Dedham 375 Committee to Focus on Limiting Celebration Events

The Dedham 375 Steering Committee batted around what they would like to see take place this year to celebrate the town’s landmark birthday.

The eight present members on Monday discussed several original event ideas, and also opportunities to tie into and enhance annual events.

While any notion of a bonfire or fireworks immediately met resistance by the committee, members expressed interest in holding an essay contest for school-aged kids and a historical trolley tour that would stop at several areas of historic importance in the town.

“The police chief wouldn’t sanction [a bonfire] no matter how supervised it is,” said Nancy Baker, a committee member and assistant town administrator.

Members latched onto the idea to tie in a series of hour-long trolley tours with a blowout event in September that would culminate the celebration of 375 years.

But cost is still a question the committee is battling with – how much they want to spend depends on how much they can fundraise.

“We are at a crossroads. We need to know the cost of the major event,” said Marie-Louise Kehoe, the committee’s co-chair. “We can’t move ahead until we know what kind of money would be contributed.”

Besides soliciting big donations from local businesses, the committee could raise money through selling advertisements in a booklet, through the sale of Dedham 375 bumper stickers and other, smaller events.

All of the committee members favored a day of service event that would combine different ways residents can give back to the community.

Ideas included a blood drive in conjunction with the , a food drive with the and helping Civic Pride with beautification.

“That is our bottom line, celebrate with people and help people that need the help,” Kehoe said.

Other small fundraisers would include raffling off historic items that people donate, and selling a collage poster of landmarks in Dedham.

The committee kicked around a narrow list of what events they could help put on, including:

• A town-wide tag sale
• An event at
• Ribbon-cutting of
• James Joyce Ramble
• A coloring book
• Flag Day parade
• Historic sites walking trail
• Giant September celebration
• cocktail party
• Dedham Open Studios featuring local artists

The committee said they would focus on limiting the events they host to between four and six.

The other events, members pointed out, are already in the works with other organizations taking the lead. The committee said they could lend support for those events.

“I would rather have five or six really successful events, than a dozen that fail,” Kehoe said.