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Crowds flock back for Richland ‘homecoming’ weekend
Community members get snapshots of a town in motion, as new businesses meet old traditions
RICHLAND — For as long as anyone can remember, the city of Richland has upheld a tradition. Every five summers, current and former residents of the town of about 500 gather in the square for music, games and countless reunions.
Community members say the timing is just right. Hold a reunion every year, and it stops feeling special. But every five, and the event becomes a spectacle that can draw people from across the nation, back to their roots.
“People will come a long way for five years,” said Raymond Dickinson, a graduate of the Richland High School class of ‘43.
2024’s celebration was no exception: some vendors ran out of food, and parade float counts hovered around 90 as turnout exceeded expectations, according to organizers.
Sandy Greeson and Brad Swartzwelter were among the many friends reunited over the weekend. They hadn’t seen one another since 1982: Greeson moved from the Richland area to North Carolina around 25 years ago, while Swartzwelter’s family was from the area, but he grew up in Boulder, Colorado.
Both said their infrequent returns to town offered an odd perspective.
While the closure of a restaurant and the demolition of an old school building in recent decades do no favors for one’s nostalgia, they said there were plenty of new businesses to be excited about, like a day care center, mental health facility, a Jefferson County Health Center clinic and a soon-to-open meat locker and grocery store.
“It was sad to see the dissipation of the buildings and the businesses going out,” Greeson said. “But to see the revitalization is very heartwarming and fantastic, for this size of a town.”
Such major improvements are welcomed by the locals, bucking the stereotype of small towns resistant to change.
Korwin Hinshaw, president of the Richland Community Club, said members of the homecoming committee were quite intentional about this year’s theme: “come grow with us.” The slogan is meant to reflect the town’s expanding array of amenities.
“For a town of 500, Richland is very progressive,” Hinshaw said. “We are aggressive about going after business.”
Even as their surroundings change, the locals say Richland’s atmosphere remains alive and well. It’s a big part of the draw for those who return to town for the five-year homecoming festivities.
“All of the greatest people from town are still here, they’re just out in the graveyard,” Swartzwelter said. “But their legacy is still here. And to see so many young people shooting each other with water cannons and just having a ball, reminds me of being a little kid shooting each other with water cannons and having a ball. No matter how much things change, things don’t.”
Alumni tea held for the last time
Some hometown staples are harder to lose than others. An annual “alumni tea,” for instance, gathers the graduates of the Richland High School where the last graduating class walked the stage in 1961.
This year, however, the graduates voted to discontinue their annual get-together. The decision came after organizers said they wished to retire, and would need other officers to step up in their place.
The event has shrunk considerably in recent years. Last summer — not a homecoming year — only 14 guests turned out, and it’s become an annual tradition to read off the names of alumni who have passed away since the last year’s tea.
“It’s a sad thing really, it’s been a longtime thing. I’ve seen a lot of alumni go through the doors,“ said Richland Alumni Association President Shirley Nice. ”But we have two restaurants in town. If you feel you want to catch up with your old classmates, call them up and you can have lunch together.“
The organization will donate its roughly $600 of funds to the new child care center, after an overwhelming vote to do so from the alumni. Memorabilia, like newspaper clippings and yearbook pages, were collected by some of the graduates, with the remaining items given to the Richland Library.
Alumni said they were sad to see the tradition end, despite no votes to continue the tea. Many said they were too unsure about the future to step up as officers.
“I would’ve voted to take your place, but I might not be here next year!” said 101-year-old Lugene Hendrickson-Krieger, the last surviving member of the Richland class of 1940, who said she’d attended, by her recollection, every one of the gatherings.
Homecoming tradition extends to other communities
The five-year celebration may have Richland in its name, but it serves as a homecoming for other towns nearby as well.
“It’s a big deal, it always is,” said Latisha Yeoman, an Ollie resident with her own childhood memories of the event. “All of the communities in the area always come together. People from the area come home … and it’s just like I remember.”
Haylea Oostra, of Packwood, came out to the event for the first time this year, joined by her friend Krysta Sheetz, who lives just outside of town but also hadn’t attended a homecoming before.
Both said it was a bigger deal than they had anticipated.
“I wasn’t really expecting all of this,” Oostra said. “I thought it was just going to be a parade!”
Michelle Young was among the many volunteers who helped make the weekend happen. She was serving breakfast at 6 a.m. Saturday, brought cookies to the church for the alumni tea, and helped with a day care tour. She also signed up to help with the set-up and teardown.
It was easily worth the effort, according to Young.
“It’s a lot of fun, and it’s good to see people,” she said. “It’s good to make contacts that you haven’t seen in a long time, old neighbors.”
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
