FARMINGTON – Residents in Wilton were still glowing on Monday after rounding out a weekend chock-full of bicentennial activities that entertained upwards of 9,000 people from near and far.

And despite a dreary rain that fell throughout the 200th birthday party festivities, things could not have gone better, organizers say.

“It was wonderful. I just don’t know which event I liked best,” said Town Manager Peter Nielsen, who did his best to attend every event in town, including walking with his family in the 10K road race.

“It was good to see people were prepared for the rain and just kind of took it all with a laugh,” he said. “You looked across the crowd and everybody looked like little kids with their smiles all turned up.”

From a public safety standpoint, more than doubling the town’s population of 4,000 didn’t have any negative effect. According to Nielsen, no arrests were made and there was only one minor fender-bender during the hoopla.

“I really did think that the whole thing was a giant display of the ties that bind us together as a community. It was a good example of what is great about living in a small town. It was good clean fun and I haven’t met anyone who said they didn’t have a good time.”

Event organizers were hoping that combining the town’s 200th birthday with their centerpiece annual Blueberry Festival would have a trickle-down effect that would cause a re-birth of tourism and industry to the area.

The bash, in their minds, was a way to put Wilton back on the map. “Good things bring more good things,” Nielsen pointed out. “And this was a mega good thing.”

One of the most successful events was Loon Maine-ea, which raked in just under $12,000 on Saturday when the giant loon statues, painted by area artists, were auctioned off before a crowd estimated at nearly 1,000.

The George H. Bass loon, painted by local artists Selina Shields, co-owner of Farmington’s Braided Streams Gallery, garnered the most haggling and the most bucks, going for $1,700. Several of the loons, purchased by community members and expected to stay in town where they will be an ever-present reminder of Wilton’s biggest get-together.

Shannon Smith, lead organizer, was still breathless on Monday, and radiant with delight in her community. A “Thank you Shannon” sign on the marquee at Steve’s Market in Dryden put her over the top of Pride Mountain.

“No damper,” she said of the rain. “No damper. We can have a party in the rain and we did. A big, big birthday party. Nobody and no rain could burst my bubble.”

What impressed her the most about the entire weekend, Smith said, was the community’s backing.

“Without a team, you don’t have a game and we had a great game,” she gushed, adding that the weekend in her mind was the best even in Wilton’s history. “We made Wilton shine, we truly did.”

Although the majority of the event is a wrap, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, at the Congregational Church, there will be a re-enactment of the town’s first annual meeting followed by the burial of a time capsule.

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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