July 4th, 2009

Celebrating Our New Hampshire Heritage

Overview of Events

Celebrating Our New Hampshire Heritage is the theme for this year’s Fourth of July Celebration. Music, fireworks, food, a children’s bicycle parade, bands, floats, and special parade events will mark the 40th anniversary of the Amherst celebration!

At Souhegan High School on Friday evening, July 3, thanks to the financial support of the town, Atlas PyroVision Productions, and the Granite State Credit Union, the major sponsor, there will be a spectacular fireworks display made possible by Jack Reed and his volunteers. REMAX is contributing a hot air balloon for tethered hot air balloon rides with proceeds from the rides to go equally to SHARE, PMEC Scholarships, and the Fourth of July Celebration. A Souhegan High School band, Offsuit, will play during the dinner hour before George the Magician amazes children and adults on the stage in the stadium.

The Amherst Town Band Concert under the direction of Pat McMullen will begin at 8:00 p.m. and continue until the fireworks start. Food will include hamburgers and hot dogs cooked by Amherst Educational Association members, pulled pork sandwiches from the Homestead, pizza, slush, Jake’s ice cream, SHARE desserts, and drinks sold by the Fourth of July Committee. The pizza, slush, ice cream, and drinks are fundraisers to support the Fourth of July festivities.

On the Fourth, the parade will step off from Wilkins School at 10:00 a.m. Puppies will gather at Spalding Field under the direction of Mary Beyers and Gabby Sellers and join the parade from there. The Bicycle Parade, run by the Lions Club and led by Lion Ann Hoag, will gather at Knight’s Field at the end of Main Street before leading the parade down Main Street past the reviewing stand.

Antique cars will gather on New Boston Road near the Wilkins School before entering the parade under Chris Nowlan’s supervision. Period costumes, always a great addition on people in the cars, are encouraged but not required. At the conclusion of the parade the cars will be displayed on the church side of the village green and ribbons will be presented in a variety of classes and for best overall presentation.

The New Hampshire Police Association Pipes and Drums, the Campbell Highlanders, the Amherst Town Band, the Hudson Post Band, and our own Kazoo band will be with us this year! Also present will be the Governor’s Horse Guards, the Shriners’ and their Mini Kars, a hybrid card of the future, the NH First Revolutionary War Regiment, and the NH Fifth Civil War Regiment, Amherst’s own Uncle Sam on Stilts, local marchers, clowns and floats.

The Fourth of July Art Show, a tradition that has grown and flourished to the delight of everyone, will feature over thirty artists from New England. Strolling “artists’ alley” is a rewarding experience that many people look forward to each year. People have been known to find their favorite artists while strolling one year and then return to these same artists the next year (and the next!) to buy a painting or two.

A large number of organizations and churches will be giving out literature, selling food or items, or running children’s games on the Village Green. The Fourth of July committee will be selling hamburgers, drinks, and pizza. Besides the attractions that some of the booths have for the children, there will also be pocket ladies with free gifts, clowns to make balloon animals, and live animals to look at and pet. The annual talent show for all ages and all talents will take place immediately following the reviewing stand ceremony which will once again feature the Amherst Village Singers.

The Fourth is a special Amherst town celebration made possible by the many volunteers who run the events, man the booths, march in the parade, work on the floats, play in the town band, provide the fireworks, or work on the committee. Anyone interested in working with the Fourth of July Committee should contact Nancy Head, 673-1389.

Members of the committee include: Mary Beyers, Charlene Carper, Diane DeSimone, Susan Durling, Lydia Greene, Nancy Head, Diane Hirst, Judith Jones, Katherine Lockwood, Mary Mahar, Louise Marley, Liz Morgan, Chris Nowlan, Jeff Odhner, Liz Overholt, Reed Panasiti, Gretchen Pyles, Bob Schaumann, Phillip Sellers, and Peggy Stokes.