Lockport folks regaining pride through Old Home Week

By Bill Wolcott Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

Old Home Week was a hit, not on a grand scale, but on a hometown level, appreciated by natives and visitors, alike.

While providing Lockport area residents the opportunity to sample a score of activities from Saturday through Friday, folks from out of town showed their appreciation for the people and places in the town and the city.

Lisa and Larry Patrick of San Antonio, Texas, have been living in Lockport for a year-and-a-half and attended closing activities and fireworks at Day Road Park on Friday.

“There’s no comparison,” Lisa said. “There’s folks up here, and there’s just people down there. It’s a big difference. We’ve got a community here and you won’t find that in San Antonio. I’ll take Lockport over Texas any day.”

The Patricks’ grandson, Matthew, was the hit of the Tony Weiland magic show. The 6-year-old Anna Merritt student was picked from a slew of active and eager kids who were sitting on the grass in the front row. Matthew helped magician make a die (singular for dice) disappear.

“I just was wiggling my fingers and he was just rocking it (the box) to make it disappear,” said Matthew. “Then I wiggled my fingers again, and it disappeared.”

The die really did disappear, momentarily, and wound up in Tony Weiland’s top hat.

Stephen Pewsey, historian and prolific author from Essex County, England, returned to Lockport with his wife, author Paulette Peca, who grew up in Lockport. “We come back as often as we can, sometimes twice a year,” Pewsey said. “We have family here, but we specifically came back to see Old Home Week.”

Stephen Pewsey found the “Step Back in Time Players Show” at the Palace Theatre on Thursday night wonderful and enjoyed breakfast with Astronaut Bill Gregory.

“It’s fantastic. It’s been really great,” Pewsey said. “It’s such a pleasure to come to a city that’s regaining its pride. It’s really great. This is a town that’s looking to its heritage to achieve a better future. It’s wonderful.”

Jay Krull, chairman of the Old Home Week committee, felt everything went well, except for the couple of activities that were rained out.

“The whole thing was about bragging about Lockport and showing people what we have to proud of and maybe getting excitement going. It’s about making this a tourism town and showing people what we got,” he said.

Financially, the committee does not have all the numbers, but enough money may have been made for follow-up publications and seed money. “We got a lot of new ideas here and it’s a building thing,” Krull said.

The last Old Home Week was 100 years ago in 1910.

“It was a great week,” Mayor Michael Tucker said. “The weather was great and there were a lot of things to do. The community enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun. I hope we go forward every year.”

Tucker said it was hard to get a number on how many people took part in the activities.

Several people lauded the Hymn Sing and Picnic at the Grace Episcopal on Sunday.

The On Stage Dancers opened the Friday show with a tap and jazz performance. Funk The System played after the awards’ ceremony.

The Town of Lockport provided ice cream cones from RJ Ice Cream of Lincoln Avenue. RJ went through about 10, 3-gallon tubs.

Parade and business winners received trophies. Best decoration honors for buildings went to the Niagara Federal Credit Union, the Dale Association, Tom’s Diner and Gould Florist. Curves was the most creative.

The People’s Choice in the parade  was the Lockport Historic Palace Theatre.

Contact reporter Bill Wolcott at 439-9222, ext. 6246.

 

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