LEICESTER — The town of Leicester will commence celebration of its 250th year with a community picnic, but that’s just the beginning.
Leicester selectboard chair Diane Benware said Monday that planning is ongoing and more ideas and participants are welcome.
“We’re looking at this picnic as being the kick-off,” Benware said.
The July 23 event will run from noon- 4 p.m. at the Leicester Four Corners and will feature a pig roast of two pigs donated by Foxcroft Farm, plus baked beans, coleslaw and other picnic offerings. The band Woods Tea Company has signed on to play from 1-3 p.m. Benware said the picnic is free and open to Leicester residents, past and present.
A reflective garden will be established at the Leicester Central School, and interviews will be conducted with longtime Leicester residents about life in town over the years. Benware said those interviews will be available in print or audio at the July 23 picnic, and the subjects of those interviews may be on hand as well. Old photos will be displayed and household items from days gone by will be on hand so folks can guess what they were once used for. The Harvest Program at Foxcroft Farm is also compiling “250 Acts of Kindness.”
Benware also said that the towns of Leicester and Salisbury, which this summer is also celebrating 250 years since the awarding of its charter, will join together for a boat parade on Lake Dunmore, tentatively scheduled for July 30. There is also a plan to place luminaries, or candles in paper shades or cups, on all the boat docks at the lake.
The next planning meeting for the Leicester 250th will be on Thursday, May 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center at Leicester Four Corners. Coffee and dessert will be provided, and Benware said all Leicester residents are welcome. Bring ideas, or just a desire to help out.