Canton Heritage Festival

The Lexington Minutemen fire their muskets during last weekend’s Canton Heritage Festival at the Paul Revere Heritage Site.

A strong turnout and picture-perfect spring weather made for a memorable grand opening at Canton’s Paul Revere Heritage Site on Saturday. “Today is the culmination,” noted Victor Del Vecchio, chair of the Revere & Son Trust, during the speaking portion of the inaugural Heritage Festival. “We now have a town common, and I hope you all agree that it’s a wondrous sight. We’re very pleased to be stewards of this beautiful asset.”

Billed as a celebration of the region’s past and living present, the festival was free to attend and featured a variety of live performances and family-friendly activities as well as food trucks, vendor booths, community displays, and a special exhibit — “Canton in Wartime” — created in partnership with the Canton Historical Society.

The slate of performers included the CHS jazz band, CHS senior Adam Clyve, Canton Community Theater, and the Silversmith Youth Theater. Several reenactors were also on hand to bring history to life with performances by the Lexington Minutemen, Michael LePage as Paul Revere and Judith Kalaora as Rachel Revere; and Canton’s 1834 Revere Bell, fresh off a cross-country trek from its previous owners in California, was proudly displayed for all to see.

Speakers at Saturday’s event included Del Vecchio, Select Board member Lisa Lopez, Rep. William Galvin, Senator Walter Timilty, Senator Paul R. Feeney, and Norfolk Commissioner Richard Staiti. All marveled at the beauty of the property, and a special focus was paid to the efforts of all those who made that day possible.

“This was not an easy project,” said Lopez. “It had challenges, it had obstacles, and yet people didn’t give up. They leaned in and as a consequence we have an extraordinary transformation of this public space.”

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