ARUNDEL — About 4,000 people call this community home, a mix of those whose ancestors came here years ago and newcomers who moved here more recently to enjoy the rural flavor of this town, wedged between the sea, the countryside and a couple of nearby downtowns.

Many of them came together Saturday for Arundel Heritage Day, held at North Chapel Common, where the Kennebunk River Band was playing at noontime, there were demonstrations galore, and those who sought lunch could partake of everything from clam cakes and lobster rolls to hot dogs, popcorn and ice cream.

There was a demonstration of how wool is spun into yarn, a petting zoo, wagon rides and a number of vendors displaying their wares, including alpaca products, jewelry, crafts and more. In keeping with the heritage theme, there was a wealth of historical memorabilia available.

The community known as Arundel since 1957 was once part of the area known as Cape Porpoise, town records show, from about 1653 to 1719. Wars between 1680 and 1720 caused an evacuation. After the fighting ceased, the town was reestablished with the name Arundel. That changed to Kennebunkport in 1821, the year of first legislative session after statehood, and remained so until 1915, when it became known as North Kennebunkport, the town records outlined. On Sept. 9 1957, the 23 square miles of land between the Kennebunks, Biddeford, Dayton and Lyman became Arundel again.

Some reasons outlined in campaign literature that favored the change back to Arundel in the Sept. 9, 1957 referendum were that the community would have a name of its own, that the name itself would be an incentive to business, be easier for those out-of-town to locate, help in mail delivery and so on.

Arundel Heritage Day was designed to appeal to both those who can rattle off historical details ”“ or have aunts and uncles and Grandmas who can ”“ and those who moved here and want to know more about their town.

“This ”¦ is a look at who we are and where we’ve been,” said Donna der Kinderen of the Arundel Historical Society.

The events were free, though folks paid for their lunch or for raffle tickets for lobsters or other goodies.

Elizabeth Hayes, 8, of Arundel was among those who tried writing with a quill pen ”“ she said it was easy ”“ and Joanne Maloney, who was in charge of the demonstration, said several young people had taken a turn.

“In this age of texting, the art of writing is lost,” said Maloney. “So we wanted to bring in history.”

She said that some longtime Arundel residents said they remembered using inkwells back when they attended one room schools here.

Arundel Heritage Day took place on North Chapel Common, off Route 111 and Limerick Road, named North Chapel because of the church that used to be here and then became widely used to identify the particular neighborhood, said der Kinderen.

There will be a new North Chapel constructed here in the future, a building to serve as a meeting space for community groups. As well, the historical society is preserving two old homesteads: the 1795 Burnham farmhouse, which was donated by the Patry family from the site on Route 111 where Kate’s Butter will be, and the 1798 Lunt farmhouse, which also used to be on Route 111 and donated by the Madore family. The Burnham home will become a museum, while the Lunt farm will be the historical society’s headquarters, with space for a genealogy room, der Kinderen said.

Dianna Abbott, a historical society member, was selling raffle tickets and spoke of her days teaching at Mildred L. Day School.

It was her first school when she began teaching in 1962, and her classes contained about 35 children in grades 2 and 3.

“It was a wonderful experience,” she said.

Living here is, too, according to those who do.

“People in Arundel still know what it means to be a neighbor. It’s a nice town,” said der Kinderen.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.