Rain and driving wind put a damper on this year’s Westbrook Together Days, forcing the cancellation of the parade, fireworks and most of the other events on Saturday.

However, Mayor Bruce Chuluda said while the rain washed away most of the fun on Saturday, the parade will go on, just a week later. It has been rescheduled for this Saturday.

While the weather on Saturday closed down most of the festival, some of Together Days did go on as planned.

Despite some rain on Friday night, people did come out for the chicken barbecue and to hear the bands that played that night-the Westbrook City Band and the Tony Boffa Band. Chuluda said the rain held off for the most part until just after the Tony Boffa Band finished up.

“We had one good night,” he said.

Saturday was a different story. Rain and wind caused organizers to cancel the 10 a.m. parade as well as the duck race and the entertainment scheduled during the course of the day. The only thing that went off as planned on Saturday was the annual Together Days auction.

“It was a washout,” said Darryl Wright, president of the Chamber of Commerce, the organizers of the festival. “Friday night was a good time. I think that everyone that went to the auction had a good time. The crowd was having fun bidding against each other.”

The auction actually ended up being the most successful Westbrook has ever had, according to auction organizer Leona Glidden. She said she was worried no one would show up and she’d be stuck with all the items local businesses had donated. Instead, she had 40 people in the crowd bidding.

“We had a good crowd. I was surprised,” she said. “A lot of them I guess look forward to (the auction every year). It was the best one ever. Rain and all.”

Glidden said she had two tents to hold everyone and the auction lasted from noon to about 4 p.m. She said towards the end she started pairing items up to move the auction along faster because there were so many things to sell. She didn’t have any problem, though. She said the auction made $4,700 for the Chamber of Commerce that will help pay for next year’s Together Days festival.

“I was shocked when I saw how much we made,” she said.

Glidden said by the time they wound down, the auction was about the only thing left open at Riverbank Park. Most of the vendors and booths had closed up shop and gone home.

City Councilor Ed Symbol said he felt “bad for some of the vendors that purchased food and perishables that didn’t get used.”

As for the ducks for the Great Westbrook Duck Race, Wright said all the ducks purchased would not go to waste. While the ducks will not be racing down the Presumpscot River, the prizes will be awarded. Wright said he plans to draw winners from the ducks that were already purchased in lieu of the actual race.

Chuluda said the city would aim for this Saturday at 10 a.m. for the parade, which he said would hopefully go off exactly as it should have last weekend. He said the rescheduling of the parade was in large part due to requests by participants who were scheduled to march last week. He also said anyone interested in participating even if they weren’t planning on last weekend can still enter the parade. For more information, call Lisa Glidden at 856-9990.

Chuluda said the parade would be the only thing scheduled for this Saturday. None of the booths and events at Riverbank Park will be back-just the parade.

As for the bands and the fireworks, Chuluda said he’s trying to reschedule with the bands to have them play on a Friday or Saturday night at some point this summer. He said he’d like to have the fireworks the same night as the bands.

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