Donation secures Egg Festival fireworks

PITTSFIELD – With the eleventh-hour donation of nearly $4,000 by the local Kiwanis Club to secure the annual fireworks display, Pittsfield’s 32nd annual Central Maine Egg Festival is under way this week.

“We’ve had a few last minute hiccups,” President Sherry Davis admitted Tuesday. “But everything is going along very, very well.” With all the rain that has plagued Maine this summer, Davis said she is hoping this week will be sunny and bright.

Davis said the fate of the annual fireworks show was in jeopardy until the Kiwanis Club stepped up last week and funded the show. “Isn’t that amazing?” said Davis.

The Kiwanis Club has a long history of supporting the Egg Festival, annually hosting the Kiwanis Karnival and for many years supporting the previously popular scholarship pageant.

This year’s festival has a Hawaiian luau theme, and it has been dedicated to the local servicemen and women stationed far from home. Parade grand marshals will be Arthur Dewey Sr., 79, who served in World War II in the Pacific theater, and Fred Allen Jr., 23, who was injured while serving in Iraq.

Events got under way on Monday with a band concert in Hathorn Park and on Tuesday with a family fun walk and another concert at Hathorn Park.

Today’s events include the 5-A-Day Egglympics from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Hathorn Park, sponsored by Sebasticook Valley Hospital; a parking lot art contest at 6 p.m. behind the town office; and a street dance from 7 to 10 p.m. in the municipal parking lot, sponsored by the Sebasticook Valley Credit Union and hosted by WMME 92 Moose Radio.

On Thursday, window painting contests will be held on Main Street, a Kiddie Parade begins at 6 p.m. behind the fire station and the carnival opens at 6:30 p.m.

On Friday, the cheesecake and quiche contest is set for 8 a.m. at Millennium Event Center on Route 100 in Palmyra, followed by a luncheon at noon. Davis said many tables already are being reserved, and entries in the contest will be accepted right up until judging begins.

On Saturday, the Arts Club Early Bird Breakfast, featuring the World’s Largest Frying Pan, begins at 6 a.m., followed by a day full of activities.

These include a giant parade at 9:15 a.m. down Somerset Avenue and Main Street to Manson Park, craft tents, Newport Fire Department barbecue, live entertainment from 1 to 9 p.m. at the fairgrounds, a petting zoo, car show, horseshoe tournaments and the fireworks at 9:45 p.m.

Booklets containing detailed schedules are available at the town office.