FERRISBURGH — In each of the past two years, the town of Ferrisburgh has set aside a day each summer to gather and celebrate as a community, calling the event Ferrisburgh Day.
This year presents Ferrisburgh and its residents with an extra reason to gather, the 250th anniversary of the town charter.  Officials essentially decided to combine Ferrisburgh Day with a birthday celebration on Saturday, June 23.
Many events, such as antique tractor and car displays, the opening of the Ferrisburgh Historical Society headquarters, and cooperation of the town’s museums, are reminiscent of the two Ferrisburgh Day gatherings. 
“We’ve joined forces,” said Ferrisburgh selectboard chairwoman Loretta Lawrence. “A lot of Ferrisburgh Day will be incorporated into the 250th.”
Ferrisburgh Central School will serve as the hub of the day’s events from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and all will be free except food and beverages.
More than a dozen residents will display their antique tractors there, and the Vermont Model A club will sponsor an antique car show at the same time. Ferrisburgh farmer Al VanDeWeert will also bring in animals for a petting zoo, and Judy Elson, an FCS fifth-grade teacher, will organize old-fashioned games like potato-sack races, roll-the-hoop, stickball and marbles.
Meanwhile, kids can also have their faces painted, and families can get horse-drawn wagon rides from Bill Ooosterman Sr.
At 1 p.m., the Ferrisburgh Volunteer Fire Department will offer its, in Lawrence’s word’s, “famous chicken barbecue.” Kimball Brook Farm will also be on site with an organic milk stand, and other local farmers will be there marketing their products.
Music will be a constant. At 10:30 a.m., the Vermont Ukelele Society will perform, and the Champlain Brass Quintet will follow at noon. When the live musicians aren’t playing, Lawrence said D.J. Bill Clark will fill in the gaps.
Nearby the former one-room schoolhouse that once served as the town office building will be again open to the public. Now, however, it will be in its new role as the headquarters of the Ferrisburgh Historical Society. Society artifacts and documents will be on display, and at least one society member will be on hand during the day to share information about the town’s history.
That element has been part of the two Ferrisburgh Days, as has the cooperation of the Lake Champlain Maritime and Rokeby museums.
Those museums will both allow free admittance to Ferrisburgh residents on Saturday, and the LCMM, which is also open Sunday, will extend that invitation an extra day.