Ashland residents ready for Summer Fest 2012
ASHLAND NEWS
by Susan Feeney-Hopkins
The Ashland Summer Fest 2012 is set to kick off festivities beginning Thursday, July 5 with the annual daylong girls softball tournament and running through the Sunday, July 8 fireworks finale at dusk. All of the local favorite activities are planned along with a few new favorites. Local vendors will be on hand, so please support them! For a complete list, dates and times of events, see the Ashland Summer Fest schedules located around town.
A few of the most popular events are scheduled as follows:
Thursday, July 5
• Girls softball tournament being held all day. For more information, contact Lendall Tarr.
• Model car race featuring Cub Scout Derby Cars. Cash prizes will be awarded. Registration at the Rec Center from 5-6 p.m. The public will vote for “Best Design” from 6-6:30 p.m. and the double elimination race starts at 6:30 p.m. For more information or to purchase your car kit, contact Dave Basley or Chris Bessey. Note: Please purchase your kit before the race as you will need to build it.
Friday, July 6
• Katahdin Bank Customer Appreciation Day from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at the bank.
• Key Bank Customer Appreciation Day from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the bank.
• Salad Bar Supper from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Advent Christian Church (take-out is available).
• Boy Scout Cake Auction from 6-6:30 p.m. at the bandstand. The Scouts design and make their own cakes. This was a fun event last year with a lot of delicious cakes being auctioned off.
• Ashland Citizen of the Year Award will be announced at 6:30 p.m. at the bandstand. Wonder who it will be this year?
• Bandstand entertainment will include Julie and Sydney Rae from 4:45-6 p.m. and the band Better Late Than Never from 6:45-8 p.m.
Saturday, July 7
• Parade from 10-11 a.m. Parade entries will line up on Hayward Street at 9 a.m.
• Pancake breakfast at the Masonic Hall on Plum Street from 7-9 a.m.
• 5-K road race at the bandstand beginning at 8 a.m. Contact Linda Milligan at 227-9135 for more information.
• Art show and sale at Reflections Salon from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Outdoor flea market all day at the Fish and Game Club. Vendor spots are still available for $10. Call Rita Morgan at 435-4201 for more details.
• St. Mark’s Bake Sale at Art’s Appliance on Main Street from 9 a.m.-noon.
• Chicken barbecue on Main Street, sponsored by the Ashland Fire Department, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Jaws of Life and ladder truck demonstrations on Main Street from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Pig roast at the Fish and Game Club from noon until the food is gone!
• Kids games at the recreation center from 1-4 p.m. There will be a bouncy house which is always super fun!
• Bingo at the VFW from 4-6 p.m. Light refreshments will be available for purchase.
• Bandstand events include BB Jar Band from 5-6:30 p.m. and Larry Jenkins from 6:30-8 p.m.
• Street dance at the bandstand with live entertainment by favorite local band Too Far North. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for kids. The dance is from 8 p.m.-midnight.
Sunday, July 8
• Loggers breakfast at the Ashland Logging Museum from 7-9 a.m.
• Canoe Race from Masardis to Ashland. Early registration at the Fish and Game Club (8:30 a.m.). Late registration at the boat landing. For more information, contact Geoff LeBlanc at 551-9424 or 227-3039.
• Ecumenical service at the Fish and Game Club from 9-10 a.m. Bring your own chair.
• Family movie at the Ashland Rec Center from 2-4 p.m. The movie is sponsored by the Ashland FFA. Bring your own comfy chair. Refreshments will be available.
• Bandstand events will include Wendell Hudson from 4-5 p.m., the Masardis Gospel Express from 5-6 p.m. and Amber Philbrook from 6-7 p.m.
• Fireworks at the Ashland Fish and Game Club beginning at dusk, sponsored by the town of Ashland and the Little Miss Ashland Pageants.
Geocaching will take place all weekend long! Location coordinates can be found at www.geocaching.com.
Ashland native to sign copies of book
MARTHA STEVENS-DAVID, originally from Ashland and now residing in Minot,
will be signing copies of her first book, “Autobiography of a Simple Soul,” Saturday, July 7 at the Ashland Fish & Game Club from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. as part of the annual Summer Fest celebration.
Ashland native and writer Martha Stevens-David of Minot will be returning to her hometown Saturday, July 7 to celebrate Ashland Summer Fest. She will be the guest of honor at the Fish & Game Club on Station Hill from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and will be signing copies of her first book, “Autobiography of a Simple Soul.”
Her second book, which is a continuation of the first book about life in Aroostook County titled “Memories, Another Place, Another Time,” is scheduled for release at the end of July.
For those wishing to order a copy of either book, Martha can be reached at home at 966-3905 or e-mail lmdmsd@megalink.net. Copies of both books are also available online at Barnes & Noble, at Amazon.com and an “E-Book” edition is also being offered.
GWI broadband and phone services expand in Ashland
GWI of Biddeford has announced that it has completed construction of network facilities in Ashland.
GWI is now offering its line of residential broadband and phone services, as well as its business broadband, phone and cloud computing services in northern Maine.
“As a Maine-based company, GWI is committed to expanding broadband coverage and economic opportunity to all of Maine’s rural communities and small towns, even as we work to develop the ultra-high-speed gigabit fiber networks to attract jobs and industries of the future to our state,” said Fletcher Kittredge, GWI chief executive officer. “Our investment in expanding service to residents and businesses in this areas is part of that effort.”
GWI offers stand-alone, high-speed Internet access to residential customers and residential Internet and phone combination packages. GWI’s offers businesses competitively priced high-speed Internet, digital phone, Hosted PBX and other advanced services.
Susan Feeney-Hopkins is the correspondent for Ashland, Portage Lake, Oxbow, Masardis, Garfield, Nashville Plantation and the surrounding areas. She can be reached at 435-8232 or Feenhop@aol.com.
