Back in 1980, when the first Together Days was held in Westbrook, it was intended to be a one-time only community party. Little did the organizers of the first event know that the idea would be such a success and still going strong 29 years later.
On Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7, the city will celebrate its 29th annual Together Days, and the event has grown quite a bit from its roots as a simple one-time community gathering.
The Westbrook Woman’s Club was the driving force behind the origin of Together Days. Nancy Kelson, who chaired the first Westbrook Together Days Committee for the Westbrook Woman’s Club, said in a 2004 interview that the festival was not intended to be an annual event, but a small community get-together.
“We were doing civic projects every year,” she said. “This was our project that year. We did it more like a large picnic for the town. We only meant it to be just that one year.”
In fact, the first festival wasn’t even called Westbrook Together Days. Back then, the party was called “Westbrook Together ’80.”
Kelson said the original idea of Together Days was to give Westbrook residents an excuse to gather together and spend time with neighbors, something Kelson said was happening much less.
During the many planning meetings prior to the festival, Kelson said the event would have to celebrate Westbrook, and what it had to offer.
Like more recent festivals, the original festival, held in Riverbank Park and other sites around Westbrook on June 21, 1980, featured a parade, a wide variety of foods and entertainment.
In addition, Westbrook Together ’80 featured a golf tournament, a tennis tournament, a road race, and canoe and boat races on the Presumpscot River. There was a special all-day showing of slides at the Manchester Legion Post Home that offered a glimpse into Westbrook’s past. The evening’s program featured an outdoor bean supper hosted by St. Mary’s Church. Following the bean supper, the S.D. Warren Band as well as Don Doane’s Band entertained residents.
The first festival was all done on a shoestring budget with the Woman’s Club providing some start-up funds and the rest of money coming from the donations. Published reports at the time estimated the total cost of the festival at $600. Because the committee was so successful at soliciting donations they were able to keep prices down. For example, Kelson remembered the bean supper, which attracted more than 900 people, cost only $1 per person.
Former state Rep. Ron Usher also had a hand in the beginning of Together Days, and was in charge of the parade for the first several festivals.
Organizing the parade for the original Together Days Festival was a large task. Usher approached many local businesses and convinced them that participating in the parade would be a good way to get their names known and boost their business.
Also, the parade organizers decided to generate the most interest in the parade and Together Days, they would try to include as many people in the parade as possible. That way more people would come down to the parade to watch their friends and family march.
When the first festival was such a success, plans were quickly formed to make the festival an annual affair. The Woman’s Club ran the second event. After that, the club stepped aside, and other civic organizations took up the task of running the festival.
“The core group is really a handful of people,” Chuluda said. “I’m not sure residents of the city realize how much effort goes into putting this thing together.”
Together Days continued to grow and expand and reached its 10th anniversary in 1989 with the Westbrook Chamber of Commerce taking over the role of event organizer, a role that the chamber still plays to this day.
The 10th annual Westbrook Together Days is notable because it was the only time the event was held in the fall. Originally, the festival was scheduled for June 6, 1989, but torrential rains postponed the event for the first time in its history. Published reports at the time said Westbrook received 1 1/2 inches of rain. That morning, three inches of standing water collected around the electrical outlets in Riverbank Park, killing the electrical power and forcing the cancellation of the festival.
There was no rain date scheduled, and after some debate, organizers decided to reschedule the festival for Sept. 16. Sunny skies dawned over Westbrook for the rescheduled festival, which went off without a hitch.
The next year, organizers moved the date of Together Days from later in the month to June 2, 1990, and factored in a rain date for the next week. Maine Gov. John McKernan served as the parade’s grand marshal, and noted Maine humorist Tim Sample provided the entertainment.
In 1991, Together Days expanded to two days for the first time when the city decided to include the event as part of Westbrook’s 100th Birthday celebration. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Westbrook’s government, all of Westbrook’s living mayors marched in the parade. Elmer Currier, then Westbrook’s oldest living mayor at 95, served as the grand marshal.
Throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century, Together Days continued to be the highlight of Westbrook’s early summer calendar.
That certainly was the case in 2004, as the city celebrated its largest Together Days ever to honor the 25th anniversary of the event.
Over 60 groups participated in the parade, with members of the Westbrook Woman’s Club serving as grand marshals to honor the club’s role in organizing the first event.
This year, the event will feature food, local bands, rides, an auction and fireworks.
Together Days may have grown since 1980, but the general idea of unifying the city remains the same.
“It’s just a great event to bring the community together,” said Chuluda.
A fireworks display caps the Together Days festivities Saturday night.
Students from local schools provide some of the musical entertainment performed throughout Together Days in Riverbank Park.
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