The return of a patrol squadron returning from overseas duty to Brunswick Naval Air Station highlighted a Fourth of July in Maine that featured parades, fireworks and one celebration that had people humming.

The bulk of Patrol Squadron 26 returned from a five-month deployment to Sicily aboard a chartered flight at 12:30 p.m., then stepped off the plane and into the arms of several hundred family and friends.

“What better day for them to come home?” said Camille Register, who gathered up her four children – 6-year-old Arrington, 4-year-old Julia Mary, 3-year-old Margeaux and 18-month-old Roddy – to greet their father.

Lt. Rodney Register, a P-3 Orion pilot, savored the moment. “It’s just great to be back with the kids and to be able to be a father to them instead of trying to do it on the phone,” said Register.

Like many families, the Registers planned to spend the afternoon at a park before taking in the fireworks.

The weather was near perfect for attending a parade, firing up the grill or going to the beach, with sunny skies and temperatures reaching the upper 70s and lower 80s across most of the state.

A few miles from Brunswick, one of the state’s Independence Day celebrations featured not “76 Trombones” but 1,000 kazoos.

In Bath, a kazoo band buzzed patriotic tunes, and Glenn Flaming handed out plastic kazoos to people along the parade route.

“It’s insanity at its finest,” said Flaming, who drove his 1955 Chevy pickup truck in the parade. Following the truck was a kazoo band wearing donated uniforms from a production of “The Music Man.”

The holiday weekend marked the beginning of the busiest part of the summer tourism season in Maine.

Inn keepers, amusement park managers, charter boat captains and others on the front lines of the tourism industry were optimistic, reporting business levels outpacing what they saw a year ago.

“It’s overwhelming, all the reservations,” said Jo-Anne Lapointe, co-owner of the Beau Rivage Motel in Old Orchard Beach.

Many of the state’s celebrations paid homage to Maine soldiers serving overseas. Maine has one of the nation’s highest deployment rates for National Guard soldiers stationed in Iraq.

For a handful of Mainers, the holiday weekend was expected to be one of the last at home for a while.

The Army was recalling 5,600 recently departed soldiers back to active duty to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. The numbers, still tentative, included 58 from Maine, officials said.

The first letters are expected to arrive in mailboxes Tuesday. Those called up could be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan as early as fall. They will be kept on active duty for 18 months to two years.

AP-ES-07-04-04 1505EDT