A nearly 50-year celebration is continuing as the small community of Clancy looks to pass along tradition to future generations. Saturday on Main Street, the air will be filled with laughter and excitement. A town staple, “Clancy Days,” is back, where the small community comes together.
“I think it’s special to Clancy,” said Clancy Volunteer Fire Department assistant chief Michael McCarthy. “It’s a special event, I think people really enjoy having this in the community.”
Starting in the 1980’s, the event was originally run as a fundraiser for the Methodist church and the volunteer fire department, but grew into something much more.
Now, numerous groups do their own fundraising, from 4-H’s pancake breakfast to the fire department’s firewood raffle, among many more.
Highlights of the event include the corridor of vendor booths, the car show, a parade running through town, and especially touch-a-truck.
“My kids get on the truck, throw candy out to the kids,” McCarthy said. “I love being involved; anytime we can build a sense of community with our department, with my own family.”
The community shows up for the event, not just the 1,800 residents of Clancy, but around 5,000 visitors from all over the area.
It’s not just a day for arts and crafts. For residents, it’s remembering the history of the event and staying connected with each other.
“It is so important to draw people together and to have people know their neighbors and meet each other and see each other in a different light,” said Clancy Days organizer Carly Delsigne.
Organizers start preparations for the summer event as early as the previous fall, with hundreds of hours of work done to put everything together.
Delsigne remembers coming to Clancy Days when she was a kid, and now sees it come full circle, enjoying the opportunity to reconnect with people she hasn’t seen in years.
“Kids that I met when they were tiny, when they were babies, come to Clancy Days, and I get a big hug, and I get to meet their kids.”
Festivities start at 8 a.m. with the pancake breakfast and will run until 4 p.m., with the parade kicking off at 2:30 p.m. For those passing through the area, keep an eye out for road closures, detours, and foot traffic, and families make lifelong memories.
