Your Weekly Guide to Life in Midcoast Maine

BY KELLY MICHAUD, EDITOR

Towns and cities all over Maine have festivals to celebrate their history and hometown pride. Where I grew up, the highlight of the summer was Casco Days — held annually for as long as anyone can remember. Every year for three days in the small town square there are dime and quarter games, delicious fair food, and for the smaller children, a carousel and a ferris wheel. And now that I live in Rockland, I’ve gotten to experience a whole new type of festival. I have to admit, (sorry Casco) I’ve fallen in love with it.

In five days, tons (and I mean weight) of lobster passes through the main eating tent as people from all over the globe gather in the lobster capital of the world for the Maine Lobster Festival.

I spent the better part of Thursday volunteering in the main food tent. In five hours time, hundreds of people came through — and while I was there, more than a ton of lobster was sold — delicious, fresh Maine lobster, complete with a roll, hot butter and if you wanted, sweet Maine corn on the cob and more fixings

Most of my time was spent making shrimp cocktail, shoveling coleslaw and pouring drawn butter. Honestly, I’ve never seen so much melted butter in one place in all my life — or lobsters for that matter. Things started off slowly as the other volunteers and I started making reserves of everything. Then before I knew it, I looked up and saw the line. It kept going and going. Seriously, I couldn’t see the end of it.

Four tour busses full of people showed up, all at the same time, to enjoy a day at the festival. But these weren’t busloads of locals or even fellow New Englanders. Nope, these folks had flown in for the day from Indianapolis, Ind., just for the festival. They landed in Portland, hopped a bus and drove to Rockland. You have to admire their love for lobster.

It had been awhile since I’ve volunteered for an event of this size. If you didn’t get to volunteer this year, I suggest offering a few hours of your time next year. I felt immediately accepted into the Lobster Festival family and became part of the long-standing tradition of the festival. The hours flew by and the hustle and bustle of the day took me back to the time when I worked in a lobster pound in Naples, Maine. Everyone around you is in a good mood and the festival go-ers are happy because they know they are about to enjoy one of the best meals Maine has to offer.

Evening at the festival was perhaps my favorite time. As the sun set on Rockland Harbor, the carnival ride and vendor lights illuminated the area. Off in the harbor rested the Navy Spruance class destroyer U.S.S. Hayler. Strings of white lights lit up the length of the destroyer as it watched over the harbor. And if you’re one for rides, in my opinion, night is the best time to ride them. The darkness adds to the thrill and the lights add to the atmosphere. The festival even had one attraction I haven’t seen since I was quite a bit younger — the slide with the potato sacks. My sisters and I used to run to the top of the slide and race each other to the bottom. It brought back wonderful memories.