ROXBURY — Months of planning will finally pay off for members of the 175th Anniversary Celebration Committee on Saturday and Sunday, July 24 and 25.
In addition to many activities, there will be two — yes, two — parades on July 25, member Renee Hodsdon said on Friday at the town office.
“There are two different groups because the town is split by the Swift River,” she said.
The first parade starts at 9 a.m. from Clyde Thomas’s field at 1949 Roxbury Road (Route 17) and travels about a mile to the Walker Brook Road. Parade participants then travel to the start of the second venue on Route 120 at Gallant’s Furniture, where it reassembles, then heads for the Roxbury Pond boat launch.
Participants are asked to meet at 8 a.m. at Thomas’s field. Owners of antique autos have been asked to drive them in the parade.
Hodsdon said the parade theme is “Red, White and Blue.”
There will also be a special flag-raising ceremony at the median triangle by Ellis Pond Variety.
Events on July 24 include a craft and yard sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the town office parking lot. There is a small fee for vending spots. There will also be a Chinese auction, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., a bake sale, where any remaining town of Roxbury 175th anniversary cookbooks will be sold.
“Hopefully, we’ll still have some cookbooks,” committee member and Town Clerk Nina Hodgkins said. “They’re a ‘must see,’ and they’ve been selling quickly.”
From noon to 4 p.m., the Roxbury Fire Department’s Fire Relief Association will host a bean-hole bean dinner for $7 a plate. A 50/50 raffle will also be held before a dance to music by live band “Desperado” from 7 p.m. until closing at the Silver Lake Campground. Hodsdon said there is a $5 entry fee for the dance.
Following the parades on July 25, there will be a Family Fun Day from noon to 5 p.m. at the town office, complete with pony rides, a dunk tank, bouncy house, face painting, slushes, cotton candy and more.
Commemorative T-shirts sporting a drawing of Roxbury’s first Maine attraction — the Roxbury Train Depot — which was suggested by Gordon and Mary Touchette, will be sold for $10 each, Hodsdon said.
Aside from Hodsdon and Hodgkins, other committee members are Mary and Jim Theriault, Roland and Gloria Patneaude, Michael and Wanda Worthley, Deb DeRoche, Penny Lemay, Jean Shaw, Amy Hodsdon and fire Chief Raymond Carver.
Hodsdon said the committee decided to charge for the T-shirts and other items to offset birthday bash costs because the town only voted to give them $1,000 from miscellaneous funds to help out.
She said they did send out letters seeking donations to area businesses, but as of Friday, had only received $100.
In addition to searching for old photographs of Roxbury, the committee could use volunteers to donate baked goods. To do so, contact Hodsdon or Hodgkins at the town office.
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- Two of 220 town of Roxbury 175th anniversary cookbooks, which include a wide variety of recipes collected from people in the River Valley area and their extended families, are shown here with a drawing of the town’s old train depot, which will adorn anniversary celebration T-shirts that will be sold for $10 each during the July 24 and 25 event. The cookbooks also sell for $10.
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