PELHAM — A fiber spinner, a blacksmith, a lace maker and a hat maker, doing their work in period costumes. The serving of the “Pelham Cookie.” An interactive exhibit featuring the tavern where Daniel Shays plotted his rebellion. All of these attractions will help transport visitors back in time Saturday.
The free and family-friendly celebration of the town’s 275th anniversary will be staged at four locations from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“The theme is that Pelham is a small town with a big history,” said Cynthia Weigel, president of the Pelham Historical Society, the organization putting on the Celebrate Pelham’s 275th event with assistance from the Select Board, school and library officials. “We want people to learn about Pelham.”
At the Pelham Historic Complex, 376 Amherst Road, blacksmith Ted Hinman, hat maker Bill Stroud and fiber spinner Jenny Atkins will be set up. Atkins will be joined by a rabbit whose fur is used to make textiles.
The Conkey’s Tavern exhibit at the museum features a board game to learn more about its history, another board for playing checkers, and a few pieces of clothing that visitors can try on to get into the 18th century spirit of the site. The tavern, located in a part of Pelham now beneath the Quabbin Reservoir, was where Shays and a band of farmers, angered over debt collection and taxation practices that were forcing many into debtors’ prisons or to sell their land at a fraction of market value, began their rebellion against the government in 1786-87.
“We wanted to have something more interactive for children and adults to enjoy,” Weigel said.
Also featured at the museum are Pelham voices, with displays on poets Robert Frost and James Tate and author and illustrator Aaron Becker, quilts and other artifacts, such as a 19th-century weights and measures cabinet and 75 tiles, each with the hemlock symbol of the town, donated by local potter Michael Cohen.
Local historian Joseph Larson will lead tours of the complex at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., including of the Old Town Hall, the longest running meetinghouse in the country. Built in 1743, it has been used for a Town Meeting at least once a year since then.
At Community Hall, 40 Amherst Road, lace maker Linda Sheff will demonstrate her techniques; and photographs, including those of the historic fishrod factory and the Campbell’s Bakery, will be displayed. There the “Pelham Cookie,” made by Linda Hanscom of Belchertown, will be served. Hanscom recreates the cookie from a recipe from the bakery which her family ran from before World War I until the late 1940s.
At the Pelham Library, 2 South Valley Road, an interactive timeline gives details about the town’s history and the opportunity for people to write about their own involvement in Pelham affairs. At the neighboring Pelham Elementary School will be a display of children’s art.
Pelham Fire Department will have a fire truck children can touch, and some light refreshments are expected to be available as a fundraiser for the sixth-grade class.
The following day from 3 to 6 p.m. Valley View Studio + Gallery at 44 Amherst Road will have works on display from 15 local artists who have reinterpreted Orra White Hitchcock’s 1833 work “Autumnal Scenery, View of Amherst.” Each artist, under the guidance of Loran Ritz, stood where Hitchcock did, looking to the west from the Pelham hills. The event will also include a tour of the outdoor sculptures at the studio.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.