The sight of public safety vehicles with their lights flashing, facing Route 1 at the Wiscasset Fire Station, normally means crews are heading to an emergency. On Saturday, the aim was to prevent one.

Wiscasset and Damariscotta police cruisers, a Wiscasset ambulance and Wiscasset fire trucks were positioned for the making of an anti-drunk driving video. Wiscasset resident Mike Maney had been planning it for a week. About 50 people came to appear in or help produce it.

“I think the turnout’s fabulous,” Maney said. “It’s a lot more people than I expected to show up.”

Attendees came from as far as Rockland and Livermore Falls. Some held photos of family members they said they lost to other people’s drunk driving. One woman said she was 5 months old when her mother died; another said her son died at 16. And with that loss, she also lost the grandchildren and great-grandchildren he would have given her, she said.

Participants signed the back of an “OUR LIVES MATTER” banner. “Missed + loved brother, son, uncle, grandson,” one message read in part.

“Never had you in my life. But you have always been my guardian angel, Mom,” read another.

Island Sign Works of Wiscasset donated the banner and stickers to hand out, Maney said. The organization Patriot Riders helped Maney make the video. About 20 members were on hand, Lucinda Tillas said. Minutes later, she gave the crowd a count-up and the recording got under way.

Maney’s son Nick, behind the banner, and Natalie, on her father’s shoulders, started early. “My life matters,” Nick Maney said.

“My life matters,” his sister repeated. “Don’t drink and drive. Our lives matter.”

“All right, guys. You guys ready,” their father asked.

“Now as loud as you can, on the count of three, ready? One. Two. Three,” Tillas said. She and the crowd followed with chants, at times overlapping, of “Don’t drink and drive,” “Our lives matter,” and “My life matters.”

The video was completed in one take.

“This day means a lot to me,” Maney said in an interview with his son at his side. “Hopefully this video will go viral, and people will start learning a lesson to stop drinking and driving. If you’re going to go out to a bar, that’s fine. But at least have a designated driver.”

Attending Saturday’s event was good community policing, Wiscasset Patrol Officer Levon Travis said. It was a way to increase awareness about the impact of operating under the influence, Damariscotta Patrol Officer Erick Halpin said. 

Later Saturday, Maney posted a link to the video on his Facebook page.