Sudbury 2 50 sets team, deadlines to apply for Massachusetts 250 grant for colonial fair

The Sudbury 2 50 Committee on March 26 agreed to pursue a Massachusetts "250" grant through the Executive Office of Economic Development and the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism and assigned work streams, a committee member said.

The committee decided to focus the application on the Wayside Inn’s Colonial Fair as the grant’s program; members concluded the fair’s established attendance and vendor participation best fit the grant’s tourism and programming criteria. Jim (committee member and Wayside contact) agreed to draft the tourism and economic-impact section and to coordinate attendance figures with the Wayside Inn trustees. John (committee member) agreed to draft the "ability to execute" section. Rada (committee member) volunteered to draft the vision and clarity narrative. Another committee member agreed to draft alignment and partnerships content and to collect letters of support.

The committee reviewed grant requirements on the call. The grant application is due April 11; members set an internal deadline of April 4 to submit text to a single editor for compilation so the April 10 meeting could finalize a draft. The committee identified required letters of support: one from a civic or business leader, one from a state or municipal official, and one from an area tourism leader. Jim and other members said the Wayside Inn would prepare a tourism-letter; members identified municipal and state contacts to request support.

Committee discussion covered eligible expenses (programming and marketing), ineligible items (annual operating expenses, capital investments and some staffing costs), and the July 31 spending deadline for awarded funds. Members discussed likely eligible cost items for the Colonial Fair — porta-potties, police support, signage and vendor honoraria — and how a grant could make admission free or reduce per-person fees.

The committee asked members to send completed text to a single editor (one‑way submissions only) by April 4. That editor will assemble a draft for review at the committee’s April 10 meeting; the group aims to submit the application by April 11. The committee also asked a member to call the grant administrator to clarify prepayment and reimbursement rules for vendors and service contracts.