By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter
After a year-long process and many “no’s” along the way, Jon Connolly, owner of Angle Tree Brewery, received approval on Monday to run a beer garden during the North Attleborough Farmers Market’s remaining 2025 dates.
The measure passed in favor, 2-1, after a brief reorganizing of the board that resulted in former Town Councilor Patricia St. Pierre being voted in as the chair.
“It’s a big sigh of relief. It was quite a process last year, and then it got shut down 5-0 which led to a few more meetings,” said Connolly after the Aug. 11 meeting concluded. “It’s a very similar proposal this year, with a small change, and it went through. I understand why some people voted the way they did, but overall it was a success.”
The license grants Connolly the ability to run his beer garden in a grassy area behind the pathway where vendors line up in Veterans Park, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m each Wednesday night. Connolly is waiting on a final quote from his insurance company but, if all goes well, he will be up and running by Wednesday, Aug. 13, and all following weeks until the final market on Sept. 10.
The newest board members, St. Pierre and Foxboro firefighter and North Attleborough resident Cory Shepardson, provided the two “yes” votes needed to pass the measure. North Attleborough’s Police Capt. Jason Roy voted against the beer garden for the second time, the first being when the board unanimously shut down the idea in August 2024.
In an emailed statement to the North Star Reporter, Roy said that both he and Police Chief Richard McQuade have spoken out against the consumption of alcohol on town property since a bylaw change was proposed three years ago, and that his main concern is the public safety.
“A great many of the incidents that all police departments deal with have a genesis in the consumption of alcohol,” said Roy. “Despite the spurious argument that this change would be an economic boon to the town, I do not feel it is in the town’s best interest. I believe the town is unnecessarily inviting problems, or the potential for them, upon itself.”
Connolly told the board on Monday night that the location of the beer garden has been changed to be as far away from the town pool as possible, something that was raised by former board member Anne Marie Fleming. Connolly also answered a question raised by Roy on if a drink limit will be imposed, stating that there will be a three-drink limit per person that will be enforced through a wristband system.
The proposal submitted to the Licensing Board includes the following safety measures:
- One single point of entry; an employee or volunteer will ID verify all attendees and use bracelets to confirm everyone who is over the age of 21.
- All alcoholic beverages will be emptied from their original container into a plastic cup.
- At least one person on the team will be TIPS certified.
- All exits will be monitored, and alcoholic beverages will not be permitted to leave the garden area.
- No alcohol served after 7:30 p.m.
“There will be a designated area with fencing to keep it as controlled as possible, so hopefully it sets a good precedent for attending the farmer’s market next year,” said Connolly “The fencing is quite significant, but if that’s what we have to do to have it, then that’s what we will do.”
For Connolly, he hopes the ability to showcase his local brewery at a town event brings with it a positive boost in business. This will be the first beer garden that Angle Tree Brewery has ever done, however he is planning on also being in attendance at Mansfield’s 250th anniversary celebration in a few weekends.
“We still have a lot of people in town who don’t know we exist and surrounding towns that don’t know we’re here, so any kind of exposure is great” said Connolly. “We want to be as involved with the community as possible; this is a great event.”