Freeport’s Sparkle Weekend, Dec. 7-9, was a true community event, made possible through the efforts and support of people throughout Freeport. Organized by FreeportUSA, volunteers from all over Freeport helped to make it a success.
Friday evening, hundreds of people turned out for the Parade of Lights in spite of the rain and helped wake the Talking Christmas Tree. On Saturday, two capacity seatings of train lovers enjoyed readings of the Polar Express aboard the Downeaster and over 300 people watched their favorite Christmas movies at the Freeport Factory Stage. The Worldwide Tuba Concert held each year in cities around the globe, drew over 300 people to the Freeport Performing Arts Center. Santa made a few appearances over the weekend, including his final one at Wilbur’s of Maine, where lots of children got to talk about their Christmas wishes. L.L. Bean’s Northern Lights Celebration added to the fun of Sparkle Weekend with a list of activities that rounded out the event. Find a complete list of Northern Lights events at www.LLBean.com/northernlights.
Although Sparkle Weekend events are free, attendees generously donated food and money to help support the Freeport Food Pantry with two grocery carts full of food and $180 donated over the weekend. Thank you to Ben & Jerry’s for giving donors coupons for a free ice cream cone as a delicious way of saying thanks. And, thank you to Chris Spinato and Keith Smith, who staffed the L.L.Bean Bootmobile and stood in the cold for hours accepting donations for the pantry.
I’d like to thank all those who donated their time to make this event possible, including Santa’s helpers Robin Baron and Al Edwards and the Talking Tree helpers, Amy Holway Self, Albert Kolodji, Lee Burkhardt, Chris Kent and Cathie Stebbins Peterson. Thank you to Rick Simard for setting up the sound system for the Parade of Lights and making sure everyone could hear the Talking Tree. Forest and Amanda Pratt are dedicated volunteers who help organize the parade lineup each year, and thanks of course to all of you who participate in the parade and delight children with your efforts.
Thank you to Jay and Jen Yilmaz for the donation of the hot cocoa on Friday evening and Girl Scout Troops 1714 and 1976, who served it with good cheer and smiles.Thank you also to the two special guests who emceed the parade, Sandra and Teddy from 94.9 WHOM. We also want to thank the Freeport police department for helping with traffic control during the parade. Several high school students volunteered during the event, including Sawyer, Cody, Emma, Sydney, and Karina. Thank you for giving us your time over the weekend.
Several community partners loaned us their space for parts of the celebration. Freeport Factory Stage generously hosted the Holiday Movie Marathon and manager Eric Sawyer did an amazing job presenting the movies and keeping the show on track. The Downeaster pulled into town to help support Sparkle Weekend and generously donated their staff resources to decorate the train, conductors to entertain the children with the readings, and others to help display books and pass out hot cocoa. Many thanks to Linda Bean for the use of the Maine Kitchen & Topside Tavern for the Talking Tree. And, thank you to L.L. Bean for reserving space for the parade emcees on the patio in front of the Flagship Store.
Sparkle Weekend wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. Special thanks go to major sponsors L.L.Bean and Coffee By Design. Movie Marathon sponsors included Ben & Jerry’s, Brown Goldsmith, Tommy Hilfiger and Bath Savings Institution. The Polar Express Reading was brought to Freeport by the Amtrak Downeaster, the Hilton Garden Inn and the Hampton Inn. The Talking Christmas Tree was supported by Davey Tree, Linda Bean’s Maine Kitchen & Topside Tavern, Bath Savings Institution and the shops of Freeport Village Station.
Kelly Edwards, FreeportUSA’s dedicated event and membership manager, deserves a special shout-out for coordinating thousands of details to make this event happen seamlessly. Most of all, thank you to everyone in the community for turning out for the event and supporting Freeport businesses.
Janet Dutson
Executive director
FreeportUSA
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