By Theron Larkins
Special to the Aroostook Republican
CARIBOU, Maine — The 2013 year is feverishly coming to an end, as it always seems to while accompanied by the hectic holiday season. As we get older each and every year it becomes increasingly evident that time is fleeting. After what never seems to be a long enough summer, shortened days eventually turn to cold winter nights. Before we have time to seize the day, or even the week or month, it feels as though the days have already passed us by.
With the conclusion of the year so rapidly approaching many of us can’t help but think back to some of the more memorable occurrences of 2013. “There were a lot of fun and memorable accomplishments the town of Caribou had this past year,” said Caribou City Manager, Austin Bleess. “The pride and sense of community in our town seemed a lot higher than usual.”
When asked what Bleess felt were some of the more newsworthy moments of 2013 he responded with one reply almost immediately. “Jonathan Trappe and the balloon flights are probably what I remember the most,” said Bleess. “That was really something special, and it took a lot of work from the people that came to participate to quite literally get off the ground.”
What Bleess is talking about, of course, is cluster balloonist Trappe’s attempt to fly a lifeboat attached to hundreds of helium-filled balloons across the Atlantic Ocean on an adventure to wherever the wind might take him. Trappe lived in Caribou for months while preparing for the towering/monumental feat. He took flight from the baseball field on Sincock Street around 6:30 in the morning on September 12.
City Manager Bleess volunteered to help inflate some of the 370 balloons needed for the flight. Nearly 150 citizens came out the night before the launch to help Trappe well into the night with his preparations.
One expert member of Trappe’s team was Col. Joseph Kittinger, who piloted a gas balloon from Caribou across the Atlantic in 1984. Col. Kittinger flew the Rosy O’ Grady Balloon of Peace out of Caribou over 29 years ago and his reasoning certainly isn’t sheer coincidence. Both Col. Kittinger and Trappe chose Caribou because it is the most northeastern city in the U.S.
There is a rich history and tradition of transcontinental flight in both Caribou and Presque Isle. There is not only local legend Col. Kittinger’s 1984 expedition, but Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman flew the first hot air balloon across the Atlantic in 1978 from Presque Isle to Misery, France.
With Trappe’s 2013 journey eastward he was hoping to give the people a slightly different experience from those who have made the launch in the past. This was accomplished by giving local residents the chance to come and help prepare and build the balloon. In that sense, the launch was undoubtedly a success.
Unfortunately, the flight didn’t go quite according to plan, as Trappe began burning through ballast too fast, which caused him to have to land in Newfoundland after only about 12 hours aloft. Ballast is a heavy material (such as rocks or water) that is put on a balloon to control its height in the air.
For Bleess and the rest of the people in the community, especially those who came out and participated in the launch, it was an overwhelming success; one that will be remembered by all those involved for an entire lifetime.
The next memory that came to Bleess’ mind was the establishing of O.P. Pierson Day. Pierson graduated from Caribou High School in 1923. He went on to receive his masters in aeronautical engineering from MIT, following his stint in the Army Air Corps.
Pierson had a brilliant mind for math and was a masterful inventor. One of his first prototypes was a plant to reuse crankcase oil; a process still used today. However, his international legacy stemmed from his agrarian roots in The County. During World War II he was commissioned by the US Army to come up with a process to dehydrate potatoes for the armed services. Pierson was employed by the H.C. Baxter Company of Hartland, where he worked as plant engineer in charge of new product development. He would eventually be dubbed as “the father of the frozen french fry potato” and would produce and market the first package of frozen french fries.
O.P. Pierson’s passion to help out local farmers is an important piece of Caribou’s history and has provided food to millions of people around the globe. This is why Caribou decided to celebrate their community heritage and culture during O.P. Pierson Days in September.
Bleess reiterated his thoughts when asked what he expected and hoped for the town of Caribou in the upcoming 2014 year.
“We’re hoping for a good year when it comes to revenue sharing, of course. Funding just makes everything a lot easier for the town, therefore making things a lot easier on the citizens,” said Bleess. “Other than that we’re all just looking forward to another great year.”
