Love of history brings Sebree back
Staff writer
Demand for ice cream during Peabody’s annual July 4 bash was brisk and steady, as festival-goers sought shade and something cool to eat.
Marcia Sebree, president of Peabody Historical Society, said support for the organization never ends.
“We’ve had a real good turnout for such a hot day,” Sebree said. “They’re showing up from all over.”
People milled around, sat in lawn chairs and on benches and a low wall that runs along the north side of Vintage Bank Park. Sebree had to make several trips across the street to buy more ice cream from Peabody Market.
Sebree said she thought people would come out to support the historical society no matter what the society sold.
People eager for ice cream lined the street waiting for historical society members to start serving the treat.
Those who came to enjoy got vanilla ice cream with a cookie of their choice and their choice of several toppings.
“I’m just excited to get to the end of the day and see what we have,” Sebree said.
Another major fundraiser for the society is apple dumplings sold in conjunction with Peabody’s Fall Festival.
Historical society volunteer Patty Traxson, who sold quilt raffle tickets, “Light Up the Sky” books, and T-shirts Monday, proudly wore her own T-shirt that read “The apple dumpling gang.”
Sebree spent part of her youth living in Peabody. Her grandparents homesteaded between Peabody and Newton.
Her lifelong love of Peabody history was sparked when she and a high school friend saw the door of the Historical Society open one day and wandered inside to see what there was to see. Included were drawers and drawers of early Peabody photos.
Even though she married and moved away, she and her husband came home to Peabody after they retired in 2017 and she’s dug into history ever since.
“It’s amazing, the more we’re out there, the more people call and say things like, ‘We’ve got this quilt here, and I want you to have it,’” she said.