PITTSFIELD — Unless some community-minded residents step forward immediately, some favorite events of the annual Central Maine Egg Festival will not be held.
“Basically, four people are doing all the work,” organizer Danny Plante said Friday.
With only two weeks left before the weeklong festival begins, several traditional contests and events may not be held because there are no volunteers to run them.
These include the scholarship pageant and the window-painting contest. The Little Chick Contest also is teetering on the edge, said Plante, but he added, “We’re working on it.”
This year, the 27th annual Central Maine Egg Festival, which draws thousands of local residents and tourists to Pittsfield, will be held July 19-24.
Which events festival-goers have a chance to experience is still in question.
Egg Festival President Jodi Williams just returned from her honeymoon and Friday afternoon referred all egg festival questions to publicity Chairman Norm Clarke.
“I haven’t received anything yet,” he said, referring to schedules and event dates, adding that he understood several events were in jeopardy.
Clarke referred all questions to Plante.
“This is really looking bad,” Plante admitted Friday. “Several key event chairman have told us they cannot participate this year.”
Plante said that even the festival booklets, an annual keepsake for many, may not be available until a day or two before the end of the week’s events.
“Basically,” said Plante, “it’s a lack of time and a lack of bodies.”
He said Clarke has been “doing all kinds of things behind the scenes, like designing the logo, and Sherry and Kevin Davis have lined up the entertainment. But the bulk of the work has fallen to Jodi and me.”
Plante said Pittsfield Pharmacy will be the official Egg Festival headquarters. The owners, Ryan and Christine Dyer, “have been fantastic,” he said. T-shirts and hats will be available at the Main Street pharmacy.
“We know there will be fireworks, because we ordered them a year ago,” said Plante. Other events, such as the block dance, carnival, Egglympics and parade, will all still be held.
This year’s theme is Teleggvision, said Plante, with all events based on television programming.
“So many nonprofit groups make a great deal of money by having booths at the festival,” said Plante. “If we could just get one representative from each of those groups to serve on our planning committee, we’d be home-free.”
Anyone interested in volunteering to assist the Egg Festival can contact Plante at 487-3535 or through e-mail at daplante@midmaine.com.
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