It all started with almost perfect weather; no rain, no big winds, low humidity, and moderate temperature. Who could ask for more? Oh, a wonderful crowd of residents and visitors to KI having family fun.
Homecoming was kicked off by Friday’s main event; the 2nd annual Fish Fry. It was a beautiful cool night for a party. The tables were set; the tents were up; the beer was cold; the band was warming up; and the deep fryers were hot. All that was needed were some great Kelleys Island folks to show up and complete the scene. …And show up they did. KILA served 210 people (plus 30 kid free meals) a meal of half a pound of deliciously fried perch by Joel Byer and Mike Reeve. The meal also consisted of buttery fresh corn, cole slaw made by Donna Iosue at Taste by the Lake, cake and ice cream for dessert with water and lemonade to drink. The evening entertainment was provided by Fat City Lite.
All 210 tickets were presale tickets and they will be all presale again next year. So…….plan now to get your ticket early next year. We had at least 50 people ask for tickets in the day prior to the event. This way we can prepare and order food to accommodate everyone who has a ticket.
Saturday’s events began with the Homecoming Parade. This year’s parade included an ambulance, fire trucks, police cars, politicians, The Island Singers, a calliope, a wonderful grand marshal Charles Herndon and a few brave souls who allowed the creations to be judged regarding this year’s theme “Who is your superhero”. The top three are only identified by who was their hero(s) due to penmanship not being a qualifying element for the parade. In first place was “Farmers”, second place was “Emergency Medical Services (EMS)” and in third place was “Zorro”. Anchoring the parade was the Edison Chargers band from Milan High School. All of this was coordinated by Tom Behlen.
From Pie Contest Coordinator, Patti Johnson-Muranyi: The Pie Contest continued a wonderful tradition. We had 11 entries and thank each one of them for their varieties and professional qualities that made them so easy to enjoy and score but not very easy to find anything but winners. The presentation, textures and creative recipes were delightful. The 1st place winning pie was a lemon chiffon with blueberries by Virginia Coyne. June Campbell was the runner up. Robin Benvenito was 3rd.
After the parade ended at the Community Park Pavilion, the official opening ceremonies started with the Island Singers leading us in the National Anthem. The entertainment was continuous throughout the afternoon. It began with the Edison Chargers band encore. Then, the ever popular Frank & Dean serenaded us followed by the Fat City Band.
The Food Committee was busy preparing and serving Hamburgers, Cheese burgers, hot dogs, Brats, baked beans, coleslaw, and watermelon. They served several hundred and sold out of food by about 4 PM. Jim Coleman was the committee leader but, due to an unexpected family issue, he could not attend the event. So, Jennifer Pieratt and others stepped in to seamlessly grill, prepare & serve food.
The Beer was cold and plentiful, thanks to Frank Dodson and his crew of servers. The ever popular Beer Slide, manned by Tim Arnold, was entertainment for many.
The vendor and craft marketplace had 15 booths including the KI Historical Association, Audubon, KI Chamber of Commerce, and KI Field Station. One of the vendors was KILA. Chris Kipfer and his volunteers sold Stanley Tee shirts (designed by Jon Shoemaker), wine glasses, and misc merchandise. They also enrolled new members and sold the last of the raffle tickets.
The family games were run by Janet Killam. The Marshmallow golf competition was lots of fun. This was especially true for the winners: Kid’s Division was Aiden Rohrbach, adult division was Dave Hermes. The Twinkie eating contest was quite a sight. Cami Mader won the over twelve division and Hayden (repeat winner from last year) won the under 12 division. Snickers the balloon artist treated the kids to his balloon magic. And, the bounce castle was very popular and well used all afternoon. Thanks to Jim Zeller for lending it to us. As at most Homecomings, an alumni photo is taken. The 2022 Estes Alumni photo courtesy of Deb & Rob Holmes.
The main objective of the Homecoming celebration is for community fun and social interaction. We also have a couple of fund raising activities. Our main fundraiser is the Annual Raffle. The proceeds will go toward the purchase of playground equipment for the KI Community Park. The Raffle winners were:
- $2500. Jonathan Wilson
- $1000. Alex Vizmeg (KILA member)
- $500. Steve Biltz (KILA member)
- $250. Elic Watkins (KI resident)
- $100. Dave Austin
- Bird house Rich Ratemar
Another fundraising event is the Silent Auction. Items were donated by Hancock-Wood Coop, Seaway marina, Jet Express, Tito’s Vodka, Maple City Ice, Franklin Sanitation, Jim Zeller, Herndon Galleries, MadTree Brewing, FC Cincinnati, KI Historical Assoc., KI Lumber Co, and the Parsonage. Thanks to the donors and the purchasers. The proceeds from this go toward the cost of the marching band for our parade.
And, who can forget our 50/50 raffles run by Elliot Algase and a protégé, Aiden Rohrbach. These as well as merchandise sales, food & beer sales allow us to donate to our community. KILA is a charitable organization (501.c.3). Donations are always gratefully accepted.
By all accounts, Homecoming 2022 was a smashing success. Great Food, entertainment, activities, and fundraising for the good of KI. None of this could be done without the immense efforts of the KILA Board members, KILA members, friends and family. The many sponsors who donated prizes, facilities, promotion, time and effort is gratefully appreciated. There is a lot of “behind the scenes” work to organize the many moving pieces of Homecoming. Thanks to the Village of Kelleys Island for rental of the pavilion, use of tables and chairs, and parade participation. Thanks to the folks who cleaned and set-up and then took down and returned and stored all the tents, grills, and equipment needed for next year. And a big thankyou to all the KI residents (current & returning) & visitors who participated in the Homecoming celebration . Thanks to Shores & Islands Ohio for their grant to promote Homecoming. https://www.shoresandislands.com/
See you all next year at the 49th Homecoming on August 11 &12, 2023 –circle the date!
Please see KILA Korner in the September issue of Kelleys Life for more Homecoming details from which this post is excerpted.
