WINTERPORT – Music was in the air at the Winterport Music Festival which drew nearly 1,000 listeners to Abbott Field on Aug. 12. Music lovers of all ages set up lawn chairs at noon and lingered until 8 p.m. to enjoy the event. Some even brought their dogs. A food court served up a variety of foods, from pizza to popcorn.

“The Town Council was very supportive of the project,” said Town Manager Phil Pitula, one of the volunteer organizers.

The festival had two aims, said Pitula, bass player in the band Sista Sadie which played at the festival – to provide a venue for local bands and their talented musicians, and to provide funds for a music scholarship for an SAD 22 student.

It is expected that the scholarship amount will be $1,000. Hampden, Winterport and Newburgh comprise SAD 22.

A committee of volunteers began in April to organize the event. Serving on the committee were Charles Early, Richard Silver, Tracy Gran, Mike Allen, Ed Russell, Lauren and Trent Souder, Chuck Sim, Patrick and Valerie Rowland, Kent Palmer, Joe Brooks, Robert Deslauriers, Phil and Kim Pitula, and MacKenzie Rawcliffe.

“I was thoroughly pleased with the outcome of the event,” Pitula said. “It was better than I expected.” The festival drew a diverse audience from “babies to those in their 90s.”

Bands that performed were King Pirogi polka band, Fiddlin’ Noah Gardiner, Evergreen, Piero Trio, Union River Band, Souder and Williams, Wolf Creek, Paul Anderson, Spirit Fiddle, Mutt and Jeff, and Sista Sadie. The Kruger Brothers, virtuoso acoustic guitar, banjo and bass, headlined the music festival.

Vendors were the Winterport House of Pizza, the Sea Dog, Rosie’s Diner, Danio’s, the Lion’s Club, Winterport Historical Society, Union Meeting House, Harriman’s Hot Dogs, Ma’s Shaved Ice, Vance’s Guitars and Pairings.

Sponsors of the event were Olver Associates Inc., Dickel Wood Flooring, Merrill Merchants Bank, DM and J Enterprises Inc., Ski Rack, Molly’s, H.O. Bouchard, Winterport Boot Shop, Holden Cabinet Shop, United Kingfield Bank, the Van Vrankens, R.H. Foster, Bangor Savings Bank, Van Syckle Lincoln-Mercury, the Jagels, Dr. Michael Bruehl, Lafayette Hotels, WBRC Architect-Engineers, Ridge Runner Veterinary Services, Olde Winterport Commercial House, the Economys, Bowman Brothers, Russell, Silver and Silverstein, the Rawcliffes, Mike Thibodeau, Fisher Farms, James Foley, T.G. Higgins Business Services, the McLeans, the Riouxs and the DeCamps.

Vaughn Thibodeau and Sons supplied the flatbed truck used as the stage, and Nickerson and O’Day donated materials and labor to build extensions.

Plans are already in the works for the 2007 music festival, Pitula said. For information, call Pitula at 223-5055.