it in Sioux Falls.
We have to bring things to our city that people want to attend. We already have a “festival” of sorts with Loyalty Days. Personally, I wasn’t interested in Hometown Days. Too many things going on this time of year.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Who is the president of the Booster Club this year?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Todd Neuberger
August 6th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Think of the towns around here that have successful celebrations, what do they have in common?? The town only has one big weekend a summer, Brandon is trying to have three!! Either tie Hometown days in with the Pigskin or the Loyalty Day Parade or just drop it cause it will never become anything on its own. Come on, a karoke contest and photo contest, you want people to give up a weekend for that, oh I forgot you could ride the bus around town! What a riot!
August 7th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
No. 15: The bus wasn’t meant for Brandon residents. It was for the people who were in town for the softball tournament.
If you have some good ideas for next year, I hope you offer to help. Don’t just sit on the sidelines and criticize those who step up.
August 8th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I agree with #15!! Do you see Tea having 3 different events? No, they have one weekend a summer and it is a HUGE celebration. There is just too many things going on in the summer to think that people are going to save 2 weekends (Pigskin and Hometown Days) to stick around. I agree that Pigskin is a big fundraiser for the school, but I also think that the still would be sucessful if Hometown Days had some events on Friday Night, Sat afternoon before the game and maybe a parade on Sunday.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
TeaPot Days is actually 5 days (someone will correct me if I’m wrong) and includes the city-wide rummage. Not a bad idea…
August 9th, 2008 at 7:45 am
I think its a great idea. People need to learn how to work together for the common good!!