The Home-Coming of 1907This is a featured page

The Home-Coming Festival of 1907 was a major event for Whitewater that commemorated the 70th anniversary of the town's first settlement. Lasting four days (July 4 - 7), the festival featured "exercises" (speeches and other pagentry), dances, a parade, balloon ascensions, baseball games, a lawn ornamentation contest, and a water fight between two crews of firefighters, among other things.
Log Cabin

The festival was the brainchild of Normal School President Albert Salisbury, who had returned to his previous home in Brodhead, Wisconsin, where he had been Superintendent of Schools, and witnessed that town's Home-Coming celebration. Duly inspired, he returned to Whitewater determined to mark the town's 100th anniversary with such an event. He placed an open letter in the newspaper on August 6, 1906, inviting interested citizens to convene for the purpose of "deciding whether such a festival shall be undertaken."

After convening, the committee placed the following notice in the August 10, 2006 issue of the Whitewater Register:

At the meeting of citizens last Monday evening it was formally and unanimously decided to have a Home Coming festival in Whitewater next year. President Salisbury, who knows more about the practical side of the making of such a celebration, told of the success obtained by both Waterloo and Brodhead. He did not let any one imagine the thing could be carried throuh without work or money, but cited the case of Brodhead where the event was made to be self-supporting, lacking three dollars. Testimony was plentiful that money for a home-coming would be obtained readily and further testimony was at hand that ex-citizens of Whitewater are the most loyal in the world and would be here by the hundreds next summer. Just when, next summer, was discussed and it was decided in a general way that three days of the Fourth of July week would be best.
The meeting then turned its attention to the formal organizing of the undertaking. A general committee of seven energetic citizens was considered as the first essential. In fact the personnel of this committee was so essential that it was moved and carried to have the Mayor Tratt appoint an advisory committee of two to assist him the selection of the general committee. This Mayor Tratt did and asked Messrs. D. S. Cook and F. H. Kiser to take up the matter with him. The meeting then adjourned. The advisory committee met Wednesday and selected the following for the general committee:

Albert Salisbury, Chairman
Severt J. Olsen
Reverand M. E. Downs
John Fryer
F. W. Tratt
George C. Shutts
T. M. Blackman

The committee is empowered to call another public meeting to appoint subcommittees for special work and to "go ahead."

Citizens will hear more about the details later. The cooperation of all is essential to the success of the undertaking and everyone is asked to begin NOW and list names of acquaintances once residents of Whitewater. Don't hesitate to put down a name because you think some one else will have it. The names will be carefully indexed and duplicates crossed off. Any who care can send names to this office and they will be sent Registers from time to time to inform them of what is going to happen next July and to educate them up to the proper degree of enthusiasm.
Now, everybody get behind this and PUSH!"
Next, over 2,000 letters of invitation were sent out to former Whitewater residents, inviting them to return for the festivities. In the end, over 2,500 did!

More about the 1907 Home-Coming:


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whitewateradmin 		Latest page update: made by whitewateradmin , Apr 24 2007, 1:21 PM EDT (about this update About This Update whitewateradmin Edited by whitewateradmin

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