TOURISM
Falls to join homecoming events
NIAGARA FALLS — Buffalo Homecoming will include a little Niagara Falls next year.
The annual effort to lure Buffalo expatriates back to Western New York has teamed up with a grass-roots group from Niagara Falls to create a four-day lineup of events that will mirror those in Buffalo.
Volunteers from Niagara Rises for the first time will offer “Niagara Homecoming” from June 25 to 28 to coincide with events during Buffalo Homecoming.
“The two events will cross-pollinate,” said Niagara Homecoming organizer Frank T. Croisdale. “We’re really excited about what this means, not only for Niagara Falls, but for regionalism. We truly believe that those two events are an example of the first true regionalism happening between Niagara Falls and Buffalo.”
The two events will hold simultaneous job fairs and concerts in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, but organizers hope to provide enough variety that people who return to the area will want to visit both.
Tours that highlight Niagara County’s wineries, Underground Railroad history and mob legends will be among several new additions to the homecoming events.
Marti Gorman, organizer of Buffalo Homecoming, said the tours may be the best opportunity to “bridge” the two communities.
“Who doesn’t want a tour of the Niagara Falls area?” Gorman said.
Niagara Homecoming will also offer a sunrise spiritual service on Goat Island that organizers believe could attract attendees from Erie and Niagara counties on the last day of the homecoming weekend.
Gorman and a group of Buffalo residents helped revive Buffalo Homecoming — then known as Buffalo Old Home Week — in 2006 with the goal of convincing former residents to move back.
Events are designed to showcase the region’s jobs, housing and cultural opportunities.
Falls Mayor Paul A. Dyster said the economic downturn may make the Buffalo Niagara region look even more attractive to outsiders this year. BusinessWeek last month named Buffalo one of the top 20 communities in the United States to ride out the recession.
“All of a sudden, Western New York doesn’t look so bad as a place to live, as a place to work, as a place to raise your family,” he said.
For more information on both events, go online to www.buffalohomecoming.com or www.niagararises.com
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