With only two months left before the first ever Niagara Homecoming event, organizers are expanding their attempts to spread the word to all invitees.
After all, there’s about 50,000 of them out there.
The four-day event beginning June 25 will offer numerous activities in hopes of luring former residents to not only visit Niagara Falls but reconsider it as their permanent home. From a job fair and entrepreneurial opportunities to wine tastings and sporting events to a festival on Main Street, Niagara Homecoming will highlight the area’s best and serve as a citywide reunion. It’s also coinciding with the annual Buffalo Homecoming which attracts upwards of 10,000 visitors.
“For anyone coming home that weekend, there will be all kinds of activities to do,” said Frank Thomas Croisdale, one of the founders of Niagara Rises which is hosting the Falls event. “Our intent is to make this the signature event the city is looking for and have it grow more every year.”
An estimated 50,000 people have left the city over the past five decades. Niagara Homecoming organizers are implementing a variety of ways to invite them back home, including a Web site (www.niagarahomecoming.com) that will be launched in the next couple of days and allow people to register and provide information about when they left the city and where they’re living now. In addition, thousands of postcards will soon be made available allowing residents to send personal invitations to out-of-town relatives, Croisdale added.
Once people return for the homecoming, Croisdale is hoping the blast from the past and positive opportunities here will convince them to stay, or at least visit more often. In Buffalo, close to 400 families have relocated over the past three years after attending its homecoming event, organizers have estimated.
The Niagara Falls Tourism Advisory Board offered its support of Niagara Homecoming at Monday’s meeting and discussions with the city for financial assistance have already started. While he agreed it was a good idea, tourism board member Vince Catanzaro questioned how effective the city could be in convincing people to move back.
“If they do come back here, how are they going to make a living?” he asked.
Croisdale pointed out the event will include a large job fair and real estate tours. He conceded pay rates locally may not surpass other areas but the cost of living here is also cheaper. As a result, Niagara Falls is a good place to ride out the recession, he added.
Along with the job fair, one of the main draws of Niagara Homecoming will be the Positively Main Street festival on June 27 and 28. Now in its second year, the festival will highlight the area’s best food and entertainment.
Tourism Board Chairman Jerry Genova said Niagara Homecoming is exactly the type of initiative city officials have to rally behind, even if it doesn’t amount to many people moving back.
“At the very minimum, maybe it’s that one week every year where they can come home,” Genova said. “It’s the one thing we’ve never really tried.”
On the Web
To learn more about Niagara Homecoming or for a list of scheduled events, visit www.niagarahomecoming.com or www.niagararises.com
Local News
NIAGARA FALLS: Niagara Homecoming brings ’em home
New Web site, postcards will invite former residents back
- Local News
-
-
Legislation protecting Falls air base units moves forward
The effort to protect jobs at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station got a boost from a committee in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
-
Korean student robbed at gunpoint in Falls
Detectives are investigating the robbery of a 25-year-old woman Wednesday night in front of a motel in the 400 block of Main Street.
-
Davis will not seek Murphy removal
Lawyers for accused killer Matthew “Bones” Davis say their client will not ask to have Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III removed from his case.
-
Labor group laments economic development efforts
Economic development in New York state has become a joke to some in the area. And many of them are demanding changes to a process which spends approximately $3 billion a year.
-
Repaving work on Old Military Road rises to $790K
Sometimes a change is good. Sometimes a change is bad. For the Town of Lewiston, a change can be pretty costly.
-
Fifth-grader presents list of 400 names asking for new playground
A 10-year-old boy carrying a petition containing more than 400 signatures asked members of the Niagara Falls School Board on Thursday to consider building a new playground at his school.
-
Bomb threat leads to arrest at NT school
A North Tonawanda teen was arrested Thursday morning for sending a one-sentence bomb threat to the computer of a fellow high school student, resulting in a brief lockdown of the school.
- Sense of resignation on AES pact
-
Marching to the new veterans memorial
It's the unofficial beginning of summer.
Memorial Day may mean cookouts with hot dogs and hamburgers, a trip on the river in a boat or simply a day off from work Monday.
-
Fugitive in meth case caught
Moments after Falls police narcotics detectives and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents uncovered a clandestine meth lab in the city's Echota neightborhood, their prime suspect sent a cryptic text message to Detective Joe Palmero.
- More Local News Headlines
-
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Neighbors of Etan Patz's Suspect: It's Shocking
Gulf Fishermen Reel From Seafood Troubles
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
Raw Video: Bride Who Faked Cancer Released
