By Rachel Bucci
The announcement that the Homer Davenport Days festival is moving from its traditional first weekend in August to July 15-17 in 2011 was greeted by surprise and concern by a number of citizens and community groups in Silverton.
Stacy Palmer, executive director of the Silverton Chamber of Commerce, said her office has fielded at least a dozen calls and twice as many emails from community members inquiring about the sudden date change.
“There are a number of unhappy people,” Palmer said. “I think the frustration lies in the fact that the decision was not a community decision, but a committee decision – which they have every right to do – but I don’t think they took into account the number of groups who use this event to build on.”
Lennez Hitzemann, president of the Davenport Days board, said the decision to change the date was made for several reasons – from a conflict with Silverton’s First Friday event, to weather and longer daylight hours, to a desire to present the event in July, when there isn’t another local attraction.
Hitzemann said as First Friday has grown, it has drawn crowds away from Davenport Days and the park. She also pointed out that it has rained on at least one day of the festival in recent years and that it rarely rains in July.
The Silverton Flywheels car show, Homer’s Classic 8K and the Lion’s Club breakfast are among the events traditionally scheduled to coincide with Homer Davenport Days.
Steve Ritchie, director of the Homer’s Classic 8K, said the Silverton Running Club, which organizes the race, was not consulted or informed about the date change.
“I think we are sort of an afterthought to the folks who put the festival on,” Ritchie said. “It’s a volunteer group, so maybe it was just an oversight. I don’t get the feeling they are intentionally excluding us, it’s just that this kind of thing has happened before.”
Ritchie said the Homer Classic is the club’s most important fundraiser; last year about 275 runners took part in the run which raised nearly $3,000 to support the cross country teams at Kennedy and Silverton high schools.
When asked what he thought of the date change and whether the race would follow suit Ritchie said the club would have to discuss it before making any changes.
“Who knows, we may stick with our date and have our event when we usually have it anyways. It’s pretty upsetting,” he said. “I heard it was a possibility that they were considering [a date change] but hadn’t heard anything final. I don’t understand it personally.”
These sentiments were echoed by Tom Worthen, president of the Silverton Lions Club, which runs a community breakfast on the Saturday and Sunday of Homer Davenport Days.
While Worthen did not want to go on record with an official statement representing the Lions Club – he cited an upcoming board meeting where the date change will be an agenda item – he did say on a personal level that he was disappointed with how the change was enacted.
“I think this is contrary to community history. This is supposed to be about community. It’s traditional, it’s a historic tradition that’s being disrupted,” Worthen said.
“The community was blind-sided by this. Nobody knew about it. I’ve been getting calls, because people want to know what are the Lions going to do,” he added.
While there may be no local events scheduled during the third weekend of July, many contacted pointed out that the Salem Art Fair is scheduled for that same weekend.
Hitzemann said the Homer board decided Davenport Days and the Salem Art Fair attract different crowds.
“We don’t feel that we are in competition with anyone because it’s a different demographic. The people who come to our event, they are different. They aren’t the high-end art people. We have different products,” she said.
With regard to First Friday taking away from the festival, Palmer thinks the opposite is the case.
“From everyone I’ve talked to, that shouldn’t do anything but help the festival,” she said, “by bringing in more people and building on those two events that bring people to town. I think the date change will hurt more than it will help.”
Chuck Pattee, chair for the Lions breakfast, agrees.
“First Friday brings people into town,” he said. “If the advertising and the business of doing this were handled in an efficient manner, I think it would bring more people to the park. They have vendors over there, music. Having things going on in the park is a bona fide extension of First Friday and gives another arm to First Friday.”
For her part, Hitzemann expressed frustration over the reaction to the date change. She said local groups have been invited to be part of the Davenport Days decision-making process in the past and have not taken up the offer.
“Homer Davenport board meets all the time. None of those groups have ever been involved in Davenport Days and they have never consulted us about what they are doing. I’ve asked those groups continually to send a representative to be part of the board and they have declined,” Hitzemann said. “Though they are happening on Homer Days, they are their own event(s). And they can continue to have their event on that weekend, if they can’t move or don’t want to move.”
Hitzemann also disputes affiliated groups weren’t notified until after the change was finalized, saying the board has been talking with people about it since last summer.
“We did not hear one negative thing about the move until we were ready to make the move,” she said. “There are people who are going to be complaining about it no matter what we do and there are people who are going to continue to be part of Homer. Change is hard.”
Hitzemann pointed out the Davenport Days board has asked the community to get involved in the past, but to no avail.
“We’ve been begging people.,” she said. “Until there is something like this, when there is controversy, we don’t hear from anyone about it. We’ve always looked for volunteers, advertised for volunteers. That is how the community can have some say in it – is by joining the committees. Anyone is welcome to be a part of Davenport Days. We’ve encouraged that for years. There aren’t enough people to help.”
There was one dissenting voice on the Davenport Days board. Liz Hess, who served as the group’s treasurer for the past three years, said she cast the lone vote to maintain the festival on the first weekend of August.
“My main concern was that I didn’t feel that the other groups in town were approached enough to where a dialogue was started,” Hess said. “Communication is important in these sorts of things.”
She also said she felt the timing was wrong for making such an important decision, with elections for new Davenport Days board members on the horizon.
“The board that is resigning should have let the new board make that decision,” she said. “I feel like it should have been put out for people to discuss because it is a community event and there are a lot of people involved. It’s very important to keep those ties open. That makes it a community festival.”
More community involvement and input is exactly what Palmer would like to see. “I would like to see the community come together and find a winning solution. Whether that’s a community forum or just having Homer share one of their meetings with the community and take suggestions. I really would like to see the community weigh in on this issue.”
Tom Worthen concurs. “This is a disappointing turn of events. I hope that the community will right this ship. This festival belongs where it traditionally is,” he said. “When it all comes out in the wash, I think this event will be in August. I hope so anyway.”
As to whether the event could return to the first weekend in August, that remains to be seen. “We have a group penciled in,” said Susan Sasano, YMCA program coordinator who schedules the pavilion at Coolidge & McClaine Park. “We just schedule them as they submit their request. But nothing is concrete until the paperwork is finalized.”
