250th Anniversary Parade
by Jen Shenk
Looking back at the pictures I took of the 250th Anniversary Parade and the so many others that people have posted on Facebook, I just kept saying ‘I love this town’, ‘I love that you can see the Main Street sign in the background’, ‘I love that the Pharmacy sign is visible’, etc. My family stood near the funeral home, where the PTO had a tent set up and was selling snacks and drinks. Although I did come to love the Westminster Wolves PTO float that we worked on for 5 weeks, my top three favorites (assuming I have to exclude the one we worked on) were Vincent’s Country Store, National Guard Big Ice and Bacon Street/Wicked Good Street. The guy on the crazy bike was great, as was the similarly behaving guy on the hay raker that was part of the Agricultural Commission’s Fleet. I don’t know how many people were in attendance compared to how many the Parade Committee had hoped for, but for us, just the right number of floats and observers were there. There were 4 or 5 families standing where we were, making it easy enough to watch our kids and others.
When I was about 5, I was in a parade. My parents and aunts and uncles along with their friends, had recently formed the Snowbound Club in Winchendon. When the 1976 Bicentennial parade came through Templeton, the founders of the club decided to have a float. Somehow, my brother and I (probably because we were the youngest and least likely to complain or at least the most naive) managed to get ourselves on this float. Problem was, this was a 4th of July parade, and of course a snowmobile club would have a winter-themed float. So, there I sat, not very happy in my light purple Arctic Cat snowsuit and matching boots, perfectly matching my little brother, both wearing our helmets. And to add insult to injury, we had the added trauma of having to throw the candy that we thought was ours. Ouch. The Westminster Parade was an improvement, 100 times over. If you are the parents of any of the cuties in these slideshows and would like a copy of a photo, please email info@communityvine.net and we'll email it to you.
The 250th Anniversary of the Town of Westminster has been 9 months full of great family-friendly events. The 250th Anniversary Celebration Committee and Parade Committee have been working tirelessly to bring a wide variety of floats, musicians, entertainers, emergency apparatus, antique vehicles, and so much more to Main Street at 1pm this Sunday, September 27th, when viewers will witness the pièce de résistance of hometown fun.
There are several helpful links at the bottom of this page. There is a map showing bathroom locations and where to find the first aid tent, as well as a listing of floats and vehicles so you know who and what you are viewing as long as you print and bring this list along to the parade.
The most important thing to know ahead of time is that the entire Main Street area will be closed to traffic starting at noon. If you have friends who live near the center of town, your best bet is to pre-arrange to park at their house, and plan on staying there until approximately 4pm. If you can't do this, you may want to drive to Simplex or Aubuchon for parking and shuttle buses to the parade viewing areas along West Main and Main Streets. Shuttle buses start at 11am. Main Street closes at noon, and the parade begins at 1pm. The last float leaves it's starting point at 3:25pm, so plan to spend several hours at the parade. The WES PTO will be selling snacks and drinks along with funky reusable bags from their tent across the street from the library/pharmacy.
Westminster Wolves
A group of parents, teachers and kids have been meeting for the past several weekends at 5th grade teacher Eric Sifert's house to make a float related to Westminster Elementary and Meetinghouse Schools’ mascot the 'Westminster Wolves'. This group is a good mix of general laborers (I’m in that group) mixed in with a few people who know how to work tools. The PTO held a parade float idea contest last spring to decide what theme the PTO float would be.
Phil Young, Eric Sifert and Ron Bedard working on the Westminster Wolves float
The Bedard Family won the contest, with their theme of ‘Come Howl With Our Pack’. This float contains a big papier mache cave and some young wolves (contest winning elementary schoolers) howling along to wolfish music. Several kids helped to make the float, and the grey pom flowers were all made by WES students. If you know anyone at Westminster Elementary, it’s likely at least one part of the PTO float was made by them.
Veronica Bedard and Micayla Varieur paint paws for the Westminster Wolves float
First Congregational Church
The First Congregational Church of Westminster, established in 1742, will also be entering a float in the parade. The focus of their float will be a model of the present church which was erected in 1942. This church replaced the 1837 church building that burned to the ground on November 20, 1940. The 68th Annual Yankee Street Fair which was held in August, was originally started with the support of the town to help rebuild the present church.
A replica of the First Congregational Church will be part of their parade float
A gifted group of church members constructed the float which will be accompanied by the Reverend Robert Duebber and his wife (who chaired the group that made the float) as well as several children and adults.
Bacon Street--A Wicked Good Street on Halloween
When people in Westminster think ‘Halloween’, they think of Bacon Street. It is very fitting that families in the Bacon Street neighborhood are making a parade float with a Halloween theme.
Riley Billings paints part of a barn for the float titled Bacon Street--A Wicked Good Street
Their float is called Bacon Street—A Wicked Good Street. This float is being made by the families who make that neighborhood a great place to visit on Halloween. Bacon Street is closed off during Trick or Treating and sees approximately 600 costumed kids. If yours is one of the hundreds of families who trick or treat on Bacon Street, please consider dropping off a bag of candy to the main desk at Forbush Library to help out those on Bacon Street who never turn off their porch lights on Halloween!
St. Edward The Confessor
A larger-than-life-sized St. Edward puppet will walk alongside St. Edward's Catholic Church float
St. Edward the Confessor, established in 1952, bring their gifts to the community as displayed on the Parish float. The St. Edward's float is led by a puppet of St. Edward (created by Ron McGuire) with upbeat music performed by St. Edward’s choirs. Members of the Parish and the Youth Choir are distributing candy.
1905 Reo Runabout
Barry Schonborg is driving a 1905 Reo Runabout which was manufactured in Lansing, Michigan. It is powered by a 1 cylinder, 8 horsepower engine and is chain driven. The car participated in Westminster's 200th Anniversary events when it was driven by Barry's father Robert Schonborg of West Boylston, who he inherited it from. Over the years the car has also participated in hill climbs up Mt. Wachusett. This car was featured in the movie The Kennedys of Massachusetts with Barry Schonborg's father driving it.
This Sunday will be a very fun family-friendly day. Plan to arrive on Main Street between 11am and noon to stake out your spot and relax with your family while a whole lot of excitement marches by between 1pm and 4pm!
If you have any parade-specific questions, please email us.
Click here to print a map of the parade route, bathrooms, first-aid tent, etc.
Click here for a listing (by order of appearance) of floats, cars, bands and more!
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