Lake Pleasant will be celebrating its 150th anniversary this year with a celebration on Aug. 24 that organizer and member of The National Spiritual Alliance (TNSA) Kara Kharmah hopes emphasizes the community spirit of the village after a century and a half of existence. 

“People came here for at least 150 years every summer to connect with spirit and to learn how to be better people. The energy around that I think is still here, and it’s just beautiful,” Kharmah said. 

Starting in 1874, Lake Pleasant became a full-time, spiritualist community where followers of the Spiritualism movement would live and practice. This year, Lake Pleasant will celebrate 150 years of history and community through a combination of music, art installations, children’s activities, food trucks, vendors, a historical tour and more. 

Kharmah explained that the celebration seeks to pay homage to the recorded history of Lake Pleasant. Part of this will be done through a history tour of the village.

“They’ll be kind of like an in outdoor living museum with signs about the histories of different houses, different locations and things that used to be there,” Kharmah said. These signs will have postcard images of the different locations within the village that will give visitors an idea of what the homes and locations looked like just over a century ago. 

Music will also be a part of the celebration. Kharmah says she was inspired to include music after reading a 1954 article in the Greenfield Recorder-Gazette by lifelong Lake Pleasant resident Dorothy Beggs.

“[Beggs] describes all the music. There used to be multiple free-band shows a day, and there was a whole dance pavilion,” Kharmah said. “As a music promoter, I really connected with this description,” Kharmah said.

At the Aug. 24 event, there will be two stages for live music throughout the day. Signature Dish (Lexi Weege and JJ Slater), Force & Friends, Big Destiny, and The Klines are part of the musical lineup, according to the Lake Pleasant website. 

The celebration will also have unique events to celebrate the legacy of the lake with a time capsule burial ceremony along with a lighting of the Bridge of Names with Japanese-style lanterns. Metaphysical vendors, authors and activities will also be present, highlighting the spiritualist practices at Lake Pleasant. 

This celebration is also an important moment for the community at large as there has been a decline in TNSA membership and participation at Lake Pleasant. 

Vice President and acting CEO of TNSA David James penned a letter to TNSA members that the Thompson Temple in Lake Pleasant will be closed for the winter because of a lack of membership and financial constraints. Kharmah said she hopes that the Aug. 24 celebration illuminates the history and use of Thompson Temple, and that she would like to see more community use of the space in the future. 

“Community is what gets us through hard times,” Kharmah said. “This is a really tight-knit community that is really special and very uncommon, particularly in New England.” 

The Lake Pleasant 150th Anniversary Block Party Celebration will be from 1 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 24. The road into the village will be closed to vehicle traffic, and only open for pedestrians. Free parking will be available along Lake Pleasant Road and also available at the Mohawk Ramblers Motorcycle Club. A free shuttle will take attendees to the village from the motorcycle club free of charge. 

The Lake Pleasant Village Association website has a full list of programming, sponsors and history of the lake available here: https://tinyurl.com/ycyt8fxs.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.