by Robert Gillis
Published in the Foxboro Reporter May 23, 2004
Some context… Except for two guest pieces afterward, I decided to retire from writing op/eds for the Foxboro Reporter in summer 2019 after about 23 years of doing so. When I bumped into three friends from the Foxborough Founders Day committee at their table on town election day in early May 2024, they asked if I could write a blurb on Facebook before the Founders Day “rocket drive” donation drive Saturday 5/25 to get some publicity for the drive. I told them I’d be happy to do so, thought about how much I love Founders Day so I wrote much longer op/ed instead, and am delighted that the editor of the Foxboro Reporter said she’d run it in that week’s paper — So, here’s my (not-so-brief, but super-fun) column! Support Foxborough Founders Day and take part in, and have fun, June 8!
Top 10 Reasons why Foxborough Founders Day 2024 is AWESOME!
Foxborough friends! Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 8, 2024 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, 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 participates 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, fraternal, community, school 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 and allows them to do all of the other community projects they hold all year. Everyone on the field that day makes a difference in Foxborough – often in ways behind the scenes. So: Play the fun games, try all of the different food and goodies, and support them. And there is SO much more: There’s the doll carriage and wagon parade for the little ones, cow chip bingo, and live music, demonstrations by fire fighters, law enforcement, live music, and many other surprises. Who knows what this year will bring? You won’t know unless you go!
- NUMBER EIGHT: BOOTH FIELD FOOD! On Foxborough Founders Day on Booth Field 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, fresh lemonade, French fries, sugary goodies, cotton candy, unique ice cream products, and of course, burgers, hot dogs, and MUCH more! In technical terms the food is YUMMY.
- NUMBER SEVEN: THE EVENTS BEFORE THE FIREWORKS! In the evening, as the crowd gathers on the field for the fireworks, there’s always a band playing (this year will be Dave Macklin Band, sponsored by the Jaycees), there’s dancing, the Foxborough Founders Day committee announces the raffle winners, and there’s an air of excitement everywhere. Blankets and chairs fill the field as families gather for the fireworks!
- NUMBER SIX: THE FIREWORKS! BOOM! Atlas Pyrotechnics never disappoints. The fireworks display they put on is in a word, spectacular—and the fireworks are launched from nearby, so you can practically reach out and touch them – they’re not thousands of feet in the sky – they are CLOSE-UP and that makes the experience all the more amazing to the thousands of friends on the field. The fireworks are tremendous.
- NUMBER FIVE: THE COMMITTEE! ALL of the Foxborough Founders Day committee are volunteers who live here. This is a very small, exceptionally dedicated, incredibly energetic local 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. So, PLEASE: Any time you see someone in their yellow Foxborough Founders Day committee shirt, THANK THEM!
- NUMBER FOUR — DONATIONS AND THE ROCKET DRIVE! You can help make all this possible! Donate to Foxborough Founders Day! Parades are expensive, logistics are expensive, and the fireworks alone cost over $15,000. The annual rocket drive “toll” will be on Saturday May 25 around Foxborough Common — from early AM to around 1:00PM — and when you see the friendly Founders Day volunteers, PLEASE throw some cash into that rocket to help fund these amazing fireworks! 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. Every little donation helps!
- 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 hundreds 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 follow them 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. BE PART OF THAT.
- 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 8, 2024. Bring the family, bring the kids, bring your friends, bring the strangers, get your chairs out early and line the parade route and cheer on your fellow Foxborough residents during the amazing parade. Head to the Booth 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 live 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 Saturday June 8, Foxborough Founders Day!
(Photos by Robert Gillis)