NORTHAMPTON — With buckets of white paint, brushes and painters’ hats, more than 100 volunteers began painting Historic Northampton’s fence Saturday afternoon with one goal in mind: to paint the 300-foot fence in an hour.
“Good Neighbors Paint Good Fences” brought together people from all over the Pioneer Valley to paint the fence on Bridge Street. The event was a way to bring the community together, raise money for the museum and beautify the area, said Laurie Sanders, co-executive director of the local historical organization and museum.
“This is a great community-building event,” Sanders said. “It’s all about working with good neighbors.”
Sanders came up with the idea for the event, which came together in two weeks. Local organizations had the opportunity to sponsor a section of the fence, and the money raised would help fund shutters for Historic Northampton’s Damon House. More than 30 businesses and organizations donated to the event, raising more than $10,000, Sanders said.
With a face-painting table and a hat-decorating station, the party was an event for all ages.
Sawyer Riley, 11, and Keeley Riley, 8, from Colorado came to paint the fence with their grandfather, John Riley, a Northampton mayoral candidate. The two are visiting for the week, so John decided to bring them to the event, especially since his grandson’s name is Sawyer. The event is based on Mark Twain’s story of Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence.
Sawyer said he was excited to see the finished product, and Keeley was excited to paint.
“I like painting,” Keeley said. “I helped paint a house once, but that was a little bigger than this.”
Cheri Cross, 70, of Northampton wore a flower-decorated painter’s hat and overalls. She said she is a longtime support of Historic Northampton and really enjoys the events they organize to bring the community together.
For Cross, Saturday’s event was a good combination of doing good in the community and bringing people together.
“I really love the feeling of accomplishing something so visible to visitors to town,” Cross said. “It helps create a wonderful welcoming entrance and shows that we care enough to put effort into the town and the keeping of it.”
Six volunteers came in a group from the Northampton Big Y. They wore red shirts with the saying, “Together We Can Make a Difference.”
Leslie DeVries, employee services representative, brought her team to paint to show their support in the community. Employees at Big Y often do community engagement projects similar to this one.
“We like to support the community,” DeVries said. “They’re our customers, so we like to give back. We’re all a part of the community.”
The goal was to have the fence painted in an hour, and that’s exactly what they did.
By 5:30 p.m., less than an hour after they had started, volunteers had set down their brushes, grabbed a slice of watermelon and gathered in the museum yard to listen to the Expandable Brass Band play.
“The event exceeded my expectations,” Sanders said. “We finished the whole fence in under an hour, and we had fun while doing it.”