Westbrook Together Day volunteers are pictured for a final planning Tuesday. Contributed / Heather Cronin
Westbrook Together Days is set for Friday and Saturday. “I love this event,” Suzanne Joyce, Together Days chair, says. Robert Lowell / American Journal
The 43rd Westbrook Together Days, a two-day, fun-filled festival featuring food, entertainment, an auction, carnival amusements and parade, kicks off Friday, May 31. The theme this year is American heroes.
The Westbrook-Gorham Community Chamber of Commerce sponsors the event at Riverbank Park, 677 Main St, Westbrook, and thousands are expected to flock to the city from neighboring communities.
Motor Booty Affair is the entertainment headliner at 8 p.m. Friday. “We have a great lineup,” Suzanne Joyce, chair of the event, said last week.
Westbrook Jazz Band gets it under way at 4 p.m. Friday and Joyce said Girls Just Want to Have Fun will open at 6 p.m. for Motor Booty.
Long a festival tradition, the Boy Scouts pancake breakfast is scheduled for 7-10 a.m. in the park and gets the show off and running on a full stomach Saturday, June 1. “It’s a great segue into the parade,” Joyce said.
Saturday’s parade steps off at 10 a.m. on Lincoln Street and rolls to the park. The best decorated group or float will take home $300 for first prize; $200, second; and $100, third.
A packed schedule Saturday in the park includes the first car show, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Deb Shangraw has organized the annual auction to be held under a big tent at 12:30 p.m. and it features donations from businesses. “She (Shangraw) is doing an amazing job,” Joyce said.
A full slate of entertainment Saturday runs from 2 to 9:45 p.m.
Booths and food trucks will serve up plenty of sustenance.
Phil Spiller, a JetBlue pilot, said Wednesday that raffle tickets for a round-trip for two aboard JetBlue to any destination it flies will be available at a booth at the park entrance. Tickets are $5, or five for $20, and only 1,000 chances will be sold. The winner will be announced at 8 p.m. Saturday.
With a crowd passing its doors, Friends of Walker Memorial Library will have a book sale in front of the library, 800 Main St., on Saturday, as well as a booth at the park.
The whole shebang will be capped off with fireworks over the Presumpscot River at 9:45 p.m.
Together Days is a fundraiser for the Chamber of Commerce that will hand out 24, $500 scholarships to graduates at Westbrook Regional Vocational Center, along with high school seniors in both Gorham and Westbrook.
A committee has been busily working since the end of January to organize the event.
Joyce said it wouldn’t happen without its business sponsors and volunteers that include Dick Durgin and Vinny Nielsen, who have each logged 30 years as organizers. This marks Joyce’s 27th year with 12 years at the helm.. “I love this event,” Joyce said, “It’s my favorite.”
Organizers are keeping their fingers crossed for good weather, Joyce said, after last year’s disappointment when rain washed it out.
“The weather looks to be beautiful this year,” Spiller said.
For more information and a a full Westbrook Together Days schedule, visit westbrooktogetherdays.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
