Autumnfest shakeup
Plays out as chair for 40th anniversary; Savaria in
WOONSOCKET — Richard T. Savaria has emerged as chairman of the 2018 Autumnfest Steering Committee after a reorganizational meeting that prompted the resignation of the former chair, Linda Plays.
Plays said later she quit after the reorganization vote because she felt she’d done good work last year and deserved to lead Autumnfest as it prepares for the 40th anniversary installment of the city’s signature celebration.
A longtime city employee, Plays is employed as human services director at City Hall and had been associated with Autumnfest for 16 years. The two positions have nothing to do with each other.
“I’m proud of what I did,” said Plays. “The 40th anniversary is going to be something amazing and huge...the steering committee chose different leadership, and that happens.”
Plays, who was also in charge of the Autumnfest Parade, could have continued to serve with the committee in some capacity other than chairperson, but she said the vote left her “disheartened,” so she decided to part ways with the organization.
Savaria, who served as vice chairman last year, said he assumed the chairmanship in a routine procedure that takes place under the Autumnfest’s bylaws every February.
He and Plays were both nominated for chairperson, he said,
but he got more votes. Savaria said he does not know why his name was placed in nomination and declined to say what the split was. The committee has about 20 members, but not all were present for the meeting at the Senior Center one week ago.
“I was nominated. I accepted the nomination. I received the majority of votes,” said Savaria. “I got mixed emotions that I somehow succeeded.”
Savaria said the shakeup shouldn’t be viewed as a repudiation of Plays’ work.
“I do not want to cast in any way a shadow of negativity toward Linda,” he said. “She did an incredible job.”
Jeffrey Gamache, another member of the Autumnfest Steering Committee, said there have been instances when a chairperson has served just one year in the past, but it’s rare. More commonly, the job is viewed as a two-year rotation, because it takes a new- comer a year just to learn the ropes.
Gamache, who preceded Plays as chairman, served three years.
But Gamache said he wasn’t surprised by the shakeup – or Plays’ reaction.
“I think she was hurt,” he said. “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. People’s toes get stepped on all the time. They only get mad when it’s their toes.”
Gamache said the steering committee’s loss of experi- ence during the last couple of weeks wasn’t limited to Plays. He said another veteran, Joseph Therrien, resigned shortly before the reorganizational meeting. Gamache said he didn’t know why.
“He’s been involved in some way, shape or form since the beginning,” said Gamache.
Savaria is a Marine veteran who served in Vietnam and a retired employee of the U.S. Postal Service. He says his main priority is focusing on the 40th anniversary installment of the Autumnfest, which takes place on Columbus Day weekend. The annual mix of live music, food and – the capper – a multi-division parade on Columbus Day – draws hundreds of thousands into the city through the course of the holiday weekend.