09/01/2026
Great information from Cheryl Lewis:
Pipers, we are on the 3-week countdown until Homecoming 2026! We are excited for this year's event as we celebrate "America 250" along with our Hamlin heritage. Get ready to bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the the downtown Saturday events and explore downtown Hamlin. Just to give you an idea of some of the parade entries you can expect: our parade kickoff will be featuring The Big Country One Formation Flight Team performing over downtown Hamlin doing a starburst exhibit of their planes complete with smoke trails; Fort Griffin will be bringing some of their official State of Texas Longhorns both for the parade and immediately following for exhibit and education on S.E. 3rd Street between the Snow Cone stand and the former Camacho and Charley's building; Sweetwater's W.A.S.P. Museum will be driving one of their WASP re-enactors in a WWII jeep, and they will join beside Fort Griffin's longhorns on S.E. 3rd to allow you to visit with the re-enactor about the important role the women pilots played in WWII.; the Jones County Cowgirls equestrian group will be in the parade, along with the Abilene Pipers bagpipe players. The Texas Cowboys' Christmas Ball from Anson, TX will also be one of the guest floats in the parade in addition to several of our own local organizations such as our Trail Life Scouts and Hamlin Lions Club, ex-student and high school floats, bicycles, and our Hamlin Marching Green Band. There will also be a historical exhibit of script and photos in the windows of the former Heidenheimer's building on snippets of Hamlin's history, along with the Memorial photos in the alcove of between Details and Rodgers & Co., C.P.A. and the high school and ex-students queens and kings displays in the windows of Bell's Home and Auto.
Our Parade Grand Marshall will be Mr. William J. Brown, a Korean War Veteran who served on the front lines during the war and followed as a reservist for a few years post war. Mr. Brown just recently turned 95.
You don't want to forget the live entertainment that will start up at 10 a.m. in front of the bank, and the donation-only lunch meal of hamburgers, hot dogs with all the condiments, chips and a drink to benefit our loyal Hamlin Volunteer Fire Department. Our two $1000 ex-student scholarships will be awarded at 12:30 in front of the bank.
Registrations via online and by snail mail have thus far been below 100....we mail out over 2000 letters, so its time to get your registrations, votes, memorials, sponsorships in the sooner the better. You can always do all of the activities online via our web page, PLUS correct your addresses on the Home page portion of our web page under "Update Your Contact Info."
Per the current TX-DOT regulations for a parade and its route, no vehicles may be parked at the start time of the parade on the parade route itself. This is a safety issue to allow those driving vehicles in the parade to better see anyone that perhaps might dart out to grab some candy, etc. The north bank parking lot will be designated as a Handicapped parking area for the morning, and will be marked as such. All side streets with the exception of S.E. 3rd Street may have parking on them and even face the parade route for the parade time. There will be plenty of overflow parking available behind the businesses, along S.E. Avenue A, portions of S.W. Avenue A, the south parking lots for the Church of Christ and New Beginnings Church in addition to the east and north parking lots of First Baptist Church. We must follow these guidelines or risk losing our parade permit. We thank you in advance for your understanding and for a few extra steps we may have to make.
Jantz Botos, HCISD Class of 2025 — Recipient of the Hamlin Ex-Students Alumni Memorial Scholarship Attending West Texas A & M in Canyon, TX — Majoring in Pre-Pharmacy with the goal of becoming a pharmacist.
