MULBERRY, Kan. — What started out as a light drizzle turned into a beautiful evening Friday at the annual Mulberry Homecoming, also known as “Orange and Black Night.”
Alumni, family, friends, county residents, and even politicians gathered in downtown Mulberry during the weekend to celebrate a tradition that has been taking place since 1975, originally beginning as a way to raise funds for Christmas lights.
The annual event kicked off with the traditional cake walk. Participants made their way around the painted circles in the Mulberry Senior Center for the chance to win one of the coveted cakes. The parade then kicked off, featuring local emergency services, classic cars, political candidates, and service providers.
This year’s celebration also recognized America’s 250th birthday. Lady Liberty made an appearance as floats were decorated from top to bottom with red, white, and blue as the songs “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen and “American Pie” by Don McLean blared over the speakers.
Other events during Friday’s celebration included inflatables, turtle races, food vendors, craft vendors, a car show/bike show, and kid's games in the park.
Rain or shine, supporters of the community showed up en masse to reminisce, create new memories, or just relax within the town of over 400 residents.
“Oh man, everybody lives for this event; if you came from Mulberry, if you live in Mulberry,” said Mulberry Mayor Randy Jones. “The ironic thing is that the people that are from Mulberry that have ventured out into Pittsburg, Frontenac, Girard, and all the areas, theycome back and they enjoy the whole weekend here.
“When I first moved out here, it was a three-day deal. I was like ‘This is crazy, I cannot believe they do this.’ ... This event, I mean, look at the kids out here. They are all having fun playing, their parents aren’t worried about them ... We’ve got the (Crawford County) Sheriff’s Department out here walking around, doing their job and stuff. We feel really safe about our community. It’s just really nice.”
This reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/Localnews.
