MADISON — Hundreds lined Main Street on Saturday morning to watch the annual Madison Anson Days parade, which emulated the 1970s when people wore colorful, bell-bottomed trousers and danced to disco music.

Derek Connors holds his 1-year old daughter, Piper, as they wait for the Madison Anson Days parade to begin Saturday in Madison. Attending the parade with them was Piper’s mother, Olivia Goguen. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel

“Flashback to the 70s: Let’s Get Groovy” is the theme of the four-day, two-town celebration, which started Thursday and includes a fishing derby, river boat rides, book and craft sales, live music, children’s games, historical presentations and lots of food.

The 10 a.m. parade started Saturday at the Anson Town Office and crossed the bridge over the Kennebec River to Main Street in Madison where people were taking advantage of sales at Renys department store and buying cotton candy, crafts and food along the street.

“We come every year,” said Jaime Smith, 40, of North Anson, who was waiting with her daughter, Kallie, 9, for the parade. “I really like seeing the old Hannaford truck and wagons. We’ll be doing Renys shopping and probably go to the carnival up the road by the old junior high.”

Kallie said she enjoyed seeing the animals Friday night outside the Anson Town Office where there was also an air slide and pony rides.

“It’s my brother’s birthday today,” she crooned.

The Madison High School Bulldog’s football team marches Saturday behind the Little Wonders Child Care Center float in the Madison Anson Days parade. The four-day, two-town event celebrating the sister towns on the Kennebec River in Somerset County continues Sunday. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel

As they spoke, Jaime Smith called out, “Hi Jim!” to a man walking by.

“It’s nice seeing old friends and people I grew up with,” she said. “I hadn’t seen Jim in, like, a year or so. It was good to see him.”

The long parade featured floats with adults and children dressed up in fashions from the 1970s such as floral-patterned minidresses, skirts and jerseys, as well as hats and sunglasses. The Madison High School football players marched, horses and their riders clopped by and floats featuring veterans and other organizations motored along. The Kora Shriners’ Drifters, Klowns and Motor Corps, as well as Girls Scouts, churches, Madison Anson ATV Club and more were among parade participants.

“It’s nice,” Darryl Landry, 62, of Madison, said as he stood on Main Street. “I don’t usually go to the parade but today I decided to get out. It’s nice weather. It’s good. I like the ATVs. It’s like an old-time family parade.”

The atmosphere was cheerful and festive as parade participants tossed handfuls of candy to children and adults along the parade route and a man handed out bottles of water.

It was near 80 degrees and sunny Saturday as multiple tents were perched on a grassy lawn just east of downtown where vendors were selling homemade fudge, jewelry, crafts, plants, clothing, cosmetic products and other fare.

Girls ride horses in Saturday’s Madison Anson Days parade. The four-day, two-town event celebrating the sister towns on the Kennebec River in Somerset County continues Sunday. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel

Ralph Withee, 82, of Anson, was strolling the grounds with his daughter, Ann Heald. Withee, the parade grand marshal, had ridden through town in the back seat of a red Oldsmobile Cutlass as crowds cheered.

Ralph Withee was the grand marshal for the Madison Anson Days parade. “I felt very honored,” Withee says of having been chosen to be grand marshal. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel

“I felt very honored,” Withee said of having been chosen to be grand marshal.

He had served in the U.S. Air Force, after which he was an Anson selectman and firefighter for about 18 years. He served 16 years on the board of directors of Anson and Madison Water District, 10 years on the Anson Madison Sewer District, 25 years total in the New Portland and Skowhegan Lions clubs, 27 years in the Madison Kiwanis Club, 26 years with American Legion Post 39 in Madison and commander for 13 of those years. He is a 20-year member of the VFW Auxiliary and served on the Madison Food Cupboard 30 years, Skowhegan Elks Club 18 years and Kennebec Valley Council of Governments, nearly 30 years.

“I tried hunting and didn’t like it. I tried fishing and didn’t like it. I tried golfing and it wasn’t any fun,” Withee said. “I gave that up. It was a waste of time. I enjoy what I do — service work.”

Withee has been married to his high school sweetheart, Charlotte, for 61 years, he said.

Thursday’s activities included a magic show, dynamite cook off and library book sale; Friday, a kids’ bike race, carnival, street dance, pig scramble and pony rides; and the schedule for Sunday includes a 5K run/walk, small mouth bass fishing derby and Lakewood Golf Tournament.