Fort Plain community activity council

"Bringing our Community Together"

The Fort Plain Community Activity Council was formed in the year 2002 by former Mayor Tom Quackenbush.  The village sponsored the Annual 4th on the 3rd of July celebration. To grow the event and make it self supporting, he formed a group of concerned citizens whose primary mission was to promote this event and the village of Fort Plain. The group started with four members and today has an active membership of twenty volunteers.  When the group is hosting an event, they can have up to sixty people working on
the project. Membership is open to anyone who wants to help “Bring our community together”.

The 2002 annual 4th on the 3rd of July Celebration had a total budget of $3,000 and that included a fireworks display costing $2,000. For comparison, the 2009 celebration had a total budget of $15,000 and an $8,000 fireworks display. We are a financial self-sufficient organization and raise our funds from donations, a community barrel drive, souvenir sales and grants.

In 2007, the Fort Plain Village Board called upon our organization to co-ordinate the 175th Anniversary of the Village. We brought a carnival to town and organized a Seven division parade.  Everyone had such a great time at the celebration that the village board asked us to make it an annual event. This created the May Street Fair Days. The name is derived from the fact that at the turn of the 20th Century, Fort Plain would close the downtown area for a gigantic week long Street Fair.

In 2008, the council realized that the village needed to update its Christmas Decorations. With a group of volunteers, we built snowmen, trees, toy soldiers and refurbished a Santa in a sled drawn by reindeers. We also built a Santa’s Mailbox complete with a North Pole. We made sure each letter got a personal reply from Santa. The group also decorates the community bandstand and organizes a community sing-a-long when Santa comes to town riding on a fire truck.

To check on our upcoming events and celebrations, see the Village Schedule of Events.