PEMBROKE — Saturday is the final day of the 50th annual Lumbee Homecoming, and it promises to be an exciting finish blessed with good weather.
“It looks like there will be scattered thunderstorms that clear out by 9 a.m., and it will remain dry for the parade,” Pembroke Police Chief Ed Locklear said. “They are calling for temperatures around 80 degrees at 10 a.m. for the start of the parade.”
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will be in Pembroke to celebrate Homecoming. He is expected to be at the parade and at the AISES Powwow, which is scheduled for noon on the campus of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
Pembroke loves a parade and this one will feature the usual selection of pageant princesses, politicians, American Indian dancers and businesses.
Miss Lumbee and Junior Miss Lumbee were crowned Friday, and the parade is their first formal appearance. The tribe’s first Miss Lumbee, Dr. Cheryl Ransom Locklear, is the parade marshal. Locklear won the crown in 1967.
Cruising returns to Pembroke, but golf carts are the vehicle of choice. Chief Locklear said he expects 1,300 golf cart to be registered by Saturday. That compares with 1,000 this past year.
Saturday is the final day for vendors who will line Odom Street from Pembroke Park to the grounds of the Lumbee Regional Development Association. Jewelry, T-shirts, crafts and food of all kinds are on the menu.
The activities begin early with the 5K Run and Walk. Registration at Southeastern Lifestyle and Fitness Center starts at 5:45 a.m. The race starts at 6:30 a.m.
The annual car show begins at 8 a.m., and vendors open for business at 9 a.m.
The Museum of the Southeast American Indian in Old Main will give tours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Summer Art Show and Sale also will be on display.
After the parade, the AISES, or American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Powwow will feature the coronation of the Lumbee Ambassadors at 12:30 p.m.
People not attending the outdoor gospel concert on LRDA’s grounds beginning at 6 p.m. may be doing what Pembroke Mayor Greg Cummings will be doing.
“We have a lot of family, and I grill out,” Cummings said. “I have to do a lot of shopping for that. Then we all watch the fireworks.”
The fireworks, which will start about 9 p.m., will close out the Lumbee Homecoming.
Chief Locklear said Lumbee Homecoming has gone smoothly with only minor traffic issues.
“We are good to go for another 50!” he said.
