Homewood is turning 100 and is marking the milestone with a gala designed to look and feel like the year it all began. The Centennial Gala kicks off at 5 p.m. on October 15 with a pre-party on City Hall Plaza, followed by a 6 p.m. program at Rosewood Hall, 2850 19th St. S., where organizers promise an evening steeped in the style and spirit of 1926.
According to the Homewood Star, the pre-party will feature a DJ, a red-carpet experience and complimentary gigglewater, period slang for the era's favored tipple. Once guests move into Rosewood Hall, Homewood Pops will supply the music and Real & Rosemary will handle the food, while the program weaves in stories from the city's past alongside displays of local memorabilia. Mayor Jennifer Andress and Chris Cooper will co-emcee the night.
Mayor Jennifer Andress will take part in the celebration, which marks Homewood's centennial.
A City Born From Four Communities
Homewood was formed on October 29, 1926, when Edgewood, Rosedale and Grove Park combined to create a single municipality; the neighborhood of Hollywood was annexed three years later, in 1929, per the City of Homewood. That founding date is why the gala's October 15 date functions as a kickoff rather than the anniversary itself, with the official 100th birthday landing at month's end alongside a planned time capsule burial.
The gala sits inside a fuller slate of centennial programming. An October 4 Centennial Film Festival, an October 16 brunch honoring former mayors and council members, an October 17 community picnic and the October 29 time capsule ceremony round out the month, the city notes. The gala itself is the ticketed centerpiece.
Funding a Garden Left by Homewood's 'Plant Lady'
Individual gala tickets run $100, with tables of ten priced at $1,000, and both can be purchased through the city's bidding site, per the Homewood Star. A silent auction tied to the gala opened October 1 and closes at 7:30 p.m. on the night of the event, and people can bid without attending in person. A live auction, led by Christie King, will run during the program itself.
Proceeds from the night are earmarked for capital improvements at Miss Sims Garden, a five-lot botanical park in the Edgewood neighborhood that longtime resident Catherine Anville Sims, known locally as the plant lady, bequeathed to the city. The garden sits between 908 Highland Road and 913 Irving Road, with visitor parking along Irving Road, according to the City of Homewood.
Plans for the park include stormwater management and accessibility improvements, restoration of plants based on Sims' inventory, a solar-powered greenhouse and an interactive children's garden, the Homewood Star reports. The Homewood Star separately reports planned future features including an outdoor kitchen.
The park is hosting its 8th annual Fall Pumpkin Patch and Scarecrow Contest, open September 26 through October 31, with this year's entries built around a centennial theme asking participants to craft scarecrows representing Homewood icons from the past century.
Homewood's Schools
The city established its own independent school system, Homewood City Schools, in 1970. ComebackTown describes the schools as a major driver of the city's success, according to ComebackTown.
A century after Homewood was founded, the city has grown to nearly 28,000 residents while holding onto a stock of 100-year-old Tudor, Craftsman and Spanish Revival homes across its founding neighborhoods, the Over the Mountain Journal reports. The gala, with its 1926 dress and décor, is meant to put that long arc on display for one night before the city moves into its final rounds of birthday events later in October.
