By Rod Lee

Old Home Day in the town of Charlton is so ingrained in the fabric of the community that former residents who now live out of state plan return trips to South County for Labor Day weekend in order to take in the festivities, every year.

  Others plan high school reunions around the production.

  This explains why Old Home Day has been celebrated for more than a century. And, after a year’s hiatus because of the pandemic, Charlton’s 124th Old Home Day is a go for Saturday, September 4 through Monday, September 6.

  “We have been working on this since January,” Jerry Doble of the Old Home Day Committee said. “Up until May or June we weren’t sure it could be held, because of Covid-19, and if something changes…” a last-minute cancellation could still be in the works.

  But as of early August all of the usual dizzying array of attractions were in place for the 2021 version of Old Home Day including Liam Coleman, the Shepherd Hill Vocalists, the Lee Irish Step Dancers, the Bad News Jazz Band and Blue Orchestra and The Singing Trooper on the Bandstand, a soap-box derby on Mugget Hill Road, a road race, a stilt walker, Grizzly Adams photos, train rides, Blessing Farm pony rides, Scottish Highland Games, a flower show courtesy of the Charlton Garden Club (established in 1937), a craft fair (in recognition of the town’s agricultural and historical past), a frog-jumping contest, fireworks on Saturday night (with a rain date of Sunday) and of course the Old Home Day Parade—which steps off from The Overlook.

   The Highland Games were new in 2019, Mr. Doble said. “You toss a big pole and a ball and this year they will be pulling a truck.

  “We will have about eighty-one vendors, selling cookies and doilies and paintings. The Lions Club will sponsor a food court. The Boy Scouts will be providing water.

  “The only year we missed since World War II Was last year,” Mr. Doble said.

  “We wrap Old Home Day up with a parade. Fire trucks, vintage car  and the vintage cars go first because they can overheat!”

 

  Charlton’s Old Home Day may be the largest production of its kind for miles around. It is made possible by a host of sponsors including Anastasi Insurance, Bay State Mobile Vet, Camosse Masonry Supply, Charlton Optical, Casella, Cornerstone Bank, Country Bank for Savings, the Charlton Road Race Committee, Diane Dabrowski of Alliance Realty, Incom Inc., Slim’s & Berthiaume, Karl Storz Endovision, Linda Thurston, Boomba’s 24 Hour Towing, Millennium Power, O’Malley’s Truck & Auto Body, Overlook Masonic Health Care, Savers Bank, Ted’s Package Store, Mill Micro Molding and 508 Base LLC.

  The parade is always a highlight and is open to decorated power wheels, doll carriages, bikes, wagons, floats, marching units, equestrian units, automobiles and costumed characters.

  Planning for the parade is coming along “great,” Heather Clements of the Old Home Day Committee said on August 10. “We have several different schools participating, Shepherd Hill of course, Auburn, a ton of fire departments, the American Legion. We are really looking forward to it. We are hoping to bring it back big. There was no parade last year and the year before it was rainy. The diehards are coming back. We encourage anyone who wants to be part of it to participate.”

  The parade steps off from The Overlook between 2:30 and 3:00 o’clock on Labor Day.

  “It pretty much brings Old Home day to a close,” Ms. Clements said.

  “The only things that would interfere with Old Home Day are the weather and the pandemic and we have no control over those.”

 

  Diane Dabrowski of Alliance Realty, a sponsor, mirrors the sentiment around town when she says “I am so excited and yes I will be running the road race again. I’ve been doing that since I was ten and I grew up on the parade route.”

  Mike Lundquist of Boomba’s 24 Hour Towing is not only a sponsor but an active supporter of Old Home Day. “I usually put a couple of trucks in the parade,” he said. “I donate a generator, trailers for the stage, all sorts of stuff. I’m always doing something in town.” His involvement is typical of so many, who are proud of the town and its Old Home Day celebration.

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Contact Rod Lee at [email protected] or 774-232-2999.