GORHAM – Snow, horses, fireworks and smiling faces rang in 2013 at the New Year Gorham celebration on a frigid Monday evening.

The celebration featured several family-oriented shows at venues around the village and even a bit of old-fashioned nostalgia on village streets. Hardy revelers rode through the night air between shows in a wagon pulled by a team of two huge carriage horses – Fred, who weighs 2,400 pounds, and Bob.

“Several hundred people attended one or more of the several performances offered on New Year’s Eve in Gorham, and from all reports, this year’s event lived up to all expectations,” Virginia Wilder Cross, event founder and organizer, said Wednesday.

This year, live animals from the Granite State Zoo were popular in Shaw Gym, and the stage show at the high school featured comedian Randy Judkins. TV meteorologist Matt Zidle was host.

Other entertainment included the Don Roy Trio, Dana Perkins and his puppets, Dan Grady marionettes, steel drummers and also choral music at First Parish Congregational Church. The Centre of Movement on State Street hosted a family-fun variety show, with music and dancing.

The shows attracted Joel Lloyd of Gorham, who didn’t want to sit home on New Year’s Eve.

“Bring the kids out to enjoy a little bit of New Year,” Lloyd said. “It’s neat.”

People from other towns were attracted to Gorham’s celebration, too.

“We were looking for something fun to do,” Mark Schrader of Denmark said. “We don’t go for the party scene.”

In Robie Park, families shaped sculptures in the snow provided as if on cue by Mother Nature.

“The winning snow sculpture was an amazing likeness of the newly renovated Gorham House of Pizza,” Cross said.

Cross said the Coleman family topped the entries and was awarded a $100 gift certificate; a second-place $50 certificate went to the Marsh family for a sculpture of a large duck looking over a New Year egg; and the third-place $25 certificate went to the Miner family for a pink heart symbolizing love.

Esther Booth watched as her children, Anthony Booth, 10, and Autumn Booth, 5, played and worked in the snow along with Katherine Haley, 11, who was there with her mother, Doreen Haley.

As dusk neared, the seasonal chill didn’t deter the children from work on their sculptures.

“They wanted to have fun,” Esther Booth said, “we just decided to go to it this morning.”

Food was plentiful at the celebration.

A spaghetti supper at the Odd Fellows Hall, prepared and served by a youth group at First Parish Congregational Church, kicked off the festivities.

Kana Sundblad of Portland, the youth group leader, said her group of some 15 to 20 youths prepared the vegetarian meal with 24 pounds of spaghetti and 5 gallons of sauce.

Throughout the evening, the Centre of Movement on State Street provided hot meals like bowls of chili. Gorham native Charles Whitten, who cooked up the shepherd’s pie, praised Gorham’s annual event for its benefits to the town.

“It gets people out and check out businesses,” Whitten said

In a booth in the Shaw Gym lobby, a group formed in 2012, Citizens for a Green Gorham, provided an array of snacks.

“We’re here to help raise awareness” and to educate people about toxic sprays,” Martha Scott said.

At the high school, a booth with goodies benefited Operation Tribute, the Gorham organization that provides Christmas gifts for children of on duty military families.

“From the first strand of spaghetti to the last boom of the fireworks, the evening was filled with surprises, good music and fun. Kids had their faces painted, enjoyed lots of treats at the municipal center, touched unusual animals, and were amazed by some magical puppets,” Cross said.

Cross said the committee would meet before the end of January to begin planning for its next New Year Gorham celebration. Those interested in joining the committee should call Cross by calling 222-2248 or email info@newyeargorham.org.

Revelers of a distinctly family-oriented nature spread out across the village area for the annual New Year Gorham celebration Monday evening, enjoying a variety of performing arts presentations that culminated in fireworks at the high school athletic complex at 10 p.m.   
Katherine Haley, 11, lets a shovel full of snow fly while Autumn Booth, 5, and Anthony Booth, 10, are atop their snow sculpture at New Year Gorham on Monday.        
Just like that, Mark Schrader of Denmark, was part of the act, balancing spinning dishes on stage.
 
Three-year-old Henry Wichmann from Gorham, right, keeps a wary eye on the serval cat, which has vertical leap of over 12 feet, as he enjoys the show with his mother, Lana, and 3-month-old brother Jacques.       
Entertainer Randy Judkins, who headlined the New Year Gorham activities with a performance in the high school auditorium, should be allowed to trademark the phrase “…and chaos ensued…” Judkins starts off slowly, with juggling and mime, but builds masterfully until the entire audience is either actually involved or rolling in their chairs laughing.
Dorothy Stickney, an eighth-grade student at Gorham Middle School, stirs sauce for the spaghetti supper during New Year Gorham on Monday evening.