Homecoming deemed a success

PARKERSBURG - The 2008 Parkersburg Homecoming appears to be a rousing success.

Festival officials are taking in the results of this year's 26th annual event.

"We feel like it was very successful," said Jenni Reed, Parkersburg Homecoming Festival chairperson. "Everyone seemed very satisfied.

"We have been getting a lot of positive feedback from people. People seemed to like the fact the events were more spread out and they could take in more of the city and people enjoyed the new location of the main stage, the corner of Second and Avery streets," Reed said.

"Many thought (the main stage) was at a good place to have it," she said, adding the committee was going to look at having it there again next year.

Reed commended all of the entertainment acts for being very personable and willing to work with local officials in order to put on a good show.

"They were all just wonderful," she said.

Although the final numbers are still being worked out, Reed believes there were just as many people attending this year's Homecoming as opposed to last year, around 50,000 to 60,000.

"It was a good weekend all around," she said. "Many people always plan to come back to the area during Homecoming.

"Many also plan their vacation schedules around this time to come back to the area during this festival."

Tammi Collins, festival marking director and next year's Homecoming Festival president, said everything went off well with this year's festival.

"I haven't heard any complaints," she said. "People enjoyed all the shows, the parade was tremendous, the fireworks were tremendous and so on.

"We worked hard the last three days to make sure everything went off the way it was supposed to."

There are a couple of things the committee will look at improving, but the festival was very successful and people seemed to have a good time, Collins said.

"The people enjoyed the shows, the games, everything," she said. "Nothing was a failure."

Reed said they have a lot of support from both the public and area businesses to put on the festival and to keep the events free for the public. The committee will be working on the final numbers on how everything came out.

"Fundraising is ongoing year-round," she said, adding when they look for corporate support they not only look at getting support for the current year, but the following year and so on.

Organizers want area businesses to be involved in what is going on. A number of events are coming up to help with fundraising, including a fall foliage cruise and more.

The Homecoming Fireworks on Saturday night is one of the biggest fireworks displays put on in the state, Reed said.

"That is nice for the city to have that," she said.

Homecoming brings in a lot of people to the area for the weekend, Reed said. She has talked with many businesses, from motels to fast food restaurants and others, who see a significant increase in business during the festival weekend.

"That is great for the area businesses and is great for Parkersburg," she said.

Member Comments

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HereinPburg
08-20-08 11:05 PM »Report Abuse	One should also look at how Newell conducts his affairs. He sits in meetings spouting out unfounded accusations. I would bet a dollar to a donut that this supposed letter to the home coming committee will have somewhere in it that he was informed by someone, lol. He does have invisible friends that tell him things. I just seems like he can never produce them when put on the spot.
vortex
08-20-08 10:39 PM »Report Abuse	Tubaman, as I can tell by your writings you don’t know the real Pothole Bob. I too have seen his letter and heard his verbal assaults on other groups.He has insulted and belittled the Home Coming Committee be on belief. He does this in secret writings and has even done so at counsel meetings. He does his dirty work behind the scenes to keep the public buffaloed. If the Home Coming Committee and others would make public his letters and comments you would understand. By the way I refer to him as Pothole Bob because he does not deserve the respect to be referred to as Mayor. He couldn’t carry a real Mayors lunchbox.
derbeobachter
08-20-08 10:23 PM »Report Abuse	Tubaman, FYI our illustrious Mayor is a control freak who is verbally demeaning to staff and city employee’s. It would be my guess that the reason for the venting would be that the Mayor will not allow his department heads to run the shop being the authoritarian type. You should request a letter from the Mayor to the homecoming committee to truly grasp his arrogance. Next years festival will more than likely not contain the name Parkersburg because the mayor says so, whoopty dooo.
tubaman
08-20-08 8:55 PM »Report Abuse	Other than the half marathon and the parade, there is no reason to attend any of the carnival trash that occurs in the evenings. As vortex said, homecoming does, indeed, bring out the great unwashed. What's with all the animosity toward the Mayor, anyway? I don't know the guy personally, but he's never gone out of his way to treat anyone badly, as far as I know. As far as potholes, the mayor doesn't schedule road repair, nor does he perform road repair. May I humbly suggest that you direct your anger at the department of streets/public works/whatever.
vortex
08-20-08 8:43 PM »Report Abuse	I have to agree with Ms. Reed, the Home Coming does bring out a lot of people. Isn’t it strange how the Home Coming brings out all the riffraff in the area? I’m telling you it was a real freak show down on the lower end of town. I saw more tattoos and piercings on Second Street than at Bike Week at the beach. Speaking of riffraff, I even saw Pothole Bob throwing candy out of the fire truck in the Parade. Did you know that entries in the Parade were instructed not to throw candy out of a moving vehicle? Once again this shows Pothole Bob is above any rules or laws. He is the King.
derbeobachter
08-20-08 8:14 PM »Report Abuse	All the homecoming committee members should be proud of this year’s festival. Even with all the hurdles which were thrown at those who put the event together it truly was a success. As for our Mayor who stated that the homecoming was a negative for the city, I was glade to see it did not keep his Royalness from being in the parade and politicking at the event. Good job Bob in alienating a good group of people and back pedaling on your word.
2teachers
08-20-08 2:42 PM »Report Abuse	The Half Marathon and 2 Mile Races, parade, fireworks and evening concerts may have been deemed a success but what happened to the crafting vendors? I remember crafts, local artisans, musicians and activities happening all around downtown- even behind the flood wall. It seems that with each year the "family atmosphere" of the main strip is disappearing. Bad language, tacky and cheap souvenirs and disrespectful locals fill the street as a really negative display of West Virginians. This is one of the largest events in Parkersburg that brings so many people to our area...do we want them to walk away with a bad taste in their mouths? I live in Parkersburg and other than the races and parade I will NOT be back unless the coordinators make some significant changes.

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