Heritage Day fun on the field

Above: A look at the free fun and booth/vendors to look for on the field this Monday. (top & left images by Beth Melo and bottom right contributed)

Each Heritage Day, St. Mark’s field at the corner of Routes 85 & 30 serves as the hub of activities. This year it will be lined with close to 60 tents/booths/trucks. While many of them will be selling food or wares, others will be doing community outreach. And there will be plenty of free fun.

Here are the highlights worth seeking out this Monday.

Most activities on the field will run from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm on October 12th. The annual parade (which steps off from St. Anne’s Church at 10:00 am) ends around the corner from the field.

That means, by 10:30 am, the field is usually bustling with activity as former parade watchers and marchers explore their options.

Free Entertainment

Here are some of the free activities on the field being promoted:

• Thanks to event sponsors, Southborough Recreation is bringing in inflatables.
• Tweens/teens too old for those may enjoy the photo booth.
• Troop1 Boy Scouts will guide kids to cross their rope Monkey Bridge  
• From 10:00 am – 1:00 pm, the Knights of Columbus’ will hold its Soccer Challenge. (Click here for those details.)

One free Heritage Day event I haven’t posted about yet will take place right across the street at noon. On the Community House lawn (28 Main St) — Skyrise Children’s Theater’s “2024 All Stars Cast” will perform a free variety show of songs and dances.

(At the same time, a dedication ceremony that I previously posted about will be taking place in Heritage Park. Read about the bench being dedicated to Kim Tolander here.)

Food Vendors

As usual, you can expect a lot of food sales on the field.

There are generally a slew of options for satisfying your sweet tooth. It can be harder to find lunch options. Here are the ones I was able to confirm:

• Hot Dogs & chips sold by Troop 1 (Southborough Boy Scouts)
• “Walking Tacos” sold by Troop 823 (Boroughs BSA Troop for girls)
• “Holy Spuds” (loaded baked potatoes with options including chili) sold by Pilgrim Congregational Church
• Bacon Beef Chili by the Bacon Bar (with optional egg and other bacon items)
• Hot dogs & Sausages sold by Jerry’s Tastee Freeze truck

(The Southborough Fire Association won’t be selling food this year, since they’ll be tied up with their open house down the road. And Southborough Rotary isn’t selling food this year, but will sell bottled water.)

For desserts and snacks, you can look for:

• The Bacon Bar (bacon slices & bacon infused baked goods)
• Donut NV (fresh, hot mini donut truck)
• Girl Scout Troop 62477 (jars of candy)
• The Little Bakery
• Jerry’s Tastee Freeze (truck selling soft serve & novelty ice cream, cotton candy, soft pretzels, & popcorn)
• Uhlman’s Ice Cream (scooped ice cream truck)
• Yummy Mummy Bakery (brownies & other baked treats)
• (Plus, there are likely other booths that will be selling or giving away treats.)

 [As President of The Friends of the Southborough Library, I have to also remind that our Bake Sale at the Book Sale in front of the Library across the street will also include cookies, brownies, muffins, quick breads, & more!]

Community Outreach & Fundraisers

Multiple Town departments and committees will use booths on Monday to engage with the community. Some will be looking to share info/resources, and others to seek residents’ feedback.

Look for booths run by:

• Council on Aging
• Municipal Technology Committee
• Open Space & Preservation
• Police Department
• Tricentennial Committee (Click here to read about their planned fun and fundraisers)
• Youth and Family Services

Businesses also use booths to market themselves, often with giveaways, prize drawings, or free activities to draw people in. Local vendors will use them to sell wares like toys, clothing, home goods, crafts, and health products. (One of these is known for bringing Alpacas with them to attract shoppers.)

And community/youth/sports groups often use booths for both outreach and fundraising. (You can read about Southborough Gardeners’ fundraising booth here and see and see SYBA’s “pop shot” outreach activity pictured right.)

Here are the many other booths confirmed as booked to be on the field Monday:

Updated (10/11/24 11:17 am): I added a link to the Tricentennial Committee’s info on the fundraisers and free fun they have planned at their booth, and added a few other confirmed details about exhibitors.