Friendship Day

The Petting Zoo

Every year, our little town of Friendship hosts a summer celebration called, appropriately enough, Friendship Day. It's a day filled with events and fun for people of all ages. This year, after nearly a week of rain most every day, the morning fog burned off to reveal a beautiful sunny day in the mid 70's.

The events planned are similar to other town's ideas of celebration. For example, there is a softball game for all comers, regardless of age or sex. There's plenty of food for all. There's a parade.

We started off our Friendship Day with a blueberry pancake breakfast at one of the (two) churches in town. Yummy! We got to meet other "summer residents" who came in from Northern Vermont and Eastern Massachusetts.

The difference between our festival and other towns are, in some cases, quite dramatic. For example, we were used to petting zoos filled with sheep and baby pigs in the midwest when we lived in Minnesota. In Friendship, the petting zoo includes lobsters, crabs, and fish. And just like the kids in Minnesota pet a sheep, the kids here had fun petting a flounder. Really!

Making lobster rolls at the fire department

And while some of the food is the same, the fire department gets lobsters donated, and they make the most yummy lobster rolls.

The parade is miniscule, compared to most that I've been to. But this year the theme of the parade was the Fire Department (all volunteer, of course). So the neighboring towns from all around us sent over their fire engines to join in our parade. I hope there were no fires in Cushing or Warren! We also had lots of antique cars show up.

The artists and artisans bring their wares, and sell them in booths in downtown. Wool is just as valuable here as in Minnesota, and wool crafted items are on sale. Other big sellers are Adirondack chairs, photos of blueberries, and fudge.

The softball game

The softball game is held near the grounds of the schoolhouse. Because of all the rain, the field was pretty muddy, and grounders which should have been short hops turned into short plops. But everybody was having fun, and I heard the familiar "Oh, I'm gonna feel this tomorrow" from the lobster fishermen who generally use their muscles to lift traps, not run bases. I left early in the game, I could tell it was going to get ugly.... muddy, dirty, and ugly.

Out on the water, races are held for both sailboats (The Chowder Cup) and lobster boats. It used to be that the biggest, baddest, fastest lobster boat would make the most money. They could set more traps, get around to them quicker, and place them farther from land. But the economics of lobstering have shifted dramatically in the past couple of years. Economy offers the premium these days. Cruising to your traps at 18 knots is far more fuel efficient than cruising to them at 30 knots. And some fishermen are staying out overnight to save fuel, and reach those far away places. So the fast boat is falling out of favor, and the races are becoming a reminiscense of the good old days, not a measure of the best. Fastest, maybe, but not the best.

Bill Michaud trying to auction off a sex book

Finally, our day uptown ends with the ersatz auction, moderated by our wonderful ersatz auctioneer, Bill Michaud. Like most ambitious people in Friendship, Bill wears numerous professional hats. He and his wife run "The Outsider's Inn", one of the (only) two B&Bs in Friendship. He also rents and guides kayak trips in the harbor and bays. And he also sells real estate.

But he seems to have the most fun being an auctioneer for a day, making jokes and enticing bidders to raise their bids by a dollar or two. All for a good cause, as the proceeds from the auction pay the annual fees for our ambulance service, and have for many years.

There's other things to do, like visiting the Friendship Museum, looking at the items to be included in the bicentennial time capsule at the town hall, and several attractions for the little kiddies. And after it gets dark, they promise to set off fireworks. What a fun day!