Organizers of the 29th annual Hampden Children’s Day are expecting a larger parade “than we have had in recent years,” wrote Amy Lorenzo.

The parade will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, in Hampden.

Organizers are extending a challenge to businesses and organizations to enter their “most creative float,” reflecting the parade’s theme of Beach Day Festival.

The theme, Lorenzo explained, was the idea of a Weatherbee School pupil and was “voted on by members of the Hampden community at Edwards’ Shop ‘n Save.”

Prizes will be awarded in several categories, and Lorenzo hopes many of you will enter the parade and “help us to continue the tradition of providing the children in our community with a day filled with fun, food, entertainment and activities.”

Also, this year, the planners have scheduled a rain date, which is Sunday, Aug. 17, so parade participants should plan accordingly.

For information about the parade or other events, or to register for the parade, call Lorenzo at 433-0887 or contact Mike Underwood at Edwards’ Shop ‘n Save in Hampden.

During the first week of June, I reported that Tim Hortons restaurant owners Marc and Andrea Nicknair in Brewer and Calvin and Karen Boyle in Old Town were participating in a Tim Hortons Camp Day fundraiser.

According to information provided by Tim Horton Children’s Foundation president Bill Moir, more than 3,000 Tim Hortons restaurants, in the U.S. and Canada participated in that June 4 event by donating proceeds from “their entire coffee sales, in addition to funds raised through other Camp Day events and activities” to foundation.

The results, Moir continued, were that “this special day raised an unbelievable $8.8 million (in U.S. funds) for the program that will help send more than 13,000 deserving children to … THCF camps, with all expenses paid.”

According to the Nicknairs, two of those campers will be from Brewer.