When the planning begins in earnest for Hog Days 2026, three key members of the committee won’t be there to help.

Kaye Finney, long-time committee member, said co-chairs Mike Komnick and Larry Flannery have both tendered their letters of resignation to the committee. And long-time member and advisor to the committee Anne Murchison is retiring, meaning she will no longer attend the monthly meetings.

Finney, who was elected as the new co-chair, along with Robyn Resch, will take on the lead roles. Finney has been the committee co-chair before but it’s been a number of years since she has held the position.

Janie Metscaviz, who manages concessions, will be both treasurer and secretary. And elected vice-chairs will be Danielle Ince, Jessica Fornander and Anita Blanks.

The loss of Komnick means that jobs he did, such as entertainment and the barrow show, will need to be divided among the committee members. Flannery’s duties included keeping the books and handling technology for the committee. He also acted as the public spokesperson for the group, a duty that will now fall to Finney.

“We as a group are going to sit down and divide up these jobs,” Finney said. “We will redo all the jobs and make sure it’s completely even so we’re not giving our new people who have never been vice-chairs too much. And we don’t want to overextend ourselves either.”

Finney said the loss of Komnick, a 10-year member, and Flannery, a 25-plus year member, as well as the retiring of Murchison, who has been a member for 60 years, will be an adjustment.

“I am sorry to see them go. They all did fantastic jobs. They’re going to be missed, and we wish them the best in their future endeavors,” she said adding that if any of them wished to come back in the future, they would be welcomed.

Flannery, who suffered a broken hip that sidelined him just days before the Hog Days 2024 festival, had thought about retiring but said at that time that he would like to come back for at least one more year.

With the committee numbers getting smaller, Finney is making a pitch to Kewanee residents who are thinking about volunteering.

“If anybody is interested in joining us, we’d be very happy to have them,” she said. “We’d be very excited to have anyone come up and help us.”

The committee meets on the second Tuesday of each month at the Hog Day’s building at 7 p.m. For more information on volunteering, contact Finney at 309-540-9571.

***This copy has been edited to correct the information about Janie Metscaviz’s job with the committee. She manages concessions and not the flea market as previously reported.