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Parade update
The Newburyport Fire Department and the Yankee Homecoming Parade committee have assigned an area of Sunday's parade route that will be noise reduced. Newburyport fire Chief Steve Cutter and the parade committee have designated a section of High Street between Fruit and Lime streets, where the fire engines will significantly reduce or stop the sirens to help people who are concerned with the loud sounds. For people carrying banners, division captains and group leaders for the Jimmy Fund, there is a meeting tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the intersection of three roads near Famous Pizza. This meeting should run for about 30 minutes.
Already, the first chairs are out along High Street reserving street-side spots for the parade.
Fun for families, and stuffed animals, too
Plenty of free fun is in store for kids, parents — and even stuffed animals — at Saturday's Family Day at Maudslay State Park on Curzon Mill Road from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Numerous local businesses and organizations will be offering free activities, crafts and more, including musical performances, sport clinics, bike races, face painting, spin art, sand art, hayrides and more.
Organizers are reminding kids to bring their furry friends and dolls that might have a boo-boo to the Stuffed Animal Clinic sponsored by Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport. The clinic's medical team will patch up patients and give them a full checkup, too.
For more on all of the Family Day at Maudslay activities and a full schedule, visit www.yankeehomecoming.com and click on the event page.
Sounds of Homecoming
While the scents of stand food waft through downtown, the sounds of Yankee Homecoming are all around.
Does that drumming sound familiar? Members of That Toga Band, which played on the Waterfront Stage yesterday, provided a soundtrack for the road race Tuesday night with a drum line they set up on Merrimac Street. When asked if they expected to draw a big crowd, one of the guys looked out at the empty lawn in front of him and said, "Well, we're expecting to draw a crowd, anyway..."
On the Market Square stage, The Diva and Billy Guilty got the lunch crowd on their feet. Despite the warm weather, many Yankee Homecoming attendees were tapping their toes and singing along to Mr. Bojangles and the songs of Led Zeppelin between bites of lobster rolls and fried dough. A gust of wind, one of the few of the day, took the Diva's music sheets right off her stand, but she never missed a beat.
