Twenty-five years ago a group of Milford students wrote a poem, which eventually became the Milford song.
Children who grew up in Milford may know the song, and people who tuned in to last week’s Board of Aldermen’s meeting likely heard it. Dolores Hannon, a former Milford teacher, brought her guitar to the meeting and sang the song as part of the kickoff of the city’s 375th anniversary celebration.
And since the celebration will include a number of activities throughout the year, chances are more residents will become familiar with the song before the year is over.
The song goes like this:
Milford, Milford, what a great place
And it will surely put a smile on your face
Couldn’t be more beautiful,
Couldn’t be more right,
And we’re here to tell you that our town is out of sight.
We have a harbor and sandy beaches,
We even have Charles Island too,
Our town’s terrific and we’re so glad
That Peter Prudden founded you.
We have a green and pretty duck pond
With a cascading waterfall,
And you can find it flowing
Past our great City Hall.
We’re singing Milford, Milford
Send out a cheer
’Cuz it’s your three hundred and fiftieth year
Shout it from the rooftop
To the sky and all around
I’m glad Milford’s my home town.
Hannon remembers when the song came to be. The late Mary Helen Wyckoff taught enrichment in the school system, and she was fascinated with Milford history. She helped develop the walking tour of Milford that most third graders here follow to learn about the city’s history.
Hannon said after one such walk, an enrichment class started writing a poem about Milford. Then a friend of the teacher put it to music for the 350th anniversary of the city.
“We got 350 children to come to city hall and arranged them into a giant birthday cake, dressed in Colonial garb, and they sang the Milford song,” Hannon said.
She expects that students will be called upon this year to sing the song for the 375th anniversary.
Nick Napolitano recalls being in the class that helped come up with some of the words for the song.
“We did a lot of collaborative work as a group, so the teachers likely did the writing,” Napolitano said. “My memory is we all shared ideas about what made Milford a great place. I definitely remember singing it.”