The Troy Record
August 22, 1911
Danby Greeting Its Returning Natives and Combining Old Home Week Features With Historical Pageant
Danby has the distinction of being one of the very few small towns in Vermont whose population increased during the last decade. There have been no large new industries to cause this development; it has been the steady influx of those who realize the natural advantages of clean village life and good farm land, an influx which has counteracted the constant drain of the city. It is, therefore, natural that the inhabitants of this historic town should have decided to hold a special celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. The present week is being given over to this affair, the committee in charge combining special features with those of the Old Home week which has become so popular in recent years.
Already Danby is filled with visitors. Every train brought new arrivals yesterday, some of them coming from points as far off as Ohio and Pennsylvania. Twenty-five hundred invitations were issued, each going to a former resident or descendant of an old Danbyite. More than six hundred of these have gained favorable answers, and practically every house in the villages or the town are to be filled with guests. Danby consists of several settlements, two of them of some size. The chief attractions are at Danby station, where every house was covered with bunting and flags yesterday by professional decorators from Rutland and Troy. Wednesday will be the chief day. The people of the town will hold a family picnic, with at least one thousand persons at table. After dinner addresses will be delivered by Frederick G. Fleetwood, ex-secretary of state and candidate for governor, and Frank Plumley, congressman from the second district, and usually considered the leading orator of Vermont. Special music will be rendered by the Wallingford Military band and local talent, and in the evening the finest display of fireworks ever presented in eastern Vermont will be offered. Yesterday and today are given over to family reunions and interchange of calls by the former residents. Among those who have arrived are Mrs. Daniel R. McGonigal, Daniel McGonigal and Miss Maud Bancroft of this city.