"Perhaps next year, with more planning time, additional staffing, and possibly a more central in-town location, someone can take on this venture again. West Boylston would be a wonderful community for a successful farmers market."
Kim Maschi, director of the West Boylston Council on Aging, wrote that on Monday, July 13, 2026. She was announcing that the West Boylston Farmers Market was canceled because, "despite our efforts, we were unable to secure another farm vendor to participate."
Fifteen days later, on July 28, the Celebrations Committee posted a note on the Fall Fest page. Any vendor application received after that day would go onto a waitlist, and the committee said it "cannot guarantee that any spaces will open up." So in one July, the town had more Fall Fest vendors than spaces and too few farm vendors to keep a weekly market going. That's the shape of October this year. The community calendar is full and sits on three Saturdays in a row at town-run spots. The harvest side of the season has moved to a farm stand on West Boylston Street and a hill in Sterling.
Two July Notices, Two Different Asks
The two events ask different things of the people who make them work. Fall Fest asks a vendor for one afternoon at Goodale Park. A farmers market asks a farm to come back week after week. Maschi's note names the market's needs plainly: more planning time, more staffing, and maybe a more central location in town. None of those is a lack of interest. Each one is a question of logistics, and a future organizer could solve each of them.
The "perhaps next year" in her note is a hope, not a plan. Nothing posted since July has scheduled a 2027 market. For this fall, the gathering and the grocery run happen in different places.
The Three Saturdays
The town's October calendar comes from three separate groups: the Celebrations Committee, the Police Department, and the Celebrations Committee again. It lands on three Saturdays in a row.
| Date | Event | Where | Hours | Who runs it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 3 | Fall Fest scarecrow installation | Town Common | Noon to 2 p.m. | Celebrations Committee |
| Sat., Oct. 10 | Touch-A-Truck | 125 Crescent St. | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | West Boylston Police Department |
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Fall Fest 2026 | Goodale Park football field | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Celebrations Committee |
The first Saturday connects to the third. Scarecrows go up on the Town Common today and stay up through Sunday, November 1. Voting for the scarecrow contest happens at Fall Fest, so two weeks of displays on the Common build toward one afternoon at Goodale Park. The entry deadline was Thursday, October 1. If you missed it, you can still vote.
The middle Saturday is the Police Department's annual Touch-A-Truck at 125 Crescent St. It brings out police, fire, and specialty vehicles, and refreshments will be for sale. With it in the middle, the three weekends add up to a full stretch of October.
Goodale Park on the 17th
Fall Fest 2026 runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Goodale Park football field. The town lists food, live music, vendors, performers, games, and contests. Given the waitlist, the vendor rows should be full.
If you're still hoping to get a booth from the waitlist, the town's fraud warning applies to you. All payments go to the Town of West Boylston by mail or drop-off at Town Hall, Attn: Celebrations Committee, 140 Worcester St. The town takes no electronic payments, and it warns applicants never to send money to people they don't know. Questions go to [email protected].
Where the Produce Went
Without a weekly market, the town's fall produce comes from a business that has been in West Boylston for decades and from two farms a short drive north.
- S&S Marketplace, 301–307 West Boylston St. S&S started as a fruit-and-vegetable stand in Clinton and moved its farm stand to West Boylston in the early 1980s. It still calls itself a farm stand, and its site lists hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Its site doesn't list this fall's stock of apples, cider, or pumpkins, so it's best to stop by and see.
- Meadowbrook Orchards, Sterling. Meadowbrook grows its own apples and pumpkins and runs a farmstore, bakery, and restaurant that stay open all year. Its baked goods are made from the orchard's own apples. Apple pick-your-own usually runs through September and October, daily from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. while fruit lasts. The orchard says dates change from year to year and bad weather can close picking.
- Davis Farmland, 145 Redstone Hill, Sterling. Apple-and-pumpkin U-pick is open today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The farm's early-fall schedule is 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It's closed Monday through Wednesday.
- Davis Mega Maze, 142 Redstone Hill, Sterling. The 8-acre corn maze across the road opened this weekend. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
You get a weekday and a weekend option. S&S is open every day in town. Davis Farmland is closed early in the week. Meadowbrook's farmstore and bakery are open all year, which covers the weekdays when Redstone Hill is closed.
Weeknights at 8 Newton Street
Most of the October calendar falls on Saturdays. Beaman Memorial Library, at 8 Newton St., fills in the weekday evenings, and since September 12 it has been back on fall Saturday hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Its fall schedule follows the seasons the same way the town calendar does:
- Thursday, October 8, 6 to 7 p.m. "Heads or Scares," a program for ages 12 and up on making shrunken-apple-head decorations. It falls between the scarecrow installation and Touch-A-Truck, and it uses the same fruit the Sterling orchards are selling.
- Wednesday, November 4, 5 to 7 p.m. A Thanksgiving-centerpiece craft for ages 7 to 12, three days after the scarecrows come down.
- Wednesday, November 18, 6 to 7 p.m. Tim "Red Loon" Kelly presents on Nipmuc history, music, arts, and regalia.
Of these, the November 18 talk is the one that reaches furthest past the season, since it's about the people whose history runs through the land around the reservoir and the town.
After the Scarecrows Come Down
November 1 is the end date for two things at once. The scarecrows come down from the Common, and DCR's 2026 Park Passport Challenge closes, with prize forms due the same day. If you're working on a passport, note that the Wachusett Reservoir stamp box is at the dam, 265–283 Boylston Street in Clinton, not on the West Boylston side.
The reservoir has a longer season than the town calendar. Under DCR's Wachusett Reservoir fishing guide, shoreline fishing runs from the first Saturday in April through December 31, from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. The West Boylston access areas are the Thomas, Oakdale, and Stillwater Basins. DCR lists Old Stone Church among the sites with temporary restrooms, which matters on a long morning at the water. That puts the last shoreline day about two months after the scarecrows come down and roughly six weeks after the Nipmuc talk at Beaman.
The town's own calendar also has items that aren't events. On September 10, the town posted a message from the DPW saying Eversource was starting milling and paving on Valley Street that day and would then move on to Prospect Street. The notice gave no end date. In early September, the Select Board announced it was forming a DPW Facilities & Shared Services Committee to look at aging facilities and at options such as shared services, shared equipment, or regional partnerships. It asked for volunteers by September 14.
Maschi's July note ended with an open invitation. If you have ideas for future events or want to partner with the West Boylston Senior Center on a program, she asked you to reach out. The Senior Center is the place to start if you want to see a market come back next year with the planning time, staffing, and central location she described.
If you're thinking about how West Boylston's fall calendar fits into your plans for next year, whether you're staying put, hosting family, or thinking about a move, I'm happy to talk through what's happening in town. Mollie Reynolds lives and works here, and I'll see you at Goodale Park on the 17th. Let's Connect.
