Every five years, for over a century, several towns in the Monadnock region have celebrated Old Home Days. This year, Wilton again is planning its nine-day event in mid-August, while Nelson has a week-long celebration in early August and Swanzey and Harrisville have one- and two-day celebrations in mid July.

Although I’ve attended nearly four decades of Wilton Old Home Days events, I was not raised in New Hampshire, leaving me no idea about the origin of Old Home Days. I decided to educate myself. My research led me to a New Hampshire Preservation Alliance article where I learned that just prior to the turn of the 20th century, the Industrial Revolution and the nation’s westward expansion began depleting rural communities of their labor force. Farms were failing. forests stripped of their timber and farmhouses boarded up.

In 1899, then New Hampshire Gov. Frank Rollins envisioned an event that would draw people back to their home communities to celebrate their agricultural heritage and renew old friendships. As the concept was described in the Preservation Alliance article, it was a “family reunion at a grand, Victorian scale.” More recently, it has morphed into a “celebration of community life and (a chance to) meet with your neighbors.” Now, 27 New Hampshire communities out of the 120 that held these events continue the tradition of Old Home Days celebrations.

For Wilton, this event continues the promise of bringing old friends and current neighbors together in a celebration that has something for just about everyone as participant, onlooker or both. Until 1981, Wilton’s Old Home Days was a three day event. Through the determination and inspiration of Gary Crooker and David Proctor, who both joined the OHD planning committee in 1974, the event expanded to a week and eventually to the current nine days. These two started out on the committee as ”gofers,” but by 1981 David had taken over handling the financial side and Gary’s enthusiasm, optimism, wit and people skills landed him the job of committee chair.

In fact, everyone I spoke with agrees that Old Home Days has become part of the fabric of Wilton due almost solely to Gary Crooker’s determination to hold to a vision of an affordable event focused on bringing community, family, friends and neighbors together. This year, the OHD team has to go on without Gary, who passed away in March of 2023.

When I met with the current leadership team, they had begun to realize all that Gary did behind the scenes that made the event run smoothly -- things they had taken for granted. Dave Proctor mentioned that Gary knew so many people and was such a great communicator that he was able to pull all the different community players together with just a few words to the right people. This part is just a little more difficult without Gary’s presence.

In honor of Gary, everyone on the team intends to make certain this year’s celebration would make him proud. Even more of a tip of the hat to Gary is the committee’s choice of theme for Wilton’s 2024 Old Home Days event – “Damn Near Perfect!” That was the reply Gary gave every time he was asked “How are things going?” Yet people pointed out that you never would find Gary taking credit for all that he did. When asked, Melissa, Gary’s widow, noted that he insisted that everything that was accomplished was “A team effort.” She added, “But to make certain the team stayed together, he threatened to retire every five years.”

Don Condon described Gary as a traditionalist who wanted the focus of the event on community, family, friends and neighbors. To this point, Gary didn’t want to add any event that would cost attendees money. He wanted it affordable for everyone, no matter how large their family. This means no carnival-like rides, but does mean a lot of family, friend- and community-related activities are on the schedule. Thus, activities Gary believed important, like the popular horseshoe tournament, no matter how time-consuming setup and take-down may be, will continue to be part of Old Home Days.

Of course, I had to ask if everything really was “damn near perfect,” all the time. The five people I met with -- Melissa Crooker, Don Condon, who chairs both the committee and the golf tournament; Jack Skelly, heading the horseshoe tournament; Deb Mortvedt, who’s in charge of family night; and Dave Proctor – all had a few stories of things that didn’t go as expected. I believe it was either Jack or Don who first said,“Tell her about the hot dogs.” The story goes that one year, a good-sized band was commissioned to play, but at the end of their set, they expected to be fed as well as paid. To make certain there was no fuss, the committee purchased dozens of hot dogs from one of the vendors to sate the appetites of the band members, with one band member downing nearly a dozen on his own.

Then there was the year of the torrential downpour that started Friday night and continued through Saturday. After an evening of frantic phone calls, the Saturday parade and other events were moved to Sunday, with only one group unable to make that change. Another year, there were so many events during the day that the horseshoe tournament ran until after dark, with the final rounds played under car headlights directed at the pits.

One proposed event was so ill-conceived its name has become part of the banter of planning Old Home Days. That year, plans were made for a kissing booth, the same year there had been an outbreak of a contagious viral infection. Wisdom prevailed, but to this day, whenever a not-so-well-thought-out project is proposed, the common response is “That’s a kissing booth idea.”

One loudly applauded new idea this year is all OHD staff members will wear Hawaiian shirts as a remembrance of and nod to Gary.

On opening day, Aug. 10, and for many of the days thereafter, most of the events will take place in Whiting Park on the flat, including the cornhole contest, children’s parade, performances by Flying Gravity Circus and the Souhegan Valley Boys’ and Girls’ Club Dance Team and a formal opening ceremony followed by a dance to the music of the Soultown Band. The final two days will feature the parade along Main Street that was one of Gary’s favorite parts of Old Home Days.

Other events will take place on Carnival Hill, a ham-and-beans supper at the First Congregational Church and a formal dedication of the Riverwalk Gazebo in the police station parking lot. Events in the intervening week include two different types of golf tournaments, a family fun night, a bingo night and a trivia contest, a classic car show with doo-wop musical accompaniment, several other bands, an “Iron Chef” cookoff and various food offerings and fund-raising activities, an all-class reunion and a fun run. Finally, you are reminded to pick up your scavenger hunt forms on opening day and to turn them in by Aug. 18.

That’s just a taste of what’s to come. All scheduled events can be found on the Wilton town or Wilton Old Home Days websites.

Finally, the last word from the committee was the reminder that “It’s the community showing up that makes this all worthwhile. As long as we have the community behind it, Old Home Days will continue to be part of Wilton traditions.”