Bristol’s seven-decade tradition of celebrating its history with a weekend of festivities will look different this summer with the absence of a parade, daytime fairground with vendors, and activities for kids.
At the Bristol Select Board’s Wednesday, Jan. 8 meeting, Bristol Parks Commissioner Chair Clyde Pendleton said a lack of volunteers and communication between personnel has made the event difficult to organize.
“It just isn’t working,” he said.
Bristol Town Administrator Rachel Bizarro said the event has been more difficult to manage since moved from state-owned Fort William Henry – where it was held for the majority of the event’s lifespan – to town-owned property at Pemaquid Beach Park in 2021.
“It definitely needs definition, it’s a lot of loose ends with the current way it’s currently being handled,” she said.
Each part of the weekend of events is organized separately, including the Merritt Brackett Lobster Boat Races, parade, car show, fairground festivities, and fireworks. Each has its own group of volunteers organizing it, according to Bizarro.
However, according to Bristol Parks Director Shelley Gallagher, there’s a lack of communication between all organizational parties and Bristol Parks administration.
Pendleton suggested offering a stipend for someone to take over the event as its director to organize it or reduce the scope of the events within the weekend celebration.
“If we’re still going to do it, we need someone to be the go to person,” he said. “If we’re going to do it we need to say here’s $5,000 to be the head of it … our other thought is to do away with it.”
Bristol Parks Commissioner Laurie Mahan asked if the town would be willing to hire someone to direct the event but Bristol Select Board member Kristie Poland said she wasn’t convinced that approach would be effective.
“Would all these little committees who don’t communicate, would they communicate with our executive coordinated? I don’t mean that in a snarky way, I’m just trying to be realistic,” Poland said.
Bizarro said the volunteer who organized the parade retired from the position last year.
Hanna said local organizations in the past volunteered to run portions of the weekend long event.
“Historically, Olde Bristol Days, we had many more community organizations than exist today,” he said. “You think of all the community organizations that have gone out of existence, I can’t even name some of them.”
Bristol Select Board member Paul Yates said the parade is the main event of Olde Bristol Days and in recent years it’s been in decline.
“What signifies (Olde Bristol Days) is the parade, it’s the leader of the whole thing,” he said. “You just don’t have the businesses to participate in it as they used to … maybe it is time to step down from (the parade) rather than let it get any worse, I don’t really want to say it that way but it portrays to me in that manner.”
With the removal of those activities, the portion of the weekend held at Pemaquid Beach Park that will remain will be the fireworks and music, historically held on the second Saturday night in August.
“Maybe it just needs to look different, not be handled in the same way it has been in the past where everyone seems to want autonomy in their event and let that happen, and it gives the commissioners more control over what’s happening at the park. Whether you call what you’re doing Olde Bristol Days or not,” Poland said.
In addition to communication issues, Pendleton said Pemaquid Beach Park loses about $4,000 in revenue granting free entry to the beach the day of the fairground activities. With the additional staffing it makes the event a financial burden for the department.
Hanna said he believed there was enough momentum behind the organizing of the Merritt Brackett Lobster Boat Races and the Olde Bristol Days Williams-Fossett Vintage Car Show that those events would continue.
According to Hanna and Bizarro, the board’s decision to reduce the scope of the event will likely be explained for clarity at the annual town meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18 at Bristol Consolidated School.
The next scheduled Bristol Select Board meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at the town office.
