Mount Vernon Homecoming Taps Into a Century of Tradition
Mount Vernon’s Oct. 3 Homecoming and Fall Fest brings tug-of-war back to Forest of Fame Park, a gathering place with roots reaching to a 1919 homecoming and a remarkable arboretum begun with George Washington elm seedlings in 1916.
When teams take hold of the rope at Mount Vernon’s Homecoming and Fall Fest this October, they will be doing more than competing for bragging rights. Tug-of-war has been part of community life at the same park for generations.
The 2026 event is set for Saturday, Oct. 3, beginning at 10 a.m. at Forest of Fame Park, 1689 Washington St. Tug-of-war is among the activities currently being advertised for the day.
The setting gives the fall gathering a history few community festivals can match. Forest of Fame began in 1916 when John Sweet Donald, then Wisconsin secretary of state and a University of Wisconsin professor, planted elm seedlings brought from George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate in Virginia. The first trees were planted on Arbor Day that year.
Even the word “homecoming” has deep roots in Mount Vernon. The March 1920 edition of Wisconsin Magazine of History reported that a celebration and homecoming was held there Oct. 24, 1919, marking the 75th anniversary of the settlement of the towns of Primrose and Springdale. Mount Vernon was selected because the community sits along the boundary between the two towns.
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