LEE — A milestone, cemetery tour and an aerial drone fly-over highlight a revised and expanded Lee Founders Weekend this year.
Festival Latino of the Berkshires celebrates its 20th anniversary as one of the premier events during the tradition three-day celebration in September to promote the town’s history, businesses and cultural offerings. For 2015, activities actually begin Thursday evening and run through Sunday morning, primarily on and around Main Street.
On Saturday, Festival Latino is from noon to 8 p.m. with an added pageant for children dressed in Latino costumes following the Hometown Parade. The expanded time-frame (in years past, Festival Latino lasted only four hours) also allows the live music and dance groups more time to set up between performances, according to organizer Liliana Ortiz-Bermudez.
After eight hours under a tent in the First Congregational Church park, Festival Latino will mark its 20th year with a fundraising party in the Tally-Ho Barn at Eastover Resort in Lenox, starting at 9 p.m. Tickets will be sold throughout Saturday in Lee for the adults-only gala with musical guest Latin Orquesta from New York City.
“We want to celebrate all those who’ve supported us each year,” Ortiz-Bermudez said. “If we have 300 people [buy tickets,] we can pay for the party.”
The Taste of Lee continues to anchor events held on Friday when staff from restaurants throughout town line the sidewalks along Main Street and serve up their specialties or dishes made just for the occasion. Main Street from Academy Street to Park Street will be closed to motor vehicle traffic to provide a pedestrian-friendly, three-hour event from 5 to 8 p.m.
Live music, including a community block dance, street artisans and crafters and children’s carnival will be mixed in among the food — all being recorded from above. Lee Founders Weekend organizers have hired a local company to fly a drone equipped with a video camera over Taste of Lee for a community overview of the town, according to Colleen Henry, executive director of the Lee Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s part of our marketing to have a creative video of what Lee has to offer. It’s titled, ‘Lee: Gateway to the Berkshires,'” she said.
Saturday’s other long-established event is the Hometown Parade, starting an hour sooner this year at 10 a.m.
Marchers step off at the north end of Main Street, head south to Park Street, turn left and end at the Lee Athletic Field.
The earlier start time will allow the hour-long parade to end before the weekend visitors flood the festivities.
“Usually between 11 and 1, we get a lot of traffic from the [Massachusetts Turnpike,]” said Lee Founders Weekend Coordinator Joe Furgal.
Henry added, “The early start time will relieve the traffic congestion.”
Other changes include the Lee Chamber Duck Derby moving from Sunday to Saturday afternoon, with proceeds from this year’s rubber duck race on the Housatonic benefiting the business organization.
Spectators take in the Hometown Parade along Main Street in Lee in 2014. (BWSV FILE PHOTO)
Lee Founders Weekend gets a head start on Thursday evening when history buffs hear the stories behind those resting in peace at the town’s burial ground. At 6 p.m., the Lee Historical Society will conduct a guided tour of the oldest section of Fairmount Cemetery, focusing on a variety of Lee residents long ago, including the first person buried there, according to the organization’s treasurer, Mal Eckert.
“It was a young girl who fell off a wagon near the Housatonic River where Price Chopper is today,” Eckert said. “She hit her head and died.”
Another added feature is Bowey the Clown Magic Show at the Chambery Inn next to Lee Hardware, an event intended to involve more of the Main Street’s north end during Saturday’s festivities.
The spirit of Lee Founders Weekend is best captured by Eva Ricci, who drew the winning entry for the chamber’s inaugural poster contest held in the spring. A graduate in June from Lee Middle and High School, Ricci’s artwork of downtown Lee is reminiscent of Norman Rockwell’s “Main Street at Christmas,” depicting downtown Stockbridge during the holiday season.
Lee founders weekend schedule
THURSDAY
Cemetery Tour (Lee Historical Society): 6 p.m., Fairmount Cemetery.
Friday
Street Artisans & Crafts: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hand-made jewelry, wood products, paper art, wind chimes, food, farmers market, and more.
Creative Lee Reception: 3-5 p.m., Lee Library. Local artists’ works on display all month.
CTA Tennis Quick Start for Kids: 4-6 p.m. St. Mary’s School parking area.
Carr Hardware Children’s Carnival: 4-8 p.m.
Taste of Lee: 5-8 p.m. Dine al fresco on Main Street with tastings from some of Lee’s finest restaurants. Street musicians include Robin O’Herin, Housatonic Philharmonic Orchestra, Moonshine Holler. WBRK, the Berkshires’ oldest radio station, will be broadcasting live.
Aerial Photography: 7 p.m. Video camera on a drone flying over Main Street from south to north. (Look up and wave!)
Community Block Dance: 7-9 p.m. Church Park. With DJ Matt Fillio. Dancing and food.
Lee Idol: 7 p.m. Spectrum Playhouse.
SATURDAY
5K Road Race: 9 a.m. Finnegan Course.
Porchlight VNA/Home Care Tag Sale: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Street Artisans & Crafts: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hometown Parade: 10 a.m. Main Street.
Carr Hardware BBQ: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Lee Teens (Lee Youth Commission): 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., crafts & games for children. Also, 1 p.m. Terry a la Berry. Lee Library front lawn.
Bowey the Clown Magic Show: 11:30 a.m. Chambery Inn.
Henry’s Electric Big Green Egg Cook-off: Noon to 2 p.m. Gazebo.
LYA Open House: Noon to 2 p.m.
Festival Latino: Noon to 8 p.m. Food, music, and dance performances.
Lee Chamber Duck Derby: 2 p.m.
Lee Idol: 7 p.m. Spectrum Playhouse.
SUNDAY
Lee Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast: 8 to 11 a.m. St. Mary’s School.
CTA Vintage Tennis Tournament: 10 a.m. Greenock Country Club.
