This year’s Fourth of July marked an additional milestone for the town of Damariscotta, as a long weekend’s worth of events celebrating the town’s 175th anniversary concluded with a packed fireworks show over the river.
The weekend’s events featured numerous opportunities to learn about celebrate the town’s history, from exhibits to parades to the beloved annual fireworks show.
The town was officially incorporated out of land formerly belong to Bristol and Nobleboro in March 1848. Organizers this year decided to prolong celebrations until the summertime, when crowds would be in town and the weather suitable to outdoor festivities.
An ad hoc planning committee was assembled earlier this year with members from groups including the Damariscotta Region Chamber of Commerce and Information Bureau, the Damariscotta Historical Society, the town of Damariscotta, its fire and police departments, and interested residents.
“We were a small but mighty committee that spent months just throwing ideas out there to see what we could to do to celebrate 175 years,” said Lisa Hagen, executive director of the Damariscotta Region Chamber of Commerce and Information Bureau.
Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust hosted a 5K trail run, walk and fun run around its Round Top Farm on Saturday, July 1, followed by children’s activities and a bounce house.
Events around town offered residents and visitors opportunities to learn about the town’s history, including exhibits and a walking tour.
Lincoln County Historical Association’s garden tour included a map of special gardens in Damariscotta, among other towns.
The Damariscotta Historical Society’s self-guided historic building walking tour took celebrants around town on Friday, June 30 and Saturday, July 1 and the historic Chapman-Hall House hosted a special exhibit on the Chapman and Hall families, who owned the house in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Damariscotta’s last birthday celebration, its four-day sesquicentennial observation in 1998, also featured historical events. According to The Lincoln County News archives, a parade was held, along with a concert and special events, a pageant, historical talks, and a reenactment of the 1905 annual town meeting, which featured an argument over appropriating $100 for Skidompha Library.
It also included a special display of Maurice “Jake” Day artwork, an event reprised this year at the town office. Day’s Christmas dioramas were on display in the Damariscotta town office on July 1-3. Day’s dioramas are typically on display during Christmastime in Damariscotta.
Day grew up in Damariscotta and attended Lincoln Academy. He was a painter and a sculptor, and well-known for creating the animation for the Disney film “Bambi.”
The dioramas sit within shadow boxes, and some of them are protected by glass. Many of them feature natural landscapes with animals such as beavers, bears, and chipmunks. Some of the scenes in the dioramas include a barn filled with cows and goats, a cabin in the woods, and a fireplace hung with stockings and decorated for Christmas.
Each diorama took about 10-14 days to make and set up, and much of the dioramas are made out of wood, including the animals and the buildings.
The town’s fire department also participated in reminiscences this year by recreating a historic photo.
An evening parade on Tuesday, July 4 was designed with a nod to the past, featuring historical vehicles, Lincoln County fire trucks, and floats from local businesses including Main Street Grocery, D&S Excavation, JM Automotive, HCS Motorsports, and others.
After the parade, local band Mid Life Crisis offered three one-hour sets for dancing crowds of all ages in the municipal parking lot as spectators packed the waterfront in anticipation of the fireworks show. The display was met with cheers from the crowd from start to finish, especially a surprise encore explosion.
