WESTBROOK – Westbrook Together Days organizers, working to reschedule some of last Saturday’s rain-canceled musical performances and fireworks, still see a lot of positive coming out of the weekend.

“We pulled the event off the best we possibly could,” said Dr. Warren Lain, the head of the Westbrook-Gorham Chamber of Commerce’s Together Days committee.

Lain said that the call to postpone the Saturday night performances and fireworks was made in the early afternoon. He said that organizers are hoping to reschedule the fireworks, plus performances by Audio Vault, Dominic and the Lucid and Motor Booty Affair, for later this month. While no date had been confirmed, Lain said, he was looking at a Wednesday, June 20, date at Riverbank Park.

Lain said the decision to curtail the events on Saturday was the right one. Even though the stage and spectators were covered by tents, the crowds had dwindled considerably.

“You want the community to enjoy it,” he said. “Why have something with 50 people there when you can have a few thousand?”

Luckily for organizers and the public, the Friday night events went off without a hitch, as clear skies greeted the first day of the festival.

“Friday was spectacular, we had a great turnout,” said Mayor Colleen Hilton.

“Friday night was a home run,” Lain said, who estimated that 5,000 to 8,000 turned out on the first night.

A drenched Drew Gattine, a member of the Westbrook Charter Commission, who had just completed Saturday’s first Run the ‘Brook 5K, agreed that while it was unfortunate to have rain on Saturday, he believed it led to bigger crowds the night before.

“You can’t control the weather,” he said. “It was a nice day to run. Running on a cool day made it a bit easier. We had a lot more people out on Friday night because people were anticipating the bad weather.”

Charles Bassett of Wiscasset won the race with a time of 18:40. The women’s race was won by Falmouth’s Lyndsey Hall, who posted a time of 19:09.

The rain lightened up a bit mid-morning Saturday, which was good news for the participants in the annual Together Days parade. In a “show-must-go-on” attitude that permeated the entire morning, most of the scheduled marchers took part.

Lain said that he didn’t give much thought to canceling the parade.

“Had we canceled it, it’s admitting defeat for the whole event,” he said, adding that the weather did cause the marching bands to pull out. “You can’t get (band) equipment wet.”

While the sidewalks along Main Street weren’t as packed with spectators as they would have been on a sunny day, there was still a healthy crowd of families along the route, with kids darting out to collect the candy thrown by marchers.

And the marchers were making the best of it.

“It’s real fun, rain and all,” said Noreen Poitras, who was marching with the Westbrook Girl Scouts. “The girls are having fun, the spectators are having fun. It’s like playing outdoors.”

Seth Neilson of Westbrook, who was attending his first Together Days, was among those watching his kids enjoying themselves.

“They’re having a good time,” he said, as his 3-year-old son Anthony and his niece, Shiloh Doody, also 3, collected candy and put it in buckets.

Mary Louie of Westbrook was on Main Street to see her husband and daughter march with the rec soccer league. She said she was surprised at the number of people watching the parade.

“There’s way more people then I thought would be here today,” she said.

Lain was also pleased with the turnout for the parade.

“With the conditions, I couldn’t be more proud,” he said.

While the weather may have cut the day short, it didn’t change the fact that people had a good time, enjoying a longstanding Westbrook tradition.

“It’s a beautiful event for the city,” Gattine said. “Although it’s a lot of work, Together Days to me is a relaxing day. It’s a lot of fun, it’s really one of my favorite weekends of the year.”

Despite the rain on Saturday, the Westbrook Together Days parade attracted a great many marchers who braved the elements. (Staff photo by Mike Higgins)