http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110112/NEWS02/701129929
ublished January 12, 2011 in the Rutland Herald
Springfield to celebrate 250th anniversary of founding
By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield’s 250th anniversary committee wants to hold a whole series of parties this summer and it’s asking for some help.
The committee, which has been planning the celebration for almost two years, says it needs an additional $7,500 to pay for all it has planned.
Springfield Select Board member John Swanson, who stepped down from the board to make the funding request Monday, said the town voted the celebration $5,000 last year, and it needed the additional money.
With Swanson sitting in a front row seat addressing the board, the board agreed to put the matter on the Town Meeting warning.
Swanson said festivities would start on Alumni Day in June and culminate in a big fair on Aug. 20, the actual date of the town’s founding.
“It is the day of our town charter,” Swanson said.
Select Board member Stephanie Gibson asked what the additional money was for, and where townspeople could learn about the events.
In addition to the fair, the committee has planned a Civil War-era ball, bluegrass concerts, a road race, and a French and Indian War weekend, as well as a pin-frosted doughnut-eating contest in a nod to Homer Simpson and Springfield’s designation in 2007 as the official “hometown” of the Simpsons, the television cartoon family.
“I’ve still got to get a sponsor for that contest,” Swanson said about the doughnut binge. Springfield’s prize-winning video, which won it the hometown designation, featured a large pink doughnut.
Springfield was founded in 1761, when land grants were issued to a group of “out-of-towners,” said Swanson, who in addition to chairman of the anniversary committee is vice chairman of the Springfield Art and Historical Society, and a teacher at Riverside Middle School.
Swanson said the committee has 12 active members and is planning events to appeal to a wide variety of residents.
The Springfield Alumni Parade, slated for June 18 this year, will have a 250th anniversary theme, he said.
In August, there will be a rock concert for young people, he said.
The Springfield Community Band will put on a special concert on the Fourth of July, he said.
The Civil War weekend will be Aug. 6 and feature the Camp Lincoln Band, which plays 1860s instruments and 1860s music.
“They will be providing us with a dance instructor, to put us through the dances and waltzes and grand marches,” Swanson said. People are encouraged to come in costume, he said, but it is not required.
There will be special exhibits at the Miller Art Center, he said, including Springfield’s Hall of Fame, featuring notable people in Springfield’s history.
Those exhibits, which will be in place for Alumni Weekend, have been the project of the art center’s corps of interns, all students at Springfield High School, he said.
In addition, there will be a series of Thursday night speakers on Main Street, with people giving talks at different locations around town.
He said the additional money was needed to help pay for advertising and merchandising: the committee recently ordered T-shirts and mugs commemorating the 250th birthday, for such incidentals as tent rentals for the historic displays, security during the events and portable toilets.
Swanson said the celebration would soon have its own website with a listing of all the events. “We’re 90 percent there, “ he said.
Springfield to celebrate 250th anniversary of founding
By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield’s 250th anniversary committee wants to hold a whole series of parties this summer and it’s asking for some help.
The committee, which has been planning the celebration for almost two years, says it needs an additional $7,500 to pay for all it has planned.
Springfield Select Board member John Swanson, who stepped down from the board to make the funding request Monday, said the town voted the celebration $5,000 last year, and it needed the additional money.
With Swanson sitting in a front row seat addressing the board, the board agreed to put the matter on the Town Meeting warning.
Swanson said festivities would start on Alumni Day in June and culminate in a big fair on Aug. 20, the actual date of the town’s founding.
“It is the day of our town charter,” Swanson said.
Select Board member Stephanie Gibson asked what the additional money was for, and where townspeople could learn about the events.
In addition to the fair, the committee has planned a Civil War-era ball, bluegrass concerts, a road race, and a French and Indian War weekend, as well as a pin-frosted doughnut-eating contest in a nod to Homer Simpson and Springfield’s designation in 2007 as the official “hometown” of the Simpsons, the television cartoon family.
“I’ve still got to get a sponsor for that contest,” Swanson said about the doughnut binge. Springfield’s prize-winning video, which won it the hometown designation, featured a large pink doughnut.
Springfield was founded in 1761, when land grants were issued to a group of “out-of-towners,” said Swanson, who in addition to chairman of the anniversary committee is vice chairman of the Springfield Art and Historical Society, and a teacher at Riverside Middle School.
Swanson said the committee has 12 active members and is planning events to appeal to a wide variety of residents.
The Springfield Alumni Parade, slated for June 18 this year, will have a 250th anniversary theme, he said.
In August, there will be a rock concert for young people, he said.
The Springfield Community Band will put on a special concert on the Fourth of July, he said.
The Civil War weekend will be Aug. 6 and feature the Camp Lincoln Band, which plays 1860s instruments and 1860s music.
“They will be providing us with a dance instructor, to put us through the dances and waltzes and grand marches,” Swanson said. People are encouraged to come in costume, he said, but it is not required.
There will be special exhibits at the Miller Art Center, he said, including Springfield’s Hall of Fame, featuring notable people in Springfield’s history.
Those exhibits, which will be in place for Alumni Weekend, have been the project of the art center’s corps of interns, all students at Springfield High School, he said.
In addition, there will be a series of Thursday night speakers on Main Street, with people giving talks at different locations around town.
He said the additional money was needed to help pay for advertising and merchandising: the committee recently ordered T-shirts and mugs commemorating the 250th birthday, for such incidentals as tent rentals for the historic displays, security during the events and portable toilets.
Swanson said the celebration would soon have its own website with a listing of all the events. “We’re 90 percent there, “ he said.
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