By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Chilly weather and scattered rain showers did not stop the crowds from filing into the Dover Fall Festival Double Header this past Saturday, September 30th. This kickoff-to-fall event was hosted by the Dover Mother’s Association (DMA) and the Dover Land Conservation Trust (DLCT) at Springdale Field located right in Dover, MA.
This is the first year that these two organizations joined forces to create one massive event. Members of the DLCT noticed that the DMA ran their Family Fun Fest on the same day that they ran their Springdale Field Fest last year. Instead of almost competing with each other, the DLCT reached out to the DMA to see if they wanted to come together and still use the Springdale Field. Members of the DMA loved the idea and thus the Fall Festival Double Header was created!
The event lasted for four hours, with each organization splitting their time so they each had two hours for their specific programs. First up was the DMA with their annual Family Fun Fest. They brought in an ice cream truck, fired oven pizza, face painting, air brush tattoos, cookie decorating, crafts, and bunnies from Powisset Farm for all to indulge in. There was also an incredible musical performance from “Jammin With You” for the kiddos to dance and sing along to.
President of the DMA, Julia Cavan, was seen mingling with attendees and making sure everything was running smoothly. When talking about this new combined event, she went on to state, “We partnered this year with DLCT to bring our community together for what we now call the Fall Festival Double Header. We just thought rather than having competing events, it would be great to work together and join resources to try to bring out as much of the community as we could. The first two hours are really focused on the young kids and families and then the last two hours are really centered more towards adults. This is a rain or shine event so it was a nail biter right till the end, but we are just so thrilled to be here.”
The last two hours consisted of the DLCT’s Springdale Field Fest which included musical performances from Dover’s very own Backwards Hats and Jamie Walker & Friends. While listening to some amazing music, adults could also enjoy a local craft beer or cocktail and some pizza or barbeque chicken.
Board of Trustees members, John Shue and David Yuknat, were both in attendance running the DLCT booth. When talking with them about this double header event, David went on to mention, “This is either our seventh or eighth year running our specific event. It’s hard to remember exactly due to the times we had to cancel for Covid and other things going on. This year, we decided to reach out to the DMA to see if they wanted to join forces with us. We thought why not come over here to this field together, we have plenty of room. This way we are able to create a bigger community event which is what we both wanted. We are really just trying to raise awareness for the Land Conservation Trust and let the community know we are here and a little bit about what we do.”
Overall, this first time double header event was a huge success that brought Doverites together in such a fun way. Smiling faces could be seen throughout so it can be said with ease that all hope this type of event continues for years to come.
