‘For the Love of the City:’ Record crowds come out for LaFayette High Alumni Homecoming Week
BY PAMELA HOLLOWAY
FOR THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Thousands of alumni, residents and visitors flooded the streets of LaFayette last week as the LaFayette High School Alumni Homecoming brought an estimated 5,000 people to town for a record-setting week of festivities.
Anchored by the theme “For the Love of the City,” the celebration spanned Sept. 6-12 and brought together 56 graduating classes from 1970 through 2026. The combined LHS classes of 2007 and 2008 served as this year’s host committee, dubbed the “7.5 Host,” with The Reach Agency, founded by 1995 LHS graduate Kalitha Reynolds, serving as the week’s title sponsor.
The week kicked off Sunday night with A Player’s Ball casino night at the high school gymnasium, featuring custom novelty currency stamped with the Bulldog emblem. On Monday, organizers transformed the gym parking lot into an outdoor roller-skating rink for the Roll Bounce Skate Night, complete with area food trucks and local vendors.
Tuesday evening shifted the spotlight directly onto downtown businesses. Rather than centralizing dining in a single venue, organizers provided dedicated shuttle buses to transport attendees to local eateries, including Krave Korner, 37 Motor City South and Monte Alban, pairing dinner with live music, line dancing and karaoke.
Midweek activities continued Wednesday with Wine Down Wednesday, a silent sip-and-paint hosted at The Pearl, a newly opened venue in downtown LaFayette.
The celebration reached a historic milestone Thursday during the annual homecoming parade.
Approximately 12 charter buses rolled into the city carrying two collegiate marching bands: the Alabama State University Mighty Marching Hornets from Montgomery and the Talladega College Tornado Band from Talladega. Following the downtown parade, the ensembles squared off on the LaFayette band field for a “Fifth Quarter” battle of the bands. The evening concluded with a community bonfire.
On Friday, Bulldog fans gathered to tailgate before the homecoming game against Fayetteville. While the Bulldogs came up short on the scoreboard, the crowd’s enthusiasm carried seamlessly into the official post-game gathering.
Saturday’s daylong finale began at the band field with the Bulldog Family Reunion and Alumni Picnic. Despite sweltering late-summer heat, generations of alumni filled the field with family tents, rows of barbecue grills and an unexpected centerpiece: a full-scale zip line across the grounds.
The week drew to a close Saturday night with an Uptown Block Party on the courthouse square, featuring food vendors, music and a mechanical bull. As the downtown crowd expanded well beyond capacity, organizers and the host committee opted to close the event slightly ahead of schedule as a safety precaution.
Organizers noted that the overwhelming turnout across the seven days highlighted the event’s central mission: reinvesting in local businesses, bridging generations of Bulldog graduates and celebrating the community they call home.
