RUMFORD – The Maine Army National Guard Band made the Fourth of July really special, said Beverly Boyle of Mexico.
“This really makes the Fourth of July. An Army band!” she said.
She wasn’t alone.
Anita Murphy thought having a band perform just before the fireworks display was just perfect.
“It’s such a great idea,” she said, “to have the Army here to celebrate.”
Sam Coltart, a Maine Guard soldier for 26 years, said he liked coming to Rumford. The band had been there at least once before and the performance was appreciated.
“We love to go where there are lots of people,” said the building contractor from Calais who plays the saxophone.
He said the band has been at the Bangor International Airport to welcome home each group of soldiers from Iraq over the past year or so.
Memorial Park was packed with people when the band played well-known marches or popular music such as Ray Charles’ “I can’t stop loving you.”
One of those people was Richie Philbrick, a Mexico selectman and Rumford Public Works employee.
Until he was 6 or 7, he thought the annual fireworks display was in his honor. He was born on the Fourth of July in 1970.
Now, he celebrates the day with family, and just before he and his wife, Tammy, came to the park, they had had a family cookout.
Seeing the band was a special treat.
“It was awesome to see them march down the street and play here today,” he said.
The band had a busy day.
Just a few hours before marching down Congress Street in Rumford, they had done the same in Greenville, nearly four hours away.
Honored by the crowd were three returning Iraq veterans – Peter Scott of Peru, Michelle Bulger of Rumford and Randy Jones of West Paris.
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