Old Home Days

History of Foster Old Home Days

Foster's annual Old Home Days is held every year during the last weekend in July.  The first Old Home Days celebration was held in 1904 sponsored by the Old Home Association to raise funds to repair the Town House.  The affair consisted of a dinner served at tables improvised from locally cut boards with borrowed dishes for the food (yes, a volunteer was recruited to wash them all when dinner was over).  Chowder was cooked in large iron kettles (which are now located and preserved in the FPS Offices) and a clambake was carefully tended by designated committee members.

Native sons, including a few dignitaries such as United States Senator Nelson W. Aldrich were invited.  Aldrich was born in the Burgess Homestead on Burgess Road in Foster (click here to learn more about Nelson Aldrich). 

Attendees at that first event would not recognize the Town House grounds during Old Home Days in the twenty-first century.  The event has grown and evolved, changing drastically over the decades.  Yet it has survived due to the perseverance of a core of community spirited citizens who, over the years, have recognized the value of the Old Home Days tradition.  During the next Old Home Days, we invite you to visit the Preservation Society in the Town House to chat a bit and perhaps learn a little about Foster History.