PHILLIPS -- The 50th Phillips Old Home Days week of celebration promises to deliver splendid surprises and family fun.

Traditionally, festivities start the third weekend of August, when amateur photographers arrive Saturday morning with their snapshots of flowers, children, pets, and outdoor scenes. Their pictures will be displayed in Phillips Hardware's storefront windows during the rest of the week.

Events include a golf scramble, a talent show, a flower and garden display, a children's parade and a grand parade and a spectacular fireworks display on Saturday, August 16.

"The fireworks display is happening because of dedicated volunteer fundraising efforts and generous supporters," according to Phillips Chamber of Commerce president Janet White said.

This year's Old Home week's theme, Fifty Years of Memories, is especially sentimental for White and other organizers. Robert Beal, one of the founders of the celebration, died May 31, so this year celebration has an unexpected significance, White said.

"Bob would never let us honor him for all of his involvement in the community, and believe me, we tried more than once," she said. "He would always say, 'Oh, so and so needs the honor this year.'"

Beal was an active volunteer in his hometown, providing area organizations with a lifetime of service. He was a member of the Phillips Historical Society, providing research assistance and loans of historic artifacts and equipment. Beal belonged to the Phillips Library Association, the Mile Square Cemetery Association, and the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad.

Beal's horse-drawn hearse has been a perennial favorite in the Phillips Old Home Days parade, which will start at 5 p.m. Friday, August 15, White said.

The Toothaker pond bathtub races, a lumberjack competition, Susie Sander's Wonderland of fairy and pirate costumes, and breakfast with the Sandy River Flying Club are a few of the activities that draw locals and visitors to Old Home Week. Most everyone leaves with the sense that people can have a lot of fun without spending a lot of money or going far from home, White said.