By Jasmine Willis
WAYLAND — There was a time when the most prominent citizens in our history traveled through the village of Wayland.
It had, since its birth in 1848, been known as a railroad town. It was after all once known as Wayland Depot.
The Point is the patch of land that comes at the mark between N. Main Street and Route 15 heading towards Springwater. It is here that the community wishes to see a Welcome to Wayland Memorial Park of some kind.
The Lobster Bake on Nov. 2 with cocktails at 5 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m. is the first fundraiser for The Point at the legion. Wayland American Legion has leased ownership of this property. Wayland American Legion, American Legion Ladies Auxiliary, Springwater American Legion, and Wayland Rotary Club are coming together for this fundraiser. Valley Fuel in Dansville is sponsoring the dinner.
Tickets for the Fresh Maine Lobster and Kings Market Ribeye Steaks are available at presale only. If interested, you can purchase tickets at the legion until Oct. 29. There will be no tickets sold at the door. Tickets for Lobster or Ribeye Steak Meal are $25 each, tickets for Surf and Turf or Double Lobster are $35 each. Contact 585-728-2230 for tickets and other information.
The event will include live music, a basket raffle, a cash raffle with $100 cash prize and $200 cash prize, and a door prize of $250 value with a one-night stay and dinner at Esperanza Mansion in Pen Yann.
All of the proceeds for this event will go to benefit The Point Project. The idea is to make it a park that recognizes all the people of Wayland. It will be for veterans, fireman, policeman, ambulance, business owners, and the like.
“We are going to be stewards of The Point for the next five years,” Kevin Mark, post commander, said. “We want to be able to have something engineered by Spring. Anyone who wants to get involved with this project can contact me at the legion. I want this to be a community project.”
Many people have been involved over the years in coming up with ideas for The Point since it has been a vacant piece of land. Marian Crawford has been very passionate about it, and remains a key asset on the project. Scott Standish from Springwater has been wanting to get a fundraiser going for a while.
“The legion took hold of this project, because we are not afraid to take on new endeavors,” Mark said. “Sometimes we are short on manpower, but we always make it up in the end.”
Former Mayor Brian McCoy started the idea for this project long ago, Mark said.
“We just want to finish what McCoy started long ago,” he said. “We want to make something at The Point that is going to last forever. When we look at projects, we are thinking about them 100 years down the road.”
Mark mentioned the legion is looking into all kinds of grants for the project as well.