WASHINGTON -- War veterans will be honored during Washington Days, a two-day festival this weekend.

A parade honoring veterans will kick off celebrations at 11 a.m.

The parade will start at Prescott Memorial School and run along Route 220 to Bartlett's Garage, past the fire station.

Washington Days organizers hope all veterans will participate, including those who have served recently.

Alma Jones, town historian and veteran volunteer, said cars will be made available to veterans so no one has to walk.

Paulette Oboyski, Washington Day event coordinator, said she knows of at least 20 veterans who will be in the parade along with honor guards.

"Sunday morning there's a public breakfast at the fire station put on by the Mt. Olivet Masons and all the proceeds are going to the York Beach VFW in honor of our veterans," Oboyski said Monday. "They put packages together and send them over to our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq."

The breakfast will be 8 to 9:30 a.m.

Events are scheduled all over town on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday from noon on, there will be children's activities including games and face painting at the Washington Manor on Route 105; boat tours of Washington Pond; and a magic show at Gibbs Library at 40 Old Union Road.

In the morning, the Ladies Guild will hold a bake sale at Luce's Hardware in the village. There also will be free lemonade and cookies at the library and a historical society display.

A 5K road race for adults and a one-mile fun run for families will start at 8:30 a.m. at Prescott Memorial School on Waldoboro Road.

From 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., town businesses and organizations will sell food, farmstand items and various crafts at the library's lawn fair.

"The thing about our town is it's a sleepy little town, and then for Washington Days, the whole community comes out," Oboyski said. "It's just chock full of all kinds of things. My pet project is the cookbooks organizations have been putting out. We have five so far and the latest cookbook, which will benefit the food bank, will debut during the library's lawn sale."

The Washington Wildfires, a chapter of the Red Hat Society, is sponsoring the newest cookbook sold in town as a fundraiser. Oboyski, who edits all the cookbooks, said the new one includes local recipes for appetizers and stews.

The first cookbook came out last year and benefited the Fire Department. Filled with desert recipes, it was so successful that the fire auxiliary no longer does its basket raffles, she said.

The library published the first cookbook last year right before Christmas. That featured cookie recipes. Then, the Ladies Guild of Washington, an organization that raises funds for other groups in town, published a cookbook that included recipes for soups, chowders and bread.

"They did so well, they sold out in a little over a week and had to order another hundred," she said. "Then, the next group to do one was the Evening Star Grange, and their book had salads and casseroles because at grange suppers, that's what they always have."

In 2011, for the town's bicentennial, she said all the cookbooks will be compiled into one large cookbook. The funds from that sale will benefit all the scholarships in town, she said.

Other activities on Saturday include the Windjammer Barbershop Chorus performing at 4 p.m for the turkey supper and raffle at the fire station. A contra dance is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the school and a country music concert is set for the Evening Star Grange Hall at 7 p.m. A contra dance refers to several folk dance styles in which couples dance in two facing lines of indefinite length. It is considered a traditional New England folk dance.

On Sunday at 1 p.m., a historic tour is scheduled. A trolley will take visitors to historic sites including the Razorville Chapel and the old cemetery. From 2-4 p.m., a pontoon boat will tour Washington Pond.

A flier with a complete list of activities is posted in local stores, the library and the Town Office.

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com