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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Neither rain nor thunderstorm warnings stopped Dover residents from enjoying the autumn themed festival at Springdale Field. Under the protection of a 3,600 square foot tent, festival-goers enjoyed warm food and drinks, live entertainment, and the company of the community, all while supporting the Dover Land Conservation Trust (DLCT).
This was the third year the DLCT hosted a festival welcome to the public. “We knew we had these properties and said we ought to get people out on them,” said President of the DLCT, Thomas French. “This is one of our signature properties in town that everyone knows about, and we roped in a bunch of people and said ‘Let’s throw a party for the town.’”
Strings of lights guided visitors through the gloomy rainclouds and under the festive tents. Bales of hay provided seating in front of the stage, where Dover performers entertained the attendees. With fall-inspired face cutouts attracting children to the tent neighboring the one that housed the stage, kids were also welcomed to have their faces painted with a variety of designs and played at the beanbag toss stations. Some of the more daring kids played football out in the rain and came back under the tent to warm up with hot cocoa and hot apple cider.
Families escape the rain and enjoyed fresh air under the tents at Springdale Field’s third annual festival to raise awareness for the Dover Land Conservation Trust.
The DCLT recently acquired a 26-acre property by the Charles River to add to the other 35 properties in Dover that they maintain for non-motorized outdoor activities, like walking and horseback riding.
To raise money for the DCLT, the organization sold raffle tickets for a chance to win two tickets to a Patriots game. John Shue, a DCLT trustee and organizer of the event, recruited his ninth-grade nephew, Wyatt Shue, from New York City to help collect donations for the Trust.
“New York City is a little bit too clustered for me and we don’t have as many green landscapes as Dover does,” said Shue. “I think trying your best to keep what [green landscapes] we have intact is a really noble cause and requires a certain amount of determination and valor.”
“The Land Trust has been around for 51 years and has quietly done good work. Now we’re still trying to do good work, but let more people know about it so people can get out and use the properties,” said French.
