Two festivals pull in a rollicking crowd
It looked like Moose Island was invaded by people of all shapes, sizes and ages wearing bandannas, black hats with skull and crossbones, eye-patches and striped shirts during the fourth annual Eastport Pirate Festival on September 11, 12 and 13.
"It was very successful," says Chris Brown, who organized the event with Ross Furman and John Miller. "A lot of people told me they were excited and happy that they came. There was a real buzz from people from out of town who said they had a great time."
"Everything went extremely well," he adds. "We're always making refinements, like adding the music outside."
"We started out with kids in the morning and tried to plan for something going every minute of the day," says Brown.
One of the most popular events, he points out, was the Pirate Pet Pageant, which was suitable for all ages and even included best stuffed animal category. Other favorites were the Pirate Bed Race, the Pirate Parade, which was led by local motorcyclists and included a demonstration by the Central Maine Precision Lawn Chair Drill Team, and the Pirate Ball, during which local photographer Don Dunbar and bartender Brittany Hansen were dubbed King and Queen.
The popular Pirates of the Dark Rose entertained, as did The Brigands Pirate Band from New York.
One of the new events was the "Diver Ed" Dive-in Theater boat trip, which made three runs over the weekend.
There were many fundraising activities throughout the Pirate Festival. Charles Johnson and fellow crew members at the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Eastport made $838 in profits from the barbecue wagon on Saturday and donated it to the Peavey Memorial Library. The library raised about $550 that weekend from its used book sale, quilts raffles and grog.
Some Lubec pirates invaded Eastport in retaliation for an Eastport invasion by land and sea the week before, but John Miller reports, "On Sunday the owners of Cohill's Inn in Lubec put a thousand dollars in the kitty to sweeten the prize of the Crate Race."
Vendors reported good sales. John Constant of Mainely Smoked Salmon sold more salmon than he did on July 4.
Miller says of Chris Brown and Ross Furman: "(They) have worked tirelessly since the end of last year's Pirate Festival to make sure that we were able to take it up another notch this year. They are already planning for the Eastport Pirate Festival 2010 with fireworks."
Winners of the Pirate Festival events are as follows.
Business Awards: Best Dressed Window, "Most Creative," Raye's Mustard; Best Dressed Shop Window, "Most Interesting," Without a Paddle; Best Dressed Employees, Pickled Herring; Best Dressed Employees, "Most Creative," The First.
Pirate Ball: King, Don Dunbar of Perry; Queen, Brittany Hansen of Mattituck, N.Y.
Pirate Parade: Best Business Float, The First; Best Individual's Float, Denise and Shawn Harris and family; Most Thrilling Entry, Central Maine Precision Lawn Chair Drill Team; Best Child Costume, Anna Baker of Eastport; Best Adult Costume, Kirk Maenhout of Baileyville; Best Family Group, Jayne Bryant, Nichole and Nicholas.
Pirate Pet Pageant: Best Stuffed Animal, "Snakey," shown by Alevis Donahue of Perry; Best Kitty, "Pirate Parrot Pussy," shown by Steve Trieber and Deb Nelson of Eastport; Best Dog, "Reese," shown by Skylar Richardson of Eastport; Best Large Animal, "Huntah," shown by Megan Merry of Perry.
Pirate Ship Race: Pirate Ship Winner Under Sail, Diapensia out of Lubec; Biggest Cheater and Pirate Ship Winner, motorized division, Jaqueline of Perry; Best Dressed Pirate Ship and Crew, Sylvina W. Beal, Eastport; Farthest Traveled Ship, Jolly Breeze, St. Andrews.
Street race winners: Girls 7-9, Shawna Monk; boys 7-9, Ethan Lank, Perry; girls 10 and up, tie between Rachel Glynn and Alexa Pelkey; boys 10 and up, Ben Wade.
Raisin spitting winners: Kristen Glynn, Ameena Vizcarrondo, Dilon Townsend, Shawna Monk, Drew Greenlaw, Chase Turner, Christian Turner, Brady Surles, Michon Whitney, Emily MacEachern and Margaret Brooks.
Pirate Kids and Youth Pageant: Age 9 and under, boys, Nicholas Bryant; girls, Andee Renae Leighton; age 10 and up, boys, Isaiah Chevrier; girls, Katie Pendleton.
Pirate Bed Race: (1) Shead High School (winnings donated to the Eastport Pirate Festival and the Mr. G Fund); (2) Eastport Chowder House; (3) Husson University, Eastport Boat School; Peg-Leg Award (slowest bed), Pirate Pilots with Pirate Parrot Pussy; last place, Canadian Invasion.
Pirate Crate Race: Jonathan Leonard of Sandwich, Mass.