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Wayland is going to have a year-long celebration – a 375th birthday bash – and we need your help to plan the party!
The 375th Committee will host a year-long celebration for our town beginning in June 2013 and ending in June 2014. The committee will plan some major events and we invite all Wayland groups, organizations, and individuals to plan events for your own group or for the whole town related to the larger celebration.
Some activities will be free while the cost of others will be paid by those attending the events.
With the celebration beginning in about 18 months, it is time to shift to a higher gear. Each of our meetings for the next few months will focus on a specific theme of the celebration. We invite anyone or any organization interested in that area to come to that meeting to share your ideas.
We hope you will leave the meeting committed to carrying out an activity or event for the big celebration. All meetings are held on Wednesdays in the Town Building at 7 p.m.
Feb. 29: February will focus on Wayland history, from Native Americans to present day. The Wayland Historical Society, the Historical Commission, and the Historic District Commission are natural groups to come to this meeting. But so are people interested in archeology, veterans groups, historians and writers.
March 28: March will focus on children’s events. Our committee is already planning a big children’s event to culminate the celebration but we want to involve PTOs and other school groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the Wayland Children and Parents Association (WCPA), and recreation groups to plan other events.
April 25: April will focus on the arts, including music, dance, theater, visual arts, film, sculpture and crafts. We invite groups and individuals interested in any of these art forms to come, including the Cultural Council, Vokes Players, the schools’ fine arts departments, the library, Arts/Wayland, Wayland Concert Series, Sudbury Valley Nature Photographers, Creative Arts Parents Association (CAPA), Sudbury Valley New Horizon Band, local bands, filmmakers, artists, dancers, and individual artists and craftspeople. There are so many talented people that we shouldn’t have any difficulty filling the calendar with a wide variety of cultural offerings.
May 23: May will have an outdoor and environmental focus. We invite the recreation department, sports leagues, the Wayland Garden Club, conservation and environmental groups, the pool, Broomstones Curling Club, Dudley Pond Association, the Green Team, the River Stewardship Council, geocachers, Sudbury Valley Trustees, and others to plan outdoor events that will remind us why we chose to live in a semi-rural community with lovely open spaces.
June 13: June will focus on public safety.Once we have a better idea of what events will be held, we will need to coordinate with our police and firefighters.
Clearly there is lots of overlap among these themes. Arts and children’s activities can take place out of doors as well as indoors; historical events can have an arts focus. You are welcome to come to as many meetings as you would like, and you or members of the 375th Committee may help make connections among groups with similar interests.
There are groups we haven’t mentioned such as churches, political parties and organizations we do not even know about. Please consider how you can add to the festivities. In the same way that our town would not be the same without committed volunteers, our celebration will not be as much fun, as educational, or as rich without your participation.
We are also looking for people interested in helping with logistics, publicity, social media, and the events themselves. Think about the float your group, school, neighborhood or business could have in our parade. Maybe you’d love to organize a flea market, or a talent show, or canoe races. This is a big party with room for lots of ideas. Come join the fun!
If you have questions or suggestions, contact any member of our committee:
Mary Antes (508-358-2571, Mantes2@verizon.net); Pam Bonaguide (508-655-8525, pambonaguide@comcast.net); Lois Davis (508-358-6348, LoisHDavis@hotmail.com); Lynne Dunbrack (508-361-5213, l.dunbrack@comcast.net); John Dyer (508-653-7240, Johndyer7@hotmail.com); Peter Gossels (617-750-6662, pgossels@socialaw.com); Barbara Holtz (508-358-4299, holtzbarbara@yahoo.com); Brad Keyes (508-653-3488, Brad@bradkeyes.com); Jane Sciacca (508-358-2980, jane_sciacca@comcast.net); Deborah Seidman (917-721-7007, debscorner@att.net); and Allison Tobia (508-358-0030, allisonjtobia@gmail.com)
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