HAWLEY — The annual town reunion will be extra special this year, with more events, vendors and a longer schedule than in previous iterations, as Hawley celebrates America’s semiquincentennial.
The Sons and Daughters of Hawley will welcome residents and visitors to Hawley Day on Sunday, Aug. 9, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Hawley Grove, 327 East Hawley Road, and the adjacent meetinghouse. The event will start with a kaffeeklatsch at 10 a.m., described by Hawley Administrative Assistant Tinky Weisblat as consisting of “coffee, cheese and some little nibbles.” The event ends at 2 p.m.
“We’re hoping it’ll be a lot of fun,” Weisblat said. “We’ve never had the artisans showcase. … There will be a table manned by authors [and] some books will be for sale.”
The artisans showcase will be up throughout the event. Vendors will include authors, metalworkers, bakers and Hawley’s Headwater Cider. Marian Ives, a local metalworker, will have tree ornaments available for purchase.
Weisblat said it would be helpful to bring cash or a checkbook, as cellular service powers many of the chip readers for these artisans, and that service is “iffy in the area.”
After the kaffeeklatsch, the festivities will move inside the meetinghouse at 11 a.m. for the Sons and Daughters of Hawley’s annual meeting. The group will read the names of all the Hawley residents who have died in the last year before moving on to the Hawley Song, which Weisblat said is unique as “very few towns with 300 people have their own anthems.”
To mark the country’s 250th anniversary, the town is “doing something bigger,” according to Weisblat. Following lunch at noon, with meats sold by the Hawley Fire Department and the rest of the lunch provided for free by the Sons and Daughters of Hawley, the celebration will return to the meetinghouse at 1 p.m. There, Weisblat said state Sen. Paul Mark, D-Becket, will begin a reading of the Declaration of Independence, and other community members will take part, too.
After the reading, high school senior Landon Clark and pianist Jerry Noble will present a short tour of American history through song. Weisblat will introduce songs that represent trends in American history, and will invite the audience to sing along to songs such as “Yankee Doodle” and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
“We don’t usually have an afternoon program,” Weisblat said. “Even in its normal character, [Hawley Day is] charming and fun.”
The afternoon program is co-sponsored by the Charlemont-Hawley Arts Council and Mass Humanities. For more information, reach out to Weisblat at 413-339-4747.
