A special girls’ competition in roller skating attracted a crowd on McKinley Avenue between Fountain and Willard streets. A three-legged race and a centipede race got lots of families involved too. A great drum corps competition in Beecher Park. And let’s hope you didn’t miss the formal dedication of that cannon on Whalley Avenue opposite the cemetery.
If you did see any of the above, please write immediately, I mean this very instant, to “This Day In New Haven History” and tell us the secret to your longevity.
Why? Because these events unfolded on Sept. 19, 1914. The cause was “Westville’s Big Day,” an annual celebration described in the Saturday Chronicle from that date.
Read all about it in the latest episode of “This Day In New Haven History,” where the New Haven Museum’s photo archivist Jason Bischoff-Wurstle and I discuss how far back go Westville’s distinctive identity as its own village and its other various traditions, like the Westville Art Walk. To listen, click on the audio above or find the episode in iTunes or on any podcast app under “WNHH Community Radio.”
