VEAZIE – Town officials are planning spring and summer events that will culminate in a four-day extravaganza in honor of the town’s 150th birthday later this year.

The celebration will be a chance for people to revisit the roots of the town, along with some of its history, according to Rod Hathaway, Town Council chair and an organizer for the event.

“It’s just to draw a little bit of attention to a small bedroom community sandwiched between Bangor and Orono,” Hathaway said. “Veazie has a significant and rich history.”

In his first year as a town councilor in 1978, Hathaway attended the parade and celebration for the town’s 125th birthday, but this one will be much bigger.

“We haven’t had a celebration of this magnitude before,” Hathaway said.

Plans for the event have been in the works for a number of months, and organizers will be meeting again at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, in the municipal building. Hathaway said the meetings have been well attended, usually drawing around 25 people. As the event gets closer, organizers are looking for anyone who is interested to get involved, Hathaway said.

“It would be nice to have 50 or so active volunteers, to spread responsibility for all the different parts of it,” Hathaway said.

The events will begin Tuesday, March 25, the anniversary of the day the town was incorporated. Organizers are planning a musical performance along with some speakers that night at the Veazie Community School.

On Wednesday, May 21, organizers are planning a night of talks on Veazie’s history from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the school. The talks will include historical perspectives of the town and some of its more well-known figures, Hathaway said.

Likely to be showcased are John R. Graham, namesake of a Veazie school, a portion of which has been renovated and expanded into senior housing. Graham, one-time president of Bangor Hydro-Electric Co., and son Edward, who held the same position, had contributed $100,000 to the school construction in the 1920s. The town’s children now attend the new Veazie Community School.

The program also will honor Gen. Samuel Veazie, the town’s namesake who purchased the area from the city of Bangor.

The War of 1812 general purchased more than 50 lumber mills between Old Town and Bangor, as well as the Penobscot Log Boom. He also acquired what became the Veazie Railroad, and the Bank of Bangor.

Most prominently, the lumber baron worked to get the Legislature and the townspeople to approve the separation of what had been North Bangor from Bangor so that the more than 2,000 acres could become a separate town in 1853. It was named for Veazie.

“There are some residents now who may not have any idea who these people are and we’re trying to highlight them,” Hathaway said.

Next summer, the birthday festivities will conclude with a four-day celebration from Thursday, July 10, through Sunday, July 13.

Thursday night will offer a dinner theater at the school. After a dinner prepared by the Veazie Congregational Church, a local cast directed by Tom Logan will present Veazie Review, a play that was performed for the town’s centennial 50 years ago.

On Friday, July 12, visitors will be welcomed to a townwide open house that will include tours of municipal buildings, local gardens and the new John Graham Senior Housing Complex. A street dance will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. in the parking lot of the Veazie Community Center.

Saturday, July 13, will kick off with a pancake breakfast and a road race. At 11 a.m., organizers are planning a large parade that will include floats from the Shrine ceremonial parade. Later in the afternoon, celebration-goers will see old-fashioned games and a fireman’s muster. Saturday night will end with a fireworks display at 9:30 p.m.

On Sunday, July 14, organizers are planning an outdoor service for all faiths, a family picnic and the burial of a time capsule by school officials. The time capsule will be unearthed during the town’s 200th anniversary.

Also as part of the yearlong celebration, town officials will be working on a 20-minute video to document some of the town’s early history.

“It’s just a unique little town,” Hathaway said.

Anyone who is interested in helping out with the celebration is invited to a planning meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, at the town municipal building. For more information, call the town office at 947-2781.