What a beautiful string of weather we have had! By golly, when the weather is nice here, there is no better place on earth and even when the weather is not nice, it is better than most. I sure hope we get nice weather for the Caribou City-Wide Yard Sale on May 18 and 19. Speaking of that event, the maps are in and will be distributed all over the city.
As well as we did in signing up participants with over 100 yard sales going on everywhere, I still feel that we could have done more. Since the close of the sign-up period, there have been at least a dozen that have come in or called asking if it was too late to sign up. It is sad for me to tell them “yes” and it also tells me that I could have done more to make people aware of the time period. Next year, I will have to do better.
One thing that did not get done was the usual banner that is displayed downtown reminding folks to sign up. There is a semi-comical story about that. I was told about the banner and that it was up at the storage bin the Chamber rents. Such a storage facility was necessitated by the move from the last office to here at the Nylander building. It seems the only organization that has moved more over the years than the Chamber is the DMV. This office in the Nylander is perfect, by the way, so without getting too political, please mention to your friendly local councilperson that we should stay here. But anyway, a banner is up at the storage site to remind people to sign up.
While it is hard to remember beyond this beautiful stretch of weather, the previous weeks were extremely windy. I think we had 10 days in a row where the wind blew over 15 miles per hour with gusts over 20. When we finally had a nice day, I went up to the storage site. Oh my. That place needs to be sorted through and cleaned out! There is stuff everywhere including some 30 years’ worth of paper.
Amazingly, I pretty quickly found the banner I was looking for. I went to grab it and one of the straps would not budge. I followed it to where the problem was and it was caught under this humongous, old filing cabinet filled with a ton of paper. I tugged and I pulled and I could not free the strap. I used leverage and one arm to tip the cabinet (with hopes it would not fall over) and then the other arm to pull the strap free. I managed to tip the cabinet, but the strap would not let go.
Needless to say, the banner never got hung and that must not happen again. Sometime this summer, I am going to ask for an army of people, a dumpster and an industrial shredder and we are going to tear that place apart.
This lovely weather also allowed a very cool thing to happen right next to our office here at the Nylander as the Veterans’ Memorial Park Association erected a new sign for the park and started the work of beautifying the grounds. Since Caribou’s history is special to me, this park has always meant a lot. The triangle of land between two of the oldest streets in Caribou originally belonged to David Adams, the old storekeeper. And it was there that he built his second house. That old house was eventually demolished and the land was appropriated for a park to remember the heroes that died in wars from our community.
For generations, that park has been the ending place of the annual Memorial Day Parade. It is wonderful that a dedicated group of individuals have created an association to care for and maintain the park.
Thanks to some submissions, our Annual Recognition Dinner is a go and is set for May 23, a Thursday night. Invitations will go out early next week and perhaps we will even announce the award winners next week.
Since this is written on the Friday before the Wednesday publication of the paper, tomorrow I am going to a meeting at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center that I hope will be a welcome breath of fresh air for our area. Gary Aiken is leading a new initiative for a volunteer organization that can be called upon when needed by the community. The idea is similar to what I “preached” on a couple of weeks ago where a large group of people donate one, two or three hours a month to be available when needed for whatever comes up of need.
I wish great success for Gary’s efforts as the area will greatly benefit from an organized volunteer force.
As I am driving around, I see lots of houses that have “for sale” signs that have, “under contract,” listed on them. Houses are selling and that is a very positive sign for our community.
The decision to sell the oldest church still standing in Caribou greatly concerns me. I do not know what the outcome will be, but the development is distressing.
Happy anniversary wishes go to Sullivan Floor Covering, Inc., which joined the Chamber way back in 1989. To celebrate, visit this fine and faithful member on the Presque Isle Road when considering your flooring and home decoration needs.
One final note: I am playing golf this weekend! Yeehaw! The Caribou Country Club is open for business. Life just got that much sweeter.
Executive Director William Tasker may be reached in the CACC office at 498-6156 or e-mail him at cacc@cariboumaine.net.
