"We are taking some old songs and adding a new spin. With the choir’s confidence in me and God’s guidance, we’re going to have an amazing Homecoming."”

Chastain Mitchell

This weekend’s 2024 Iuka Homecoming is the 25th edition of the biannual event that has drawn people whose family histories are rooted in Iuka back for fun times and reminiscences. Only the COVID pandemic of 2020 interrupted this longstanding tradition.

Committee organizers Cathy Mitchell Pritchard, Sabrina Cummings Mitchell, and Chastin Mitchell have worked very hard to make every detail of the weekend something everyone can enjoy.

“We have planned a schedule that includes a welcome night and dancing with a DJ on Friday, a basketball tournament, a horseshoe tournament, a spades card tournament, and another disco on Saturday, and ending with a memorial service at First Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday,’ said committee president Cathy Pritchard. “Everybody is welcome to this community event to enjoy each other.”

All activities will be held at the Johnson-Ford-Mitchell Community Center, located at 707 Spring Street, Iuka. A variety of food vendors, as well as other vendors, will be on site to offer refreshments throughout the day.Anyone interested in being a vendor can contact Pritchard at (662) 279-2955.

Friday’s “Meet and Greet” begins at 7 p.m., followed by dancing.

On Saturday, the basketball tournament kicks off at 8 a.m., horseshoe tournament at 4 p.m., and spades card tournament at 5 p.m., with dancing again beginning at 7 p.m.

Sunday’s worship service at First Missionary Baptist Church, at the intersection of Spring and Pike Streets, will honor the memory of those who have passed since the 2022 Homecoming. The guest preacher is Rev. Terrell Morris of South Bend, Indiana, whose grandparents -- the late Sam Leonard and the late Barnett Mitchell Leonard -- were Iuka natives.

Lifelong Iuka resident Lillian Carter Brock said she looks forward to each Iuka Homecoming celebration.

“I love to reminisce with people, friends and family that you haven’t seen in a long time,” she said. Brock has lost a number of family members -- a sister, nieces, cousins -- in less than two years, so this reunion also brings some sadness.

“I will certainly be missing those who are not here,” she said, but she will also enjoy the family and friends who remain.

Preparations for the weekend have also focused heavily on the memorial service on Sunday, with organization of a community choir, led by Chastin Mitchell. The group began rehearsals in May.

“I wanted to do a community to give everybody a chance to worship God together, no matter what denomination they might be,” Chastin said. “We got off to a rocky start, but we have come together with a group that is committed and hard-working,”

To get in the right spirit and set the right tone, she said they pray before every practice for God to use them.

“I feel so blessed to be the director at 23 years old, that they trust me and allow me to lead them,” Chastin said. “We are taking some old songs and adding a new spin. With the choir’s confidence in me and God’s guidance, we’re going to have an amazing Homecoming.”