Looking Back at Lucy ... the 100th Birthday Celebration

Most county residents and visitors will remember the Lucy Festival that celebrated Lucille Ball's 100th birthday.  I do because I was there.  The year was 2011 and 915 people dressed as Lucy setting a world record for the most Lucy look-alikes and a parade that featured several drum and bugle corps. passing through the area enroute to a national competition.  A sincere thank you to the late Bill Stevenson who arranged for all the corps to be part of that memorable parade to honor our hometown girl. 

One of several visiting drum and bugle corps for the historic parade.

Thanks to the late Bill Stevenson, longtime Jamestown resident

The festival showcased comedians Joan Rivers and Paula Poundstone.  In that year, Sirius XM Radio channel 82 hosted by Greg Bell launched Redhead Radio: 100 Years of Lucille Ball from The Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy.  It was a limited-run channel celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the comedy legend with non-stop broadcasts for two days of classic radio shows featuring the comedienne at key moments in her storied career, as well as interviews with her fans, devotees and fellow comedians.  Redhead Radio launched at 12:00 a.m. ET on August 6, 2011.

I have two memorable experiences to share during Lucy Fest 2011.  The first was being able to greet Lucie Arnaz as she entered the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum on the corner of Main and Third Street.  The second was meeting a young gal who had traveled to Jamestown from Australia.  As a festival volunteer that year, I took the time to welcome her to Jamestown.

We came together to honor Lucy's 100th birthday 15 years ago only to realize that she was the one bringing us together all along.  Lucy's story isn't measured just in years, but in memories shared.  So in 2026 as we celebrate Lucy's 115th birthday, 115 candles couldn't burn brighter than Lucy's smile.  Here's to Lucy and a spirit that keeps shining, long after the party ends.

As a family of Lucy fans we know that homes are built with walls, but they are remembered through the love, laughter and memories shared within them and Lucy has given us more than a century's worth as we sing the opening lyrics to the I Love Lucy theme song just in time for the 2026 Lucy Fest .. "I Love Lucy and she loves me".

The Lucy mask 915 Lucy look-alikes wore on August 2011.