LIMESTONE, Maine — Main Street was packed once again for Limestone’s annual Fourth of July Parade that featured over 50 patriotic entries and drew hundreds of spectators. The event holds the title for being the longest running Fourth of July parade in the state, and this year’s event certainly wowed the crowd.
“I think this was really one of the best [parades] we’ve had in a while,” said Secretary of the Greater Limestone Chamber of Commerce Grace O’Neal, who saw downtown Main Street filling up over two hours before the parade began; effort expended by spectators in finding (and claiming) that perfect parade spot was rewarded with entry after entry of floats, cars and clowns that balanced Fourth of July pride with the parade’s theme, “Spirit of Change.”
Entries were creative in their embodiment of nationalism this year, like Gervais Fence that incorporated their products and equipment into a patriotic display and the Boulevard Graphix entry that got smaller and smaller as the parade went on — there were 350 balloons attached to the Boulevard Graphix vehicle when the parade started, but that number started dwindling down to nothing as employees of the business Kylie Mulherin and Jen Poitras distributed the decorative balloons to children along the parade route.
The parade was more musical than past years as well, featuring the audible stylings of the Anah Oriental Band and the patriotic Central Aroostook Community band; the parade also featured music to race-fan’s ears as the Spud Speedway cars revved their engines.
Community members and businesses adorned golf carts, ATV’s, motorcycles and themselves with all the red, white and blue they could muster, and their creative efforts contributed to an impressive parade.
“I really think people put more effort into their entries this year as more were decorated in the spirit of the holiday; I was very impressed with the wide-variety of entries,” O’Neal said. “For the first time in a few years, we were able to award trophies in all parade categories.”
Winners were:
• Gervais Fence, winning the Best Patriotic/Spirit Entry Award.
• Boulevard Graphix, winning Best Business Entry Award.
• Spud Speedway, winning the Best Vehicle Entry Award.
• Ernest York Trucking, winning the Best Antique Vehicle Entry Award.
• Art Thompson and Family, winning the Best Antique Farm Machinery Entry Award.
• Gary Thompson, winning the Best Farm Machinery Entry Award.
• The Limestone Class of 1961, winning the Best School Entry Award.
• The Central Aroostook Community Band, winning the Best Organization/Group Entry Award.
• Calvary Baptist Church, winning the Best Church Entry Award.
• The Northern Maine Queens, winning the Best Queen Entry Award.
• Little Miss Fort Fairfield Camryn Ala showcased her equestrian talents riding the horse Roo through the parade, winning the Best Animal Entry Award.
Parade winners were able to proudly display their trophies as they made their way down Main street, which is one change to this year’s “Spirit of Change” parade that the Limestone Chamber plans on keeping.
“It was great to have these winners announced as they came by the center of town and see their trophies proudly displayed,” said O’Neal. “We’ll definitely do the judging prior to the parade again next year.”
