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Old Home Day
The History of Old Home Day
Celebrations in Weare, NH
Until reinstituted in
August 2006 on a yearly basis, Old Home Day celebrations
in Weare were few. All have taken place at Weare
Center, the hub of the town's five major villages
where the town office, library, town hall, historical
museum, gazebo, and present and past school buildings
are located.*
The first Old Home Day
did not take place until August 29, 1900. During
the last half of the 19th century the town's population
had dwindled. The combined effect of the first
textile mill in Manchester (1810), the building
of the Amoskeag Dam (1837), and the coming of
the railroad to town (1850), which brought everything
from grain to textiles, was a movement of families
toward easier farming in the west and individuals
to cities to work in large mills powered by vast
sources of water power.
The first Old Home Day
in 1900 turned out to be a very special day. People
packed a seven-car train that ran from Manchester
to Weare for the sole purpose of "going home."
Featured that day were a morning parade, a basket
lunch, and other activities, including music by
Weare's own Cornet Band and Derry's orchestra
of Hopkinton.
The second Old Home Day
was celebrated in 1901 with over 1200 people in
attendance. The morning parade included an old
stagecoach, hayracks, decorated bicycles, and
"funny men," along with the usual assortment
of animals. Again, there was a basket lunch and
the Cornet Band played under the leadership of
Loren Clement (his namesake and great great grandson
is Weare Historical Society's current vice president).
Thirty-three years later,
in 1934, the third Old Home Day was held. The
usual festivities took place with music provided
by the Weare Band. A ball game and an evening
dance were added to the day's entertainment.
The predominant parade
entry of the fourth Old Home Day, held in August
1948, was a number of decorated automobiles, which
included a 1911 Model 1 Ford, open-passenger car
owned by the South Weare Garage, the first Ford
dealership in New Hampshire; this dealership was
chartered by Henry Ford himself, who visited Weare
on more than one occasion. The state's representative
to Congress, Norris Cotton, was the principal
speaker. A Mrs. William Lafond was honored at
the parade as the mother of five sons currently
serving their country in the armed forces.
In the twenty-first century,
interest in reviving the Old Home Day tradition
was ignited when the Episcopal Church held a Family
Fun Day at Weare Center. They filled the school
side of East Street with tons of crafts and games
for kids and adults and topped it off with a chicken
barbeque at the Weare Town Hall. Weare Historical
Society joined in and held an open house at the
Stone Memorial Building museum along with, one
year, Berdan's Sharpshooters, a Civil War re-enactment
that included camping and marching down East Street
to the cemetery where two of the original Weare
sharpshooters are buried.
Old Home Day Civil War Encampment
By 2005, it was decided
to have a Family Fun Day with an Old Home Day
theme. In 2006, the last Saturday of August was
designated as Old Home Day. Weare Historical Society
began to enlist other organizations and serve
as host of the event. The Friends of the Library,
Lions Club, American Legion Post #65, South Weare
Improvement Society, the Farmers Market, Weare
School Board, Safe Routes to School Task Force,
the Village Chapel Baptist Church were among the
early groups. Since then the Weare High School
reunion for graduates 50+ years ago moved their
gathering to Old Home Day and now congregate at
the new Middle School in Weare Center.
Highlights
of the events over these past years, besides all
of the artisans who have explained their process
and displayed their work, include honoring WWII
veterans who sat in the rotunda of the Stone Memorial
Building to discuss their service, a book signing
for Weare Historical Society's history of the
village schools, Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln re-enactors
who provided a glimpse of history in the making,
the Civil War's Berdan's Sharpshooters who twice
came to set up camp for the weekend on the Stone
Building lawn and march down East Street on Sunday,
and children participating in old fashioned games.
In 2008, the Back Porch Group broadcast their
old-time music from the gazebo. In 2009, three
bands will provide daylong entertainment.
Old Home Day Basket Weaving
*Source
of information about the first four Old Home Days
and effects of the Industrial Revolution, Town
History of Weare from 1888 by Helen E. Dearborn,
Weare, NH, 1959.
View
the 2010 Old Home Day Poster
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