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FRAMINGHAM – Look who has made an appearance today?
The replicas of the Shoppers World soldiers are being delivered to their locations across the City of Framingham today, November 29, by Parks & Recreation employees.
The old Shoppers World in Framingham was a joyous place during Christmas. Between Jordan March and the cinema, stood 24 wooden soldiers. The soldiers were actually a promotional idea. The originals were hand-crafted by the Shoppers World maintenance worker and woodworker Hal Purrington.
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In 1994, Shoppers World was demolished, the 20-foot General disappeared forever but many of the original soldiers were given away or sold.
The red, blue, and gold, soldiers each carrying a shiny black wooden rifle, stand 10-feet tall and are replicas of the originals.
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Parks & Rec said there will be 34 soldiers in 2021.
“Many of the Toy Soldiers are positioned in the same locations as past years, but we have found additional sites for our new recruits. Unlike past years, we will be using geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) to locate the Toy Soldiers this year,” said Parks & Rec.
To prepare , “we recommend downloading your favorite GPS app or using a website, that allows the inputting of latitude and longitude, as opposed to a physical address. YouTube also has some amazing and helpful videos to help your mini-copilots learn more about latitude and longitude! If this seems like a lot of work …. don’t worry – we have a plan B – you can always just copy and paste the coordinates into your favorite web browser, and you will get the location,” said the City.
Photo by a Leah Beth Allekian