1907 was a year of firsts. It was the year that Albert Einstein first postulated E=mc2, Charles Curtis of Kansas became the first Native American U.S. senator, London rolled out the first metered taxicabs, and the first electric ball dropped in Times Square.
That year also saw the denizens of the City of Light hold the first-ever Buffalo Old Home Week. What was then the eighth-largest city in America found itself in a funk following the flop of the Pan-Am Exposition and the assassination of President McKinley an unlucky seven years earlier. The idea was to invite back the folks who had left over the bleak years following the Expo and to fill each day of the week with events showcasing the many attributes of Buffalo.
It was a rousing success and, for reasons unexplained, it was never held again. Until 99 years later, that is. In 2006, Marti Gorman -- a book publisher and a whirlwind of pluck, moxie and unbridled energy -- revived the event and tuned it up for a new millennium. The next year the name was changed to Buffalo Homecoming.
"It's not about old homes," Gorman told the media at the time. "This embodies what we want to say. It's not just about those who left. It's about those who are here, too. It's for all of us."
Last year Buffalo Homecoming was bigger and better than ever. Some 10,000 people took in various events held over a four-day weekend the last week of June. Many of the folks were former Buffalonians who hadn't been back to the city of their youth in decades. Some decided to make the return permanent.
That's the beauty of Buffalo Homecoming. It's not just another festival. Intermixed with all the fun and frivolity are two functions that speak to the heart of what Gorman and her team of motivated volunteers are trying to accomplish.
There is a job fair that draws hundreds of employers looking for skilled workers. One of the biggest reasons cited by former residents as to why they haven't moved back home is the perceived pay cut they anticipate taking to do so. It's a dirty little secret among area employers that when they need to fill a skilled position, they often have to undertake a national search because of the dearth of local candidates due to the area's precipitous population loss over the past five decades. The job fair has simplified that process for both employer and job seeker.
The Homecoming happening also has developed a unique sales pitch to former citizens, one that offers an avenue to the seed money they'll need to move back home.
On Saturday morning of the event, buses take folks on a tour of homes available in the downtown Buffalo area.
As Gorman recently explained to one of the event's primary sponsors, "We tell them, put your 2,000-square-foot home in Phoenix on the market and sell it for $700,000. Then upsize yourself into a 2,500-square-foot home here for under $200,000. There's a half-million dollars in your pocket to 'ease' your transition back home."
Now, as comedian Ron White is wont to say, "I told you that story so that I can tell you this one."
June 25-28, 2009, will see the first-ever Niagara Homecoming event to happen simultaneously and in conjunction with the Buffalo Homecoming proceedings. The grassroots group Niagara Rises will be coordinating the event, and a full slate of activities is confirmed for the week. It promises to be the biggest and best thing to hit Niagara Falls since Marilyn Monroe was turning heads here.
Regular readers of this column know I founded Niagara Rises two-and-a-half years ago to give the people of the city a way to share in its revival. Today, our membership is over 100, and we have committees working on a bevy of projects. We also run the pre-eminent Niagara Falls blog-based Web site at niagararises.com.
We've come a long way and have even farther to go, but we take great pride in the fact that we've moved out of the complaining stage that so many of our neighbors seem mired in and have gone on to an action phase that is making small inroads into the many problems besetting our once-proud city.
Regular readers will also know that I have been critical on these pages of the "faux regionalism" offered by entities in Buffalo that seem more intent on putting the Niagara Falls name on Erie County airports and convention and visitors bureaus than in cultivating a true regional coalition.
That's why I was pleasantly surprised when Gorman and Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors agent Colleen Kulikowski approached me about getting the Niagara Homecoming event together.
Rather than be proprietary about their success, the two women share a greater vision -- one that sees Niagara Falls as a natural progression to their achievements over the past three years in Buffalo.
Kulikowski, both a charter member of Niagara Rises and a driving force behind the 2008 Buffalo Homecoming, agreed to devote her energy to the Niagara Falls event full-time in 2009.
The private sector has done what government has failed to do on numerous occasions -- create the first true example of symbiotic regionalism between Buffalo and Niagara Falls in history.
Here are just some of the many events planned for the historic weekend in June:
Thursday night will kick off with wine-tasting, featuring selections from the Niagara Wine Trail, and a bevy of local foods. A huge selection of Niagara Fall souvenirs, collectibles and curios will be on display.
Friday will feature a job fair, "Empower Your Future," held at the Niagara Power Project. Also, the NACC will host the "Arts at the NACC" festival, along with an all-day "Niagara Falls in the Movies" film fest.
On Saturday's busy docket are four distinctly different tours of Niagara, the Positively Main Street Festival and a Niagara Power baseball doubleheader, complete with a concert and fireworks.
Sunday morning will begin with a sunrise church service on Goat Island, followed by a brunch at the aquarium.
All events will be at reduced or no cost to attendees. Media coverage, both locally and nationally, will be extensive. Add to these offerings the many activities at the Buffalo event, and there will be no lack of things for folks to do.
Over 50,000 people have moved away from Niagara Falls since the 1950s. Most of them are in the address books and e-mail listings of folks reading this column. What are you waiting for? Copy and paste this column and invite them back June 25, 2009, for Niagara Homecoming. Tell them they don't have to wait for the next family or high school reunion, because we're having a city reunion.
In Buffalo, they say that they want to "Bring Back the Herd." Niagara Homecoming has a rallying cry, too: We want our friends and family members who have moved elsewhere to know that we're still "Fallin' for the Falls." In June, thousands who have moved away will be, too.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | November 25 2008 |