250th Celebration
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Free pumpkins to decorate & other activities! Live music! Crafts Show! Free Refreshments! Games!
LEVERETT'S 250TH Fall Festival is THIS Sunday, Oct. 20 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Leverett Elementary School!
Come join in the fun and be a part of Leverett's final celebration of its 250th Anniversary!
A crafts show with about 20 vendors, a free pumpkin-painting activity, an apple pie bake-off and a pumpkin carving/decorating contest with fantastic prizes are just a few of the fun activities planned. Masala Jazz will provide live music and DJ Overtime will spin records. There will also be tool sharpening by Ben Goldberg and free refreshments, including apple cider and items courtesy of Cabot cheese and Back Roads granola. Leverett Police and Fire offficials. the Leverett Library and Town Nurse Sarah Fiske will have tables at the event to share information and answer questions.
The crafts show features local artists and crafters who will be selling goats milk lotions and soaps, pottery, hand-painted glassware and birdhouses, knitted bunnies, protective cellphone pouches, hand-painted t-shirts and prints, cards, and much more!
Everyone from surrounding towns is invited to attend and enter the Apple Pie Bake-Off and the pumpkin carving/decorating contests! Pie bake off rules are below. Just bring your homemade pie and/or pumpkin to the Festival, fill out a short entry form. Winners will be announced during the Festival and prizes will be given in several categories.
The weather is forecast to be sunny and about 70 degrees -- a perfect day to come out and see your neighbors! Free parking & entry!
Apple Pie Bake-Off Rules"
Open to all Amatuer Bakers. Pie crust & filling must be handmade. Pies can be closed or open-faced with a streusel (or similar) topping. The fillling should be made with locally grown apples. Judging is anonymous by local food writer Claire Hopley and friends.
Previous meeting:
- Wed, Apr 19, 2023 at 07:00 PM -- Town Hall
Leverett is turning 250 in 2024!
The town was founded on March 5, 1774 and there is a lot to celebrate!
Leverett’s founding actually precedes the American Revolution and signifies the date that the town separated from Sunderland in 1774.
Commemorating this big anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate and learn about the area’s storied heritage. For example,
Did you know that former Leverett Postmaster Bradford Field was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln?
Or that schooling was once held in nine districts throughout town?
Or that Indigenous people are believed to have lived here for thousands of years, including the Norwottuck and Pocumtuck people who lived here during the centuries before colonization?
Or that Leverett once had its own baseball team?
Or that J.W. Watson’s Store in Moore’s Corner in the 1870s was considered to be the largest country store in western Massachusetts?
Throughout the year, we will discover how Leverett has been shaped into the place it is today and we will celebrate all those who have lived here through a variety of events and activities including:
March 2 - Pancakes For All & Local Maple Syrup
A pancake breakfast at Leverett Elementary School will be sponsored by the Leverett Firefighters Association.
8 - 10:30 a.m.
Download, print and send via email to celebrateleverett250@gmail: Pancake Breakfast Order Form
March 5 - The Town's Birthday!
250th Anniversary Postage Station at the Leverett Post Office from 11-1.
Come to the Leverett post office with an uncancelled first-class stamp affixed to anything paper and have it stamped with the 250th Anniversary postmark. There will be antique stamps from the Moore’s Corner Post Office on
hand and pieces of blank paper with which you--adults and kids--can make your own special 250th image or buy historical Leverett postcards to benefit the Historical Society to put yourstamp on! The postmark stamping will continue in person Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 12-1 PM through Saturday March 9 10-11 AM and after that via the mail. More Information
In-person postmark stamping available regular hours at the Post Office March 6 - March 8 from 12 - 1 and March 9th 10-11 am.
CAKE LIGHTING 6:30 PM at the Community Field
The public is welcome to celebrate the official lighting of the birthday cake!
March 9 Birthday Party at the Town Hall
Leverett’s Birthday Party will celebrate the town, this land and all the people who have inhabited it. Festivities include games, music, talks, refreshments and, of course, a birthday cake and a scavenger hunt of gift certificates form local businesses for lucky attendees!
The party will begin with music by Craig Hollingsworth and Cynthia Thomas followed by a brief presentation on Leverett’s history by Dave Palmer of the Historical Society. A quick walk across the stree to The Congregational Church to hear singing by the Congregational Church Choir and the Leverett Community Chorus. The party returns to Town Hall for cake and music by Leverett favorite, On the Lam. There will be ongoing games and crafts for kids upstairs at Town Hall. The Field Museum will be open for residents to view the collection of artifacts. Other historic items on loan for the day can be viewed at the Barnes Gallery.
