FARMINGTON — Sunny, breezy conditions greeted participants and spectators alike during Farmington’s Fourth of July parade Tuesday, sponsored by the Farmington Rotary Club.
“It’s like a community reunion,” Farmington Rotary Club member Paul Mills said. “I suppose you might say it’s a signature event for the community.”
However, the town didn’t always have a parade, he pointed out. For years, the event was only held sporadically, until the Farmington Downtown Association and Farmington Rotary Club revived it in the late 1970s.
“The Downtown Association sponsored it the first few years,” Mills said, adding that Rotary has sponsored the parade the last 35 years.
Mills recalled 1968, where it looked like there wouldn’t be a parade in Farmington. The night before, Jud Strunk organized a parade and later wrote a poem about it called “Farmington’s 4th of July Instant Parade.”
He said that during that parade, the local radio station played marching music, and people turned up their car radios so parade participants would have music to march to.
On the Henderson Memorial Baptist Church lawn at Main and Academy streets, church members served free hot dogs and beverages for patrons. They also collected donations for the Franklin County Ecumenical Heating Fund.
“Typically, we give away about 400 hot dogs,” said Rob Martin, one of those grilling them. “The reds go like hot cakes.”
He said the church’s congregation donated most of the hot dogs.
On the Pierce House lawn by Main Street, members of Farmington’s Old South First Congregational Church served strawberry shortcake, with the strawberries coming from Pike’s in Farmington. The Centennial Band played patriotic songs under a tent as people enjoyed their shortcake.
The parade results were as follows:
Agriculture & Animal
First: Franklin County Dairy Club
Antique Car, Truck, or Tractor
First: Sugarloaf
Second: Earl Allen retirement project, 1928 Ford
Third: Brian Patterson, 1938 John Deere tractor
Floats
First: Community Dental
Second: New Hope Baptist Church
Third: Franklin Savings Bank
Band, Music or Walkers
First: Upward Bound
Second: First Episcopal Church
Third: Sparrow Nest Theater
Military Service or Patriotism
First: American Legion
Second: Franklin County Democrats
Third: Smiling Goat Jugglers
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Community Dental’s float won first place in the Fourth of July parade in Farmington on Tuesday. Hundreds of people lined the streets to celebrate.
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Reggie McBean, left, and Rob Martin of the Henderson Memorial Baptist Church serve free hot dogs at Fourth of July activities Tuesday in Farmington. Donations received will go to the Franklin County Ecumenical Heating Fund.
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The Upward Bound program at the University of Maine at Farmington took first place in the Band, Music or Walkers category at Tuesday’s Fourth of July parade in Farmington.
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The Centennial Band performed patriotic songs on the Pierce House lawn during Farmington’s July 4th celebration Tuesday.
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