Bridgewater Sesquicentennial


The Bridgewater Sesquicentennial Committee will meet on Monday, June 23rd at 6:30pm at the Bridgewater Civic Building in Bridgewater.

The Bridgewater Sesquicentennial Committee is comprised of members of the general public, the BCA Reunion Committee, Bridgewater Historical, Bridgewater Fire Department and the Bridgewater Recreation Department.

The Committee is in the final planning stages for the July 24th through July 26th celebration of Bridgewater's Sesquicentennial, and anyone who is interested is invited to attend the meeting.



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Meal Preference Order Form


Atlas, Coin, Book Order Form

For more information, please contact Mike Crawford at 207-764-0202

 

Celebration to Feature 1850's
Attire and Beard-Growing Contest


The Bridgewater Sesquicentennial Committee is in the final stages of planning for the Town's 150th birthday celebration to be held Thursday through Saturday, July 24 through 26, 2008.

To enhance the festivities, the Committee encourages everyone to dress in 1850's period costumes during the celebration. This is the chance to sew creative outfits for the whole family to wear, and with costume patterns available from the major pattern manufacturers and the new spring fabrics in the stores, now is the time to begin.

The Committee will also hold a beard-growing contest during the celebration for the men. Those who don't normally sport a beard may want to throw away their razors until the celebration is over.

For further information, contact Committee Chairman Mike Crawford at 207-551-8551 or by email at dcrawford.rr.com

For a look back to 1894 and the fires that devastated Bridgewater please be sure to read these articles as submitted by Bridgewater's Historian of the Bridgewater Historical Association.


Quilt Display Planned for Sesquicentennial Celebration

A display of quilts and quilted items is being planned as part of Bridgewater's July 24 through July 26, 2008 Sesquicentennial celebration.

The event, "Quilts Old & New" will be held on Saturday, July 26th at the Bridgewater Free Baptist Church from 9am to 4pm. Everyone in the area is invited to provide new or vintage quilts, wall hangings, quilted apparel and quilted bags for the show. The Quilt Show Committee wants to create a display that is rich in history and, to that end, requests that all items submitted for display, especially vintage quilts that have been passed down in a family, include as much as is known of the item's history.

The Quilt Show Committee invites your participation in the planning. The next meeting is scheduled for April 12th at 11am at the Bridgewater Free Baptist Church. Additionally, the Committee hopes that the event will result in a group of people who are interested in meeting on a monthly basis to encourage and support both new and experienced quilters. For more information or to get involved, please call Reta Hersey at 207-425-4492

 

 

February 2008

Dear Bridgewater Residents,

Since our last letter to you, we have made a lot of progress in planning Bridgewater's Sesquicentennial celebration and are writing to update you about it.

The celebration is planned for Thursday, July 21 through Saturday, July 26, 2008, and it's shaping up to be a great time for all ages. With the help of the Fire Department, the Historical Association, the Recreation Department and the Community Club, we are planning to hold the following events (and possibly more): a parade complete with several entries from the Shriners, a fashion show featuring comical and serious fashions from the past, a display of antique furniture, tools, farm equipment, cars and motorcycles, a lumberjack contest, Joy Whited's famous variety show, a barrel-making exhibition, tours of Bradbury Barrel, Bradbury's Maple Sugarbush, and Wood Prairie Farm, a breakfast, a supper, an antique tractor pull, horse and buggy rides, a U.S. civil war re-enactment, and possibly a re-enactment of the Canadian Civil War as well, a craft and vendor fair, a quilt show of antique and new quilts, and a dance. With the exception of the dance, all of the events will be held in Bridgewater.

By mutual agreement, Mars Hill will be holding their ACI-CAHS Reunion on the same weekend. We feel that this will increase attendance at both events since most of our Bridgewater Grammar School alumni are also CAHS alumni and the joint celebrations will provide those alumni two reasons to attend, particularly if they are not currently living in the area. To provide attendees with a choice of events that are of particular interest to them, we are planning a program booklet that will provide a list of all events for both celebrations. The two celebrations will unite in a joint dance on Saturday night in Mars Hill.

Please contact Larry Kingsbury at 425-3062 or by email if you have any antique tools, furniture, farm machinery, cars or motorcycles to display, Rita Kingsbury at 429-9359 or by email if you have any new or antique quilts to display, and Cheryl Porter at 429-8002 if you have vintage clothes for the fashion show.

We encourage the male members of our town who don't already sport one to grow a beard for the beard-growing contest and urge everyone - men, women and children - to dress in 1850's period clothing to enhance our celebration.

We currently have several fund-raising activities in progress:

  • We are pleased to offer for $10.00 plus tax and shipping a commemorative coin depicting several aspects of education, commerce and life in Bridgewater. The coin is done in brass and features a raised, three-dimensional design. The coins can be purchased at Bradbury Barrel's showroom in Bridgewater from 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, or from Mike Crawford at 764-0202 (email).

  • With special permission of Annie Rideout's heirs, we have reprinted The History of Bridgewater and are able to offer that very popular book for $25.00 plus tax and shipping. The History of Bridgewater can be purchased at Bradbury Barrel's showroom or from Rita Kingsbury at 429-9359 (email) or Diane Clough (email)

  • We will soon have for sale a reprint of the 1877 Colby Atlas of Aroostook County and a DVD of old photographs of Bridgewater's past residents and events. If you have any photographs to include in the DVD, please contact John Barker at 429-9546 or by email.


Our meetings are held at the Community Building at 6:30 PM on the second Monday of the month and we encourage you to join us.

Last, we want to thank you for approving our appropriation request in last year's Town budget and hope that you will continue to support our efforts by approving this year's request.

Sincerely,

The Bridgewater Sesquicentennial Committee