By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The Select Board is looking for residents to serve on a new committee that will be tasked with planning a townwide celebration marking the United States’ 250th birthday on July 4, 2026.
The Historical Commission voted last summer to recommend that the town form a committee that would be tasked with planning and preparing the celebration. The Historical Commission wants the town to hold a variety of events to celebrate the occasion.
Select Board Chair Joe Connell said during a Dec. 11 meeting that residents are invited to submit letters of interest and resumes to Assistant Town Administrator Bob Curtin at rcurtin@town.lynnfield.ma.us if they are interested in serving on the 250th Celebration Committee.
Select Board member Phil Crawford, who called into the meeting because he was visiting his daughter in California, said the 250th Celebration Committee should have 11 members.
Connell and Select Board member Dick Dalton both said the new committee should include 11 members.
After the discussion, the Select Board voted to invite residents to submit resumes and cover letters to the 250th Celebration Committee. The Select Board also invited the Lynnfield Historical Society to select one member to serve on the newly created committee.
A group of Lynnfield Historical Society members attended the meeting. Town Administrator Rob Dolan told Society President Ron Sarro after the meeting that the nonprofit organization must select a resident to serve on the committee.
According to an article that appeared in the July 7, 1976 issue of the “Lynnfield Villager,” hundreds of residents attended the town’s 200th birthday celebration for America that was organized by the defunct Lynnfield Couples Club. The events included a costume parade, field day events and the annual Fourth of July Road Race. The field day events included treasure hunts for young children as well as egging-throwing contests, dashes, potato sack races, three-legged races and wheelbarrow races. There were also amusement rides and pony rides.
The town previously held several celebrations commemorating Lynnfield’s 200th birthday and the 300th birthday of the Meeting House in 2014.