The first Spirit of Shrewsbury Fall Festival was held in 1996. The article below explains how it began.

How did the first Spirit of Shrewsbury Fall Festival originate?

Joyce Bartlett Perreault

The first festival had a serendipitous beginning, because it was an unexpected outgrowth of a homecoming idea.  The Shrewsbury High School Alumni Association was looking to plan a homecoming weekend.  Joyce Perreault, then president of the Alumni Association, sent out thirty letters to a mix of school educators and community leaders to see if they were interested in a homecoming weekend.

Joyce Perreault and Sue Falzoi, along with other Alumni officers, attended that first meeting to brainstorm ideas for a homecoming weekend with other community members.  Sue DiLeo, a school counselor, attended that initial meeting as well.  Through the process of brainstorming and putting all of the various ideas down on paper, the group realized that they wanted something even grander than the original proposal. Unanticipated at the time, the homecoming idea grew and blossomed into a community fall festival weekend!

Sue DiLeo and Joyce Perreault offered to co-chair the first fall festival, and Sue Falzoi offered to do the publicity. The Alumni Association organized the homecoming piece of the weekend, but did not want to take on the responsibility of the entire fall festival.  Therefore, the Spirit of Shrewsbury Organization put down its roots, and became a non-profit organization through the help of all its new members and some legal guidance from Chris Mehne.

Each year the festival changes with its own unique flavor, but the remarkable team of volunteers behind the scenes and the folks that come to enjoy it are what make it such a warm and welcoming community event each fall.

Sue (Donahue) Falzoi, Joyce (Bartlett) Perreault, Sue (Sanders) DiLeo