WHATELY – Vehicles reveal how life in a small farm town has changed over time. That’s why Whately’s 250 year anniversary celebration begins with a cruise night and ends with a parade.

Susan Baron, co-chair of the 250th Celebration Committee, the lead organizers of the bash that will run from June 17 to 26, said the Upham family hosts a steam engine show every June. The family usually stages the show on Christian Lane as part of a summer circuit for aficionados. This year it will be an interesting spot as the new tractors pass by the old.

“They’re doing a special show that’s going along with the tractor parade,” Baron said. “(But) we are a farming community, so tractors from the biggest and newest will be parading through the town.”
A parade also closes the festivities on June 26. Baron can’t say how many marching bands will be involved because more keep calling, hoping to strut through Whately center.

“The parade is going to be huge,” Baron said. “We have the Shriners participating, they always put on a good show … and I can’t even get a count on the number of floats, bands, groups. More are calling up on a daily basis … It’s going to be quite a show.”

Music will play a major role in the festivities. Cruise night on the 16th opens with the Lonesome Brothers playing at Tom’s Hot Dogs at 61 State Rd. (Routes 5 and 10). Watermelon Wednesday on June 22 will feature Zara Bode’s Li’l Big Band. Eric Lee and the Poor Monroes will set up in Town Hall on June 23, 7 to 10 p.m.

Tickets must be purchased for most of the musical events. A free concert of polka music with Dennis Polisky & The Maestro’s Men is scheduled for June 18, 4 to 8 p.m.

Tickets are necessary for the chicken barbeque on June 24. Dinner is served at 5:30 p.m.. Ninety minutes later TJ and the Peepers will fill the fire station tent with music. The same performers will also play at Family Fun Day on June 25.

“Something that we’re doing that’s fun on Family Fun Day,” Baron said, “we’re going to have a children’s firemen’s muster, so the kids can watch the pros doing it, the real thing, on the 19th, and then there will be relay races … for the children.”

Family day will also have face painting, bounce houses, live music, food trucks, cart races, arts and crafts, and other amusements. The muster for the Fire Department, including hose races, a crowd favorite, will run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Herlihy Field. June 19, will open with services at the Congregational Church. Services will include an acknowledgment of Juneteenth, a day of infamy in American history.

The Historical Commission will organize a special presentation of artifacts called Becoming Whately: a History in Objects. According to the commission’s description, a special arrangement of artifacts will be on display that covers 10,000 years of town history, the leavings of early Native Americans and the tools and crops of more recent residents.

Baron most anticipates an event on June 20, the dedication of the town gift and time capsule. The capsule can’t be buried that evening, due to safety issues, but the artifacts intended for future residents will be on display.

“We’re having children at the elementary school write letters to their adult selves, because it’ll be dug up in 50 years,” Baron said. “We’re putting in photographs of what Whately looks like right now, and we’ll have those photographs on display at the dedication, as well as things that give you a snapshot of life in Whately in 2021, 2022.”

The gift to the town is an engraved granite bench and a diorama that will be built behind the town library. Baron said the view of the valley there is spectacular. The diorama will inform viewers of what they are seeing near and far.

“It’s going to be a guide. When people are standing there, looking at the view, they can look at this guide that is built into a stand,” Baron said. “It’s a permanent structure that tells them what they’re seeing, annotating the view, marking Sugarloaf and some of the other places that are visible.”
The Bad News Jazz Band will play from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., during the dedication. Tethered balloon rides will also be available.

A fireworks display, arts and crafts showcase, and a lecture by the historical society round out the observances. Baron, pleased to see the work of many people come to fruition, wanted to thank everyone for their help and urge all to come and enjoy the fun. She’s also pleased that Whately’s residents of today were considerate of tomorrow’s residents.

“A hundred years from now,” Baron said, “people can know we were here, and we thought of them.”
Find more information at whately250.com/home/events.