Parade to be held Sunday, Sept. 10, rain or shine
By Bonnie Adams, Managing Editor

This diagram shows the parade route as well as roads that will be closed that day to allow for staging.(Photo/submitted)
Westborough – As the town of Westborough gets ready to celebrate its 300th anniversary with a ‘grande’ parade on Sunday, Sept. 10, the parade committee is working nonstop to finalize the last-minute details. In a meeting held Aug. 27 for participants, the committee went over the details that they have been diligently working on over the past year to ensure the parade goes off without a hitch.
The event is being billed as a ‘grande’ parade and indeed, with over 140 units participating, it will be grand. By comparison, the town’s 275th parade in 1992 only had about 83 units, this year’s organizers said. The 2017 parade will feature veterans, community leaders, local organizations, businesses, community groups, civic organizations, antique vehicles, municipal vehicles, and 58 floats. It will also feature the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band, who will use the event as a warm-up of sorts for their appearance in the 2018 Rose Bowl parade.
The Westborough 300th anniversary parade, which will be held rain or shine, will start promptly at 1 p.m. on Sept. 10 at Ward Corner, traveling down West Main Street, bearing left at the rotary, onto East Main Street and then ending at Lyman Street. East and West Main streets will be closed to traffic at 11:30 a.m. that day. Traffic at the rotary will be allowed approaching from South Street and onto Brigham Street as to allow access to the Bay State Commons.
At the Aug. 27 meeting Dave Crandall, one of the parade organizers, shared the carefully thought out plan of how parade participants will be staged so that the event would start on time and flow smoothly.
That staging would involve shutting down several local streets near Ward Corner. All residents on those streets had been informed already of the closings, Crandall said.
“We are also asking those neighbors to consider donating water to those waiting for the parade to start and maybe setting up tents for folks in case it’s very hot out,” he said.
At least 37 porta-potties will be set up in the staging areas and parade routes. Crandall noted.
The parade is being divided into several divisions, most of which will have a designated Division Leader. The divisions include Honors, Veterans/Military, Town Guardians, Aleppo Shriners, Education, Business, Community Organizations, and Diversity. The UMass band will be the last division.
“We selected these leaders based on their exemplary service or position in the community,” said Irene Hatherley, co-chair of the Westborough 300th Anniversary Committee. “In each case, these honorees will be the first unit in their designated division.”
(For more details on the divisions and who will be in each, visit www.communityadvocate.com).
The parade committee is also asking everyone in the staging areas as well as the parade route itself to join in the fun as well by hosting celebrations on their lawns that day.
“Decorate your house with banners and flags and invite your family and friends for a party,” Crandall said. “Be part of this great day!”
For more details visit www.westborough300.com/events/grande-parade.