Mary Byrne
As many as 90 businesses and vendors will take over the downtown area on Sunday for the 35th annual Belmont Town Day.
“It’s grown quite a bit,” said Gerry Dickhaut, who has been running the event since its inception. “The first five to 10 years, it was OK. But in the last 25 years, it’s really [become] very popular. We probably get an estimated 1500 people if it’s a good day.”
The event was scheduled for May but was postponed due to inclement weather.
“It should be a good day,” Dickhaut said. “The weather looks OK, so hopefully everything works out good.”
Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday, attendees can expect a variety of events and activities, from musical performances, a Taekwondo demonstration, and a dunk tank to face painting and appearances from Elsa and Spider-Man.
“It’s more this year because we’re not having the car show this year, so we’re including more vendors up on Moore Street,” Dickhaut said.
Proceeds from the dunk tank will benefit Belmont Helps, a group dedicated to alleviating food insecurity in Belmont. Proceeds from face painting, meanwhile, will benefit Rosie’s Place, a women’s shelter in Boston.
According to Dickhaut, the event began 35 years ago as a way for Belmont businesses to give back to the town.
“It was something that, as a business center—back in 1989— we wanted to promote … to give back to [the town] for supporting us, the businesses, throughout the year,” he said. “We wanted to give back to the residents, and this was what we came up with.”
Watertown Savings Bank stepped up as the event’s primary sponsor this year.
“It’s been very helpful because they pay to run it with the town [Department of Public Works] and the Police Department; we get to pay all those bills from there,” he said.
After 35 years at the helm, Dickhaut—who formerly owned Champion Sports on Leonard Street—expects to step down next year, given he is no longer a local business owner. But he hopes to see the event continue well into the future in new hands.
“It’s such a good event,” he said. “I don’t want to see it not happen.”