Several summers ago, I attended an affair in Niagara Falls sponsored in part by members of the Alabama Social Club. A group of families, including the Hales, Millers, Harris and too many other families to name, got together for a backyard party to celebrate their Niagara roots.

It was probably the tipping point, a major reason, among many that led me to decide to come home to stay.

The event was hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Alfonso Perry on Willow Ave. It turned into the "party of the year," according to one excited participant who, like most of the attendees from all over the country, grew up in Niagara Falls. "This is our extended family. We all came up together and then got scattered by Urban Renewal and other things," he said. "It's just good to see so many people who moved on and did well come back home to acknowledge their roots."

More than 200 people from all over the country representing just about every culture, race and religion showed up for the party. Some had not seen one another for 30 years or more. "This is wonderful," said someone. "We need to do this more often.” said another.

Everyone agreed.

Often initiated by a chance gathering at a funeral, cousins, aunts, uncles, long lost sisters and brothers and former neighbors otherwise rarely seen, will agree to meet again at another place, under more pleasant circumstances, and the seed is planted. The planning begins. Someone agrees to host it and the reunion begins to take on a life of its own.

Hosting the family reunion is considered a great honor in most families, but it comes with huge responsibilities. In fact, the family reunion has now blossomed into a gigantic industry, spawning all kinds of how-to books filling entire sections in public libraries. But for the most part, they are still, relatively speaking (pun intended), loosely assembled and unprofessionally planned gatherings with little real structure. The reunions that I have attended over the past few years, including as a guest at other family's reunions, all tend to follow the same patterns, whether the families are African-American, Polish, Italian or whatever.

There is food, plenty of it, cooked the way we remember it; the way mom did it, or from our favorite local family-owned and operated restaurants; there is music, lots of music; our adolescent soundtracks, the music we, or our parents grew up on, the good stuff we all know (or think we know) the words to and there are the memories, the stories, the legends …

Last week I had the good fortune to chat with Marti Gorman (marti@martigorman.org.) Remember that name — you will be hearing it a lot more of it shortly.

Marti and I have something in common; we are both returnees. We both grew up here in the area, left for thirty years and then came back a few years ago to rediscover the beauty of what we had left behind.

Like many of us who have traveled or lived for any period of time outside of our hometowns have discovered, there is no place like home.

Marti Gorman, publisher and public relations entrepreneur, was here last week to attend a meeting hosted by Niagara Rises to celebrate and promote the best of what we have to offer here.

Niagara Rises was formed here last year to encourage local tourism development when author Frank Croisdale’s think tank and Marge Gillies’ Historic Preservation Society which sponsored the acclaimed Smart Growth Speakers Series at the main library joined forces to promote efforts to help develop tourism assets that might lead visitors to come to Niagara Falls and stay longer.

I originally met Marti Gorman at last year’s wildly successful Buffalo Homecoming when I participated as a Niagara Rises representative at one of the Homecoming events at Delaware Park’s Hoyt Lake.

Along with Carmen Hamilton, Colleen Kulikowski and Frank Croisdale, I spent a beautiful Saturday greeting out-of-town visitors and returnees at a hastily constructed table piled high with brochures and pamphlets touting all things Niagara.

We were amazed by the number of people who stopped by our table, not just to get the information we were handing out, but to reminisce about their experiences at Niagara Falls. They remembered vacationing here, eating at their favorite restaurants or hearing about their parent’s honeymoons here: “I was conceived in Niagara Falls” was a popular refrain. 

Marti is the primary force behind the Buffalo Homecoming events of the past two years, and she is inviting Niagara Falls to get on board for the event in 2009.

As Marti proclaims about next year’s event: “Join thousands of fellow Buffalo enthusiasts at the best event of the year. There is no better time to celebrate this increasingly vibrant city, than on June 25-28, 2009.

The sense of community alone is worth the visit - but wait until you see all the hidden treasures! Even those who have lived in Buffalo all their life — especially those with a stake in this community -- will find much to discover and enjoy during the Buffalo Homecoming 2009!”

Buffalo Homecoming 2009 is set to launch June 25-28 and Niagara Rises has accepted the challenge. Frank Croisdale is coordinating an effort to bring Niagara Falls into the fold by encouraging Niagara Falls residents to become national ambassadors.

“We don’t really have to do much more than invite our families to plan their annual reunions around the events that are already scheduled for that time frame anyway”, he says, and Marti agrees.

And what better time to get the word out than right now as we begin the holiday season, when so many of us will be traveling over the river and through the woods.

Niagarans love to party.

Maybe its time to seriously think about and plan one gigantic annual Homecoming/Reunion for everyone who left Niagara Falls to come home and get reacquainted with all the good friends and family they left behind.

Joining with forces with Marti Gorman and the Buffalo Homecoming team might be a good start.

Can I get an Amen?

 Contact Bill Bradberry at bill.bradberry@yahoo.com.