Egg festival organizers look toward next year

PITTSFIELD – The 2006 Central Maine Egg Festival ended the year with more than a $6,000 balance, which President Kevin Davis said Monday night would provide a good start next year.

There are some expenses, such as scholarships, that still must come from those funds, he said, but overall, 2006 was a successful year.

At a meeting Monday night, committee members reflected on this past summer’s festival and looked forward to the next one.

Some members spoke to the need for a separate food tent, the possibility of moving tents and vendors to different locations next year due to space constraints in Manson Park, and holding a joint meeting with the Kiwanis Club, which sponsors the carnival, to settle those logistics.

There are two themes being considered by the Central Maine Egg Festival Committee for next year’s 35th annual festival.

The suggestions are a tribute to Stephen King’s movies, or to the 1970s, Staying Egg-live. Committee members are seeking additional themes or feedback on the two proposed for a final vote by the end of this year.

A community member, Trudy Ferland, suggested that since 2007 was a special anniversary year, possibly the committee could look into having fiberglass eggs decorated by local artists. She said these could be distributed around town, at the various businesses that sponsor them, and could be auctioned off after the festival.

Ferland said one vendor quoted $800 for a 4-foot egg, but the committee said it could look into cheaper alternatives, including getting local body shops to create them.

“After all,” Ferland said, “an egg is an easy shape” compared to lighthouses and fish used by some other Maine communities.

The committee’s proposed slate of officers retains Davis as president, Steven Burton as vice president, Eva Charity as treasurer and Faith Temple as secretary. A formal vote will be taken in November.