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Date: 4/25/2022
LUDLOW – After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Ludlow Board of Selectmen discussed changes to the town’s annual Celebrate Ludlow event during an April 19 meeting.
Celebrate Ludlow Committee Chair Laura Smith said the plan was to move the event date and location.
“Our last one was 2019 and so our committee has met a couple of times to try to bring it back this year, but we are looking to change it up a little bit. We’re looking to move it out of July and into October and also moving it to a more central location, to the Memorial Park area,” she said.
This iteration of Celebrate Ludlow will not include fireworks, but there will still be plenty of attractions for everyone, including a beer garden, area for bounce houses and other activities. By not having the fireworks display, Smith said it could help alleviate traffic flow throughout the day instead of having one rush just to watch the fireworks.
With the new date Smith said more student groups will be able to participate.
“The vendors tend to be half adult run and half youth run. Moving it to October, the sports teams are back together, youth activities are up and running so we are hoping to bring back the high school booster clubs and the ones that shut down during the summer,” she said.
Smith said she already spoke to the Police and Fire Departments about their concerns for the move to Memorial Park.
“I spoke with [Fire] Chief Ryan Pease to see what his concerns were, and he didn’t have too much especially taking away the fireworks and with [Police] Chief [Daniel] Valadas about the concerns and he believes it can be patrolled with the same number of police as at the Fish and Game Club,” she said.
One hurdle for the event will be parking, but Smith said she and her committee are reaching out to businesses about potential parking spots.
“Parking is going to be a nightmare every which way you are looking. If you look at the previous outings that we had, even trying to get in was crazy. You had the high school full and everywhere full,” board member Manuel Silva said.
Board member Derek DeBarge said he was initially unsure about the proposed change.
“I had to take a seat, sit back and have an open mind with this request as well because Celebrate Ludlow has changed. The numbers have been down, the expenditures have been up, I think a change of venue and a change of date maybe even for a test would be a good idea,” he said. “This might be a good test to see where it’s going in the future.”
Smith said the event could provide a template for the upcoming 250th Anniversary events.
“With discussions with the 250th anniversary group, some of those activities are going to be in that area in 2024, so this would help that shift a little bit to get people used to having a larger event in that area and maybe even see where some of the problem spots are,” she said.
The board unanimously agreed to approve the new Oct. 15 date and Memorial Park location for Celebrate Ludlow. At board member Bill Rosenblum’s request, Smith agreed to bring forward a site plan sketch to a future meeting.
During the meeting, the board also approved a new job description for the health inspector position, including a new salary range, qualifications and required duties. This position will take the place of the current health agent position and did not require additional funding.
As part of the meeting’s correspondence items, Vice Chair James Gennette provided the highlights of the capital projects approved by the Capital Improvement Planning Committee for fiscal year 2023, including a new firetruck, a replacement street sweeper, new phone systems for East Street School and Baird Middle School and more. Overall, the approved requests totaled over $1.6 million after receiving over $6.3 million in requests.
The Ludlow Board of Selectmen next met on April 26 and coverage of that meeting will appear in the May 5 edition of The Reminder.