Hampton’s 150th re-scheduled for Summerfest weekend

A celebration of Hampton’s past, present and future won’t happen as initially planned but a party will happen eventually.

The Hampton Historical Preservation Society and the Hampton 150th Committee last week announced that Hampton’s Sesquicentennial Celebration, scheduled for June 5 through June 9, has been postponed.

The committees also announced intentions to move the celebration to the last weekend in August, to coincide with Hampton’s annual Summerfest on August 29. Events will kick off on August 27 and run through August 30. A full list of events has not been announced yet, but the weekend will still include live entertainment and other community events.

“The committee feels that due to current environmental concerns, it will be much safer to the public to postpone than risk the health and well being of our community,” a release issued by the 150th Committee stated. Most of the events will still transpire, only in a shorter time period.”

Mardell Van Kleeck, committee representative, she appreciated the understanding of the Vic Ferrari Band, the Franklin County Fairgrounds representatives and all others who adjust their schedules to fit with the date change.

She added that the committees are thankful they were able to pick a suitable date to reschedule, as the city’s 150th is worthy of a major celebration.

“We feel that it's important to celebrate the 150th this year since it's the correct year and we have been working on this for quite some time,” she said. The public has been looking forward to it and by then we hopefully will have gotten past this pandemic and are ready for a celebration.”