ELDRED — Inspired by the Old Home Days Committee, a new committee has been meeting since last summer in order to bring the townships of Otto and Eldred together for a family-friendly summer event.
The new Otto Eldred Hometown Days Committee has been working diligently with new members and previous members of the Old Home Days Committee to plan for the Otto Eldred Hometown Days, which will take place on Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23 in the Otto Township Park.
Last year was the 29th and final year for the Old Home Days event, leaving many disappointed families in its wake, wondering if the communities would ever gather in such large crowds again for any event.
“The Annual Otto Township Old Home Days was a special event to say the least. The record breaking crowd was treated to their biggest fireworks display, capped off with a grand finale that featured an earth shaking 1,400+ shells..“
Although the new Otto Eldred Hometown Days will not feature the classic fireworks display, which Old Homes Days was known for, they will feature some of the familiar fun events such as the car show, tractor pull, Redneck Olympics, as well as food, craft and many local vendors.
“Just like with Old Home Days, the goal of the Otto Eldred Hometown Days is to create a family-friendly event for all ages for Eldred and Otto Townships, plus all the surrounding areas,” said President of the Otto Eldred Hometown Days Committee Noah Jordan.
Jordan explained that the tentative format for the Otto Eldred Hometown Days event was currently Friday night the event would run from 4 to 9 p.m. and feature family-friendly entertainment while Saturday the event would run from approximately 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. with entertainment geared towards what Old Home Days was.
“We are also looking into new attractions such as a petting zoo,” said Jordan. “Although we gained enough community support to announce the event, we are still currently in the planning stages — so times and attractions are liable to change.”
The annual Cash Bash, which will take place on May 21 at the Otto Township Volunteer Fire Department, will still continue on as a community fundraiser.
“We are so glad to continue with this fundraiser, because it is a great fundraiser that the community seems to really enjoy,” stated Jordan. “The Cash Bash will help fundraise for the summer event.”
Tickets for the Cash Bash are currently available and can be purchased from committee members. To purchase a ticket send a message to the committee’s Facebook page via Facebook.com/otohd.
“The summer weekend event will remain in Otto Township, but we are hoping to organize other events during the year, possibly during Christmas-time, to help bring the communities together more,” explained Jordan. “We are open to ideas, and welcome people from Otto Township or Eldred Borough/Township to come to our meetings and get involved!”
For individuals who would like to be involved in planning this upcoming event, the next scheduled meeting of the Otto Eldred Hometown Days Committee will be held at 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 10 at the Otto Township Park.
“We are definitely still looking for volunteers. This whole thing was really close to not happening at the end of last year and we don’t want the event or ideas to fizzle out,” explained Jordan. “We have learned in the past year that this is a lot of work. If you want to help the event a little bit, please come help. Many hands make for light work.”
