BELFAST – An estimated 4,000 people attended the dedication Saturday of the restored $4.8 million Veterans Memorial Footbridge over the Passagassawaukeag River, as officials and residents celebrated the long-awaited opening of the new span with games, races and festivities.

“This is amazing,” Belfast Mayor Michael Hurley said Saturday evening as visitors continued to arrive at the bridge. “This has been nonstop all day.”

Hurley and other officials, including Parks and Recreation Director Jim Bell, kept track of visitors all day long.

The celebration, known as “Connecting the Community,” because the bridge connects the two parts of Belfast divided by the river, began at 9 a.m. with a kayak race, won by Ray Wirth, and a canoe race, won by Roy Rodgers, both of Belfast.

The festivities concluded with the 17 bridge lights being turned on at 7 p.m. and fireworks illuminating the night sky. In between there were events and entertainment to suit everyone’s fancy.

Belfast mime Scott Cannon warmed up the crowd with morning performances for adults and children by playing various roles.

At about 9:30 a.m., Come Boating, a community boating organization, released into the tide 300 yellow plastic ducks, or Chucks, sold as fundraisers for the bridge railings and lights.

As the ducks drifted in a yellow line toward the bridge, they appeared to stay in formation, like soldiers advancing on an army, while onlookers gathered on the bridge in anticipation.

The winner, the first duck to pass under the bridge, was sponsored by Sean Meacham of Northport.

Residents then lined up on the eastern side of the 1,000-foot bridge for a parade across the span, led by Belfast bagpipers Jennifer Armstrong and Ted Hensley.

They were followed by the color guard from the local American Legion Post 43 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Post 3108, and town officials.

The footbridge originally was dedicated to the city’s World War I veterans. A plaque bearing the names of 55 World War I veterans, stolen in 1964, will be restored and dedicated on Veterans Day 2007, bridge committee member Tammy Scully said.

The piers supporting the footbridge also supported the old Route 1 Veterans Memorial Bridge built in 1921. That bridge was closed to traffic in 1962 when a new Route 1 bridge was built. The deck and railings were removed from the old footbridge last year.

“We are the littlest city in Maine, and a river runs through us – a big, wide river,” Hurley said at the morning dedication ceremony, pointing out the eight years that the community worked on raising funds for the new bridge.

Hurley praised local residents Francis Marsano, Scully and Alden Trull for their volunteer efforts and Chet and Josephine Grady, members of the town’s longest-standing family since 1833.

He also introduced various speakers, including Maine Transportation Commissioner David Cole, state Sen. Carol Weston, R-Montville, and state Rep. Walter Ash, D-Belfast.

“Chet was here 85 years ago at age 13 when they dedicated the last bridge,” Hurley said.

Grady stood to tell the crowd how happy he was to be part of the dedication.

“It’s a wonderful credit to Belfast and the surrounding towns,” he said.

Quipping that she expected to see everyone present at a bridge ceremony in another 85 years, Josephine Grady introduced the couple’s three grown children, Carroll Grady, Mary Clark, and Nancy Weitz.

Local poet Elizabeth Garber read “Crossing Our Bay of Brilliance,” a poem she wrote for the occasion. Officials then cut the ribbon and opened the drawbridge for a parade of boats.

U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud arrived in the afternoon to address the gathering and to pledge his continuing support for the bridge.