To the editor:
The calendar has turned over to another month, with it bringing summer’s end and the culmination of Thursdays on Sweden (TOS) with O.P. Pierson Days. Wow! That about sums it up! This was the brainchild of City Manager Austin Bleess, and just the shot in the arm that Caribou needed!
If you didn’t come downtown at least once, you missed some great times as well as unexpected surprises. The music, the vendors, the smells of all the different foods — some of it free, the kids with their abundant energy running up and down the street and dancing to the music, friends hugging friends whom they haven’t seen in a long time, or maybe they just saw yesterday, mini class reunions, family reunions, it just went on and on.
And the talent out there! The country-crooning cop … a couple of people watching turned to me and said, “Wow … who knew?” I know, huh? And if you happened to be in just the right place at just the right time, you may have seen a hot new duo, “The Dancing Chiefs,” doing the newest dance craze called the Tong and Spatula! Set your DVR’s, folks, because I know they’re gonna pop up on “America’s Got Talent” any time now. They were amazing! Again, who knew that a spatula and a set of tongs could do so much more than flip burgers and hot dogs?
Balloonist Jonathan Trappe returned to Caribou for the last TOS, too. He may not have made it all the way across the Atlantic, but it sure was obvious he made it into the hearts of the locals. He held a captive audience well past “closing time.”
My friend, Barb Aiken, and I decided to become vendors mostly because we wanted a place to sit down and enjoy the festivities. We decided to bake goodies, hence the “Sweet Chicks” were hatched, and during TOS, through the generosity of the people out there, we were able to raise almost $1,000 for local charities. Thank you! I don’t know about Barb, but I sure assuaged my penchant for baking for a while! But, we’ve put in our request for the spot for next year. Gotta have a place to sit down, you know!
And the final day, Saturday, brought 51 antique cars and tractors into the Downtown Mall parking lot along with food, vendors and great fiddling music for our entertainment. The weather could not have been any better.
Oh, and I can’t forget to mention those gorgeous painted barrels!
I stood beside Kathy Mazzuchelli as the drivers of the antique cars filed out of the lot and as she was thanking them for coming, they were thanking her for inviting them and asking her to invite them back next year. The summer’s festivities ended with a bang, literally, in the form of spectacular fireworks at the high school.
Without the hard work of Kathy M., Dave Ouellette, and Gary Marquis for setting this up, getting it off the ground and doing the physical work, this would not have happened. A big thank you to Mike, Scott, Mark and the other members of the police and fire departments for all of those great hot dogs and hamburgers you cooked throughout the summer, and to all the city employees and anyone else who made these events possible. You guys went way above and beyond the call of duty. I know there are many of us who did not miss one event this summer. I’ll be going through withdrawal for a long time to come.
There is so much more I could mention, but space won’t allow it. But, I can’t say it enough … THANK YOU! I can’t wait for next year!
Joan Theriault
Caribou
