On February 9 the Almont (Community) Homecoming Committee met with three items on the “New Business” portion of our agenda.
The first item was to establish the dates for the “Garage Sale Frenzy.” Normally this occurs during the second weekend in May. In accordance with past practice, the Committee established the dates for 2021 to be May 13, 14, and 15. The “Garage Sale Frenzy” is a fundraising activity for the Almont (Community) Homecoming Committee.
The Committee will meet next February to establish the dates for 2022.
The second item concerned postponing or canceling the 2020/2021 homecoming celebration. Last year the committee postponed the celebration from August 2020 to August 2021 because of the restrictions on gatherings and the potential of spreading the COVID-19 virus.
To hold Homecoming would require the lifting of all restrictions on gatherings and it was the opinion of the Committee members that the situation was unlikely to change. Additionally, Homecoming requires a financial commitment from the people in the community, the community’s businesses, and the people who would come here to enjoy the celebration. It did not appear possible that the financial health of the community would have recovered sufficiently to permit having the celebration.
Looking at postponing Homecoming to 2022 also did not appear to be possible from a financial standpoint. Pushing the celebration beyond 2022 did not make any sense. It was unanimously decided to cancel Homecoming for 2020/2021 and in accordance with the Committee’s bylaws, hold the next celebration in 2025.
The establishment of the exact dates will be determined in the future. If there is a significant national celebration for the country’s 250th birthday, the Committee may consider delaying Homecoming to correspond with the national celebration just as they did in 1975 to the 1976 Bicentennial celebration.
The last item on the agenda was selecting a new Committee Chairman which was now irrelevant, so the meeting was adjourned.
—James R. Wade Sr.
Vice-Chairman, Almont Homecoming Committee
