Elvis, fireworks, Navy ship, parade mark Eastport 4th
The small city of Eastport is putting on its red, white and blue and sending out an invitation to join in the 230th anniversary of Independence Day, as well as all of its Old Home Week festivities.
"The Fourth of July Committee has outdone itself this year," stresses J. Roland Mitchell, who is co-chairing again this year with Barbara DeWitt. "I really enjoy working with the members. There are a lot of hard workers, and I know they're going to make this year's Fourth of July and Old Home Week a success."
Much of the schedule includes old and new favorites, including the Calithumpian Parade, watermelon eating, Old Timers' Night, the blueberry pancake breakfast and fireworks.
The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Porter is scheduled to arrive on Friday, June 30, at approximately 10 a.m., and Mitchell points out that "it would be a nice opportunity for the citizens of Eastport and the area to physically be there to greet the ship. Let the Navy know they've been welcomed." The public is also urged to attend the reception for the ship on the following day, July 1, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Eastport Youth Center. There will also be tours of the vessel. Times will be posted throughout town.
The USS Porter will have a team or two of basketball players on July 3 at the Shead gym at 7 p.m. ready to take on all comers. There are also about 40 sailors who want to play softball, so if there are any Eastport-area players who want to form a local team, get in touch with Barbara DeWitt at 853-2510 (day) or 853-6076.
New to the schedule, author Elsie O'Dell Dinsmore of Eastport will sign copies of her latest mystery, Bailey's Bluff, at the Senior Citizens Center.
If anyone would like to see films of bygone Eastport, including the 1949 Independence Day parade, tall ships and a sardine cannery, drop by the Shead High School bandroom on Sunday, July 2, at 2:30 p.m. The films are courtesy of Northern Lights Film Society and Border Historical Society. At 4 p.m., films about B-29s over Japan "with gunner John Pike Grady" will be shown in the same location.
Blanche Metcalf, longtime organizer of the talent show, says that for the first time this year's July 2 event will feature a division for adults.
Appearing for the first time in Eastport are Maine fiddler Kate Wegner and Chuck Donnelly playing Celtic and old-time fusion on Sunday, July 2, at Overlook Park, beginning at 6 p.m.
"Walk Down Memory Lane," the annual exhibition of local photos, will be presented this year in one-half of the building that sits on the site of the old A&P. Anyone who would like to share their pictures can drop them off before Old Home Week at the city building where they will be scanned and quickly returned. The other half of the new building at the corner of Water and Washington streets will be a place where visitors can leave information about who is in town and where they are staying. The Eastport Fourth of July Committee is looking for volunteers to keep the "Walk Down Memory Lane" and visitor center open on July 3 and 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The annual strawberry shortcake sale on July 3 at 1 p.m. has been moved back to Peavey Memorial Library this year. At 2 p.m., across the street in Bank Square, will be the launching of the John Pike Grady Endowment Fund for the Boat School.
During the blueberry pancake breakfast at 9 a.m. on the morning of July 4, the airfield will be dedicated in memory of Richard "Dick" Flagg of Eastport.
A special treat on Independence Day is a performance by Elvis impersonator Mike Brevener at 5 p.m. Overlook Park is the venue.
"When the ship sails, take a walk down to see her off," says Mitchell of the USS Porter. "Stand along the walkway on July 5 and give them a big sendoff."