Veazie officials plan town’s 150th birthday bash

VEAZIE – Town officials are planning spring and summer events that will culminate in a four-day extravaganza in honor of the town’s 150th birthday in 2003.

Town Council Chairman Rod Hathaway said the celebration will be a way to revisit the roots of the town, along with some of its history.

“For someone who just moved here, they might think it’s a funny name for a little town,” Hathaway said. “But they don’t know the history of it. We’re trying to give people a better understanding of who we are.”

The celebration will mark the town’s break from the surrounding area, Hathaway said. Most people don’t realize that Veazie was actually the seventh ward of Bangor until Gen. Samuel Veazie bought the area and named it after himself.

The events will begin on Tuesday, March 25, the anniversary of the day the town was incorporated. Organizers are planning a potluck dinner and a musical performance that night at the Veazie Community School.

On Wednesday, May 21, a night of talks on Veazie’s history are planned from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the school.

Next summer will mark the year’s “really big event,” Hathaway said. A four-day celebration of the town’s people and history will be held from Thursday, July 10, to Sunday, July 13.

Thursday night will offer a dinner theater at the school. Following a dinner prepared by the Veazie Congregational Church, a local cast directed by Tom Logan will present Veazie Review, a play that was performed for the town’s centennial 50 years ago.

Hathaway was tight-lipped about the plot but said it involved town characters of the era.

“We’re trying to replicate it, but we’ll put our own little twist on it,” Hathaway said. “It should be a really fun event.”

On Friday, July 12, visitors will be welcomed to a townwide open house that will include tours of municipal buildings, local gardens and the new John Graham Senior Housing Complex. A street dance will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. in the parking lot of the Veazie Community Center.

Saturday, July 13, will kick off with a pancake breakfast and a road race. At 11 a.m., organizers are planning for “the largest parade the town has ever seen,” Hathaway said. The parade will include a number of floats from the Shrine ceremonial parade.

Later in the afternoon, celebration-goers will see old-fashioned games and a fireman’s muster. Saturday night will end with a fireworks display at 9:30 p.m.

On Sunday, July 14, organizers are planning an outdoor service for all faiths, a family picnic and the burial of a time capsule by school officials. The time capsule will be unearthed during the town’s 200th anniversary.

As part of the yearlong celebration, town officials will be working on a 20-minute video to document some of the town’s early history.

“This is really a celebration for the people and by the people of the town,” Hathaway said.

Anyone who is interested in helping out with the celebration is invited to a planning meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, at the town municipal building. For more information, call the town office at 947-2781.