It is that time of year again – Greenfield’s Cardboard Boat Regatta is less than a month away!  The event takes place on Aug 10, at 10 a.m. at the town beach at Sunset Lake. 

Organized by Kayla Kokal,  who single-handedly runs the Greenfield Recreation Department, the regatta is now in its third year. Last year had a great turnout, with Caleb “CJ” Hall of the Recycling Center bringing home the trophy for  town departments category. 

It is strange to think that our late library director, the ebullient David Bridgewater, was full of energy this time last year, and testing out the boat on the floor of the library. We will always think of him when it is time for cardboard regatta. 

This year’s race will have separate trophies for children, adults and town departments, and all town residents are encouraged to take part. Kayla notes that large pieces of cardboard, carefully hoarded by CJ and his team, are available at the Recycling Center, and she recommends “the thicker the cardboard, the better!” For information please send email to greenfieldrecdept@gmail.com.

Other summer events include the beloved Music on the Common series. The next concert features the Hollis Town Band, Tuesday, July 23, at 6 p.m. on the common. On July 30 at 6 p.m., music will be provided by the Incidentals. Friends of the Library will be selling ice cream sundaes.

On Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Oak Park, the Farmers and Crafters Market now includes a flea market! Vendors have been happy with the turnout despite the hot weather. For information about how to get involved, please contact Shannon Bilodeau at oakparknhgmail.com.

There is always plenty happening at Stephenson Library. Warren Aldrich has taken over the landscaping on behalf of the Trustees of the Library, and the flowerbeds look amazing, thanks to recent donations of manure and standard hydrangeas from town residents. Warren is always looking for volunteers to help weed the beds. 

On Aug. 3, the library will host a Safe At Home class for middle-school students. There were still a few spots available as of Friday. On Aug. 9, the library will celebrate the end of the Summer Reading Program with a falconry program at Oak Park from 2 to 3 p.m. No one will want to miss this amazing display of raptors.

On Thursday, Aug. 15, in the Wensberg Room, the library will host a presentation by NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action. For information about events at the library, go to stephenson.biblionix.com or find the Stephenson Memorial Library on Facebook. 

Most people in town are probably aware that the Friends of the Meetinghouse is moving Oktoberfest to Oak Park this year. According to the town’s grant funding requirements, construction on the Meetinghouse needs to start by Sept. 30, and hopefully, work will start sooner. The first priority for repairs to the Meetinghouse is to waterproof the basement and repair the foundation, which includes the concrete ramps and iron railings at the front entrance. The concrete and railings are spalling  and deteriorating and will have to be torn up as part of the repair project.

There are pros and cons of moving the event out of the Meetinghouse. While one mission of the Friends is to get town residents inside the Meetinghouse, the building and the site have serious limitations –  in particular,  parking and accessibility.

The Meetinghouse also lacks a functioning kitchen, which makes cooking and cleanup extremely difficult. (I seem to remember hosing out huge vats used to make macaroni and cheese on my front lawn the day after Oktoberfest a few years ago!) Our volunteer cooks always prepare the food at the Oak Park kitchen and it has to be brought over the Meetinghouse and kept hot, which is no easy feat.

After years of requests from vendors in town, we will now be able to have a craft fair/farmers’ market as part of Oktoberfest. Oak Park Commitee’s Shannon Bilodeau is organizing the vendors; please contact Shannon at oakparknh@gmail.com for information. 

The only big disadvantage of Oak Park is the risk of bad weather, but as we know from the always-excellent turnout for Fire and Ice, Greenfielders will not be kept away by a little rain. 

The Friends of the Meetinghouse are always looking for a few more volunteers to help with Oktoberfest. (I honestly believe working at the event is as much fun as being a guest.) Especially if you are new in town and would like to meet some people, please get in touch. The Friends of the Meetinghouse are a very fun group. You can find out more about us at greenfieldmeetinghouse.org.