Party Like It's 1980

I love Westbrook Together Days so much I wish to change it. Which is how it usually works, isn't it?

Anyway, the five ideas below have not just been plucked out of the sky like the proverbial pie. Instead most of them are merely an outright theft (or subtle variation) from the calendar of the inaugural event in 1980:

1. Baked bean supper (prepared in an old-fashioned beanhole, of course) and pig roast on Friday night. Charge a couple bucks per plate to cover costs and attract more people to that evening's festivities.
2. Canoe races. Besides entertaining, this event would highlight the recreational potential of the Presumpscot River. And for the truly inspired like, say, Westbrook's Boy Scout troops, maybe even a handmade rowboat race.
3. Mens' and ladies' golf tournaments on Saturday, with Westbrook's three golf courses (Rivermeadow, Sunset Ridge, and Twin Falls) rotating as annual hosts.
4. 3 v. 3 basketball tournament at the Fraser Field basketball courts.
5. Road race before the parade. The third annual (and underappreciated) Main Street Mile was run about a month before Westbrook Together Days, but the event is a natural fit as a pre-parade activity.

- John C.L. Morgan