By Kathleen Bailey
Epsom is throwing itself a party, and you’re all invited.
Gary Perry, the new chairman of the Epsom Old Home Day celebration, has been working to get Webster Park ready for the annual celebration of all things Epsom. Perry, who took over the chairmanship this year from Kevin Reeves, said the Aug. 8 festival will include many traditions from years past, plus a few surprises that he hopes will also become traditions.
The national recession has come home to Epsom, with many local merchants unable to donate as much as they have in the past. “We have not had a lot coming in for funds,” Perry said.
While this has hampered his ability to bring in “outside” groups and shows, Epsom residents have volunteered their time and talent in a number of areas, according to Perry.
The fun actually begins Friday night, when Linwood Marden of Chichester comes to Epsom to produce his bean hole beans for the supper the next day. It’s a painstaking ritual in which Marden and his two sons bury pots of beans in deep pits covered with sand. The beans bake all night in the natural heat, and are served in juicy perfection at the annual ham and bean dinner Saturday. But the Friday night prelude is communal, with members of the Marden family and Old Home Day committee hanging out to watch the process.
A Saturday community breakfast, sponsored by the Lions Club, is new this year, Perry said. It will be held from 7 to 9:30 a.m. at the big pavilion in Webster Park, and offer pancakes and sausage, he said. The meal is $4 per person. Perry said he hopes the breakfast will be a permanent Old Home Day fixture.
The parade steps off at 10 a.m. and takes about an hour to complete, according to Perry. This year’s parade, coordinated by Scott Hahn, will include the Epsom Town Band, fire trucks, floats, politicians and children’s “bikes, buggies and baby carriages,” Perry said.
Hahn said parade entries are being registered with him “slowly but surely.” He has some new entries and some old staples, he said. There will be classic and antique vehicles, old tractors, fire and emergency vehicles and more. Scouts and sports groups will march, he said. The parade will open with the traditional American Legion color guard, followed by Police Chief Wayne Preve, he said.
The Old Home Day will officially open just after the parade, Perry said. At 12:30 p.m., the Citizen of the Year will be announced along with the winners of the winners of the classic and antique car shows. In the afternoon, the mainstage will host folk music with Just Plain Folk, a dance demonstration, and children’s activities.
There will be plenty of physical activity, with a climbing wall, horseshoe tournament and bounce houses for the children. There will be family field games in the afternoon from 3 to 4:30 p.m., featuring old-fashioned games like the sack race, spoon race and three-legged race, Perry said.
Throughout the day, fairgoers can snack at a variety of booths sponsored by Scouts and community organizations such as the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs. And the ham and bean supper, featuring Marden’s beans, will take the edge off people’s hunger before the evening activities, Perry said.
It will also give them strength for the closing events of the festival. After a concert by the Town Band, 6:30 to 8 p.m., there will be ballroom dancing until 10 p.m.
Perry is pleased, so far, with his first term as chairman.
“Where it was ‘lean,’ we tried to do the best we could,” he said, adding, “I work with a great group of people. Every town organization is represented.”
For more information on Old Home Day, call Perry at 496-7485. To enter a float or marching unit, call Hahn at 736-9735.