Pat Bonenfant enjoys a challenge.

She enrolled in college at age 47, three decades after graduating from Pembroke Academy. She was elected to the Pembroke Select Board in 1981, becoming the first woman in town history to hold that office.

And now, after a two-year hiatus, the 91-year-old sparkplug, who has since moved to Dover, has emerged as the driving force behind the return of the area’s annual Old Home Day event, which will be held Saturday morning starting at 9 a.m. and conclude with a fireworks display at dusk.

Volunteers from both sides of the Suncook River have joined hands to host one of the biggest annual events in either Pembroke or Allenstown.

What’s more, Bonenfant has been invited back to her hometown after being named grand marshal for this year’s Old Home Day Parade, a tribute to the work and time she’s invested through the years to keep the all-volunteer effort alive.

She hasn’t been back to Pembroke since moving to Dover more than 10 years ago. 

“They called me a few weeks ago and asked how I would like to be the grand marshal in the Old Home Day Parade,” said Bonenfant, who will ride in the lead car on Saturday. “I have not been to Pembroke since I left. I’ll be in the car. I’ll have to wave.”

Anyone who knows Bonenfant was not surprised when news broke that she was trying to return the town to past glory by bringing back Old Home Day. She was forever known as an unconventional lady.

She graduated from Pembroke Academy in 1949 and dreamed of attending college. Money was tight, however.

“Dad was retired from the Civil Service and my mother was a school teacher,” Bonenfant said. “My father said, ‘Don’t even think about going to college because we don’t have the money for it.’ ”

But once Bonenfant’s five children had graduated from high school and gone to college, she figured it was her time to spread her wings, too.

“When they were all out and finished,” Bonenfant said, “I decided that it was my turn to go.”

First, she earned her bachelor’s degree at New Hampshire College (now known as Southern New Hampshire University). Next, Bonenfant got her master’s in counseling and community development.

And 40 years ago, sensing that her town had lost its sense of community and innocence, Bonenfant ran for and won a seat on the Pembroke Select Board.

She immediately sought to bring Old Home Day back to the area after it had been dissolved decades before, known back then as Pembroke Old Home Week.

“I thought it was a good idea for the town to bring back Old Home Day,” Bonenfant said. “I thought it would be nice to bring everyone together, a good thing for the town. It seemed like a fun thing to do.”

She was instantly met with skepticism, told that the town did not have the funds to support such a project.

“We’ll find the funds,” Bonenfant remembers saying to town officials.

Volunteers, including her husband, Norman, then fanned out, seeking donations to make Bonenfant’s vision become reality.

“They hustled,” Bonenfant said. “They hit local businesses and the bank, and they got enough together to pay for the parade.”

Forty years later, COVID forced officials to cancel the event, in both 2020 and ‘21. But with Bonenfant receiving help from countless volunteers, Pembroke Old Home Day is back.

“When we did not have it for those two years, people really missed it,” said Pat Fowler, one of the few individuals left on the original parade committee that was formed in 1981. “We’re excited to have it back. It’s the biggest event for that area. It signifies the end of summer.”

People like Fowler and Bonenfant were both born and raised in Pembroke and graduated from Pembroke Academy, making them the perfect ambassadors to promote the event. Fowler still lives in town.

Since the past two Old Home Days were canceled, Saturday's event marks the 40th anniversary of actually holding the parade and festival at Memorial Field.

Also scheduled to appear is Arlene Fleury, the latest person to receive the Boston Post Cane as Pembroke’s oldest living resident.

Fleury graduated from Pembroke Academy and still lives in town. She raised 12 children and, at 97 years old, she documents her daily thoughts in a Facebook log.

The day kicks off at 9 a.m. with music at the Allentown Gazebo and the Main Street stage in Suncook Village. The parade begins at 10 a.m. on School Street and will continue across the before arriving at Memorial Field.

Featured will be floats, two high school bands, 50 antique cars and trucks, youth sports leagues, the New Hampshire Patriot Guard motorcycle club, farm tractors and the Pembroke Academy cheerleaders.

A petting zoo at Memorial Field will include sheep, ducks, goats and chickens. Work continues at the field and will continue into Sunday.

“We have a good group of volunteers, but it’s never  enough,” Fowler said. “We’re setting up tents all day long today and tomorrow and then there’s clean-up on Sunday.

“The final week is very hectic. There are lots of hours of work for all of us.”

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