Three days of good old-fashioned fun is planned at Dufresne Park.
Micheline Turgeon has a vision for Granby Charter Days which kicks off Friday for three days of good old-fashioned fun at Dufresne Park.
“I’ve been to Charter Days for as long as I can remember. I grew up here in Granby where I’ve spent my entire life,” said Turgeon, the event’s co-chair.
While most fairs celebrate the harvest when autumn rolls around, Granby Charter Days –featuring music, food, fireworks, amusement rides and games for kids of all ages, and a long-list of non-stop events – honor the incorporation of the town back in 1768 long before the country gained its independence.
“I’d like Granby Charter Days to be more like a country fair, and we’re bringing back more of that atmosphere to our annual celebration,” she said. “This year we have a pie baking contest, and I’m hoping next year we can add quilting and making preserves, as well as knitting to our contests.”
Other country fair touches already in place at Charter Days include a tractor pull, antique tractor display, oxen draw, and the return on Friday night of last year’s newly-added truck pull.
Other Friday night events include the rock sounds of The Regulators and Freedom Street, as well as a bonfire at 9:30 p.m.
Saturday kicks off early at 7 a.m. with a Pancake Breakfast sponsored by the Granby Police Department, followed at 8 a.m. with a road race, fishing derby and the daylong oxen draw. Music throughout the day will include performances by Heart tribute band Crazy On You, Midlife Crisis, and the Dave Colucci Show. Fireworks will light up the sky “when it gets dark,” said Turgeon.
Charter Days will end on Sunday with a tractor pull, pie contest, and the annual Police and Fire Softball Game at 10 a.m. A diverse array of music will begin at noon with the traditional Celtic sounds of the Cabey’s, followed by lively polka from Mark VI and bluegrass from Old Country Road.
“Normally, we just have country music on Sunday, but we wanted to do something different and try to recognize the different backgrounds that people come from through music,” said Turgeon. Also, to add a little history to Charter Days, the 10th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia will hold an encampment all three days of the event.
“They will be there the entire weekend living in tents and cooking over an open fire just like they did back during the Civil War. There is even a women who bakes a pie over the open flames and enters our pie contest,” Turgeon said.
Granby Charter Days also features vendors and artisans selling a variety of wares, petting zoo, helicopter rides and performances of Bwana Jim’s Wildlife Show – Have Alligator Will Travel.
To support the community, the Charter Days Committee is asking those attending this year’s event to bring non-perishable food items to benefit the Granby Food Pantry.
“You never know whom are going to run into at Charter Days. The favorite part for some is seeing someone they went to school with who is there with their older kids you haven’t seen since they were babies, or just meeting up with someone you haven’t seen in a long time,” she added.
Parking for Charter Days is available for $5 at the Kendall Street entrance to the park.