The big dance: Patriots Ball returns to the Acton Armory
After a pandemic pause, the party got restarted.
They parked on Everett Street and walked to the Acton Armory in pairs and quartets. They came in colonial costume — breeches, long skirts, tricorn hats — but also ball gowns and black tie.
It was rainy and wet, and an unseasonable snow had fallen that morning, but it didn’t matter. After a pandemic pause on the Patriots Ball, the party got restarted.
“This is a grand public tradition that goes way back,” Laura Mullins, a Ball Committee co-chair, said as the evening began.
The Armory drill room was transformed into a ballroom with festive lights and decorations that Jennifer Lannan called “just beautiful.”
“My husband and I moved here in 1991, and we have tried to go to every single Patriots Ball,” she said. “This is by far the most fashionable.”
Said ballgoer Jennifer Clarke, “I had been coming for years before the pandemic, and I forgot how fun the night is. I forgot how people really lean into this process.”
Reviving tradition
Concord250 Corporation president Henry Dane, sporting a tuxedo and a tricorn, said that in planning the ball’s return, the non-profit “had many advantages, including a strong desire to do it, and a couple of people, Molly Bergen and Laura Mullins, who were willing to take on the task.”
Plus, said the former Select Board chair, “We had the ability to fund it without having to go through a lot of red tape.”
The evening began with the Acton Independent Battery presenting the colors. The Acton Minute Men played the national anthem.
There was a cash bar and light refreshments, though some brought their own snacks (in one table’s case, pizza). The Love Dogs provided the music, and at 11:30 p.m., guests marched to Acton Center to watch “Samuel Prescott” arrive on horseback.
For some, the event brought back fond memories.
“I grew up here,” Cindy Jump said. “My mom and dad always came to the Patriots Ball, so when I told them I was coming for the first time, they were so excited.”
Seeing the Armory decked out made Kathy Flynn think of her parents, too.
“They used to have the policeman’s ball here,” she said. “My mom used to get $25 for a dress to wear to the ball. So I got sentimental when I came in.”