Birthday party schedule
1:00 Music by Craig Hollingsworth and Cynthia Thomas
1:30 Talk by Dave Palmer on Leverett’s history
2:00 Leverett Community Chorus and Congregational Church Choir at the Church
2:45 - 3:00 Birthday cake
3:00 Scavenger Hunt
3:00 - 4:00 Live Music - On the Lam
April 10 - Public Talk by Dr. Margaret M. Bruchac, Prof. Emerita, University of Pennsylvania
This talk will discuss the histories of Indigenous Native American communities in the homelands known as Nonotuck (now Northampton, Hatfield, Hadley), and Pocumtuck (now Deerfield, Greenfield, Leverett), from the 1600s to the present. Case histories offer insights into colonial encounters, conflicts,deeds, medicinal knowledges, and Indigenous survival strategies over time.
Leverett Elementary School, 85 Montague Road, Free Admission≈
Sponsored by On Native Land: Leverett Advocacy and Education Group and Mt. Toby Meeting of Friends
More Information on the talk
April 20 - Public Talk by Eva Gibavic
poured through genealogical sources, tax records, and local histories as well as gathered photographs
from the two Historical Society museums. She has spent many, many days bushwacking on Brushy,
mapping the locations of more than 30 cellar holes on the Mountain, many of which have never
appeared on any map. She has used LiDAR and taken thousands of photographs used to make 3D
models of the cellar holes. Her presentation will explore some of the stories she’s
discovered about her Brushy people featured in upcoming book by the same name.
May 25 Antique Vehicle and Equipment Show
Residents and friends will be invited to display their favorites at an Antique Vehicle and Equipment Show on the Leverett Elementary School ballfield.
June 15th, Saturday (Rain date is June 16th) Plant Walk
Plant Walk to Celebrate Leverett’s 250th Anniversary
Led by Jean Bergstrom, naturalist from Her Wild Roots
Leverett’s 4-H Forest and East Leverett Meadow
9:30 a.m.; approximately 3 hours (3 miles at most)
Sponsored by On Native Land: Leverett Advocacy and Education Group
What plants are native to our town, and what plants have been introduced by the settlers from other places? On this walk, in one of our town’s lovely conservation areas, we will explore native and non-native plants and learn about their uses. Have you ever taken white pine cough syrup for a cold, or applied a poultice of plantain on a bee sting? How about making cordage from nettles or a birch bark basket? Humans aren’t the only ones that need plants, so we will also dip into the ways that different animals and birds rely on our abundant flora. This walk is for older children and adults and all levels of experience. Children should be accompanied by an adult. Group size will be limited to 15 participants.
Bring your curiosity and observation skills, a daypack with a full water bottle, insect repellent, sunscreen, maybe a little thing to sit on and a snack. Jean will provide some wild snacks and beverages.
To register for the free hike, email: Blueskyberg1@gmail.com or call 413-374-5461
July 6 - Parade & Barbeque Day
This is an event-filled day with a parade through town in the morning and a barbecue in the afternoon at the ball field. Residents, community groups, town government and Leverett businesses can march or create floats to ride in the parade through town to the Safety Complex. 10 am.
The chicken Barbeque will be put on with help from Bubs Bar-B-Q owner Andrew Garlo. There will be two seatings 12:30 and 2:30 pm.
Parade participants and viewers, elderly and disabled residents and past and present Selectboard members are encouraged to reserve tickets for the 12:30 seating.
Please purchase tickets by June 8th
PARADE PARKING AND VIEWING
Parking for VIEWING the parade will be on the East side of Montague Road starting at the Safety
Complex and heading North towards Cave Hill. There will be signs. Please park on the East side in the
direction of traffic. There will be shuttle pick-up locations marked with signs, so head to one after you
park. The shuttle will make stops along the Montague Road parade route at marked locations before a
final stop in town center. We would like to have people get off the shuttle at various stops so there are
viewers spread out all along the parade route. The school bus cannot drive any further than Putney
Road since there is no place to turn around. It would be great if some people would walk from town
center towards Leverett Pond so that section of the route will have viewers.
It would be appreciated if viewers would get off the shuttles and spread out and not all stand in the yard
of the residents kind enough to let us have a shuttle stop at their property.
There will be parking for elderly and handicapped people behind Town Hall and also at the
Congregational Church. Please do not park at the church unless you are a member of the congregation
or are elderly or handicapped. We also request you do not park in the paved area in front of the church
adjacent to the road. This will be for viewing the parade.
