This weekend, Washburn will welcome alumni, families and community members to a traditional summer festival that’s been going on for 45 years.
The August Festival starts Friday and a full slate of activities will include the popular Saturday morning parade, the Washburn Alumni Banquet, an outing at Mill Pond Park and a rubber ducky race.
When the event started in 1981, it was one of few such summer gatherings in the region along with the long-running Maine Potato Blossom Festival. Now, even though many more towns have similar festivities, Washburn continues to draw crowds. Town Manager Donna Turner thinks it’s because community ties are strong.
“It’s always the weekend when all the families come home. They come home for family reunions and they come home for class reunions,” Turner said.
Besides the activity around Main Street, backyards are filled with get-togethers, she said.
The Washburn Rotary Club sponsors and organizes the festival.
In an annual tradition started decades ago, the town will honor a local couple as the festival king and queen and another resident as the parade grand marshal.
Deryle and Vicki Sponberg are this year’s king and queen and will ride on a special float in Saturday’s parade.
Deryle Sponberg moved to Washburn as a child, graduating from Presque Isle High School and receiving a certificate in civil engineering from the University of Maine. He worked for the Maine Department of Transportation for 41 years, retired in 2007 and then worked as a consultant T.Y. Lin International.
He has served on the MSAD 45 School Board, Washburn Planning Board and Utilities District Board. He continues to share his engineering expertise on local projects.
He is especially proud of the MDOT projects he worked on in Washburn, including the construction of the current bridge spanning the Aroostook River.
Vicki (Brown) Sponberg grew up in Washburn and graduated from Washburn High
School. While her children were young she operated a home day care, then worked as an education technician and special education technician in both Washburn and Presque Isle.
She has enjoyed freezing and canning the produce of the family garden, and also enjoys needlework and spending time with her grandchildren. She is active in her church.
The Sponbergs have two children, Angela (Scott) Wardwell and Gregory (Nicol) Spon-
berg, and five granddaughters.
James “Chico” Hernandez will lead the parade as grand marshal.
A Washburn resident for 35 years, Hernandez has participated in Olympic wrestling events, world Sambo wrestling, North American Grappling Association championships and the National Senior Games. He won the 2025 Senior Games powerlifting championship.
A veteran, he served 33 years in the U.S. Army and Reserves as a first sergeant combat basic training instructor.
Hernandez was also featured on a Wheaties box. He was profiled in the textbook “Maine: America the Beautiful,” and has appeared in Discover Maine magazine and Memories of Maine magazine for his contributions to sports and regional heritage.
He has been inducted into several legacy organizations, including the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, University of Maine at Presque Isle Athletic Hall of Fame, Reavis High School Legacy Hall of Fame, Latin America Martial Arts Hall of Fame, Action Martial Arts Magazine Hall of Fame and Illinois Wrestlers Hall of Fame.
One of this year’s newest offerings is a family evening at Mill Pond Park, Turner said.
Starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14, at Mill Pond Park’s new pavilion, a free hot dog roast will start the evening. Kids can enjoy bounce houses and new playground equipment provided by the Washburn Rotary Club. Rotarians will be on hand to accept donations.
The Washburn parent-teacher organization will sell desserts and beverages. There will also be music with the Presque Isle Community Band and ECHO Band, and a community glow walk and run around town for all ages.
The alumni banquet also starts at 5 p.m. at Washburn District High School.
Saturday will feature a full slate of activities, including meals, the annual parade starting at 10 a.m., Books and Baskets at the library, open hours at the Salmon Brook Historical Society museum, a craft show, vendors at the park, face painting, a giant waterslide, kids games and the 5th annual Dana Woodman Classic/Vintage/Antique Car & Truck Show.
A dedication ceremony Saturday at 1 p.m. will feature the newest addition to the Washburn Area Veterans Memorial, an installation honoring Vietnam veterans.
Also new this year is a cardboard boat race, sponsored by local churches, which will start at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 16, at Brewer Memorial Park and Boat Landing.
For a full schedule, visit the Washburn Rotary Club page on Facebook.
The festival will wrap up with fireworks, which Turner said people missed for few years. When the club brought them back, “it was a big deal,” she said.
Turner looks forward most to seeing people coming home and socializing with family and friends. It isn’t about having the biggest festival, but about reinforcing human connections, she said.
“I look at that as part of the festival,” she said. “It’s more about families getting together and neighbors coming out and just supporting the town.”
