Hundreds of neighbors, children and pets flocked to Mass. Avenue Saturday for Town Day, gathering for food, fundraising and patriotic festivities.
The sunny weather provided the perfect backdrop for Arlington residents to celebrate.
The melting pot of over 200 booths lined the street with high school sports teams, vendors and political organizations. Musical groups performed, from the rhythmic Mystic Open Studio Drum Circle to the bright and bold Grüvmeiners brass band.
Rooted in town history
The annual Town Day originated in 1976 as a commemorative festival to pay homage to Samuel Wilson, “Uncle Sam,” who was born in Arlington. Fifty years later, the annual celebration continues to preserve the American Revolution’s legacy.
Bjorn Krammer, a church property maintenance worker, dressed as a “ragtag” revolutionary soldier, with breeches and tricorn hat to educate passersby about the Menotomy Minute Men.
“Arlington is a great town when it comes to eating and gathering and just being friendly,” Krammer said. “So, to have a great town with the open roads and the multiple restaurants and food vendors, and of course, Menotomy Minute Men.”
Krammer said he particularly enjoyed teaching fife and drum music to the kids who stopped by.
“It’s a nice music to study because it sort of blends I guess you could say old style classical from that era but also being kind of popish,” Krammer said. “‘Yankee Doodle’ is not like some super complicated song, so you can mix an old time appreciation with a new world kind of pop kind of understanding.”
Amy McElroy, a member of the Friends of Robbins Library, said it was great to see neighbors and friends join together to support the library, but the most important aspect to her was selling the books at the library sale.
McElroy and over 30 other volunteers helped put together the annual library book sale.
“My favorite part is when you look over in the children’s section and you see kids on the ground reading their books and perfectly content to find a new story and a new picture book,” McElroy said.
New traditions
Sonja Boet-Whitaker, director of capital strategy at the MBTA, came to Town Day to get her 5-year-old son his first library card.
“I remember when I was a kid, I had my signed, messy 5-year-old signature library card until I was like 30,” Boet-Whitaker said. “So it’s fun that he gets to have that too.”
Penny Belmonte, president and director of Arlington Pop Warner Cheerleading, appreciated the community effort to raise money for her program during the day.
Arlington Pop Warner Cheerleading program is open for kids ages 3 to 16 to learn how to dance and cheer. They have opened Town Day with a routine for the past 32 years.
“We like to promote our program because our girls come and they have a lot of fun, and it’s great for building friendships and memories and teaching them teamwork,” Belmonte said. “Our coaches, some of them are past Arlington Pop Warner cheerleaders, and we have a lot of parents that step up and help out.”
Sarah Godwin, who has lived in Arlington for 17 years, said Town Day is one of her favorite events. She said she enjoyed supporting her friends and the larger Arlington community.
“You get to see what people care about with the different booths,” Godwin said. “Like, what is our community doing to pour back into each other?”
Apeu Manyang was working at a booth dedicated to raising money to build wells in her village in South Sudan. She has been coming to Town Day for about a decade.
“This [Town Day is] more vibrant because now that we’re all older, we’re all actually dancing, and we’re getting closer and closer to our goal every year to build another well,” Manyang said.
Manyang said she admires seeing vendors and other people assemble for the event, all with different causes and cares.
“It feels really good to see how the place that I grew up actually cares about my community back home,” Manyang said. “To watch like people come up and care … It’s just an amazing scene.”