GUILFORD — A few of Vermont's oldest towns have already commemorated their 250th anniversaries, with more preparing to do so. Typically, these celebrations have occupied a full weekend.
But Guilford is having a yearlong birthday party in 2011.
Although Guilford was chartered as early as its neighboring towns, in 1754, a quirk of modern history has resulted in what at first glance appears to be a 7-year delay in the 250th. Guilford celebrated its bicentennial in 1961, a weekend-long series of events. The year was chosen because 1761 was the year of the first European-American settlement in Town.
“Why they missed the more obvious bicentennial of the charter in 1954, no one now seems to know,” said Don McLean, who is co-chairing the 2011 celebration. A group of townspeople met in 2003 to grapple with this issue, “and we finally decided that it seemed odd to celebrate the semiquincentennial 43 years after the bicentennial, so the decision was made to wait until 2011.”
McLean notes that one benefit of the delay was that it gave the town extra time to plan what is likely the biggest celebration a town of 2,500 has ever attempted.
The celebration literally spans the entire year, beginning with ringing of church bells and schoolhouse bells throughout the town at noon on Saturday, Jan. 1, and ends on a Saturday 365 days later with a big dance for New Year's Eve.
In between are sporting events, concerts, tours, a Guilford Art Show, and many other events. One feature is a Dance-a-Month series at Broad Brook Grange in the town center. Each month's dance will have a theme or different style, from contradance to a sock hop, a teen dance to an evening of waltzes for Valentine's.
One of the dances restores a Guilford tradition that was lost a half-century ago: a square dance at the Grange following the traditional Guilford Fair on Labor Day.
Another bit of history will be involved in the November dance, which features dances and music composed by late Guilford resident Rich Blazej, performed by many of his musician friends, with proceeds to benefit a fund established in his name at Guilford Central School.
Although there are events in every month, the focal point of the year is the “Big Weekend” in August, when a Friday night dance precedes a full Saturday with a softball tournament, and the biggest parade the town has ever seen.
The parade ends at the Fairgrounds, where ongoing activities for all ages include a re-creation of the Guilford's most famous event in the 20th century: The Franklin Barbecue of 1957. That day ends with fireworks. On Sunday the Guilford Community Church will join with historic Christ Church for a Service of Thanksgiving, followed by a luncheon.
Other notable events include a program of Civil War songs and family letters; concerts of music by Guilford composers, presented by Friends of Music at Guilford; a series of Guilford Movie Nights; a chamber concert by The Guilford Ensemble, formed just for the celebration, featuring music from the era when Guilford was settled by composers such as Bach and Haydn; and “neighborhood days” in each of the town's villages and hamlets.
A tradition in such celebrations is some sort of theatrical work representing aspects of the town's history, typically a pageant in which current residents dress up as departed ones. Guilford takes a slightly different approach, in a work entitled “Broad Brook Anthology,” in which the recollections of Guilford elders are woven into a play for voices by Guilford poet Verandah Porche and read by local actors.
The Thanksgiving weekend play includes projected images of the elders, taken by local photographer Jeff Woodward, with music by Guilford composer Don McLean.
Add a January sledding party, a February snowshoe race, a summer history program for kids at Guilford Free Library, and a harvest season meal entirely of foods grown in Guilford, then mix in Decoration Day ceremonies, a fishing derby, a road race and a presentation on the historic theater curtains at the Grange, and the full scope of this town-wide celebration comes into focus.
The celebration is being guided by an official town committee that for nearly five years has been meeting, planning and fundraising. Principal sponsors include the Guilford Old Home Day Committee, Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, and the people of Guilford.
Most of the events will be admission-free, with donations welcome. For more information, one may visit the Guilford 250th website at www.guilford250.com, which also contains contact info.
The planners note that while this is a Guilford celebration, it will be all the more meaningful and enjoyable when shared with friends, neighbors and visitors from other towns and other states.