With just a month left before Millennium Homecoming celebrations get underway in Lake of the Woods Township, organizers are urging those who haven’t registered to do so–soon.
Slated Aug. 4-7, the homecoming is expected to attract some 700 current and former residents of Bergland and Morson and their surrounding communities, including McCrosson/Tovell, Arbor Vitae, Gameland, and Harris Hill.
But so far, only about 75 people have pre-registered.
“We’d like people to register [early] so that we have an idea of how many to expect for supper–so we have an idea of what we’re dealing with,” Sheila Gate, a member of the homecoming planning committee, said Monday.
People from as far away as Whitehorse, British Columbia, and Las Vegas are slated to attend.
“It’s beginning to come together very nicely. We’re down to how many pounds of potatoes and hamburger now,” LoW Mayor Valerie Pizey said earlier this week.
“For everybody we talk to, they say they’re coming and their families are coming,” said Pizey, also a member of the planning committee. “But [late registration] does make it difficult for supper plans.”
Still, organizers don’t plan a cut-off date for registrations (which cost $10 per person), with the biggest influx expected Friday, Aug. 4 starting at 4 p.m. in the new Bergland Hall.
Registration also will continue there all day Saturday, Aug. 5.
To encourage registrants to mix and mingle on the first evening, a “jam session” is planned at the hall.
“It gets everybody in the mood for the weekend–it’s a way of relaxing into it,” reasoned Gate, who urged people to bring along their favourite musical instruments.
Millennium Homecoming events will be centered at the hall, with opening ceremonies slated there on the Saturday (Aug. 5) following a pancake breakfast and parade.
Opening ceremonies also will include a ribbon-cutting for the hall, which was completed in late March.
A history display is planned Aug. 5-6 at the McCrosson/Tovell School, and the Harris Hill School House will be open to visitors Aug. 6 from 2-4 p.m.
“It’s a one-room school house that was built around 1925,” noted Carolyn Kreger, chairman of the Harris Hill School House committee.
The school, located 18 miles north of Rainy River on Highway 600, was in use until 1965 and underwent full restoration in 1992.
“It has all its original desks and blackboard and we have quite a nice collection of old books in its little library,” Kreger said.
Harris Hill School House also will be open for public tours July 16 during “Railroad Daze” festivities in Rainy River.
Meanwhile, the 100th anniversary of the Tomahawk Lighthouse in Bergland will be celebrated during the Millennium Homecoming with an open house and tour Aug. 5 at 1 p.m.
Morson’s annual fish fry and craft show, which kicks off Sunday, Aug. 6 at 1 p.m., also will be part of the homecoming celebrations.
Other activities include boat rides on Lake of the Woods and the Little Grassy River, plane rides over the area, horseshoe tournaments, a monster Bingo, and ball games.