OLD HOME WEEK 2022 | 5
Old Home Week: An Overview By Shawn Hardy
Greencastle-Antrim’s 41st Triennial Old Home Week celebration is being held Saturday, Aug. 6, to Saturday, Aug. 13. Nearly 50 committees of the Old Home Week Association, under the leadership of President Bonnie Shockey, worked for nearly a year to fill the week with activities for all ages. Storefronts, curbs and crosswalks have seen fresh coats of paint and gardeners spruced up their flower beds to make sure everything looks its best. Old Home Week was founded as a reunion and it continues to bring back former local residents from across the country and even abroad. However, many of those “coming home” live in the Greencastle area all year long. Old Home Week started as the Old Boys’ Reunion in August 1902, initiated by concert singer Philip Baer, who had been warmly welcomed by former Greencastle residents as he traveled the country during his career. Sixty-five “old boys” enjoyed a chicken dinner, picnic along the Conococheague Creek, a minstrel show and band concerts, according to “A Safe Kept Memory: The Old Home Week Story” prepared for the 29th Triennial in 1986. The first Old Boys’ Reunion was also the last as their wives noticed the “enthusiasm for the fellowship and entertainment” their husbands enjoyed and wanted to be included, too. In 1905, Old Home Week was born and the tradition has continued every three years since then, enjoyed by men and women and girls and boys
alike. Some of the events of those early days are still held today, including a parade, concerts and fireworks. Badges and programs were sold for the first time in 1923. A badge was all that was needed for admission to Old Home Week events then and is all that is needed for admission to Old Home Week events today. The price in 1923 was 10 cents and today it is $6. A different local landmark is depicted on the badge every three years. The badge for the 41st celebration features a sketch of Allison’s Tavern as it may have appeared when John Allison laid out the town of Greencastle 240 years ago in 1782. The official Old Home Week opening ceremony will be held from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 6, on Center Square. Children younger than 16 are invited to help President Bonnie Shockey cut the ribbon. The unofficial opening beginning at 11 p.m. Sunday on Center Square is when a lot of people feel like Old Home Week officially begins. When the town clock strikes midnight, Vernon McCauley will say “Happy Old Home Week, everybody!” before the crowd breaks into the song “The Old Grey Mare.” When it comes to crowds, the official Old Home Week picture taken at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday on Center Square features about 2,000 faces. The crew from Central Photo Company from Washington, D.C., has been taking the gigantic photos for so long
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