NEW SALEM — The town’s Old Home Day is set to be resurrected on Sept. 14 after having not been held since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The community event will be held on the Town Common from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with vendors and events for visitors of any age. Longtime attendees will likely notice the festivities will have less grandeur largely because the event was not held for a few years due to the pandemic and the effort required to bring an event like this back to life.

“If people remember the Old Home Days of the past, we’ve decided to sort of scale it down a little bit to make sure that we don’t overextend,” Margie McGinnis, chair of the Old Home Day Committee said.

She mentioned the event also has been moved to September because the ones held in mid-July “could get awfully hot.” She said this rendition will be confined to the Town Common, whereas previous ones took up much of South Main Street. Activities will include a 1794 Meetinghouse silent auction, a Council on Aging tin can auction, a library book sale, miniature golf and a bounce house for children.

McGinnis said there also will be a first-ever tricycle race and a play created, organized, rehearsed and performed in one day “with however many kids are game.”

There will be a “Take the Cake” event sponsored by the New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art.

Interested bakers compete by making two identical cakes and registering them at the museum by 12:30 p.m. Cake lovers get to sample each cake and vote for the cakes they would like to win. One voter’s ticket will be selected at random for every cake and that person gets to bring home the extra cake. From the votes, a winner for each cake will be chosen and that winner gets to take home the extra cake. Eaters will have until 2:30 p.m. to sample the cakes. The drawing of winners will be at that time. The baker with the most votes will win a $100 gift certificate.

The New Salem Cultural Council is sponsoring a concert of the musical trio Mad Agnes at the 1794 Meetinghouse.

“We’re really trying to make the event regionally appealing,” Council Chair Ami Fagin said, adding that there will be three food trucks.

She also said the New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art will offer free admission as part of the event.

“That is a magnificent, world-class facility,” Fagin said.

She said New Salem is such a small town that it was difficult to get an event reestablished. She said she pitched the idea once she became chair about three years ago.

McGinnis said she decided to get involved when she saw an advertisement announcing the Old Home Day Committee chair would be paid. She said, however, she is not accepting the money and is returning to the event.

A list of the special events and performances, and information about the Old Home Day Committee and its members, is available at: tinyurl.com/NewSalemOldHomeDay2024.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.