Wow, what a day Saturday turned out to be. River Ruckus, a celebration of and on the Merrimack River at Haverhill, MA, started as early as 8 a.m. with artists, writers, performers and vendors arriving to set up their booths and tents, display and activity areas from the boardwalk through the city’s historic district and across the bridge to the staging area where more than a hundred antique cards were lining up and prepped for the 10 a.m. parade.

The main stage was being set up with amplifiers and speakers for performances from local musicians, the U.S. Air Force Band of Liberty, and a truly good Elvis impersonator who had the King’s voice down pat although he probably needs to add a few pounds to carry off the look. It was a pleasing tribute to Elvis on this anniversary weekend of his death 33 years ago Sunday.

My gig was at the Old Antique Market adjacent to the local brewery, The Tap, with a rear deck that overlooks the river and the boardwalk, as well as the large parking area behind the historic brick buildings lining Washington Street. After setting up a signing table with my books and poem and testing my own sound system that I would use later for reading and singing (and yes, I was asked to sing my new theme song, Haverhill), I wondered out to the deck and watched while a mobile first aid center was set up on the western end of the lot and food vendors set up their own tents and stalls in anticipation of the thousands of people that would attend the festival.

Back inside the Antique Market, local artists were arranging displays of paintings, animal portraits, and pottery. Crafts people were arranging wares from straw hats to hair pieces to handmade books and covers, to jewelry. Sponsored by the Haverhill Arts Council, the booths at the “Artitude Art Show” were manned by true artists and artisans who actually created the items they were displaying and selling.

Hundreds of people followed the parade as the antique cars chugged across the bridge at 10 a.m., up Merrimack, through Washington Square where a Dale Rogers sculpture was unveiled and spread out to park on both sides of Washington Street. The Paul Prue Blues Band followed the New Liberty Jazz Band down below at Riverside Place. At Columbus Park, opposite the Haverhill Rail Station, the YMCA and the Eric Royer family fun musical performance launched a day of children’s activities while on the other side of town, crowds surged through Gar Park and filled the Farmer’s Market.

In the afternoon, Satch Romano and the Mighty House Rockers, and the Los Sugar Kings Band performed on stage. There were two showings of the local movie, A City in Ruins: The Great Conflagration of 1882 about the fire that destroyed much of downtown Haverhill. Back at the Antique Market, a teen dance with a DJ started on the third floor, while down on the river, there was a Decorated Boat Parade. The U.S. Air Force Band of Liberty. At the end of the evening, there was a laser light spectacular on a 60’foot high, 120’-long water screen splayed over the river.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention what the promoters call “Haverhill’s oldest resident,” which is not a person, but a fish—one that has been swimming around since the days of the dinosaurs. We’re talking about the sturgeon, a truly ancient family of fishes, and specifically, the Short-Nosed Sturgeon which annually swims up the Merrimack River to spawn in the surround river bottoms. During the day, visitors and children was treated to seeing Sammy Sturgeon strolling up and down the street, examining the antique cars and stopping to pose for pictures.