NEW SALEM — As residents of Massachusetts’ sixth-largest town in size, with a total area of 59 square miles that counts nearly 14 square miles of the Quabbin Reservoir, the roughly 1,000 people who live in New Salem can feel a bit spread out.
For at least one day a year, though, that distance doesn’t feel quite so far.
On Saturday, residents and visitors alike convened on the town common for New Salem Old Home Day, which brought people together for activities that included a New Salem-themed miniature golf course, a beer garden, a tricycle race, a “Take the Cake” baking competition, a kickball tournament and, for the first year since before the pandemic, a parade.
“The whole point of this is to be entertaining,” said Margie McGinnis, who chairs the Old Home Day Committee that works for months to plan the event.
Old Home Day is not only fun, but it also brings the rural residents of New Salem together. Bruce Spencer, a New Salem resident and Old Home Day attendee, said the town’s unique geography spreads out its small population.
“We’ve got Cooleyville, we’ve got Packardville, we’ve got North New Salem, South New Salem, Hagersville,” he explained. He continued, “Old Home Day allows everyone to come together on this day to meet people, because otherwise, we don’t have many events that bring everyone together, except for the library.”
This sentiment was echoed by Dale Monette, a photographer and vendor at Old Home Day.
“Sometimes the only time I see certain people is every Old Home Day,” Monette said. “There’s a lot of friendly people here.”
This year was Old Home Day’s second running since the pandemic prompted a hiatus. Though the event returned in 2024, it was missing a classic element: the parade.
The parade tradition resumed on Saturday, with church bells ringing out at around noon to call citizens to the veterans memorial at the end of the town common Two teenage boys, sporting Revolutionary War-style hats and a megaphone, recounted the story of how 1st Lt. William Stacy sparked New Salem’s participation in the American Revolution.
After the reading came the parade, which McGinnis said she was excited to have back for the first time since 2019. The parade featured the town’s emergency service vehicles, two farming vehicles and people displaying a flag for the Trustees of New Salem Academy.
McGinnis, a longtime New Salem resident, wants Old Home Day to continue being a memorable event for the townspeople.
“When people mention New Salem, almost everybody says, ‘Oh my gosh, when I was a kid, I loved Old Home Day,'” she said. “And that’s what I want kids to always be able to say in New Salem.”