July 4 is a big day in Greenfield this year. Greenfield hasn’t had its own July 4 celebration since the legendary Wing Ding, which ran every July 4 weekend from 1957 to 1977 and attracted thousands of people from all over the region.
I asked Lenny Cornwell, Adele Hale and Carele Mayer about the Wing Ding, and they all remember this event as the biggest excitement of the year in Greenfield. The Wing Ding always kicked off with a town-wide ham-and-bean supper at the Meetinghouse, and the next day, the Wing Ding parade – featuring ‘Miss Wing Ding” – was followed by a carnival set up on the common.
A chicken barbecue, run by Gardner Glover, served thousands and raised the money for the following next year. Some years, Slip Road was blocked off for a street dance. Lenny remembers a paratrooper landing in Frank Hopkins’ field, next to the library, and another year, a helicopter set down in the middle of town! The Wing Ding stands out as a favorite memory for many longtime town residents.
In the past few years, Greenfield has seen a resurgence of events organized by volunteers, and Fourth of July is making a comeback! This year, July 4 family events organized by the Oak Park Committee run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Oak Park and include a slip-and-slide, horseshoes, beanbag toss and tie-dyed T-shirt making, with barbecue and other refreshments for sale at the kitchen.
A new addition to the celebration this year is a community reading of the Declaration of Independence. For the past few months, Friends of the Meetinghouse has been rounding up volunteers to read. We tried to find a good representation of town – young and old, people who are new to town, people whose families have been here since 1795 (and we have a few of those!), people from all different walks of life.
Nearly 20 town residents, ranging in age from 10 to 80, have volunteered to read during the Concert on the Common on Tuesday evening.Many thanks to Dan Moran and his band for accommodating this request. This our first year organizing this event, which will hopefully become a tradition.
This year’s readers include Select Board members Mike Borden and Tom Bascom, Greenfield Covenant Church pastor the Rev. F. Daniel Osgood, Chief of Police Brian Giammarino, Library Director David Bridgewater, Oak Park Committee head Dave Thimmel, Sheldon Pennoyer, chair of the Friends of the Meetinghouse; Brighid and Andres Wood, who run the 4-H robotics teams; and entrepreneur Nanette Perrotte, who chairs Greenfield Democrats.
Other readers include Realtor Bonnie Morris, artist Tim Schloemer, seventh-grader Lucas Bergeron, graphic designer Jim Fletcher, who is descended from one of the first families to settle Greenfield; farmers Ellen and Conrad Dumas; storyteller Sebastian Lockwood; artist Bruce Dodge; and Steven Seigars, world-champion creator of the Yankee Siege Trebuchet. Susan Kukish, age 9, who is Steve and Kathy Seigars’ granddaughter, will recite the preamble from memory.
After the concert, everyone is invited to head over to the field at the Greenfield Inn to watch the fireworks show. This is the second year a group of Greenfielders calling themselves the “Ungrateful Colonists” (Dave Thimmel, Markus Dube and Jarvis Adams Jr.), have organized a free fireworks show for the whole town to celebrate July 4. The Colonists are still taking donations to offset the cost, and several town businesses have stepped as sponsors. You can put donations in Thimmel’s egg box, directly across the street from Delay’s Harvester Market.
In other summer news, the Friends of the Greenfield Meetinghouse are hard at work organizing our fourth Oktoberfest on Sept. 23. The FGCM is always looking for business sponsors for Oktoberfest, as well as volunteers. If you would like to sponsor Oktoberfest, please email us at greenfieldmeetinghouse@gmail.com. Happy Fourth of July to all!
If you have an idea for the Greenfield Beat, please email me at jesstimm17@gmail.com.