An Old Home Day photo gallery

After a year’s absence, Chester Old Home Day and Fireworks 2012 kicked off Saturday afternoon Sept. 1 under bright skies and cheery faces. The event, put on with the help of the Chester American Legion Post 67, the Ladies Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion, featured dance music by Sound Investment, fried dough, onion rings and French fries, horseback riding for children, toy vendors and games all set up in the fields behind the Legion Hall.

Fireworks organizer Pat Budnick, owner of Motel in the Meadow, said the fireworks alone cost $7,000. She urges people to begin donating now to help make next year’s event a success. Donations can be made to “Chester Fireworks” at TD Bank North, 48 Main St. in Chester.
a lot of people help to make the event a success.

In the neighborhoods surrounding the fields behind Mountain Man Marketplace and the Stone House Antiques Center, where the fireworks were set of, friends and families gathered to hold their own Old Home Day, celebrating with cookouts, potlucks, picnics and music. Around 8:30 p.m., the fireworks began, booming, whizzing, banging and popping all to light up the night skies.

Roy Farrar of Chester dances with his daughter as their family looks on./ Photos by Cynthia Prairie unless otherwise noted.

The Break Maids — from left, Faith Wood, Ida Mae Specker and Emily Fentin — rock out during one of the many gatherings held in neighborhoods bordering the American Legion as dusk falls and the fireworks display nears.

Children get the opportunity to do a bit of controlled horseback riding during Chester Old Home Day, just before the fireworks.

Fireworks organizer Pat Budnick stays busy even as Old Home Day gets under way.

Ron the Sandman of Springfield, MA, offers kids a chance to create sand art in bottles decorated with adorable stoppers.

Sparkling glasses were a hit with many.

Tim Wirasnik of Annie’s Affordables in Claremont, NH, sells the electric glasses among other items.

Sound Investment kept many attendees on their feet.

A spectacular display of fireworks begins./Photos by Shawn Cunningham.

The moon rises in the lower right hand corner as fireworks are shot off./ Photo by Claudio Veliz of Southern Vermont Astronomy Group.

Photo by Shawn Cunningham.

Photo by Shawn Cunningham.

Photo by Claudio Veliz of Southern Vermont Astronomy Group.

Photo by Shawn Cunningham.

Photo by Shawn Cunningham.

Photo by Claudio Veliz of Southern Vermont Astronomy Group.

Photo by Shawn Cunningham.

Photo by Claudio Veliz of Southern Vermont Astronomy Group.

Photo by Shawn Cunningham.