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Date: 5/11/2021
SOUTHWICK – The Southwick 250th Anniversary Committee met virtually May 3 to discuss upcoming events for Southwick’s delayed 250th anniversary celebrations. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the Southwick 250th Anniversary celebrations had to be postponed to 2021. Because the pandemic is not yet over, the events that still do happen may be in a limited capacity. The committee announced several upcoming events, including a possible bus tour of Southwick on June 12. On Aug. 14 there will be an event with the Wingmasters, a duo that shows off different species of birds-of-prey in a live show. On Sept. 23 two people are scheduled to give a talk on the 1918 Spanish Flu, which devastated the globe just over a century before the COVID-19 pandemic. On Oct. 23 there will be a Southwick Spirits Walk. The walk was an annual tradition for seven years before the pandemic disrupted most in-person events. It is a tour of the Old Cemetery in which volunteers play the part of Southwick’s historic residents to tell their part of the history of the town. Most of these events were supposed to take place during 2020, when the actual 250th anniversary of Southwick took place. The most significant event to have been moved to 2021 was the Grand Parade. The committee was originally planning on hosting the event on Oct. 10, but there are similar events taking place at the same time in nearby communities that weekend. Granville is scheduled to have its Harvest Fair and Suffield, CT, will have its 350th anniversary parade that weekend. “You’re going to run into issues with the Harvest Festival in Granville and Sunday overtime for police,” said Select Board member Joseph Deedy to the committee. The committee voted instead to have the Grand Parade on Oct. 16 to avoid conflicting events with other communities and to avoid needing to spend more money on Sunday police overtime. Deedy said that the annual Farm Parade and the 250th Grand Parade could be combined into a larger event. Should the Grand Parade fall apart due to the pandemic or otherwise, Deedy said that he could still move forward with just the Farm Parade.