Carnduff was filled with familiar faces and community pride over the weekend as the town celebrated 120 years during its Homecoming Weekend.
Mayor Ross Apperley says the weekend could not have gone better.
“It was excellent. We couldn’t ask for it any better,” said Apperley. “We had lots of people come home. We fed more than 650 people on Saturday night, and with the provincial women’s fastpitch in town as well, it was a really busy time.”
Apperley says what keeps people coming back is the connection to the town and its residents.
“Hopefully, it’s the community itself. The people who make up the fabric of the community are what bring people back,” he said. “We had class reunions, 15 of them, and that connection brought people home. It was just an all-around visiting weekend.”
The weekend featured plenty of highlights, including a parade that Apperley said is a staple for small-town events.
“The biggest event for probably any small town is the parade and the different ideas for floats. Those are always nice,” he said.
Activities also took place at the agricultural society grounds, including trick riders, 4-H events and ball games.
Apperley said this year’s event stayed true to what has worked in the past, with the popular Walk to Remember signs displayed at local businesses.
“We promote a lot of walking in the community,” he said. “Every business has a Walk to Remember sign on it that tells the history of that particular spot over the last 120 years. People get out walking and read the whole history of our community just by walking our streets.”
The homecoming was organized by a volunteer committee, with the town helping to start the process.
“It’s a committee. Usually, the town will put a call out if there’s interest, and it started a year ago. People come forward, and then we divide off into different groups,” said Apperley. “It’s initiated by the Town of Carnduff, but it’s taken over by a volunteer committee.”
While the exact attendance is hard to pinpoint, Apperley estimates well over 1,000 people took part in the weekend’s festivities. He says the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
“To be honest, I haven’t had any negative feedback. The weather cooperated, and there was so much to do in so little time. Everybody was busy, but I haven’t had one negative response,” he said.
The celebration followed a similar format to past milestone events, with plenty of activities for children as well.
“There was the parade, free swimming, and the ag society did a really good job with kids’ activities, from bird-dropping bingo to the trick riders and 4-H showing all the different animals. That attracted a lot of people, especially youngsters,” said Apperley.
Planning an event of this size is no small task, but Apperley says technology has made it easier.
“There’s a lot of communication, but with today’s technology, the use of Facebook and web pages makes getting the word out much easier,” he said. “As little as 10 years ago, we had to do it all by mail invitation. You had to make sure you had a mailing list and all that, so this was much easier.
“But it’s never easy to plan because you don’t know how many people are coming, and you just hope for the best. But it all turned out very well.”
Apperley thanked the volunteers, staff and everyone who returned home to celebrate.
“We made it clear that this is always their home and they’re part of the fabric that makes up Carnduff,” he said. “Volunteers have always been a strong part of Carnduff. I’d like to thank them all. They took it head-on."
“Our unsung heroes are our staff. The town staff, both inside and outside workers, have their regular day-to-day jobs, but they jumped in when we needed them and helped us out. We piled on more work, and they hit it head-on. So a big thank you to all who attended and to all the volunteers.”
Apperley said crews wasted no time getting things cleaned up, and the community was already preparing for its next big project.