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By GARY REMAL
Staff Writer Thursday, June 14, 2007

"Rather than individual events that are not connected, we said, 'Why not connect them and add some things in between the parade and the fireworks and make a day of it?' " Jay Adams, director and curator of Old Fort Western, said Wednesday.

Titled "A Capital City Riverfront Fourth," events will begin this year even before the parade kicks off at 11 a.m., with a pancake breakfast at Applebee's Neighborhood Bar and Grill at 8 a.m.

Pancakes are not usually on the restaurant's menu, said Applebee's Assistant General Manager Nancy Flament, and proceeds will go to help pay for a climbing wall at the Buker Community Center.

"This is a special event we're putting on," Flament said during an announcement of city plans for the Fourth of July held on the Old Fort Western grounds.

The traditional parade begins at 11 a.m. at Capitol Shopping Center, Adams said. An estimated 60 participating organizations will travel east on Western Avenue to Memorial Circle, down Rines Hill to Water Street, and across the Father Curran Bridge to Old Fort Western.

Organizers have set a theme for the parade, "Honoring Our Troops," aimed at recognizing the service of Maine servicemen and servicewomen who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Augusta Mayor Roger Katz is expected to be joined as co-grand marshal by a representative of the Maine National Guard.

For the first time, awards for parade participants in several categories will be presented publicly at Old Fort Western.

Old Fort Western will be open for its traditional old-time Independence Day celebration until 5 p.m., featuring events that might have taken place during intervening years since July 4, 1776. They include a public reading of the Declaration of Independence; cannon salutes; patriotic toasts, songs and speeches; 18th-century magic tricks; dancing and games, city officials said.

"It will give people a feel for the Fourth in its earlier days," Adams said.

And for the first time this year, Adams said, the museum will offer visitors the opportunity to play "town ball," a precursor to baseball played on a square field using a soft leather ball, with batters running between four stakes.

"If the public doesn't play, no one will get to see town ball," he said.

At the same time, 3-5 p.m., volunteers from Le Club Calumet and the Augusta Eagles are hosting a chicken barbecue for $7 per person.

"(People) know our chicken," Club Calumet Past President Harry Roy said. "There's a little bit of secret stuff in there in the seasoning."

Following the new activities at the fort, concerts on the western riverfront will be held from 4:30-9 p.m. until fireworks begin at 9:20 p.m.

During the afternoon's activities, Fort Western trolleys will be circulating to help move people between venues and to parking areas at the city parking garage, Mill Park and the Eagles Club.

Augusta Recreation Director Bruce Chase said the city is spending more on the Fourth of July celebration, but officials also have found ways to stretch their dollars.

City officials went out to bid earlier for the fireworks display. That encouraged more competition, resulting in a winning proposal that offers more fireworks -- 4,800 shells -- for the same $5,000 budget.

Another $5,000 is spent on the parade, similar to past years. Chase said the city is spending an additional $2,500 to bring the concerts to the west side Waterfront Park.

And Adams said the city received a $2,500 grant from the Kennebec Valley Tourism Council to promote the city's celebration.

Advertising will include TV spots and information at the state's tourist information centers.

"We're hoping to get the word out to tourists coming in: If you're coming to Maine, why not come to the capital city for the Fourth of July?" Adams said.

Goulet said he hopes the middle-of-the-week holiday will bring more local people as well who might otherwise have traveled if the holiday created a long weekend.

"This is a golden opportunity with the Fourth of July falling on a Wednesday," Goulet said.

Rotating from event to event, visitors can "spend the day on the riverfront in the city's downtown," Adams said.

Gary Remal -- 621-5642

gremal@centralmaine.com

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