Quaboag 350^th homecoming weekend event list

Friday, Sept. 17

Noon: A tent will be set on West Brookfield common. Quaboag 350^th town committees will set up tables and be there to provide information and to sell Quaboag 350^th memorabilia. Local residents and visitors welcome to come and mingle.

4 – 6 p.m. Social Hour at Salem Cross Inn: Press conference

An opportunity to meet descendents of English and

Indian residents of Quaboag Plantation in 1660

6:15 p.m. Dinner with descendants at Salem Cross Inn is sold out

Saturday, Sept. 18

All Day: Activities on the West Brookfield common will be held all day. Twenty-five Indians, dressed in full regalia, will meet and greet visitors. Descendants of the original families, many in period costume, from across the country will join with Quaboag Plantation’s current residents in the enjoyment of entertainment and fellowship. Children’s games and entertainment by the Rotary Club of the Brookfields.

Indians will be encamped on Foster Hill. Visitors to the encampment are welcome.

Benjamin Church’s re-enactors, portraying a Captain of Infantry leading and drilling his English ‘soldiers” will be on the common all day.

10:30 a.m. – noon. The meeting in the middle of the road on Foster Hill. “A coming together in a circle of friendship” Introduction, invocation, speakers. A proclamation will be presented to a descendent of King Philip by Steve Prichard, a descendent of William Prichard.*

3 – 4 p.m. The Quaboag Choral Society will perform on the bandshell.

4 – 5 p.m. Mary Rowlandson will appear at the bandshell to describe her terrifying ordeal. She and her children were captured by Indians and spent months in Indian encampments in New Braintree (Winimussett) and elsewhere before being ransomed. Her young daughter was killed, and is buried in New Braintree.

4 – 6 p. m. A chicken barbeque by the West Brookfield Lions’ club will be held. Tickets are $10. Additionally, the Knights of Columbus will sell hotdogs and burgers.

6 – 10 p.m. There will be a block dance at the common with music by New Braintree’s Gary LeFevre and his band. There will be both round and square dancing. The Hayloft Steppers will be there.

*Those who wish to attend will meet at the West Brookfield common at 9 a.m., a shuttle bus will transport everyone to the Foster Hill site. Leave your cars downtown.

Sunday, Sept. 20

The Massachusetts 15^th regiment will perform a salute at Pine Grove Cemetery, (time uncertain) and will have a tent on the common with information regarding their ancestors.

9 a.m. Ecumenical Service at Whitefield Rock on Foster Hill, led by the Reverend Lisa Durkee-Abbot . There will be no 10:30 a.m. services at the Congregational and Sacred Heart on the 19^th.

11 – 11:15 a.m. Parade participants will gather in order to be lined up for the parade. Busing from the parking lots to the staging area will be provided until 11:30 a.m. Participants are advised to be on time or even early.*

11:15 a.m. Routes 9 and 67 along parade route closed. Also, Route 67 from Wine Road will be closed.

*Staging will take place on Wigwam Road, Sheldon Drive and at the elementary school. The parade will travel down North Main Street (Route 67) to East Main Street (Route 9) then Westerly along Main Street to end at routes 19/67 and 9. The distance is 1.3 miles. Parade participants will park at the town-0owned land on Lakeshore Drive, at the machine shop (former Chevrolet dealership) and at the state-owned rest stop on routes 9/67. Two buses will transport participants to the staging areas.

Noon: Step-off time. A viewing stand will be set up in ‘the circle” at Charmil Drive, West Main Street.

Food and beverages will be available on the common prior to, during and following the parade. No permits will be issued for other vendors of any food, drink or merchandise.

Restrooms will be available at the elementary school during parade staging, and at the town hall and at churches during the parade. Portable facilities will be on the common (2), one near the Catholic Church, and one near the United Gas Station.

Parking and transportation: A bus will carry parade goers from downtown Warren to downtown West Brookfield for the parade. Time to be announced.

Parking is available at the Atlantic Express Company bus lot on Route 9, Brookfield and at the bus company garage. A bus will shuttle passengers to West Brookfield and back to the parking area.

Busing will also be provided from Brookfield – check Brookfield website for further information.