Homecoming is not just a time for Eastern students to celebrate. It’s also a time when alum and Charleston community members to reflect on former memories and enjoying the festivities every year.

Mayor John Inyart

For Charleston Mayor John Inyart, Homecoming is all about celebrating the event that brings new meaning with each passing year.

“Even as a young child, I remember it being a big deal,” he said. “The town would be packed with people.”

Inyart, a long-time Charleston resident, said he grew up about four or five blocks from the Square where his parents owned a shoe store. He said even in the past, Homecoming was a show-stopping event, with everyone putting their daily business on hold to enjoy the once-a-year festivities.

“(The shoe store) was open, but no one came in,” he said. “Some other businesses would even lock their doors to go outside and open up after the parade was over.”

Inyart said the community used to get in the Homecoming spirit by adorning their homes with elaborate Homecoming house decorations, something he said he and his family would look forward to every year.

“We would ride around and see all the houses well lit up in their front yards,” he said.

Inyart said as he got older, he began to see Homecoming in a different light and value it in a different sense now.

“I began to appreciate Homecoming for the actual homecoming aspect,” he said. “It brings alums back to town, and people can meet with friends and relive memories.”

Inyart said he has a completely

different perspective on Homecoming.

“As a business owner and mayor, I see it now as a way to showcase how the community has grown and changed,” he said.

Long-time Charleston

Resident Steve Witmer

Steve Witmer, a 1967 Eastern graduate in accounting, said even after all these years, he is still celebrating homecoming in the same house he has lived in since 1952.

Witmer said he and his wife, also an Eastern graduate, still commemorate Eastern’s Homecoming just as much as ever by hosting an open house for old alumni and friends. He said they begin their Homecoming festivities by watching the annual parade.

“We just stand around and talk, and drink coffee, eat donuts,” he said. “It’s a nice get together.”

Following the parade, Witmer said he and his wife host a chili lunch and have a cookout with friends. He said these events allow them to all catch up on each other’s lives.

“We look forward to it,” he said. “It’s a get together with a lot of friends, and it’s only once a year we can do that.”

Witmer said during his time at Eastern, he would attend all of the Homecoming events and festivities, including the bonfire, crowning, float building and the homecoming dance.

“It was a lot of fun and a lot of camaraderie,” he said. “There was a lot of fun and energy that went into homecoming.”

Witmer said he likes seeing future generations enjoy Eastern’s Homecoming as much as he did during his college years.

“I had a good time at Eastern, and I enjoy seeing people enjoy it now as well,” he said.

Alpha Gamma Delta Advisor Mary Droste

For Mary Droste, an Eastern graduate in physical education, Homecoming is all about celebrating memories, as well as the community.

Droste said having moved to Charleston in 1960, Eastern’s Homecoming has always been a yearly event that she looks forward to.

Whether locals or visitors are coming for the parade, Droste said everyone always has a good time.

“It’s a big thing for the town,” she said. “There are parties all up and down the street.”

Droste said old and new friends and former sorority members congregate at her house for Homecoming, and she and her husband, Richard, embrace the festivities.

“We have a breakfast for them,” she said. “People come back into town and check in with us. Everybody comes through our house to see what’s going on. You never know who you’re going to see on your front steps on Saturday morning.”

A former Alpha Gamma Delta and current advisor for the sorority, Droste said she especially looks forward to seeing what the sororities and fraternities’ plans are for Homecoming.

“It’s fun to see what they’re doing,” she said. “It’s always fun to see them get involved, as well as see people come back.”

Droste said she enjoys seeing the Greek life utilizing their resources to continue the tradition of floats in the parades, something she said was a great tradition during her time in school.

“It’s fun to see how they interpret things; I came from the era when we did floats and house decorations,” she said. “Now, they cost too much money to do it to magnitude as back then, but it’s always fun to see the fraternities and sororities band together and keep the homecoming floats going.”

Droste said she gets the most enjoyment of seeing current Eastern students continuing the Homecoming spirit.

“Watching a new generation watching do what you did, that’s what is exciting to me,” she said.

Sara Hall can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].