Newfield Old Home Days brings fun to local families

This year, the hamlet of Newfield welcomed back its annual Old Home Days celebration with the theme of “Music in Motion” to remember the honorary grand marshal of this year’s parade, Vincent Aiosa.

When Aiosa and his wife came to Newfield in the early 1960s, no one could imagine the gifts and expansion he would bring to the instrumental music program at Newfield Central School District.

The district already had a concert band and a marching band; Aiosa added a pep band, a jazz band and a pit orchestra. After contributing over 30 years to broaden the scope of music in Newfield, he shared his talents with Ithaca College.

While there, Aiosa became involved in the Ithaca Community Band and reached out to the Newfield community to invite and encourage people to join in. During that time, several Newfield residents asked him if he would be interested in starting a community band in Newfield.

Having the commitment of alumni and students, Aiosa agreed, and the band performed concerts for years for the Newfield community. At the end of the final concert, Aiosa was honored by having the high school auditorium named after him.

“It was great to get out and interact with everyone and enjoy all the live music,” said John Cochran, owner of Cudlins Meat Market. “Although it can sometimes be difficult to support local and independent business[es], we appreciate that people know that it’s the right thing to do and all the support we’ve been given. As the cost of everything continues to skyrocket and we approach our second year, we’re proud to be in a community that will continue to be understanding and support us.”

The two-day celebration kicked off July 29 with live music, food offerings from the Newfield Lions Club and a fireworks display. Residents started the second day of the celebration with a high-energy parade that wound through downtown Newfield, featuring a collection of floats, fire trucks and classic cars.

The day’s festivities carried on into the evening, offering bounce houses, barrel train rides, a giant slip-and-slide and a ping pong ball drop for the kids that was sponsored by Tioga Bank. The Cornell Raptor Exhibit was on hand to give community members an opportunity to become involved directly with efforts to promote conservation of birds of prey.

“Old Home Days is the only festival Newfield has right now, and I missed the community spirit these past couple years that it could not happen because of COVID restrictions,” said Joleen Krogman, vice president of the Newfield Historical Society. “I had a sense of renewal just seeing all the people and togetherness.”

Krogman continued.

“On Friday, the school lawn was filled with families on blankets for the fireworks,” she said. “Saturday was a scene with hundreds lining the street for the parade. The Newfield Historical Society had a float in the parade for the first time ever! Folks are already talking about next year’s celebration. The Old Home Days committee should be very proud of their accomplishment.”

In keeping with the musical theme of the event, attendees were treated to performances by Donna and the Country Mystics, NEO Project, Toivo, Janet Batch and the Ithaca Concert Band.

“We purchased a full-size ad in the Old Home Days program, and we supplied ice throughout the entire event for the Lions Club whenever they needed it, free of charge,” said Jordan Rosenbaum, owner of the Seabring Inn. “We are happy to contribute to community events whenever we can, and we always do. It was a great celebration.”

On hand were a collection of vendors that ranged from the Girl Scouts to White Dog Apiary, offering information, community services and a collection of treats for purchase to take home as a memento of the event. The Methodist Church sold unique cutlery so people could have something to use every day to remember the fun of the two days.

“The library had their book sale, and Clean Energy Tompkins was there with solar options. Cudlins provided the meat for the Lions Club,” said Cathy Griggs, owner of White Dog Apiary. “We’ve never done a vendor booth in the past. We brought in an observation hive. Families kept circling around to look. The kids were excited to find the queen in the hive.”

Griggs added that “it was wonderful to see complete family units.”

“Grandparents to grandchildren [were] all together from the community,” she said. “It was great catching up and wonderful to see after the pandemic had shut so much down over the last two years. The fireworks were incredible. You could go to the end of our property and see them in the sky. They were beautiful. It’s nice to see so many people getting to participate in Old Home Days again and to have all of this to enjoy.”

Information on Old Home Days can be found at tinyurl.com/2pt6g3zd.

Newfield Notes appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.