9th Brewer Days to offer family fun
BREWER – The ninth annual Brewer Days “A Hometown Celebration” is packed full of events designed to entertain folks of all ages and will kick off Friday evening with high school soccer, a lobster bake and the city’s official ambassadors providing the music. The three-day event, scheduled for Sept. 10-12, will have more than two dozen activities, including sports, food, music, a carnival, cook-offs, classic cars and fireworks, all scheduled at the Brewer Auditorium, Doyle Field and the ice arena on Acme Road. Brewer Youth Hockey is back again to serve up dinner Friday, and this year the state’s famous crustacean is on the menu. “They changed it this year to a lobster dinner, and it’s only $10,” said Ken Hanscom, Brewer Parks and Recreation director. “The lobster bake includes a lobster, coleslaw and corn on the cob. A double order, with two lobsters, is $17.” There also will be hamburger dinners on sale for $7, he said, adding that all the funds support the local youth hockey program. In order to gauge how many lobsters will be needed, the group is preselling tickets and may be reached by calling the recreation department at 989-5199. The Brewer High School varsity and junior varsity boys soccer teams will open the weekend’s events when they take the field against Waterville. The first game starts at 4 p.m. and the second around 6 p.m. The lobster bake will be served 5-7 p.m., and at 6 p.m. the Brewer Hometown Band – the official city ambassadors – will take the stage to perform old-time classics. At 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, Mayor Archie Verow will announce the citizen and business of the year, and a family street dance, with music provided by disc jockey Dana Wilson, begins at 7 p.m. “This year, we’re holding the fireworks early, at 8 p.m.,” Hanscom said. “The main reason is Alan Jackson is playing on the waterfront in Bangor and we’re timing it with intermission.” Most of Saturday’s events are geared toward children – the popular money grab, children’s carnival, water slide and ice skating – but there also are events with appeal for teens, adults and families, Hanscom said. As usual, the daylong events start with pancakes served between 7 and 9:30 a.m. by the Brewer Kiwanis Club. The breakfast costs $4 for adults, $2 for children. “You can’t beat that,” Hanscom said. Local farmers will be on hand selling homegrown vegetables and other items. The Brewer Historical Society will hold its second annual yard sale, and the Brewer Police Department will hold a bike auction at 10 a.m. “The bicycles will be on display for viewing one hour before the auction,” Brewer police Lt. Christopher Martin said in an e-mail. “Thirty-five abandoned bicycles were recovered by the Brewer Police Department during the past two years.” Police and fire personnel also will display their equipment. The children’s carnival begins at 10 a.m. in the auditorium’s parking lot and will include face painting, a dunk tank, inflatable slide and other games, along with $2 pony rides. Local cooks can drop off their homemade items at 11 a.m. for the annual cook-off contest, which this year will identify the best apple dessert and best chocolate chip cookies. Winners will be announced at 1 p.m. The always popular children’s money grab is scheduled for 2:30 to 3 p.m., and Brewer Fire Department personnel will follow that up by inflating a giant water slide at 3 p.m. Three musical groups will take the stage Saturday, with JD Bros., an acoustic light rock band, going first at 10 a.m.; Rodeo, a country rock band, performing at 11:30 a.m.; and the 195th Maine Army National Guard Rock Band hitting the stage at 1:15 p.m. “They’re not what you think,” Hanscom said. “They’re an easy-listening rock band.” Saturday’s events end with a free public skate 4-6 p.m. at the Penobscot Ice Arena on Acme Road. On Sunday, Sept. 12, Boy Scout Troop 15 will hold their third annual Brewer Days Car Show in the auditorium parking lot 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Awards will be given in 14 vehicle classes, including trucks and motorcycles, and this year’s event will include music, a coloring contest, a silent auction and National Street Road Association safety inspections. Check-in time starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 11 a.m. The entrance fee is $5 per vehicle, and food will be sold throughout the day with all proceeds benefiting the Boy Scouts. “Last year, we had 85 cars,” Teresa Maybury, a Troop 15 committee member, said Saturday. “We had everything from original antiques to younger kids coming with turners,” which are tricked-out import cars. “The car show makes it a full three days of fun,” Hanscom said. A complete schedule of events will appear in The Weekly newspaper on Thursday.
