Kendall hosts dance for Homegrown Days

Photos by Sue Cook – Frannie Hicks, left, dances with her daughter Tara Hicks, Joan Weed and Marilyn Gilbert, far right.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

KENDALL – Friday night, Kendall kicked off their 3rd annual Homegrown Days with “The Lego Movie” on the Town Hall lawn. About 150 people came to the viewing, which was the first of three weekend events.

The fire hall hosted Saturday’s event due to the rain. Originally a street dance was scheduled to take place in front of the fire hall. However, rain and chilly weather pushed the event indoors. Nearly 100 Kendall residents came out to the dance.

“It’s an event to get people to get together,” said Kendall Town Supervisor Tony Cammarata. “It’s to meet people and renew friendships.”

The band Country Class provided music for the event. Pictured from left: Al Ramsay, Richard Vernon, Bruce Huchzermeier and Larry Weed.

The weekend’s theme is to celebrate Kendall through community events. The tradition began on the town’s bicentennial and has continued since. The events are free to the public and provide a gathering place for people to get together to see familiar faces and make new connections.

The fire department sold beverages as a small fundraiser. The Concordia Lutheran Church sold ice cream.

“It’s nice to see the people get together,” said Church Council President Alan Lambert. “You see people you don’t get to see all the time.”

Country Class, led by Kendall resident Larry Weed, entertained the crowd throughout the evening with a mix of country, ’50s and ’60s music. They were also the featured band last year.

Larry Weed performs with his band.

“It kind of brings the whole community together,” Weed said. “You know people, but you don’t really get to talk to them that much. It’s a great thing. It’s a quiet town and a great town. The people are good. I know if anything happened the people would come together and help each other out.”

The Lawn Chair Ladies do a dance to “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.

The Kendall Lawn Chair Ladies also stepped in during an intermission to perform a set of dance numbers. The group practices dance numbers from March until August to perform at parades and other events. The group formed for the Kendall bicentennial.

Kim Corcoran led the Lawn Chair Ladies. She said the group was originally founded to add something to the bicentennial parade after seeing the Saranac Lawn Chair Ladies on Youtube.

Corcoran, front right, leads the group in another dance.

“I also think it’s that baby boomer thing,” said Corcoran. “We just don’t want to quit. We don’t want to say die. We want to keep as active as possible.”

The Homegrown Days will conclude Sunday morning with a nondenominational community worship service at Gazebo Park at 10 a.m.