COVER STORY
Celebrating
history by Rona Trachtenberg
In 1996, Plymouth resident Joe McStow created a pre-Thanksgiving Day weekend event for locals, visitors, and tourists
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t was so well-received that he continued hosting it for four more years. In 2000, Olly deMacedo, a Plymouth businessman, took over as Executive Director and he has lovingly overseen every detail of the America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration for the past 23 years. With the celebration in its 27th year, de Macedo is still “proud to continue the tradition that Joe started. Our team of dedicated volunteers works behind the scenes year-round to keep this fantastic historic event going. It is a labor of love for county
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What makes this parade so special and what keeps the 150,000 to 175,000 spectators coming back year after year is that they are eager to see the unique theme we have chosen and the new floats we created to represent that historical achievement.
and community. We are a nonprofit organization and we all have worked diligently to establish this weekend as one of the best events in Massachusetts. Indeed, it is a nationallyranked Thanksgiving
November 2023 | The South Coast Insider
Celebration of our nation’s history. Our mission is history and tradition. We strive to educate, preserve, and tell America’s story throughout the weekend.” The celebration lasts three days (November
17, 18, and 19) and takes place the weekend before Thanksgiving. Plymouth’s Memorial Hall is the site of two excellent ticketed concerts: Friday night features the Plymouth Philharmonic, and Saturday night hosts the annual National Drum and Bugle Corp concert. Sandwiched in between is the big Saturday morning event: America’s only historically accurate chronological parade televised live to millions of viewers by WCVB, Channel 5 TV, and streaming on-demand on Very Local Boston. “We visually and
