The 2008 Buxton Community Day has significantly increased in scope over previous years, and organizers are expecting one of the best events yet.

May Schumacher, Community Day chairwoman, took the helm of the organizing committee last August and has 70 booths lined up to present their organizations, services and crafts. Compared with just 14 booths last year, the event, to be held Saturday, is sure to be one of the biggest in the more than three decades since it has been put on, said Schumacher.

“I have crafters coming all the way down from Bangor,” she said, adding that the town is spending more than it ever has on fireworks.

Of the 70 booths, about two dozen will be crafters showing their work. The remainder of the booths include a plethora of local organizations like high school sports teams, booster groups and civic groups showing their face to let people know they’re around.

“Maybe you don’t know what the football team is up to. Well, you will when you go!” Schumacher said.

This is the first year Schumacher has ever headed up an organizing committee of any sort, and her time doing it so far has been a great success.

“The reason this Community Day is so successful is (Schumacher) doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” said Diane Senechal, the selectmen’s assistant, at the July 2 selectmen’s meeting.

“What May did, and I don’t think anybody ever did it, was to go outside Buxton,” said Bev Atkinson, a long-time organizing committee member and member of the Dorcas Society, a local charitable group. The Dorcas Society’s Annual Fair is being held in conjunction with Community Day.

Schumacher said she couldn’t have done it without all the help from other members of the committee and the support of the community.

The day kicks off Saturday at at Weymouth Park on Tory Hill at 8 a.m. with a pancake breakfast and 1k and 5k road races. A parade begins at 10.

Throughout the day, the U.S. Army will be on the scene with a rock climbing wall. There will be amusement rides, a reptile zoo, and Guitar Hero – the hugely popular rock-star simulation game – on two 60-inch television screens, with a competition for the best slayer on the axe.

“All you wanna-be rock stars, come on down – play Guitar Hero,” said Schumacher.

There will also be a diaper dash for the wee ones in the morning and a chicken barbecue in the evening.

Susan Orfant, a Buxton artist, will kick off a fund raising event for the Buxton-Hollis Historical Society on Saturday as well. She’ll be doing paintings of historically significant public buildings and will do paintings of local homes by request. The hope, according to Jan Hill of the historical society, is to produce enough pieces for a whole art show. The paintings will be for sale, and proceeds will go to the society.

“There is definitely going to be something for everyone,” Schumacher said. “I have a day care, so I’m all about kids and family.”

The Dorcas Society will also be on Tory Hill, with its members dressed up in period dresses from the late 19th century, in honor of the group’s founder, Kate Douglas Wiggin, who started the charitable organization in 1897. The Dorcas’s Annual Fair is a more historic event, and includes a Revolutionary War encampment with a campfire and cooking all day. At 11 a.m., the society will be hosting its luncheon – a sit-down affair, with tablecloths and centerpieces.

Atkinson’s barn will be open selling toys, dolls, porcelain, silverware, and other items. The barn and home, the Royal Brewster Mansion, was built in 1805 and placed on the National Historical Registry in 1975.

With the size of the event this year, Atkinson said she expects there to be a lot of people coming out.

“It’s something for the town and community to be proud of,” said Schumacher.

Schumacher said this will be the first year the event will pay for itself.

May Schumacher took the helm organizing the 2008 Buxton Community Day, the first big event of any sort she has helped organize. With the help of an experienced committee, this year’s festival has 67 booths setting up shop, compared to 13 booths last year.Organizer expecting biggest Community Day yet