BUXTON – The community’s annual festival this weekend features a car show, live music, fireworks, and a parade led by popular Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz.
Buxton Community Day, held in conjunction with the annual Dorcas Fest, is set for Saturday, Aug. 10, at Tory Hill, located at the intersection of routes 202 and 112. The celebration is co-sponsored by the town and the charitable group Dorcas Society of Hollis and Buxton.
The annual Buxton Community Day and Dorcas Fest is being held at Tory Hill and the Brewster Mansion this Saturday. Robert Lowell/American Journal
The local celebration also features a car show, a concert by the Mallett Brothers, a road race, and a church yard sale. The gardens at Brewster Mansion will also be open to the public.
Nemitz, who has been a Buxton resident for 17 years, has been named the parade’s grand marshal and will ride in style.
Joshua Myers, son of Town Clerk John Myers, will drive Nemitz in a black 2005 Mercedes convertible owned by Richard “Sandy” Atkinson of Buxton.
Nemitz has written an opinion column for the Portland Press Herald since 1995. Before that, he was a reporter who worked for the Waterville Sentinal and also worked at the Evening Express.
The parade has been added to this year’s celebration after an absence of several years. Nemitz, who said he’s “thrilled” to be named grand marshal, recalled watching the parade in bygone years and has missed it. “It’s wonderful that it’s resuming,” he said.
Fire trucks and other emergency vehicles will line up on Salmon Falls Road at 10 a.m. and all other entries will convene on Depot Street. The parade rolls out at 11 a.m., with fire trucks – including monster fire truck Big Red – leading the way on to Main Street, River Road (Route 112) and Tory Hill.
Parade entries were still coming in this week and include Buxton Police, Fire and Rescue; local, state and national politicians, including U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine; classic cars, two bands, a bagpiper, church floats, and local businesses.
Nemitz
Nemitz said he’ll hop out from the chauffeur-driven Mercedes at Tory Hill to view the parade as it finishes. Nemitz said being in the parade will be a new experience for him. “I’ve got to go back to practicing my wave,” he joked Monday.
The Tory Hill Meeting House at the First Congregational Church of Buxton is hosting a community yard sale which “turns (the celebration) into a village fair,” Dorcas Fest organizer Beverly Atkinson said.
Patsy Leavitt, director of Leavitt’s Mill Free Health Center, said student nurses will have a booth where they will offer blood-pressure screenings and information about a number of topics such as sun safety, nutrition and stress management.
The student nurses will help with the Buxton Community 5K that kicks off the festivities at 8 a.m. at Tory Hill Meeting House, 1197 River Road. Pre-registration is $20 at http://bit.ly/2YMwGn9 and $25 the day of the race, with registration at 7 a.m. Proceeds benefit the Dorcas Society Mission and prizes will be awarded for more than a half dozen cohorts.
The Cars & Coffee Show opens at 9 a.m. on the rear lawn at the historic Brewster Mansion, owned by Sandy and Beverly Atkinson. Cars will begin to arrive around 7:30 a.m. The Brewster barn will be open, with stuffed animals as door prizes and ice cream for sale.
This year marks the 28th that the Atkinsons have opened their grounds to the public during the Dorcas Fest. “It’s like putting on a wedding every year,” Beverly Atkinson said.
Kids will love to see the smoke and hear muskets firing at a Revolutionary War re-enactment camp at Tory Hill.
The Mallett Brothers will entertain at 6 p.m. on the grounds of the Brewster Mansion. Tickets are $20 and will be available at the gate or at Eventbrite.com. Bring chairs or a blanket as seating will not be provided.
Fireworks, sponsored by the Narragansett No.1 Foundation, will cap the celebration at dusk.
Nemitz praised the day as a nice community activity. “It’s bringing us all together and celebrate what we have here,” he said.
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