Rockland Celebrates 150th Anniversary with Parade, Festivities
Town Marks Milestone Birthday with Full Day of Activities on June 15th, Including Parade, Live Music, Fireworks
ROCKLAND, MA - June 4 - The town of Rockland is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a parade and festivities on June 15. The day-long celebration kicks off at 9:30 a.m. with a parade featuring 26 participating groups, including floats and groups of children.
The parade will impact Union Street, with road closures starting at 8 or 8:30 a.m. Courtney Beaulieu, Assistant to the Administrator, is working with Dave Taylor from Highway and Chief Zioli on coordination, communications, and logistics.
Following the parade, there will be live music and food and beverage options at the middle school outdoor stage area for those staying for the entire day. Rockland Day begins at 2 p.m. and continues until around 9:30 p.m., with fireworks scheduled for approximately 9:15 p.m.
Allison Sullivan, a member of the Rockland Day Planning Committee, shared details about the event. "Rockland Day will be from 2 p.m. to around 9:30. Fireworks will be around 9:15. But we have right now eight food trucks, three smaller food vendors, two local breweries. We have lots of bands, lots of fun activities for kids, demonstrations by, like, the canines and South Shore Taekwondo. So lots of local people. We actually have about 75 to 80 vendors coming, whether informational or selling their stuff."
In addition to the 150th anniversary celebrations, Rockland is launching a storefront and facade grant program to revitalize its downtown area. The program, which is live on the town's website, focuses on improving the exterior of buildings in a subdistrict within the 40-R district along Union Street.
Eligible improvements include exterior enhancements such as painting, window and door replacement, brick repointing, masonry, and storefront improvements like signage, awnings, and entryway redesigns. Streetscape improvements, including landscaping, planters, outdoor seating areas, and sidewalk upgrades, are also eligible.
The program allows for the inclusion of public art or mural work in the designated area. Courtney Beaulieu emphasized the importance of getting the word out about the program. "I think my main kind of takeaway for both you all and the public is just to get the word out about the program, to ask you all to share the information. All of this information is available on the planning department website."
The grant program is primarily a grant with a limited 10% match from the grantee. The town has allocated $100,000 of its ARPA funds towards the initiative, and applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the funds are expended.
Beaulieu expressed hope that the program will help attract more businesses, foot traffic, and economic vitality to the area. "Our goal is to use all of those funds to make improvements in that corridor, and the end goal is really to hopefully help attract more businesses to that area, more foot traffic to that area, more economic kind of vitality to that area at the end of the day."
With the 150th anniversary celebrations and the launch of the storefront and facade grant program, Rockland is taking steps to honor its history while investing in its future and the revitalization of its downtown district.