Williamstown Group Planning July 3 Festivities in South Williamstown
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A committee of volunteers is planning expanded Independence Day activities in recognition of the semiquincentennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence.
"I formed a Fourth of July Committee because this year is the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country," Select Board member Matt Neely told his colleagues at their March 9 meeting.
"At the time, I didn't think there was much going on for that, and I thought it should be a bigger and better event since it only comes around every 50 years."
Since the town already has a full day of events planned each year on July 4, Neely's committee is making the town's celebration "bigger and better" by expanding the festivities to July 3, which happens to be a Friday and the day of the federal government's observance of the "nation's birthday."
"So we're going to do the same Fourth we always do," Neely said. "We realized there wasn't any room for additional programming that day, and we didn't want to cannibalize any of the events that day.
"This year, July 3, which is a Friday is the federal holiday. So we figured since lots of people have that day off, we could add programming that day."
And since most of the town's existing July Fourth programs — the parade, a cookout at the bottom of Spring Street, fireworks at Taconic Golf Course — are located in the center of town, the ad hoc committee for the 250th celebration is directing its efforts toward South Williamstown.
Neely told the board that the group is planning an afternoon festival at the Williamstown Historical Museum at the five corners intersection followed by an evening concert at Waubeeka Golf Links across Route 7.
"We're going to have a summer festival similar to [the museum's] Harvest festival in the fall," Neely said. "That will probably be from noon to 4 or 1 to 4. And there will be family-friendly events.
"I should add we're trying to get all the businesses in South Williamstown involved. So Cricket Creek might have a presence or the Store at Five Corners and all the various businesses down there can do what they feel is appropriate — whether that's selling their products or introducing what they do. We're working on having a self-guided tour of South Williamstown to these various places."
Starting at about 5, the action will shift to Waubeeka, where the committee plans to have food trucks, most family activities and picnicking, culminating in a concert featuring local acts, Neely said.
"That's an outdoor concert up on the driving range, so we'll have a stage and concert, dinner," he said. "People can bring picnic dinners, if they wish, if they don't want to frequent the food trucks. I will caution you can't bring your own alcohol, much like anywhere else in town. But Waubeeka will be serving alcohol."
The committee also is trying to pull together a separate concert on the evening of July 2, potentially at Williams College's '62 Center for Theatre and Dance, featuring performers from Pittsfield's Barrington Stage Company.
"We're just figuring out logistics with that right now," Neely said.
The July 4 Committee has been meeting since December, he said, and includes Sue Briggs, David Dewey, Hugh Daley, Antonello and Stephen Di Benedetto, Tamanika Steward and Amy Jeschawitz.
This month, the committee's efforts have included ramped up fund-raising for the planned celebration. At last Monday's meeting, Neely said the group had raised between $15,000 and $20,000.
He and the committee are asking the town to pitch in $5,000, which, he noted, could come from the Select Board's line item in the town budget or elsewhere.
The board decided not to take any action until its March 23 meeting, and Chair Stephanie Boyd suggested that Town Manager Robert Menicocci is best positioned to figure out where to fit the request into the town's finances.
In the past, the mechanics of town support for July 4 activities has created some discussion because, technically, the event is held just after the new fiscal year starts on July 1, but expenses can be incurred either before or after that date.
"If this [celebration] is in flight, a plan will be put together in June," Menicocci said. "To the extent there is money leftover, like, say, in your Select Board budget, that is unspent … we could make that happen."
Neely, who last June asked the board to contribute to fund the July 4, 2026, fireworks display, said on Monday that he would not be making a similar proposal of town funding for the pyrotechnics this year.
Tags: 4th of July, revolution,
