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Parade photo of Maynard's 50th Anniversary, corner of Main and Walnut Streets. Note iron bridge in foreground, replaced by reinforced concrete bridge in 1922. Click on photos to enlarge |
The Maynard Historical Society has on file a copy of the
program for the Fiftieth Anniversary. Morning and evening church observances
were held on Sunday, April 17th at six churches, of which only St.
Bridget’s Catholic and the Finnish Congregational are still with us today.
Monday saw a presentation pageant “Origin of Maynard,” performed by junior and
senior high school students at Colonial Hall, admission ten cents. Tuesday,
April 19th, started at 7:00 AM with a fifty-cannon salute, followed
by a parade from the town hall east on Main, northeast on Nason (a two-way
street at the time), southeast on Summer and then west on Main, to Walnut
Street. Governor Channing H. Cox and others delivered addresses at the end of
the parade. Plans called for the orations to be followed by choral singing,
various speeches, a band concert, a baseball game at Crowe Park (Maynard versus
Concord), concluding the day with ringing of church bells. Planning the whole
event had happened quite fast, as only on March 7th had the concept
been approved at Town Meeting, and budgeted at $1,000.
In April 1966, Elizabeth M. Schnair, one of Maynard’s
several volunteer historians, composed a description of the 1921 festivities. Details
she added were that it was Battery D of the 2nd Field Artillery of
Lowell that came with their cannons and gunpowder. The parade included Maynard’s
police, Maynard Brass Band, veterans of the recent World War, veterans of the
Civil War(!), the town’s various fraternal societies, the Finnish Temperance
Band, Imatra Band, Girl Scouts, school children and other groups. The outdoor choral
speaking, band concert and baseball game were cancelled on account of bad weather,
but an indoor reunion of old-timers meeting with past- and present-day residents
was a great success.
Documents pertaining to the 50th anniversary include
a book written by William H. Gutteridge, “A Brief History of MAYNARD MASS.” The
book, 115 pages, including many photos of old buildings, describes the creation
and growth of the town, schools and places of worship, and genealogy of the
important early families. The Maynard Historical Society Archive has many
photos of the celebration events, all viewable on line at https://collection.maynardhistory.org/
(search on 50th, then ignore mentions of school buildings being 50
years old or high school 50th reunions). Among those documents, there
exists a 13:25 minute silent film of street scenes of Maynard, with parade
events starting at 9:06. Viewable at collection.maynardhistory.org
/items/show/3638.
Planning for the centennial celebrations of 1971 had a much longer lead time. The Maynard Historical Society was organized in 1961 and charged with – among other tasks – writing a comprehensive history of Maynard. The book was published in 1971 with the title “History of Maynard, Massachusetts 1871-1971.” The Maynard Public Library has a copy. A modest celebration was held to celebrate the 125th anniversary, in June 1996. Both a section of the newspaper and a booklet titled “A Maynard Sampler 1871-1996” retold historical vignettes, most taken from the centennial book. In addition to three days of musical events and one evening of fireworks, a road race was conducted in coordination with the passage of the Olympic Torch through Maynard on June 15th, on its way to the Summer Olympics, in Atlanta, GA.
Planning for the centennial celebrations of 1971 had a much longer lead time. The Maynard Historical Society was organized in 1961 and charged with – among other tasks – writing a comprehensive history of Maynard. The book was published in 1971 with the title “History of Maynard, Massachusetts 1871-1971.” The Maynard Public Library has a copy. A modest celebration was held to celebrate the 125th anniversary, in June 1996. Both a section of the newspaper and a booklet titled “A Maynard Sampler 1871-1996” retold historical vignettes, most taken from the centennial book. In addition to three days of musical events and one evening of fireworks, a road race was conducted in coordination with the passage of the Olympic Torch through Maynard on June 15th, on its way to the Summer Olympics, in Atlanta, GA.
Plans for the sesquicentennial (150th)
celebration are underway. The first official event will be the opening of a
1971 time capsule in April 2020.
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