Amherst NH celebrates 250th town anniversary...

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Amherst community celebrates its 250th

King George’s Army was looking for new recruits on Amherst’s Village Green yesterday morning, testing their marching and musket skills to determine if they were ready to participate in the French and Indian War.

No, the town of Amherst was not suddenly sent back in time. Instead, Amherst brought history into the present day as it celebrated the 250th year as a town,

Yesterday was just one part of Amherst’s Heritage Days, a three-day event in a year-long 250th anniversary celebration that focused on teaching the community about the history of Amherst, a town that dates back to pre-American Revolution.

Leading the new recruits, local children who donned three-corner hats and wooden muskets, was Amherst resident and history buff Chris Messner.

Messner and his wife Jennifer moved to Amherst from Raliegh, N.C., only a year and a half ago, but quickly became a part of the Amherst community, joining the Heritage Days committee shortly after their arrival.

Describing the town as close-knit, Chris said it was something he missed while living in North Carolina.

“I remember as a kid going to Fourth of July celebrations with bands and parades,” Messner said. “But where we were for the last 10 years, that didn’t exist.”

Chris also built a replica pillory, a Colonial-era device that publicly punished lawbreakers, restraining them by their necks and wrists, oftentimes in the town square.

At the event yesterday, Amherst Town Moderator Bob Schaumann acted as the town constable, dressed in colonial garb and arresting anyone nearby for any reason he could think of – including an unsuspecting reporter accused of writing against King George – and putting them in the pillory.

Families gathered around to watch and take pictures as their relatives were arrested and punished for not cleaning their rooms or not baking enough cookies.

Attendees also gathered to watch the dedication of two gifts to the town, including a quilt featuring an embroidered landscape of Amherst’s village green and town hall made by longtime Amherst resident Milly Cunningham. Cunningham thanked the residents of Amherst for the life she and her grandaughters have enjoyed in town.

The quilt, and a painting created by another resident, will be displayed in town hall.

The event also featured many local vendors and demonstrators, including a wool spinner, a local man making Shaker baskets, quilters, local musicians, and food stands selling everything from popcorn and cotton candy to homemade baked goods.

Employees of Charmingfare Farms provided hay rides and a petting zoo to the many families who attended yesterday’s celebration. Vendors and attendees agreed that the history and the community spirit of the town make Amherst worthy of celebration.

Longtime Amherst resident Leon Stillwagon sat at the booth where his wife’s artwork, which included painted stools, greeting cards and a limited edition Christmas ornament all featuring paintings of different Amherst locations, was on display.

Stillwagon, who moved to Amherst 33 years ago from California for work, said he and his wife first assumed they would only live in the town for a few years, but soon found they wanted to stay.

“One of the reasons we left California was because the quality of living there is not all it’s cracked up to be,” Stillwagon said. “If people want to know where to live, [Amherst] is where they should live.”

Sandra Barton, another Amherst resident who moved to town from California 40 years ago, agreed.

“The pace of life in California was much faster,” she said. “Here, you can slow down and enjoy life ... it’s just home.”

Amherst resident Jenny Fisk, who has lived in town for 35 years said that while it was the town’s schools that first drew her and her family to Amherst from the seacoast, it is the community spirit and pride in its history that makes her love the town today.

“[The town] is always doing things like this [celebration] that the whole family can enjoy,” Fisk said. “And the town is very educationally focused as far as educating its youth about the heritage of the town and pride in their community.”

According to Carolyn Quinn, the co-chairman of the 250th Anniversary Committee, educating the town’s youth and other residents about the history of Amherst was the main purpose of the year-long celebration.

Planning for the anniversary celebration began five years ago, and yesterday’s event was the seventh to take place so far this year. Previous events included speeches and presentations by historians and historical interpretors, including a man who dressed and spoke as Abraham Lincoln, and a town picnic and concert.

Quinn. who has lived in Amherst for 38 years, said the involvement from the town’s residents throughout the planning of the anniversary celebration, the number of residents who volunteered their time and talents to the events, and the high attendance at all of these events demonstrated what a strong community Amherst is.

“The people have really come out and supported our events and we’re very pleased,” Quinn said. “There are days when I still pinch myself and realize how lucky I am to have found this town.”

The Heritage Days event continues today with tours of Amherst’s historic mansions from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and tours of an old burial ground from 1-4 p.m. The Congregational Church of Amherst will also hold a 10 a.m. worship service that will include information about the church’s long history, and readings from its historical documents and records. People of all faiths are welcome to attend.

From the Nashua Telegraph

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