Patriots Day events planned in Woburn

The Sunday before Patriots Day, from 1 to 3 p.m., re-enactors from the Historical Society’s Living History Guild will be hosting tours intended to shed some light on Woburn’s minute man past — and the little domestic conflicts that surrounded the big battles over 200 years ago.

“During this time, everything wasn’t black and white,” said city historian Walter Kearney. “Some people wanted to fight, some wanted to break away and some just whatever to be left alone.”

Tours are leaving from the parking lot of the former Tarky School on Russell Street, and will run every half hour. The object of the event, Kearney said, is to give a new perspective on the holiday.

Re-enactors will be stationed along the old roadway telling the story of the Woburn citizens who rushed to fight in Lexington and Concord. Others will be stationed through the crowd, discussing the politics of the day and portraying the wives, children, neighbors and dissenters the minutemen left behind.

“There’s a certain amount of realism in the event,” Kearney said. “You’re going to be able to see faces and hear voices. It’s different from what you’d see anywhere else.”

The society hopes people will make the event one of their Patriots Day traditions. There will be no rain date, but in case of inclement weather the event will not be held.

“We hope to make this an annual event and grow each year,” Kearney said.