For more than a century, the town of Francestown has been the go-to location in the region to celebrate Labor Day weekend. And after last year’s weekend-long festivities were canceled due to COVID-19, the 2021 installment, the 103rd overall, is coming back with a bang. The Francestown Improvement and Historical Society (FIHS) organizes the Labor Day festivities, and even with a few precautions set in place, most activities are scheduled to run close-to-normal.
Longtime FIHS Board member Carol Barr said she hopes this year’s events will bring the community together when people need it most. The theme is fitting to this sentiment: “Things I Do With My Friends.”
The Labor Day events will kick off Friday at 2 p.m. at the Bixby Memorial Library with an art display and reception. Saturday activities will start with a tennis tournament at 8 a.m. and end with a rock ‘n’ roll dance in the town hall at 7 p.m. The 26th annual mud volleyball tournament begins at 10 a.m. Sunday and at 7 p.m., Vespers will commence on the lawn next to Old Meeting House. The service will focus on “Friendship” this year, aligning with the overall theme of the weekend.
Barr has a saying she likes to use when talking about the FIHS Labor Day events, “Something for everyone and every size pocketbook” and Monday’s agenda is proof of that. There is a 5k road race starting at 9 a.m. on Main Street, winding past some of Francestown’s historic buildings. There will be food, music, arts and crafts tents, rummage deals, a book booth, and the annual parade kicks off at 2 p.m. followed by a raffle drawing and parade prizes. Both the Beehive Museum and Heritage Museum will be open for tours on Monday as well.
President of FIHS Charlie Pyle said the Francestown Labor Day Festival dates back to 1917. Originally it was a fundraiser put on by the Red Cross to raise money for soldiers in World War I and then became a highly anticipated annual event. Now it is FIHS’s most important fundraiser and Francestown’s biggest social gathering.
“It is the one day a year the town comes together for fun and for a cause, all brought together by volunteers,” Pyle said. Barr agreed, adding that FIHS board members often opt to sign on for another two or three years after the end of their terms, attributing this to enthusiasm for FIHS and President Pyle. “Charlie is so supportive, so easygoing, open to new ideas,” she said.
After more than 100 Labor Day celebrations, Pyle admitted that it is difficult to know exactly what traditions have continued throughout history, but he believes one of the oldest is the tags that FIHS sells for donations. Any size donation can buy a tag and once purchased donors are encouraged to wear them visibly so volunteers selling the tags know who has already made a donation.
The parade has also certainly been one of the longest-running traditions, and Pyle said since its start the only recorded times it has been canceled was during World War II when gas was rationed and last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition to being a board member, Barr is the chairwoman of Juried Arts & Crafts, a yearly FIHS-sponsored exhibition and sale scheduled for Monday. It will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the lawn in front of the Town Offices and FIHS Park on Main Street.
Barr has spent almost a year planning, inviting artists, and organizing the Juried Arts fair, with some artisans coming from as far as three hours away. Others are locally based, and participating for the first time is Hancock resident Ann Dillon. She will bring some of her polymer clay and beaded jewelry to display and sell. She specializes in Mokume-gane, a technique that involves stacking layers of a material and slicing away to create intricate, textured designs. It was first used by sword-makers in Japan in the 17th century who used the process to decorate sword handles and sheaths.
Dillon applies the technique to polymer clay, a versatile plastic-based clay that hardens when fired.
“I like color and I like texture,” Dillon said while pulling small black and white earrings and a matching necklace out of a long black box. Below them were purple leaves strung on thin black cords. “On Labor Day I might bring my pasta machine so I can give a demonstration,” she said. The pasta machine is used to flatten the clay and get it to the right thickness for each layer.
Dillon described the process as meditative. “I took my first class in somebody’s kitchen with a bunch of kids and I was hooked,” she said.
There is limited parking, so those interested in visiting from out of town should park at either 109 New Boston Road or Francestown Elementary School (2nd NH Turnpike), and a bus will drive people to downtown. This shuttle service will be available from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with a break for the parade, and then will run again from 3 to 4 p.m.
For more details on Francestown Labor Day activities and schedules visit www.francestownhistory.info.