Littleton's 24th annual Pollyanna Glad Day will be held Saturday, June 13, from noon to 2 p.m. on the lawn of the Littleton Public Library at 92 Main Street. The free, family-friendly event is organized by the Friends of Remich Park and the Littleton Area Chamber of Commerce.
The celebration includes a community group photo at the bronze Pollyanna statue, hands-on art activities led by the Littleton Studio School, and complimentary cupcakes. Attendees are asked to gather near the statue at noon for the photo. No registration is required.
The tradition dates back to 2002, when the Eames family commissioned New Hampshire sculptor Emile Birch to create a life-sized bronze statue of Pollyanna, the perpetually optimistic orphan created by Littleton native Eleanor Hodgman Porter. The statue was dedicated on the library lawn in June of that year, and the first official Pollyanna Glad Day followed in 2003.
Porter published Pollyanna in 1913; it sold more than a million copies in its first year and spawned films, stage adaptations, and television series. The phrase “Pollyanna” entered the English language as a common noun. In 2014, Littleton officially adopted the nickname “The Be Glad Town,” and in 2019 Governor Chris Sununu signed a proclamation designating the second Saturday of June as Pollyanna Day statewide. The only cancellation came in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The statue, which stands about five feet four inches tall on a granite base, remains a popular photo spot and is often cited among the top places to take a picture in New Hampshire. Visitors frequently mimic its open-armed pose or rub the boot for luck.
Originally reported by Caledonian Record.
Photo: Artaxerxes (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0). Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.
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