TUPPER LAKE — The town of Tupper Lake is planning a big Field Day event in July as a spiritual successor to Woodsmen’s Days, which is unlikely to be held again. The Field Day organizers are looking for public input on what people want to see at the event.

The Tupper Lake Field Day is scheduled for July 23 at the village Municipal Park on Raquette Pond. It is being organized by the town Recreation Department and its Director Laura LaBarge. To take the survey, go to https://bit.ly/3r3B6mp.

Interim town Supervisor Mary Fontana said the theme is “Not All Heroes Wear Capes,” with a focus on first-responder appreciation. The town is inviting municipalities from around the region.

Fontana and LaBarge said this will be biggest event run by the town in recent memory.

“I like a challenge,” LaBarge said.

LaBarge grew up in Tupper Lake and said Woodsmen’s was always a big deal. But attendance has waned over the years, and it couldn’t be held in the past two years because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think those days, unfortunately, are gone for Tupper Lake,” Fontana said. “It’s moved on to Boonville, where it’s bigger.”

But LaBarge said Tupper Lake still needs a community celebration day. In her new position as the town Recreation Director, she decided the town should hold it.

The planning committee the town formed has some of the same planning crew as Woodsmen’s.

Fontana said they have a lot of similar events planned. There will be no logging events, but there could be a parade with a float contest, carnival games, contests, exploration of first responder vehicles and heavy machinery, food trucks and vendors.

The town is still waiting on parade approval from the state Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over the route.

LaBarge said there will be sack races, 3-legged races, bucket relays, tug-of-war and a 1K color run. For the run, she said runners should wear white shirts.

“Families can hang out on the edge of the race course and squirt their loved ones with different colored slimes,” LaBarge said. “Anything that kids can do and make a mess is generally well-recieved.”

The town will honor its late Supervisor Clint Hollingsworth, who died after a battle with cancer in February, as the parade grand marshal by inviting his wife and two kids to ride in a convertible at the head of the parade.

After the day’s events, the town is planning live music in the evening with Fully Completely Hip, a Tragically Hip cover band. LaBarge said the Hollingsworth family is fans of this band.

LaBarge said the town board has been supportive of the planned event.

The event can’t use the ballpark’s infield like Woodsmen’s because the Riverpigs professional baseball team are playing there now, so it will all be held in the park’s larger field.

LaBarge said the event will be free to enter.

Admission for the concert in the evening will be $10 if tickets are preordered and $15 the day of the event. LaBarge said the concert will be free for first responders from anywhere they come from.

She said they got a grant from Adirondack Frontier for the event, they’re seeking local business sponsorships and will fund some of it through concert ticket sales. Fontana said they’re working with money already in the town budget.

“In future years … we will be better fiscally prepared to develop an event of this size,” Fontana wrote in a message. “Community capital isn’t something we can budget for and the return on that investment will always outweigh tangible expense.”

Organizers from the town hope to make this an annual event, but they say they need a strong showing of attendance and volunteers at it this year to have it be a reoccurring celebration.