8984-R2_NewGloucester_2023-2024_AnnualReport_Web

ANNUAL REPORT NG250 Semiquincentennial Celebration Committee

This Committee was established by the Select Board on March 6, 2023, with membership to be comprised of eleven at-large appointed members plus four members of the Historical Society, two Select Board Liaisons and the Town Manager as Staff Advisor. The Historical Society members were E. Philip Blake, Thomas Blake, Linda Chase, and Steven Libby; at-large members were Penny Hilton and Barbara Seaver, with Jessica Farwell, Alana Jones, Kelly Nichols, and Doug Smith added by the October meeting; liaisons were Tammy Donovan and Stephen Hathorne; and town manager Bill Kerbin. The committee held its first meeting on April 25 th , 2023, at the Meetinghouse, where Linda Chase was elected as chair and Tom Blake as vice-chair. It was decided to meet regularly on the second Thursday of the month at 7pm in the Meetinghouse, and would stay off camera until the September meeting as they were brainstorming workshops rather than actual meetings. Deputy Clerk Sharlene Myers set up a page on the town website, created an email address of 250bday@newgloucester. com, and posted items on the town’s Facebook page. The committee had a table at the August 19, 2023, Community Fair, with sign-up sheets for volunteers and sponsors, suggestion sheets, and information about the celebration. Since New Gloucester was incorporated as a town by the Governor of Massachusetts on March 8, 1774, but the first meeting and election of officers was held on September 7, 1774, it seemed appropriate to have monthly events kick off in March and wrap up in September. Mark Bowie of the Cable TV Committee generously began to broadcast each meeting starting in the fall, as the brainstorming had turned to serious planning. Peter Bragdon of the Community Fair Committee attended the November meeting to discuss the potential of working together for an event to be held September 7, 2024, in what would be the first of many meetings he would attend. As the calendar turned to 2024, it was decided to start meeting twice a month. At the February 5 th Select Board meeting, the board issued a Proclamation that “the year 2024 be declared the 250 th Anniversary of the Town of New Gloucester”, and presented a signed copy for display and kept in the Historical Society archives. The February 15 th Historical Society program featured a few of the members of the NG250 Semiquincentennial Celebration Committee (Phil Blake, Tom Blake, Linda Chase, Penny Hilton, and Select Board liaison Tammy Donovan). We described what we had been working on for celebration plans since our first meeting in April, revealed the logo designed by local artist Dick Vieira, and we received a kind offer from Patti Mikkelsen and Richard Erwin of the Cable TV Committee to provide recording for the events. Tom then presented a slideshow of several images from the 1924 and 1974 celebrations for the twenty in attendance. NG250 events kicked off Saturday March 16 th with an AmVets bean supper and a cake decorating contest serving as dessert. A record crowd of 130 guests were served, while Steve and Tom opened the evening with a reading of the March 8, 1774, Act of Incorporation in matching colonial outfits. Awards were presented to the cake decorators, and Richard and Patti were there to record the celebration. Tom reached out to the Massachusetts Archives and tracked down the original Act of Incorporation signed by the governor, so a high-resolution scan of the document was acquired and enlarged for displays.

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