A mix of food, games and a parade, blended with sampling of history, created a recipe for fun at the annual Buxton Community Day Saturday at Tory Hill.

“It’s been steady people all day long,” said Kathy Miles in a community booth on the lawn at the Tory Hill Church. “It’s a banner year.”

The Dorcas Society, which served lunch under a tent on the lawn at Tory Hill Church, sold out. Jane Charron, a member of the society, said its hot dog machine broke down and ham salad and turkey salad went fast. “We could have sold more,” Charron said.

The festival whetted history appetites, too. History buffs this year relished tours of the Chase Tavern, built in 1802. Lucille Emery of the Buxton-Hollis Historical Society served as the tour hostess.

Emery said lumber for the tavern, built by Benjamin Chase, was hauled to Buxton from Saco by ox teams. The tavern, which had a ballroom, provided stabling for horses. “This was the stage coach line from New Hampshire to Portland,” Emery said.

In Helen Bruce Park across from the old tavern, Revolutionary War re-enactors Gil and Vickie Olivarez of Hollis, dressed in period garb, fired muskets. In their encampment, Vickie Olivarez cooked turkey stew, baked corn bread and brewed coffee and tea over a log fire in a pit.

In Weymouth Park, auto-racing enthusiasts viewed some history up close, too, after the parade. The appearance of a vintage stock car, No. 99, was one of the parade highlights. The late Phil Libby had driven the car, which was retired 44 years ago.

Libby’s son, Dale Libby, who is restoring the car, heard his dad’s fans call out along the parade route. “It gives you the shakes inside,” Dale Libby said about the public reaction.

Pat Wales, widow of the late Erwin Wales, was the grand marshal of the parade. “It’s wonderful to honor her and her family for their contributions to the town,” said Chris Barstow, Buxton Recreation director.

The foundation established by Wales and her husband pays for the annual fireworks, which cost $10,000 this year.

This year, Barstow said, the event attracted the usual turnout but a specific number was unavailable.

Tory Hill is a natural setting for Buxton’s festival. Emery said it was the site of a fair sponsored by the Buxton-Hollis Agricultural Society in 1875 to 1900. “It even had a trotting track,” Emery said.

Cutline (musket 1) – Gil and Vickie Olivarez of Hollis fire Revolutionary War era weapons in a demonstration Saturday at Buxton Community Day.Cutline (Dorcas booth) – Kathy Miles of the Dorcas Society and Al Fratoni, Kennebunk, staff a booth Saturday. It was a first for Fratoni. “It’s been a good first fair. Its been sunny,” Fratoni said.