ALUMNI — Individuals participated in a previous year’s Brilliant Blue Devils reunion parade. This year’s parade will be at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, in conjunction with Wells Township Community Days. -- Contributed
BRILLIANT — The annual Brilliant Blue Devils alumni celebration will be joined this week by Wells Township Community Days celebrations, offering three days of fun for community members of all ages.
Activities will be plentiful from Thursday through Saturday, with a full schedule of events available on the Wells Township Community Pool Facebook page.
Although Brilliant Memorial High School consolidated into Buckeye North High School in 1972 after 22 years in operation, its Blue Devils have been reconvening since 2016, when alumni created the Brilliant High School Hall of Fame to recognize athletes, coaches, teachers and other persons of note.
The hall of fame’s chairman, Kevin Barr, said the committee decided to join with the Wells Township Parks and Recreation Department this year to host more events for the community, in addition to the annual Blue Devils activities.
“We think it’ll give more of an opportunity for those coming back home and those who are local to actually have a variety of things to do and get the community atmosphere back into it, based on the other towns and communities that have community days,” Barr said.
Chrissy Crawford, the township’s parks and recreation and pool director, has been tasked with organizing the complementary activities. Her goal in organizing the community days — which haven’t been seen in Wells Township for years — was to “give back to the community, to the taxpayers” who support all of the township’s parks and recreation services through a half-mill tax levy.
“My vision is to sort of bring back ‘Home is where the heart is.’ Where neighbors come with neighbors and families get together just like in the old days,” said Crawford, who’s in her first year in the joint pool and parks and recreation director position.
Community days events are free and made possible entirely by community members’ participation and donations, she said.
Events will begin Thursday at 3 p.m. with a photo being taken of all Blue Devil men and women at the Coffee Pot Wall. Following will be a tour of the former Brilliant High School — now Buckeye North Elementary School — and viewing of the Brilliant museum, located in the band room. High school tours and museum viewing will be available again Friday.
There will be a meet-and-greet and fish fry at Brilliant American Legion Post 573 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. that is open to the public. The menu includes Coleman’s Fish Market fish dinner, fish nugget dinner, chicken tender dinner and shrimp dinner — each being $12. Dinners include french fries, coleslaw and bread. All dinners can be downsized to a $9 basket with no bread or coleslaw.
An adults-only bingo session will take place immediately afterward from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., open to the public. A Queen of Hearts drawing will take place at 8:30 p.m.
Also Thursday, the Wells Township pool will sponsor a free swim for grandparents and a night swim.
A Blue Devil picnic will take place at the Wells Township Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with hamburgers, hot dogs and refreshments provided. This will be open to Brilliant alumni and Buckeye North Huskies only.
At 4 p.m., the pool will host a free swim and see a visit from the Oglebay Good Zoo, along with vendors and crafts.
A sock hop will be held at the Buckeye North gymnasium from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The dance is free and open to the public, adults only. Crawford will be the DJ, and the sponsors are the Blue Devil alumni.
During the sock hop will be the annual Blue Devil Chinese auction. Food and refreshments will be available to the public by the Chew-Chew Train food truck outside the gymnasium from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday’s events will begin with a Wells Township Community Days and Blue Devils parade, which will assemble at 10 a.m. at the American Legion on Market Street. The parade will begin at 11:30 a.m. and proceed through town to the former high school football field, where there will be a car cruise. Admission to the car cruise is $5 per car, and there will be a DJ, face painting for kids, food trucks, attractions provided by Anthony Bailey, vendors and crafts and a performance by the Ron Retzer Trio from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
A cornhole tournament will take place at 2 p.m., with registration at noon at $10 per team. There will be a drawing for a 50-inch television and patio fire pit, as well as a 50/50, sponsored by the parks and recreation department. A movie night will be held after dark.
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