One of the school parking lots will be reserved for elderly and handicapped parking so parking at the
school and observing the parade from the ball field is also an option.
**It is very important that there is NO parking along the beginning of Putney Road or at the beginning of
Cave Hill since the shuttles need to turn around at these places.**
Please yield to the school bus shuttles when driving on Montague Road because the parking will make
the road narrower.
People viewing the parade should bring chairs and possibly an umbrella for shade. Please do not bring
dogs since there will be horses in the parade.
TIMING
The shuttles will run from 9 AM to 9:45 AM. The parade will start at the Depot Road/Long Hill Road
intersection at 10 AM and it will end at the school ball field.
ROAD CLOSURE
Depot Road from town center to Amherst Road and Montague Road from town center to the Safety
Complex will be closed at 10 AM. These roads will open at the end of the parade and Montague Road
will be one-way only going North (towards Route 63) after the parade.
AFTER THE PARADE
The shuttles will pick up parade viewers so they can return to their cars or go to the ball field to attend
the barbecue. There is no need to move your car to the school because the shuttles will run until 5 PM.
If you choose to move your car from the parking area on Montague Rd to the school, you will only be
able to access the school by heading out to Rt. 63 and coming back up Depot Road to Montague Road
because of Montague Road being one-way. Parking at the school will be along the East side of the road
only. The school parking lots will be reserved for elderly and handicapped parking and for large parade
trucks.
BARBECUE REMINDERS:
* Barbecue tickets will not be mailed, please pick up at barbecue.
* Bring cash for beer and ice cream.
* All cups, tableware and food at the barbecue will be composted. We want to generate as little
waste as possible. There will be bins with signs.
* 250th t-shirts will be for sale and orders can be placed for other souvenirs. It is easier for us if
you pre-pay for orders. Cash or check only.
* We have had a huge response for barbecue tickets and we will do our best to accommodate
seating requests. We recommend bringing a lawn chair, if possible, as seating under the tents is
limited. That said, many of you will have chairs with you after watching the parade. There will
be a “chair check” area for people to leave chairs. There will be a sign so you can locate the area
and tape and markers to label your chairs.
IMPORTANT!
It was previously stated that beer has to remain on the school grounds, however,
the Selectboard has requested beer not leave the ball field.
Download, print and send via email to celebrateleverett250@gmail: Parade Entry Form
Download, print and send via email to celebrateleverett250@gmail: Barbeque Order Form
Autumn - October
The celebrations continue at the October Harvest Festival - tentative
Dance, food, merriment, music.
There are also many special projects in the works, including historical presentations about the Indigenous people who lived here long before the founding of the town, commemorative plantings, a quilting endeavor, an oral history project and more.
Our neighbor towns are all working together to share a giant wooden birthday cake that has heralded their own big anniversaries. Leverett has put the cake on display near the library and the cake will be lit with 250 candles, during our year of celebrations!
So, mark your calendars and please consider making a donation to support all these activities that are brought to you by the all-volunteer Leverett 250th team! To donate from this website, simply go down to “Useful Links,” and select “Pay Online” and then select “250th Anniversary.”
Another GREAT Way to Support US is by ordering some terrific souvenirs - pictured below but please use this link: PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A SOUVENIR ORDER FORM
If you’d like to be involved in plans, we’d love to work with you! Please email celebrateleverett250@gmail.com
We’ll be updating this page, so check back often for more details on events and activities as plans develop!
Sincerely,
The 250th Anniversary Committee
General Blocks
Help support the 250th Celebration and order some great souvenirs featuring our beautiful leafy tree with roots logo designed by Leverett resident and artist Lori Lynn Hoffer.
Click here: Leverett 250th Souvenir Order Form
Committee Chair Contacts
We need your help planning activities! Contact one of the committee chairpeople (below) to be part of the fun:
Barbecue
Ann Watson: awatson@admin.umass.edu
Jim Watson: orchard12@hotmail.com
Harvest Dance
Ann Tweedy: anntweedy23@gmail.com
Indigenous People/On Native Land--Leverett Advocacy and Education
Eva Gibavic: evadeva22@gmail.com
Bulb Planting
Sara Robinson: sarar@umass.edu
Birthday Party
Maureen Ippolito: maureenippolito@gmail.com
Parade
Silas Ball: 367-9571
Antique Vehicle and Equipment Show
Silas Ball: 367-9571
The photos on this page are brought to you by Kari Ridge.