A last-minute nor’easter didn’t dampen the second annual Good Neighbor Day celebration on Sept. 26. The Wayland Free Public Library had to move the event inside but residents still turned out for the live music, snacks, collaborative art projects, and a chance to connect with one another.
Visitors entering the event room were greeted by vintage rock music from the Retro Politan Trio Band, whose hourlong performance drew people to the dance floor. Grandchildren twirled with their grandparents, as others watched from the sidelines, sipping apple cider and eating apples and doughnuts.
Across the room, long tables lined with fall-themed stickers welcomed children to participate in collaborative art projects. Activities included “Neighborly Notes,” where visitors could write a note or card to someone in the community, and a Collaborative Art Bookshelf, where children decorated popsicle sticks.
Joanne Lee, the library’s assistant director, said the event gives people a place to “meet neighbors, adults and make new friends.”
For some families, the rainy weather was part of the reason they came. Wayland resident Evan Berenson brought his daughter because they were looking for something to do, and was glad to support the library and its staff.
“The staff is great with kids, they always have a class or craft going on,” he said.
Meghan Bouffard, the library’s programming librarian, joined the staff in March and said she has found that the community enjoys low-stakes gatherings like this one, “where people can be in the same place and collaborating.” She said she hopes to plan more collaborative events for all Wayland residents.
Good Neighbor Day officially began in Massachusetts in 2024 after an advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General calling attention to loneliness and isolation as a public health crisis.
Gov. Maura Healey issued a proclamation naming Sept. 28 “Good Neighbor Day.” The holiday, launched and promoted by the Massachusetts Coalition to Build Community and End Loneliness, followed a 2023 advisory report from U.S Surgeon General Vivek Murthy that called attention to loneliness and isolation as a public health crisis.
Although Massachusetts adopted the holiday recently, National Good Neighbor Day has been observed for more than 50 years. It was created in the early 1970s by a Montana woman named Becky Mattson, and in 1978, President Jimmy Carter issued a proclamation, calling all Americans to observe the holiday. In 2003, National Good Neighbor Day moved from Sept. 4 to Sept. 28.
