09/08/2023
Somerset is ready to get into the Spirit
By GEORGE AUSTIN
SOMERSET - Highway Department workers this week were preparing Somerset Village Waterfront Park for the Spirit of Somerset Family Fun Day that is scheduled for Saturday. They put up the main stage where a lot of the entertainment will take place, were making the grounds look nice, setting up picnic tables and attaching American flags to poles along Main Street.
The festivities for the annual event will include music, children's activities, food, fireworks, boat rides on the Taunton River and a craft fair. With almost everything at the event, there is a connection to Somerset.
"It just brings the community together and it displays our talents and history and culture," David Berube, the organizer of the Spirit of Somerset Family Fun Day, said of the event.
The festivities are scheduled to get underway at the park that is off of Main Street in Somerset at noon on Saturday with the TJ Music All Star Bands that will play until 1:15 p.m. on the stage. USA Karate will do a demonstration from 1:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the turf in front of the stage. Strive Gymnastics will do a demonstration from 1:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. on the turf. A magic show will be performed from 1:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. on the turf. The Brian Bigelow Band will perform from 2:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the stage and then from 3:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the stage. The John F. McAuliffe dedication will be done from 3 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on the stage. The Somerset Sentinel Citizen of the Year Awards will be presented between 4 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. on the stage. The Somerset Berkley Regional High School Blue Raider Marching Blue Raider Marching Band will be performing on the turf from 4:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Somerset Berkley Regional High School Show Choir will be performing on the turf from 4:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. The Bare Bones Acoustic duo will be performing on the turf from 4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Former American Idol contestants Delaney Renee Wilson and Tristen Gressett will be performing on the stage from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Diva and the Playboys band will be performing on the stage from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and from 7:50 p.m. to 8:50 p.m. Berube said they are a high energy band that gets the audience involved. The Smith School of Dance performance and glow party will be held from 7:30 p.m. to 7:50 p.m. The national anthem will be sung at 8:50 p.m. Fireworks are scheduled to be shot off from a barge on the Taunton River at 9 p.m.
"It should be a good show," Berube said of the fireworks.
The children's activities at the event will include a petting zoo, pony rides, face painting, a monkey pole, a bouncee and dodgeball. Some of those activities will be monitored by teamworks. Players from the Somerset Berkley Regional High School boys' soccer team will also be volunteering to monitor some of the activities. To participate in those activities, a wrist band will be required. The wrist bands cost $10 each and can be purchased at Somerset Village Waterfront Park on the day of the event.
New this year will be a craft fair that will be located in the field across the street from the Somerset Village Waterfront Park. There will be about 40 vendors at the fair. Berube said the craft fair kind of goes along with Somerset's history when pottery was made in town.
The Block Island Ferry will be providing rides on the Taunton River. The ferry will be taking off from Somerset Village Waterfront Park every hour from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. for 45-minute rides on the river. Somerset Conservation Agent Timothy Turner will be narrating the history of the river during those rides.
There will also be a number of food selections for purchase at the Spirit of Somerset Family Fun Day. Food vendors at the event will include Li'l Audrey's, which will be serving clam boils that can be ordered in advance, Gus's Pizza, Fiesta Mexican Restaurant, which will be serving tacos, County Fare Hot Dogs, the Somerset Lions Club, which will sell macaroni and cheese, and MacRay's Seafood. The clam boil tickets will be available at Li'l Audrey's, starting on Aug. 28. At the Spirit of Somerset, they will cost $25. Michael Pasternak, of the Somerset Lions Club, has organized the food vendors.
Parking for the Spirit of Somerset Family Fun day will be in the parking lots at the marsh, off of Dublin Street, and Pierce Beach Park, off of South Street, as well as at the Bluffs which is off South Street. There will be shuttles that bring people from those places to Somerset Village Waterfront Park. There will also be handicapped parking at the Somerset Historical Society on High Street. People will be transported to the Family Fun Day from there by golf cart.
The rain date for the event will be Sunday, Sept. 10.
Berube said he likes the positive aspect of the Spirit of Somerset Family Fun Day.
"It's good for the town, good for the community," Berube said.
