The City of Athens and local businesses are preparing for Ohio University’s Homecoming Week a week earlier this year.
OU Homecoming has been moved a week earlier this year than in previous years due to this year's football schedule.
Homecoming Weekend begins Monday and lasts through Saturday rather than the usual first week of October.
The decision to move the date of Homecoming was made in March. Jennifer Bowie, the associate vice president of alumni relations and annual giving and executive director of the OU Alumni Association, said in an email the decision was based on the Mid-American Conference football schedule.
The Alumni Association partnered with Intercollegiate Athletics, the Division of Student Affairs, Alden Library and multiple colleges to plan Homecoming and offer current and former Bobcats a plethora of activities.
“We offer a wide variety of programming for Homecoming week,” Bowie wrote. “From Paint the Town Green to the Bobcat Quest, Parade Live Stream, and Bobcat Family Tent, there's something for everyone leading up to Saturday's Homecoming Bobcat Football contest.”
The Ohio University Police Department is typically busy during Homecoming weekend. OUPD Captain Tim Ryan wrote in an email that while OUPD does not bring in outside agencies specifically for Homecoming, they ask outside agencies for assistance at home football games.
The Athens Police Department and OUPD set up a temporary booking facility to use in the event of mass arrests for major events like Halloween or the larger street fests, but Homecoming does not necessitate that level of preparation, Ryan said.
Brenen’s Coffee Cafe has been a staple in the Athens community since 2000. Josh and Jessica Thomas, two OU alumni, own the cafe and have experienced their fair share of Homecomings.
“It’s fun,” Josh said. “You see a lot of alumni that come back … For my wife and I personally, we've actually worked here since 1997 … so you're talking 27 years we've been here. It's fun to see people come back that we know that were probably here 20 years ago, and they still remember us.”
Josh Thomas said Brenen's begins preparing food, drinks and cold brew a couple of days ahead of time to prepare for homecoming, the cafe’s busiest weekend in the fall.
“We try to get all that done as much as we can those couple days beforehand,” Josh Thomas said. “Homecoming, such a busy weekend, we try to keep it simple. We don't want to try to do too much.”
With Homecoming earlier this year, Brenen’s Coffee Cafe has experienced a quicker turnaround time from Family Weekend, another one of the cafe’s busiest weekends, which took place Sept. 13-15.
“We got this one weekend in between, so that's kept us a little bit busier.” Josh Thomas said. “In past, we might have had two or three weeks in between, so it’s a little easier to prep, but we'll get it done. We're used to it.”
HangOverEasy, a diner on Court Street, also experiences Homecoming as one of their busiest weekends.
Matt Ayers, a general manager at HangOverEasy, said in order to be ready for Homecoming, the diner tries to have extra staff on shift and has them arrive 30 to 45 minutes early to prepare the restaurant.
“(We are) just making sure that the staff doesn't get overwhelmed,” Ayers said. “That's inevitable in some regards, but also some of our staff is fairly new. It's going to be their first homecoming, and (we) just make sure we've got proper training and all the tools that they need.”
Ayers said that during Homecoming Weekend, HangOverEasy always has a line going out the door, but it is always a fun weekend.
“(Homecoming Weekend) can be really fun as long as things don't get too out of hand,” Ayers said. “Of course, you're gonna have those customers that have a little too much to drink before they come in, but we have regulations in place to just make sure nobody's ever served things like that.”
Bowie said it is a fun challenge to try to honor OU’s Homecoming traditions every year while finding interesting ways to connect with all generations of OU students.
Bowie said as a member of the Alumni Band, the feeling of marching up Court Street is like no other.
“It's so much fun to see the community — students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends — line the streets of Athens to celebrate the Bobcat spirit,” Bowie said.
