ATHOL – Classes don’t begin until Wednesday, Aug. 28, but the Athol Royalston Regional School District got the school year started a week early with an event at Fish Park.

Hundreds of students, staff, administrators, parents, community organizations – even bus drivers – gathered on a beautiful mid-summer day to socialize, play games, enjoy some music and reconnect before the serious business of education gets underway.

“It’s the first year that we’ve tried this,” said Superintendent Matt Ehrenworth. “Shirley Mitchell from our Family & Community Center and Food Pantry really organized and orchestrated this. Many of our community partners are here, and I can tell you she started planning this back in April trying to get the permits to pull this off. She put a lot of effort into this.”

Ehrenworth added that the district has wanted to put together events geared toward the community and bring everyone together, instead of the individual schools.

“We wanted to have a back-to-school event and Shirley started with it and it got bigger and bigger and bigger,” he said. “I don’t think any of us were thinking that it wouldn’t be amazing. The larger it gets and the more things we have here to attract people to come and be a part of the community, the better it’s going to be.”

The overall goal of the event, said Ehrenworth, was to bring people together and remind everyone that they are “one school community.”

In addition, the event offered a variety of resources for students and their families, including free school supplies, from notebooks to backpacks.

“The hope is everyone comes out, gets what they need, and just has an awesome time,” said the superintendent.

Mitchell said the idea for the event came from a meeting put together by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She and other officials had attended a parent engagement conference, where the Salem school district was discussed.

“They (Salem) find a community park, and a week before school starts, they hold a back-to-school event with all the community agencies. And I thought, ‘I’d love to see if we could do that,’” Mitchell said. “So, I went out to the community, and everything started falling in place.

Visitors to the event could also enjoy hot dogs, popcorn, ice cream and other treats. There was also a petting zoo and several raffles.

“Everything that’s here is free,” Mitchell said. “Anybody who comes can get something free, whether it’s tattoos, face painting, balloons, notebooks, pens – school supplies. So, you name it, they can get it here today. And they can see the school staff, see their friends, make connections.”

In addition to the ARRSD Family & Community Center and AHS Food Pantry, sponsors and participants included: Athol High School Kindness Team, Athol Royalston Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC), Athol Royalston Middle School Parent Teacher Organization, Athol Community Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, Valuing Our Children, North Quabbin Community Coalition, Billy Goat Boats, Clean Out Kings, DJ P.R., Athol Congregational Church, YMCA Community Center, North Quabbin Lodge of Freemasons, The Salvation Army Athol Corps, Merrifield Bus Company, Athol Police Department, Phineas S. Newton Library of Royalston, Domino’s Pizza (KRG and All In), Crimson Acres, Face Painter Heather Taylor, local author and storyteller Kathleen Nicoletti, Absolute Photo Booth, Ragnarok Tattoos, Athol Bird & Nature Club, Launch Space, Seven Hills Foundation, Heywood School Based Services, Clinical & Support Options, Massachusetts Behavioral Health Help Line, MassHire of Franklin & Hampshire Career Center, Montachusett Area Regional Transit Authority, G&S Lyman Inc., Athol Lion’s Club, Heywood Healthcare - Handle with Care & North Quabbin 3C Initiative, North Quabbin Recovery Center, St. John’s Church, Pete’s Tire Barn, State Rep. Susannah Whipps, Gelinas Waste Recycle Management. Scotty’s Potties, Shoe Fly Graphics, Privilege 351, The Booth Salon, Trail Head, Dean’s Beans, and The Red Apple Farm.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@aol.com.