ABOUT TOWN: Stoughton's Going Back to the Civil War Era (Again)

CIVIL WAR COMING TO STOUGHTON!  Following the success of last year's Civil War event in Stoughton, which was part of the 2012 Stoughton Reads Together program, the Town of  Stoughton  will hold its Second Civil War Remembrance & Parade this Saturday, June 15.

It will take place from noon to 4 p.m. at various downtown locations, including the Stoughton Train Station,  Faxon   Veterans   Memorial Park (on Rt. 27 Park Street across from the Library) and the Stoughton Historical Society building (in Stoughton Center at 6 Park Street.).

It will commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, with a parade, reenactments, camp, drills, and bayonet and cooking demonstrations.  The Massachusetts 12th Volunteer Regiment, the Norwood Union Brigade, and the U.S. Sanitation Commission will all be featured.

The fun starts at noon at the Stoughton Train Station, where guests will gather for a reenactment of the presentation of the flag to the 12th Mass. Regiment by Mr. S.C. Phinney in 1861.

At 12:30 p.m., you can join the Parade to Faxon Veterans Memorial Park, led by President Lincoln (Bob Grover), Mary Todd Lincoln (Denise Locchiatto), Norwood Union Brigade, U.S. Sanitation Commission, and the 12th Massachusetts Volunteer Re-enactors.

At 1 p.m. (running through 4 p.m.) the Stoughton Historical Society will open their Civil War Display to the public. The U.S. Sanitation Commission will display period clothing, and discuss health and safety concerns of the day.  

Also at 1 p.m, at Faxon Veterans Memorial Park, they will post colors, have a dress parade, and President Lincoln will address the troops, followed by bayonet and firing drills, camp life and cooking demonstrations by local reenactors of the Massachusetts 12th Volunteer Regiment, led by Sgt. Mark Nickerson.

From 1:45-2:15 p.m. at the Charles Large Gazebo at Faxon Park, Dwight MacKerron of the Historical Society will discuss excerpts from the Civil War Journals of Alfred Edward Waldo and Charles Eaton, describing what these two young Stoughton men endured exactly 150 years ago at Port Hudson and Vicksburg, as part of the Union campaigns to control the entire Mississippi River. 

The short Eaton journal, which was recently published by the Stoughton Historical Society, describes the 18-year-old’s service, including his capture, surrounded by the bodies of dead comrades, beneath the walls of the fort at Port Hudson on June 13, 1863.  (In case of inclement weather, this will be moved inside to 6 Park Street.)

From 2:15-2:45 p.m. inside the Gazebo at Faxon Park, the Old Stoughton Music Society sings songs of the time, under the direction of Renee LeBlanc. 

At 3 p.m., also in the Gazebo, President Abraham Lincoln will read the Emancipation Proclamation. That will be followed by a reading of the Honor Roll of Stoughton Civil War Veterans by Mark Nickerson.

The day’s program of events is sponsored by the Stoughton Community Events Committee, Stoughton Historical Society, Stoughton Public Library, and Support Our Library Association (SOLA).

Stoughton Library Director Pat Basler, under whose direction this takes place, told About Town, “The real impetus for this reenactment event began with Bob Grover and Denise Lochiatto, who generously offered to play President and Mrs. Lincoln last year during our Stoughton Reads Together program.  This is a cooperative effort by many volunteers from the Stoughton Historical Society, Old Stoughton Musical Society, the 12th Mass. Volunteer Regiment, Stoughton Public Library and many other people who have offered to be a part of this project.”

Last year's event was a blast, and educational to boot. 

I'll leave you with this quote from Abe Lincoln, himself: "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."    

Come on by and enjoy this year's event!

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FLAG CEREMONY: The Brockton Assembly #20 of the International Order of Rainbow for Girls is proud to announce that on Friday, June 14, the Assembly will be hosting a Flag Day Ceremony followed by a Red, White, and Blue Dinner.

The ceremony will be held at the Rising Star Stoughton Masonic Building located at 925 Pleasant Street in Stoughton and will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m.  

The cost is $8 per person, with children 5 and under free.  The public is invited, and encouraged to bring relatives and friends along with any old and tattered flags and they will receive the dignity they deserve by our VFW and veterans who served this great nation. 

The International Order of Rainbow for Girls is a non-profit, masonic charitable service organization designed for girls from the ages of 11-21.  

For more information or to purchase tickets, please e-mail the Assembly at: brocktonassembly20@gmail.com or Brother Vince Belur at Rising Star Lodge of Stoughton at vinceb29@gmail.com.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY: to Christina Cochrane of Stoughton, a Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, and Lifestyle Coach at the Old Colony YMCA in Stoughton; to Stoughton native Linda Bernard Pane, who works for the American Red Cross Blood Services; and to Michael Wigdor, a SMAC TV host.

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HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY: To Charlie Large, WWII Vet and former Chairman of Precinct 1 at Town Meeting.  The retired firefighter now resides in Charwell House in Norwood (305 Walpole Street, Room 31-B, Norwood, MA 02062).  Send him a card! To Christine Rogers Curtis, super mom, and wife of Stoughton Police Officer Allen Curtis.  To my Stoughton neighbor Carol Siegel. To Stoughton realtor Richard Kaplan of Century 21 C & S. 

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