Gardner ready to party with a 'Downtown Celebration' to mark its 237th birthday on June 25

GARDNER – Officials and local business owners are gearing up for what promises to be one of the biggest days in the community’s history.

The city will celebrate its 237th birthday on Saturday, June 25, with a “Downtown Celebration” that will feature activities, a sidewalk sale and outdoor dining. The festivities -  marking Gardner's incorporation as a town in 1785 - will be capped off by an evening fireworks display at Kendall Pond.

“This is an unofficial Small Business Saturday event combined with a birthday celebration for Gardner – this will be huge,” said Patti Bergstrom, owner of The Velvet Goose and president of Gardner Square Two. She said the event would be one of two downtown sidewalk sale festivals this year, the other being the Fabulous Fall Festival in September. “These will be great opportunities for retailers to move some of their extra merchandise, and also for consumers to get some fabulous deals.”

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In addition to shopping at downtown businesses, visiting vendors, and dining at local restaurants and visiting food trucks, the event, which will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will include children’s games, selfie stations, a hula hoop demo, raffles and a giant Jenga game.

In addition to manning a dunk tank, the Gardner Police Department will bring their new K9 officer, Rocky, to the event to meet the public.

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Bergstrom said the event would also be an opportunity for residents to visit some of the downtown businesses that had opened over the last several months, including the Glow Room, Knight’s Nutrition and the Witches’ Wardrobe.

“We will show off some of those businesses because we have a scavenger hunt planned for that day, and that will bring people to the new businesses,” Bergstrom explained. “We’re very excited about that.”

Try out the new outdoor dining spot

The event will also serve as the official public unveiling of the city’s outdoor dining space, which has been dubbed “Pleasant Plaza” by local business owners. A portion of Pleasant Street between City Hall Avenue and Parker Street will be closed to traffic over the summer months to allow for a small plaza that will contain outdoor seating for the public. Lights will be strung over the plaza for nighttime dining, according to officials.

Mayor Michael Nicholson said the downtown birthday event was the perfect opportunity to showcase the area’s new dining plaza.

“We are planning on marketing it a lot, and we’re hoping this festival will show off the area in a big way so that people know that (the outdoor dining) is open and available to them,” Nicholson said, adding that although a portion of Pleasant Street would be closed to traffic, the businesses in the area would remain open.

Jessica DeRoy said the event would include something for everyone in the community to enjoy.

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“With so many different events happening on the same day, hopefully it will bring lots of people into the city – this will be the perfect to come visit and experience everything,” she said.

Country music and cupcakes

Live country music is also on the schedule of events. The Boothill Express is scheduled to perform at Monument Park at 6 p.m.

Free birthday cupcakes will be available courtesy of Parker House of Pizza, according to organizers.

The city’s business owners and residents are ready for the return of large-scale community events downtown, Bergstrom said.

“The last few years have been very difficult, but the one thing that it showed us was the value of community, so I look forward to seeing so many people downtown that day, and at the fireworks, and at the concert,” Bergstrom said. “I just think it’s going to be a wonderful day to celebrate our city.”

Gardner became a city in 1923, which means the community will celebrate its 100th birthday next year. Nicholson said he would be appointing an advisory committee to look at ways to mark the city’s milestone event.

“We’ve been a city for 100 years, there’s been progress, there’s been ups, there’s been downs, but overall we’ve been very good and we’re still here,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Gardner to celebrate birthday with sidewalk sale, fireworks