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The Town of Homer was  incorporated in March 1850 and on
Saturday, November 11, 2000 will be celebrate its 150th birthday. The
Sesquicentennial Celebration will include a number of activities, but
most importantly it will give residents and visitors an opportunity
to step into the past. People will gather around the beautiful
antebellum Courthouse in their 1850 attire, stroll the town square, and
enjoy the food and the music of the North Louisiana Piney Hills.
Entertainment will begin at 10 AM on the Town Square and will continue throughout the day, ending with a big "Birthday Bash"
beginning at 6:30 PM in Homer City Hall. Emcee for the day will be
former town councilmen Keith Beard. He will introduce a showcase
of area talent performing bluegrass, country, gospel, spiritual, and pop. The Space Walk's Jupiter Jump, Clown Face, pony rides and more will be available for the kids.
Heading up the entertainment will be Homer Bailes of the Bailes Brothers of Grand Ole Opry and Louisiana Hayride fame, the Walkway of Stars in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Smithsonian Institution. Homer will bring along his band "Louisiana Homefolks". Homer will sing the famous "Dust on the Bible" as well as "That's the Man I'm Looking For," "Miracle Worker" and "Something's Got A Hold Of Me".
An old-fashioned barbershop quartet featuring Dick Dorrell, Patrick Gladney, Wayne Smith, and Jerry Thompson will perform a number of
songs from days gone by. And before the day is over, visitors will be tapping their toes and clapping to the lively gospel music of the First Ebenezer Baptist Church Choir.
Other performers include Ellen Smiley,
Eugene Kendrick, Nancy Nelson, Dump Hatter, Debbie Kelley, Tommy
Jane English, Chris Sherrill, Randy Brown, Kenny Harrison, Christy
Gladney, Johnny McDaniel, First Presbyterian Church Choir, Rhianna
Emerson, the 12th of April, the St. John Drill Team and the Joanne Lay singers.
The Beard Growing Contest will be judged at 9:30 AM downtown
according to Chairman Allen Nipper. Prizes will be awarded to winners in
four categories: "Start From Scratch," "Start From Scratch - Elected Officials," "Men With Existing Beards," and "The Best Beard In 1850 Period Costume." The last two categories are open to anyone who signs up prior to the judging Saturday morning.
The Homer High School Drama Club, under the direction of Denice Owens, will put on a mock courtroom drama in the courtroom of
Claiborne Parish's beautiful antebellum courthouse--the only pre-
Civil War courthouse in the state in continuous use since the 1860s.
There will be four performances of a short fictionalized play based on
a gunfight in Homer sometime prior to the Civil War, where local resident
Robert Pair shot two sons of a local judge. According to one of Pair's
descendants, the family legend says Pair was aided in his escape by the
 local sheriff, then fled to Texas where he changed his name to
Alexander Jones. Performances will be held every hour beginning at 1 PM.
The Taste of Homer was a huge success last year. This year's event is expected to be bigger and better. As many as 100 dishes prepared by local residents will be laid out for sampling in Homer's historic City Hall. Tickets are $7.50 and include a drink in a Sesquicentennial Coca-Cola Cup. Also on sale will be a "Sesquicentennial Cookbook" featuring the "Taste of Homer" dishes along with some history and pictures of Homer over the last 150 years.
The Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum will open at 10 AM with free admission and will feature "Folklife Traditions in Claiborne Parish," an exhibit of churches throughout the  parish, both black and white. The Museum is housed in the former Hotel Claiborne built in 1890 and donated to the town for the museum by Dorace Maritzky Fichtenbaum in 1982. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The multi-level museum is like an "Old Folks Home", full of artifacts covering the following periods of history: Indian, Pioneer, Ante-bellum, War between the States, and Turn of the Century. Rooms include the F.C. Haley Education Exhibit, the Medical Room, the Hotel  Room, the David Wade Military Room, the Trophy Room, the General Store, the
Hotel Parlor, the Chapel, the Carriage Room, and the Fabric Room.
Several older Homer churches, some dating back to Homer's origin 150
years ago, will be open for tours between 2 PM and 4 PM. They are
the First Baptist Church, First United Methodist Church, First Ebenezer
Baptist Church, Lane Chapel C.M.E. Church, First Presbyterian Church,
and Mt. Calvary Baptist Church.
Homer High School is celebrating their 100th year this year. The school,  which was built in 1927, will be open for viewing between 1 PM
and 5 PM. The Homer High Public School first opened in 1900 in the
old Homer Male College located at the present Jaycee Park. This
building was torn down in 1914 to make way for a new building, which
was converted to an elementary school in 1927, after construction of
the present building was completed. Homer Junior High, fomerly Mayfield High School, on Pearl Street will alos be open for viewing.
Visitors can stroll around the historic town square or get the feel of what it was like during the late 1800s, such as ride in the wagon of John Sanders behind his team of Haflinger horses, with their white manes and tails. This breed of horse originated in the Austrian Alps and are known for their very calm disposition.
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