TOWNSEND — Members of the town’s American Flag Committee recently placed over two dozen flags on the walls of the library in honor of the country’s semi quincentennial.
“As we celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary we wanted to share replicas of the 27 flags that the USA has raised since 1777,” said committee member and town resident Karen Clement of the display that will be up at the Townsend Public Library through the morning of Monday, June 15.
People will also get to see all the flags when they are featured in the Townsend Historical Society’s 250th Anniversary Parade on Saturday, June 20. The parade begins at 11 a.m. on Scales Lane and ends on Townsend Common, where Old Home Day festivities will be taking place including games, local food, and displays such as antique cars.
The parade date is special as exactly 250 ago on June 20, 1776, Townsend voted to support the country’s independence.
“Townsend has always been a community that honors its past while looking toward the future, and now we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate both,” event information found by visiting townsend250.org shares. “This will be more than just a parade. It will be a hometown celebration of who we are, where we’ve come from, and the people who make this community strong.”
The Townsend Minuteman Company did a reenactment drill on April 19 as part of the town marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence following the Revolutionary War.
“We were able to dodge most of the raindrops and fire our muskets before a small but enthusiastic crowd,” said longtime town resident John Barrett, who is the captain of the company and led the muster. “The company practiced the drills that the militia in the 18th century trained to perfect [and] after some marching drills, the men practiced firing their firelocks as flintlock muskets were generally called back then.”
After the firing practice Barrett raised the Grand Union Flag, which was adopted by Gen. George Washington during the Siege of Boston in 1775 as the first flag of the United Colonies, and then the Townsend Minuteman Company fired three volleys in salute.
The company is part of the 6th Middlesex Regiment, which is composed of the minuteman companies of several towns in Middlesex County including Ashby, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Dunstable, Groton, Townsend, and Westford. Barrett said they invite any person interested in history who wants to join the company to visit townsendmm.org or contact him via phone at 978-821-3323 or by email at [email protected].
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