TOWNVILLE — At first, Brian Lowery said, helping with Townville Old Home Days just seemed like it might be a good way to fill a project requirement for next school year, and probably not much more.

But when it came time to start pitching in on some of all the work that goes into organizing the long-held community festival — which kicked off Friday and continues through tonight — Lowery said he quickly learned something that homework can’t really teach.

“Everyone here is so nice, and so giving,” the ingoing Maplewood High School senior said during a quick work-break Friday. “It’s hard to believe there are so many people who just give and volunteer their time. ... They’re good people, and that’s hard to find.”

But those people can be found — along with a lot of things to see and do — as the festival continues today in and around Maplewood Elementary School, with a broad array of attractions and games, foods, live entertainment and more for all ages. Beyond that, according to organizers and event-goers, Old Home Days has also become a homecoming of sorts for many people around the area.

It’s “a nice place to go to see people you don’t (often) see. ... You always run into somebody you haven’t seen for a long time and end up talking with them,” said Centerville resident Jennifer Loucks, who was working with her children early Friday afternoon to set up the festival’s pony rides near the school that her kids and husband all previously attended.

“It’s a good thing to come to,” Loucks said.

It appears plenty of people, local or otherwise, agree with that: Event officials put their general attendance estimates at upwards of 4,000 over the course of Old Home Days’ two-day run.

But even with that many people filling the school’s grounds, the atmosphere there is one of “a big family,” said Alex Rumzie, a 16-year-old Maplewood student who volunteers along with her grandmother, longtime event co-chair Doreen Rumzi.

Alex also serves as the only female junior firefighter at Townville Volunteer Fire Department, which, along with Townville Volunteer Ambulance Service, benefits from all proceeds of Old Home Days. Proceeds of the event (used to fund operations and necessary equipment purchases) are divided, with 50 percent to the fire department, 30 percent to the ambulance service and 20 percent to the fire department auxiliary, according to officials. Other local emergency departments and nonprofit groups also help out, and operate their own stands to fundraise for their respective organizations, said Rumzi and the event’s other longtime co-chair, Garold Molli.

In all, they said, about 200 volunteers each do their part to bring the fun for Old Home Days each year.

And “we could not touch doing it without all of those people,” said Molli. “That really makes it possible.”



Ryan Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at rsmith@meadvilletribune.com.



You can go

The 43rd annual Townville Old Home Days continue throughout today at Maplewood Elementary School, with a broad array of attractions and games, foods, live entertainment and more for all ages.

Here are some highlights of what’s happening today:

-8 a.m. — 5K race

-10:30 — Parade on Main Street

-Noon — Food booths open

-Noon to 1:30 p.m. — BrightGray performs on main stage

-1 — Parade trophies awarded; firemen’s water battles; car show; corn-hole tournament qualifier

-2 to 3:30 — Allison Mattis performs on main stage

-4 — Horseshoe pitching tournament; “The Tom & Lin Show” begins on main stage

-5 to 8 — Bingo in school cafeteria

-6 — Corn-hole tournament finals; Country Kickers perform on main stage

-7 — Festival book dedications

-7:30 to 10:30 — Sierra performs on main stage

-8:30 — Introduction of Old Home Days Pageant queens on main stage

-9 — Auction winners announced

-10:30 — Raffle prize give-aways



Get involved

To volunteer to help with next year’s Townville Old Home Days — a long-held, annual community festival benefiting Townville’s volunteer fire and ambulance services — contact Garold Molli at 967-3813 or Doreen Rumzie at 967-2278.

This year’s event cleanup begins at 8 a.m. Sunday at Maplewood Elementary School, and volunteers are invited to stop by to pitch in.