By Eleanor Cade Busby
Gracie, 10, and pal Sydney, 7, danced themselves to exhaustion at Puddlepalooza, a family-friendly two day music festival at Duck Puddle Campground in Nobleboro. (Eleanor Cade Busby photo) |
Duck Puddle Campground held their fourth annual Puddlepalooza in Nobleboro on Friday and Saturday, August 22 and 23.
 |
Sharon Hood, lead singer with Dixon Road, brought down the house on Saturday night at Puddlepalooza. (Eleanor Cade Busby photo) |
The event almost did not happen this year. For the previous three years, Duck Puddle Campground has contracted with the Bath Municipal Band to use their portable stage. On Thursday, with 12 hours notice, they learned that the stage could not be moved due to a mechanical issue.
Duck Puddle Campground was sold out, musicians, lighting crews and guests were arriving from far and wide. “We decided to rally the troops and build a stage,” said campground owner Jim Grimes.
NC Hunt Lumber packed up the lumber and delivered it fast. By Thursday nightfall they were ready to build. Volunteers appeared. Seasonal campers, friends and family pitched in and the stage began to form. At 11 p.m., they paused for a rest and regrouped at Friday morning.
The stage was built, wired for lights and sound and ready for performers just two hours before the opening act, Boothbay based Toy Box, was to hit the boards.
“The show must go on,” said Grimes. “We couldn’t have pulled this off without everyone that helped. I guess sometimes it takes a campground.”
Performers were delighted with the new stage. Sharon Hood, lead singer for Dixon Road said, “It’s so solid I can jump up and down and it doesn’t even move.”
The plan is to add a roof to the stage according to Grimes, and to partially enclose the sides. “It will be available for music, community fundraisers, events and even plays,” he said. “We are thinking about showing the movies for the campground here, too.”
Grimes had always intended to build a permanent stage “somewhere down the road” and this near crisis just moved the date, in a hurry.
Guests at the two day concert had no idea that a flurry of activity had just ended when Toy Box took the stage Friday at 5 p.m. Kids danced in the sun, and lawn chairs gathered on the hillsides, as the weekend of rock, folk and fun began.
Every eventuality was anticipated. Golf carts with designated drivers ferried campers to and from their vacation spots. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office provided security.
The seven band lineup drew guests from the campground and from surrounding towns to the upper field at Duck Puddle Campground. Friday night featured Toy Box followed by Storm Warning and American Ride.
Saturday the music began at noon with Southern Blend, followed by Sweatin’ Bullets, and the afternoon session ended with Rick and Scott.
Sharon Hood (formerly Buck) and Dixon Road took the stage by storm at 7 o’clock. The fiery lead singer soon had the crowd on its feet with her larger than life voice and energetic performance. Hood has a sense of humor that crosses the footlights, and the audience responded with cheers and laughs to her banter.
At the end of the set, the Duck Puddle construction crew gathered in front of the stage and the story of the almost impossible stage building was told to the delight of the audience.
The heros of Puddlepalooza who built a performance stage from start to finish in under 24 hours. When the rental stage was suddenly unavailable, this crew gathered in front of performers Sharon Hood and Dixon Road, worked most of the night and into Friday to see the event go on as scheduled. (Eleanor Cade Busby photo) |
