Johnny May led the 45th Annual Phillips Old Home Days Children's Parade down Main Street last Sunday.By Barry Matulaitis

PHILLIPS -- The 45th edition of Phillips Old Home Days featured a unique mix of traditional events and new twists to the celebration of the town's past and present, which was held from Aug. 12 to 17.

For the 45th straight year, the parade was held without being hampered by rain. Dozens of floats rode past onlookers from the Town Garage to the end of Main Street.

This year's Old Home Days theme, "I remember my favorite year," was certainly in evidence as the parade participants honored a wide range of years, from the town's first settlers in the early 19th century to the 2003 Phillips Little League Championship team.

The parade winners were as follows: Best Youth Entry -- first place, 5K Pizza and the Espeaignette Family; second place, The Tracey Family; and third place, Phillips Little League. Funniest awards went to: Strong Nursing Home, first place; second place, The Mitchell Misfits; and third place, P.J. White and Joe Burdin. Most Beautiful prizes went to: first place, Zelma Gould and Friends; second, Chelsea Russell; and third, The Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad.

The 112th Medical and 1136 Transportation won the Most Original first place prize for a tribute to local residents serving in the Armed Forces. Second place in the category went to Cyrus Bachelder Jr., Kristi Daggett, Jon Andrews and Geraldine Howard; while third went to Narrow Gauge Riders and Friends. Judge's Choice awards were presented to The Class of 1978, first place; Triple L Tee Ball, second place; and Light House Baptist Church, third place.

On Saturday morning, the Paul G. Whittemore three-mile road race featured something traditional and something completely unprecedented. Jeff Beal of Avon won his second overall title, thus continuing his family's tradition of producing great athletes. His time of 17:20 blew away the rest of the field, not to mention his own time he set when he won the event in 2001.

"The heat was a big factor," he said, adding that he was happy with his effort despite his pre-race goal of a sub-17-minute time. Beal ran a hard but controlled first mile in order to eliminate some of his competitors from contention while maintaining a reserve for the latter stages of the race. Shortly before reaching Route 142, at the halfway point of the race, he locked up his victory by pulling away from his foes.

"Those guys were right behind me until the hill going up to 142," he said.

In the women's division, 13-year old Paige Sutherland made history by becoming the youngest to ever capture the female division of the race. Her victory was particularly astonishing because it was the first road race that she had ever competed in. She blew away the rest of the women's field, winning by two minutes.

John Logan captured second place in the men's division, while Adam Masterman placed third. Pat Matulaitis of Phillips was the first local finisher in the women's division.

A kid's fun run was also held. In the 7 and under division, Arthur Ryan was the first finisher for boys, while Chantel Ross won the girls' division. Andrew Keating placed first for boys in the 8-12 category, while Matt Mello finished second and Seth Searles third. Emma James was the first finisher in the girls division, while Sadie James placed second and Tori Beane third.

Then it was time for the children's bike races. Each age group competed on a different racecourse, with older children competing in longer races.

In the 0-5 age category, Austin Ladd finished first, while Jared Witham placed second and Cyrus Bachelder, Jr. third. The six through eight age group saw Gavin Flagg place first, while Trevor Brackley finished second and Kirsten Bailey third.

In the nine through 12 age group, Andy Keating finished first while Kurt Haines placed second and Billy Keating third. Chris Smith won the Open category, while Kayla Haines finished second and Bethany Cates third.

The bed races on Main Street followed the bike races, and saw several teams of contestants take part in the race's new format. Each team, which had one contestant lying on a specially designed and decorated bed with wheels, tried to negotiate stops to then try to thrown tennis balls in a bucket from three feet away, put on clothing, and then finish by holding water balloons in one hand without breaking them while pushing the bed at a high rate of speed back to the starting line.

The challenge of the task was more than some of the beds could handle, as there were several instances where wheels broke off, creating a tricky handling situation indeed. Although the Phillips Fire Department put forth the best performance, every one of the competitors displayed courage by entering and putting up with the incessant jokes and laughter of the onlookers.

Saturday's events at North Franklin Park included the horse pull, lawn mower races and a lumbering competition. The horse pull is one of the highlights of Old Home Days, as it demonstrates the communication that the owners must have with their horses in order to pull the sledge as far and fast as possible.

In the light two-pound rock class, Pittsfield's Tom Booth was able to work with his horses and pull the sledge a winning distance of 367'6". The horse team of Charlie and Rex from Libby Farms in Corinth pulled the sledge a distance of 340'8" to capture second place, while George Keiger of Moscow drove his team to a third place distance of 316'8".

The heavy two-pound rock class saw Steve Smith of Phillips work with his team of Jake and Duke to pull the sledge a phenomenal 450 feet. Pete Glidden of Parkman and his horse team placed second with a distance of 382'7", while the horse team of Clint and Bud from Libby Farms were able to pull the sledge 377'10" to finish third.

Saturday also featured the bathtub races at Toothaker Pond. The kid's race saw Rachel Fogerty and Shane Appleton place first, while Caroline Fogerty and Matthew Davis finished second and the team of Tyler Ross and Kenny Murphy placed third.

Fogerty also won the women's division along with Stephanie Mercer. The team of Elizabeth Rollo and Elizabeth Cook finished second, while Zelma Gould and Ashley Towle placed third. In the men's race, Charlie Perry and Adam Sander finished first, while Paul Eustis and Lincoln Libby placed second and Nelson Bachelder and Shane Cushman third.

Bachelder won the couple's race along with Veronica Hoyt, while Greg and Brittany Richards finished second and Noah Garner and Marlene Garland third. The lighthouse race, featuring a one half mile long course in which racers had to paddle around an island in the pond, saw Ken Bubier and Keith Tripp win for the second straight year, while Josh and Ron Bachelder finished second and Nelson Bachelder and Veronica Hoyt third.


OLD HOME DAYS ENDS IN STYLE WITH CHILDREN'S PARADE

By Paula Roy

PHILLIPS -- One of the final events of Old Home Days, the Bob Parker Memorial Children's Parade was held last Sunday morning on Main Street in Phillips's Lower Village. Twenty-two entries wowed the crowd as they pushed, pulled, paraded and pedaled their way to Popsicles and prizes.
Awards were presented in four categories.

Most Beautiful was awarded to "The Year We Went to Storyland" by Emily Hardy, Olivia Ryan, Allie Ryan and Arthur Ryan. "Greased Lightning" by Dylan, Dakota and Quinn Mumma, Taylor Radcliffe and Shania Smith earned Most Original. "The Peanuts Gang," complete with Snoopy (aka The Red Baron) in his Sopwith Camel, presented by Kendall and Ben Dudley, was chosen Cutest.

Two Judges' Choice Awards were given. The first was to Hunter Bate and Taylor Lane as "Charles and Laura Ingalls" with their covered wagon. Shawna Toothaker, Serena Richard and Savannah Gould, three shimmering Egyptian princesses hauling a golden pyramid, won the second.

Master of Ceremonies Tammie Gould elicited a round of applause for all participants and all the volunteers who helped organize the parade. Special thanks went to the judges who had "an especially hard job" this year.

The Chicken Shoot, Four Wheeler Pulls, and the Bill Robichaud Memorial Volleyball Tournament, all held at North Franklin Park, were also part of the final day's celebration.Johnny May led the 45th Annual Phillips Old Home Days Children's Parade down Main Street last Sunday.