Memorial Day signals start of tourist season

PORTLAND – Vehicles began trickling northward into Maine on Friday at the start of what the state’s tourism industry hopes will be one of the best Memorial Day weekends on record.

Vaughn Stinson of the Maine Tourism Association said the encouraging weather forecast could lead to a record holiday weekend.

Many municipalities were marking the holiday with traditional parades and memorial ceremonies. In Gray, 1,400 people gathered Friday to remember a former resident who was killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon.

Owners of vacation camps and cottages prepared to open up their hideaways for the season. Memorial Day is typically the time when many owners assess the damage wrought by winter and clean up the properties for a summer of fun.

Traffic on the Maine Turnpike was light early in the day, but it was expected to become crowded with northbound traffic in the evening.

More than 600,000 cars and trucks are expected to travel on the Maine Turnpike this weekend. To reduce congestion, all construction on the turnpike widening project was halted as of Thursday evening.

Noting that highway fatalities are up 40 percent thus far this year, state police planned to be out in force to look for drunken drivers, speeders and aggressive drivers. They’ll also be enforcing seat belt and child safety seat laws.

“Memorial Day weekend sets the tone for the rest of the summer and Maine State Police will continue to aggressively enforce Maine’s drunk driving laws and efforts to promote highway safety and reduce fatalities and injuries,” said the state police chief, Col. Michael R. Sperry.

The weekend got off to a sunny start on Friday. The forecast called for more sunny weather Saturday with highs in the 70s, and partly sunny or partly cloudy weather on Sunday and Monday.

The ceremony at Gray-New Gloucester High School celebrated the life of Navy Cmdr. Robert Schlegel, who lived in Gray as a teen-ager.

The ceremony capped a fund-raising effort to erect a flag pole and stone monument in memory of Schlegel, 39, who was in his Pentagon office when the building was struck by a hijacked jetliner.

It featured a rifle salute by the Brunswick Naval Air Station color guard, as well as a flyover by a Navy P-3 Orion. During the ceremony, Schlegel’s wife and mother released doves into the air.

In another ceremony, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins will present the Silver Star to retired Army Sgt. Maj. Paul Tardiff of Bangor for gallantry under fire nearly 50 years ago during the Korean War.

The ceremony on Saturday will be held at the Korean War Veterans’ Memorial in Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor.