Published: March 20, 2008 10:43 am         

Town of Edmeston to celebrate birthday

EDMESTON — April 1 marks the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Town of Edmeston, and the township plans to celebrate with proclamations, historical displays, music, and birthday cake.

The event will be held at the Edmeston Central School gymnasium from 6 to 8 p.m. Hosts for the evening are the event’s planners, Martin and Martha Winsor.

“Of course we are very proud to host the event at ECS,” said Martha Winsor, who is the school system’s building principal. “Students are working now on researching aspects of the town’s history, and preparing historical displays to be featured in Edmeston Central’s storied hallways.”

“We have planned for Edmeston scouts to present the colors,” said Martin Winsor, “marching into the gymnasium for the formal program.”

Music will be provided by the ECS band, under the direction of Danielle Duquette, including a short program of patriotic music.

The lands of the current Town of Edmeston were originally part of the Town of Burlington, so proclamations have been requested from the Town of Burlington as well as from state and federal government officials and representatives. The town’s own proclamation is being copied in calligraphy by Judy McCall of New Berlin, and will be displayed for the first time.

Also being unveiled will be mock-ups of two roadside New York State historical markers to be in place at the sites of the first town meeting, and of the Edmeston Opera House as soon as weather permits, organizers said. Partygoers will be invited to the cafeteria for birthday cake after the formal program. In the cafeteria will be display panels of historical photos, information and maps created by Town Historian Bob Nonenmacher and volunteer Bob Alcott. The displays have been rotating at the Edmeston branch of NBT Bank for several months, and will be at sites in the hamlets of South and West Edmeston during the Bicentennial year.

The Edmeston Tea Circle is showing home movies of past Edmeston events (such as ox roasts and sports events) edited and set up in the cafeteria for casual viewing. The Wharton Valley Grange will be holding a birthday cake contest, and will announce the results of the contest before cakes are served.

On sale will be official Bicentennial products and publications. Those pre-ordering the 2008 Edmeston history book, “Edmeston: Echoes of the Past Revisited,” can pick up their copies.