By Robert Gillis
Published in the Foxboro Reporter, 6/2015

From the home office in Foxborough Massachusetts, and with grateful appreciation to David Letterman, here are the top 10 reasons Foxborough Founders Day is awesome and how you can make a difference!

• NUMBER 10: THE PARADE! The Foxborough Founders day parade is an exceptionally impressive spectacle. Yes, we have all been to parades in our lives, but this one is uniquely OURS because Foxborough-based organizations and businesses are encouraged to participate – and they do! From the bands marching in their colors in perfect formation while playing complicated musical instruments – a very impressive feat by the way – to the fire engines and police cars with children waving happily from the windows, to the schoolchildren who build the most beautiful floats, to the organizations passing by to such loud cheers, to the classic cars, to the riding mowers and countless other parade participants, our parade has something for everyone. Everyone who participated worked really hard – you can show your appreciation by lining the streets and cheering them as they go by.
• NUMBER NINE: BOOTH FIELD ACTIVITIES! Every non-profit, civic and religious organization in Foxborough participates in some manner – All of Booth Field will be covered that day with tents, tables, and booths where the Foxborough-based organizations hold, for most of them, their biggest one-day fundraiser of the year. The nonprofit aspect of this event should not be ignored – for my own beloved Jaycees for example, Foxborough Founders Day is our biggest one day fundraiser that allows us to do all of the other community development projects that we hold all year – and the same is true for most of the other participants! Everyone on the field that day makes a difference in Foxborough – often in ways behind the scenes. Play the games, try all of the different food and goodies, and support them. And there is SO much more: There’s the doll carriage parade for the little ones, cow chip bingo, and live music, and often demonstrations by fire fighters, law enforcement, and many other surprises. Who knows what this year will bring? You won’t know unless you go!
• NUMBER EIGHT: BOOTH FIELD FOOD! To say there is something for everyone on Foxborough Founders Day on Booth Field is an understatement. There is food to satisfy every palate. There are also the kind of goodies you can only find at an event such as this – root beer floats, Strawberry shortcake, salt potatoes, cotton candy, unique ice cream products, and of course, enough burgers, hot dogs, and cookout style food to… Sorry, got distracted by all the food. I’m really hungry now.
• NUMBER SEVEN: THE EVENTS BEFORE THE FIREWORKS! As the crowd gathers on the field for the fireworks, there’s always a band playing, there’s dancing, the Foxborough Founders Day committee announces the raffle winners, and there’s an air of excitement everywhere. Foxborough Founders Day is winding down – but the best part is about to start!
• NUMBER SIX: THE FIREWORKS! First, Atlas Pyrotechnics never disappoints. The fireworks display they put on is in a word, spectacular. Second, the fireworks are launched from nearby, so you can practically reach out and touch them – they’re not thousands of feet in the sky – and that makes the experience all the more amazing. Finally, while Boston fireworks are wonderful – and I encourage you to enjoy them – there is the practical matter that 2 million – yes, 2 million people – are in Boston on July 4. To say it gets a little crowded and claustrophobic in Boston is a bit of an understatement. It’s worth it, but if crowds aren’t your thing, then Booth Field is for you, because we get a few thousand people, and everyone grabs a nice spot on the field on a blanket or chairs, and there’s plenty of room for everybody.
• NUMBER FIVE: THE COMMITTEE! ALL of the Foxborough Founders Day committee are volunteers. This is not some anonymous Corporation that puts together the town’s annual birthday party. This is a very small, exceptionally dedicated, incredibly energetic committee that year after year after year puts together the impossible – a birthday party for an entire town! With less than two dozen people on the committee, it’s amazing that it happens every year like clockwork. And having had a peek behind the curtain, what they do is not easy my friends. Any time you see someone in their yellow Foxborough Founders Day committee shirt, THANK THEM! That they do the impossible every year is an understatement.
• NUMBER FOUR: DONATIONS! The number four reason why Founders Day is awesome and you made a difference is that you donated to Foxborough Founders Day! Parades are expensive, logistics are expensive, and the fireworks alone cost over $12,000. That’s 12 large, friends. The rocket drive toll before Memorial Day helped, and so does the change that you drop into the jars around town. But more funds are needed – a lot more — and that’s where you come in. You can make a donation of any amount to FOXBOROUGH FOUNDERS DAY, and give it to the nice person at the Foxborough Founders Day booth on Foxborough Founders Day, or send it at any time (all year) to Foxborough Founders Day, 40 South St., Foxborough, MA, 02035. Donations that are not anonymous are also listed on the awesome website.
• NUMBER THREE: THE FOXBOROUGH FOUNDERS DAY WEBSITE! Conveniently located at http://www.FoxboroughFoundersday.com, the Foxborough Founders Day website is your one stop location for EVERYTHING Foxborough Founders Day. Want the schedule? Want to know who’s on the field? The parade route? Want to see thousands – literally thousands – of pictures from previous years? Want to know how it all began? Want to make a donation? Want up-to-the-minute updates on the day of? The Foxborough Founders Day website is the place to go! (You can also like us on FaceBook!)
• NUMBER TWO: COMMUNITY AND FAMILY. You live here. Your kids go to school here. Foxborough has a reputation for being a true COMMUNITY – a place where people know each other, a place where people help each other, and a great place to live. Foxborough Founders Day is uniquely ours, and very literally represents the best of Foxborough.
• AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON WHY FOXBOROUGH FOUNDERS DAY IS AWESOME AND HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IS: YOU. Come to Foxborough Founders Day on Saturday June 13. Bring the family, bring the kids, bring your friends, get your chairs out early and line the parade route and cheer on your fellow Foxborough residents during the amazing parade. Head to the field and experience all that it has to offer that day. Reconnect with your community, your neighbors, your town. Play the games, enjoy the food, and support the wonderful organizations that make a difference the entire year in YOUR town. Take a break, and come back to the field for the music and the fireworks. For most of you, you live less than four or five miles from Booth Field. The police and safety officials expertly handle the traffic, afterward – you’ll be home soon enough. And you will have taken part in an event that so many thousand people in this town absolutely cherish, run by a small group of dedicated individuals, all to celebrate this remarkable place we all call home.

See you on Foxborough Founders Day my friends!