Birthday celebration has big shoes to fill

    As we celebrated Caribou’s 150th birthday, we are reminded of Caribou’s centennial celebration in 1959. There was a parade everyday during the centennial week, July 20-25 of that year at 9:30 a.m. each morning. The final and largest of the parades was held on that Saturday morning.     An official from the 1959 Centennial Parade Committee announced, “Everything we have; everything we can corral, will be in Saturday’s parade. We want this event to be memorable in the history of Maine.”
     “The committee member continued, “It certainly was memorable for observers and participants. Near the end of the huge parade, a thunderstorm struck with heavy rains and sudden winds. Some of us on horseback and posing as Native Americans galloped up North Main toward home. It was slick going for the horseshoe-clad ponies on wet pavement and for their bareback riders. We made it safely but our pageant costumes were soaked. Meanwhile downtown the Caribou Fire Department headed out into the heaviest traffic jam in local history to get to a lightning strike on the Woodland Center Road. The owners of the house were at the parade.”
    All in all, the centennial parades, headed by the Caribou Kiwanis Club, were huge successes. Local police estimated that by the end of the week 75,000 people had lined Sweden and High Streets to enjoy the festivities.