TOPSHAM

In 2014, the town of Topsham will turn “the big 2-5-0, and we’re throwing a party,” said Steve Edmondson, co-chairman of the anniversary celebration’s steering committee.

The Topsham 250 Celebration Steering Committee has met monthly since March, Edmondson said, in an effort to prepare for the celebration that will begin a year-and-a-half from now. Committee members invite the community to take part in the planning.

“We want this to be a community event hosted by the community with community activities, and we want the community to take part and participate,” Edmondson told The Times Record in a recent interview.

The committee is “unabashedly taking ideas from other communities and towns” that are currently celebrating landmark anniversaries, Edmondson said.

Edmondson said the committee plans to heed advice offered by local historian Jay Robbins, who helped plan the Lincoln County celebration a couple years ago. Robbins suggested that the committee take its title literally and put the emphasis on “steering.”

“We don’t organize it. We don’t plan every minute detail. We are counting on the community to step up and put this on,” Edmondson said.

The town was granted its incorporation as a town in 1764, so 2014 will mark the 250th anniversary of that incorporation.

“I think the 250 mark is significant

— historically and traditionally,” Edmondson said. “There aren’t many communities in this country that have reached that age,” which he said “is very significant and I think it’s worthy of recognizing it and honoring it. And at the same time, I think if done right, it will increase community spirit.”

Letters were recently mailed to every business, group, committee, organization, society — any entity the committee could think of either located in or with ties to Topsham — to let them know of the committee and the celebration, and to encourage them to get involved and to organize events that reflect who they are and what they do in relation to Topsham.

The committee has a book commemorating the town’s 200th anniversary in 1964, and Edmondson said it looks like the celebration was limited to a three-day weekend in July of that year.

“We too are going to plan some major events on a weekend in July,” Edmondson said. “But we want events to take place all year long, and we want some of these groups and committees and organizations to step up and plan something at different times of the year. … We want this to be a year-long celebration.”

The steering committee, for example, will likely plan one event on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2013, that may include a bonfire and related activities at the fairgrounds.

“That’s going to be the kickoff event, so when the clock strikes midnight, it will then officially be 2014 and the party’s on,” Edmondson said.

Other events could include dances, a massive classic car show like those held at the Topsham Fair Mall, a firemen’s muster, a time capsule, and perhaps a rowing event.

Edmondson, whose own heritage is linked to Topsham, hopes the celebration will feature a focus on the town’s history: “How Topsham came to be, who are our early settlers and who are the people who came and got Topsham up and running and were behind becoming an incorporated town?”

The steering committee also plans to ask for donations from the business community, and has already received offers of donations to get the effort under way. The committee may appear before the May 2013 town meeting to ask for some municipal funds, and Edmondson expects some fundraising to take place leading up to 2014.

Anyone who would like to share ideas and suggestions for the town’s 250th celebration can visit www.topshammaine.com/250. At this link people may also leave their name and contact information so they can be reached to volunteer or participate in some way.

“We’re building a database of people who are willing to get involved so we can call on them,” said Edmondson, who added that he believes people are genuinely excited about the celebration.

“I think we’re going to have fun and I think we’re going to have a good turnout for participation,” he said.