After a glorious Saturday of fun, Heritage Days 2011 ended in a soggy, somber mood.

Torrential rains and miscommunication, according to Committee Chairperson Bobbi Gaspar, cancelled several events Saturday evening and  throughout Sunday. Gaspar, however, thought Heritage Days got off to an amazing start.

“Everything, amazingly, has been done with seven people,” she said. Though previous years had a larger committee, numbers have slowly dwindled. Heritage Days started with the sesquicentennial of the town in 2007 and has since become its own entity. Numerous groups from town including the Lions Club, Historical Commission and Woman’s Club get involved and help with events. Gaspar said all the hard work is the result of Mattapoisett residents coming together.

“Without the support of the town, this couldn’t happen,” she said.

With a theme of “Farms & Industries of Days Gone By” Heritage Days had activities like a classic car show, Civil War lecture and facepainting booth. A treasure hunt with clues leading to historical spots around town was also in the offing. Perhaps the biggest draw of Saturday was the Fairhaven Village Militia at Mattapoisett River where reenactors depicted life as a solider during the Revolutionary War.

“Saturday was phenomenal,” she said. “The encampment had a great day and we’re thrilled. A lot of people came to see that. And we got nothing but great responses for Friday’s cookout and car show. Plus the fire is being rescheduled for next Saturday.”

Yet Sunday’s wash-out as well as confusion on dates and locations of a few events was still causing some grief.

The Southeastern Regional Transit Authority was scheduled to host tours of historic homes and farms starting at 11:30 a.m. at the American Legion, but by noon not a single bus had showed up. Gaspar and the Heritage Days committee frantically called SRTA as well as Town Hall officials but got no response.

“All of this was set up through the town,” Gaspar said. “We don’t know what happened. Maybe they were given the wrong date or just decided not to come because of the weather and us cancelling the weekend.”

As Gaspar and her team searched for alternatives more people began to trickle into the building. With the help of residents Ruth Bates, Barry Denham and Bob Spooner an alternative was formed until another mode of transportation could be found.

For the next 30 minutes the three of them shared stories behind some of the sites the tour would visit and passed around photos and documents as the crowd gathered in chairs. Although some people decided to have their $5 ticket refunded and left, a good amount of people remained for the improvised picture tour.

“It’s really unfortunate,” said Mattapoisett native Nancy Dexter-Rowlay. “I really wanted to see the places I grew up around and spent time at.” She also mentioned a friend of hers from Italy was in town and was going to take her for the tour as well.

Fortunately, the committee caught a break. The Mattapoisett Council on Aging had a spare van to provide nine passengers and two committee tour guides for the hour-long trip. Gaspar said the two SRTA buses could hold more than 20 people each and run in half-hour increments.

“We just feel so terrible,” Gaspar said. “This is the one thing we could’ve done today. We had to cancel the bonfire last night because of winds, and there’s no way we could have done the crafts or vesper service with this rain.” Gaspar added that Heritage Days was cancelled outright last year.

Curator Bette Roberts decided to hold a special opening of the Mattapoisett Museum & Carriage House for those who weren’t going on the tour.

“It’s unfortunate,” she said. “Heritage Days is nice. Gaspar did a wonderful job.”