A Quirky Celebration: My 40th Birthday at WRJ’s Main Street Museum- 8/13/25

I’ve done a few posts about food already, so I thought I would switch it up to talk about a fun experience I had six years ago for my 40th birthday! 

To be clear, by no means have I ever been one to make a big deal out of my birthday (“it’s just another day,” “I feel one day older than yesterday”), however, for my 40^th, I thought I would do something a little different and throw a fundraising dance party. My birthday happens to be in March, so throwing a party indoors seemed like the right thing to do. After brainstorming and looking around for semi-affordable venues, I came across the Main Street Museum in White River Junction (WRJ), Vermont. I had a sit-down with the manager at this 501(c)(3) place and solidified my event. Step one complete!

Step two involved securing a DJ, which I also managed to do rather quickly. My caveat was that I wanted to listen to my two favorite genres of music at the time: 80s music and 90s hip-hop. On a side note and as a warning, DJs WILL deviate from your song requests and chosen musical genres, no matter the type of venue or what you advertised as the type of music that would be playing at the party. I think it has to do with them feeling like they want some creative control, which I understand to a degree. But I digress…

Before I get into the party itself, I’ll briefly mention a few things about the railroad town of WRJ. It’s population was small before the 1840s, but because of the town’s proximity to both the Connecticut River and White River, it took off when the railroad yard was built there. However, with the rise of the highway system, the town began to decline economically starting in the 1950s-60s with the rise of the highway interstate system. It wasn’t until the 1990s when the town began to revitalize. Since then, it’s made a big comeback and is thriving with all sorts of businesses and neat shops! 

The Main Street Museum opened in 1992 and featured all sorts of unique and eclectic items (and still does), which must be seen in person to get the full effect. The museum itself isn’t all that large, but it’s a worthwhile trip. They book all sorts of events there to help keep their doors open, which is how I was able to pull off this event. It certainly makes for a great and bizarre spot for a party! In the past, I’ve been to a couple Halloween parties there, as well as a roller derby fundraiser (yes, there were women rollerblading around the joint). 

With that out of the way, let’s get back to the main topic. I was getting very excited about my party. I really didn’t want to be the center of attention for it; I simply wanted people to come out, have a good time, and dance to some good music (even if it was music that I wanted to listen to). So when I advertised for it, I didn’t say a word about it being a birthday party. I covered that tidbit of information up by turning it into a charitable event, which I felt was the right thing to do anyway. After researching that aspect, the Upper Valley Haven seemed to be the right choice. They provide housing for the less fortunate, they have a community food market and programs, “guiding guests and visitors through the process of identifying strengths and vulnerabilities in their life situations,” they have children’s programs, etc. It was a win-win all around. I promise you that I’m not attempting to humble-brag when I mention all this; my intention with this blog post is to tell you about what a fun time it was and hopefully get some more donations for the Upper Valley Haven. 

When the party finally occurred on that chilly day in March, there was a good turnout! I danced my butt off all night, and I like to think that everyone else had a good time. Plus, over $500 was raised for the Upper Valley Haven from this event! Please consider a donation to them, and/or consider hosting your next fun event at a bizarre place such as this. It’s very much worth it! 

I’m still pondering what to write about for next week’s blog post. I have a large list of topics to choose from to keep this going. Cheers!