WINSLOW — The town’s annual Fourth of July parade and fireworks show has been deemed a success, with few complaints about misbehavior.
About 30,000 people visited Fort Halifax Park throughout the day, said Kevin Douglass, chairman of the committee for the Winslow Family 4th of July Celebration.
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“It was hot during the day, so the crowd was on and off, but around 5 p.m. the park was pretty much full,” Douglass said. “It went very well.”
The day started with a two-hour parade with around 6,000 spectators lining the streets and ended with an extravagant fireworks display. Even though a mass of people converged in Winslow for the event, little mischievous behavior was reported.
Two fireworks complaints — one at Fort Halifax Park and the other on Monica Avenue — were reported and around 10 people had to be escorted out of the park because of intoxication, according to Lt. Josh Veilleux.
“A lot of people we dealt with had been drinking beer prior to coming to the park,” Veilleux said. “We had a station set up where we were checking bags and coolers for alcohol and confiscated some beers.”
Veilleux said that as the park became more congested, a handful of intoxicated people had to be dealt with.
“If someone appeared intoxicated, we’d speak with them; and if they were OK to us, we’d give them a chance to calm down,” Veilleux said. “If not, they would be escorted out of the park and told not to come back that night.”
Overall, the event was successful in Douglass’ eyes.
“So many people get together to experience something a group of us worked on,” Douglass said. “It feels like you accomplished something.”
While the number of volunteers was lower than in past years, Douglass said around 60 to 70 volunteered their time for the event.
Douglass said preparation for next year’s event “starts today,” with a review of what went well and what didn’t. He said the group had placed donation jars at the park and was selling discount cards that are vallid at a number of various businesses, although the total amount made from those fundraisers won’t be known until next week.
“We’ll head back to the park and sit down and start discussing the things that went wrong,” Douglass said. “The weather didn’t really go well, but everything in our control went fairly smooth.”
He said the first fundraising event for next year’s celebration is in two or three weeks and probably will focus on the sale of the discount cards.
In October, the committee is setting up a “haunted adventure” in Fort Halifax Park to help raise money for next year’s Fourth of July event, he said.
Jesse Scardina — 861-9239
jscardina@mainetoday.com
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