RANGELEY – If the tidal wave of tourism this past Fourth of July was a sign of things to come, business owners in Franklin County are sitting pretty to put a record-breaking season on the books.

“We are off to a running start,” said Evelyn McAllister, executive director of the Rangeley Chamber of Commerce after the town posted a highly successful four-day weekend for local businesses.

Because Rangeley’s Independence Day festivities fell on July 3, a Thursday this year, McAllister said more people came to town and stayed, spending a lot of money in the process.

The crowds were solid on Thursday, she reported, but later in the evening, the town of just over 1,000 residents swelled as an estimated 10,000 people packed every available space within viewing distance of the lake to take in the town’s annual fireworks July 3.

“It was a nice weekend, great fireworks and a good crowd. Phew!” McAllister said with relief on Monday after a busy weekend. “Having nice warm weather definitely helped.”

The hustle and bustle in shops on Main Street is generally a good barometer of traffic in town and after talking with those business owners, McAllister said, the buzz on the street is that the weekend was “huge.”

And the numbers over the Fourth of July holiday generally foreshadow the rest of July and August in Rangeley.

“Business owners are saying they just did tremendously over the weekend,” she said. “It was really great.”

Across the county in Industry, a town that joyously celebrated its 200th birthday over the weekend, business at the only store in town, The Ugly Moose, was booming as well.

A family-owned and operated convenience store that also offers a cafe that serves breakfast sandwiches, subs and pizzas, The Ugly Moose sits in the center of town where most of the bicentennial events took place and overlooks the blue, wavy waters of Clearwater Lake.

This weekend, when at times up to 2,500 people loaded the tiny downtown, store owner Gary Smith, said he felt like the store “was at the center of the party.”

Business over the weekend was up as much as 20 percent from a regular busy weekend he said. “We didn’t run out of anything, but we came close. I wasn’t ready for it,” Smith said, saying the weekend’s turnout made him optimistic about the summer ahead.

“I am very impressed. It was pretty wild in town. It was like having a party that started Friday night and ran straight through Sunday here. It was great for business, but most importantly it was fun. I am still recovering.”

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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