Expo draws record crowd
PRESQUE ISLE – A new attendance record for the Fall and Winter Expo was realized Oct. 2-3 as more than 4,100 community members from across The County and western New Brunswick attended the show sponsored by the Northern Maine Community College Foundation and WAGM-TV at The Forum in Presque Isle. Organizers and participants alike are calling the event a huge success.
Perhaps the most excited individuals of the thousands who attended is the Presque Isle couple who were drawn as the winners of the “Live Easy This Winter” grand prize package valued at more than $3,000. David and Robertine Morrow will “live easy” this winter with free groceries, heating oil and electricity for the three calendar months of winter.
“This is amazing! I never win anything,” said David Morrow over the phone when notified by show organizers moments after he was drawn as the lucky winner of the signature prize package. “I can’t believe it. This will certainly come in handy!”
The unique prize package includes vouchers for groceries, heat and electricity. The lead donation for the door prize comes from Scott Carlin, NMCC alumnus and owner of the Star City (Presque Isle), Hillside (Fort Fairfield) and Mars Hill IGAs. Carlin is providing the lucky winner with 12 $150 grocery gift certificates redeemable at his three central Aroostook stores. The $1,800 in groceries represents the average cost for a family of four at $150 per week through the winter season.
Joining Star City, Hillside and Mars Hill IGAs in providing the combined prize package is the county’s electric utility, Maine Public Service Co., which donated three $100 gift certificates to cover the average electrical costs for the three calendar months of winter.
Three county-based oil dealers – Daigle Oil Co., Dead River Co. and Maine Potato Growers Energy Services division – collaborated and enhanced the grand prize package by each contributing 100 gallons of heating oil. Additionally, Northeast Pellets of Ashland and Center Farms Coal of Easton provided the equivalent of an average winter’s supply of wood pellets and coal, respectively. It was the intention of Fall and Winter Expo event coordinators to let the grand prize package winner decide from amongst the heating oil, pellets and coal.
Morrow elected to take the heating oil vouchers. The winner of the wood pellets was Robert Gagnon of Westfield. The coal will go to Betty Ellis of Castle Hill.
Aside from the “Live Easy This Winter” prize package, other grand door prize giveaways included a pellet stove donated by the County Stove Shop, which will go to Tina Murphy of Westfield; a new snow blower donated by Aroostook Door and Window, which will go to Doreen McCarthy of Woodland; and four deluxe NASCAR tickets to the races in Loudon, N.H. donated by Levassseur’s Napa Auto and Truck Parts, which will go to Shirley Doughty of Mapleton. In addition, 50 Troll Beads donated by Country Collectibles were drawn throughout the weekend to lucky residents of Aroostook County and western New Brunswick.
“We are so pleased with the results from the weekend. Our thanks goes out to all of those who attended this year’s Fall and Winter Expo,” said Vicki Smith, NMCC Foundation board member and chair of the committee that organized this year’s event.
With the wide variety of vendors present, the show offered something for everyone. Vendors ranged from businesses that offer solutions to keeping you warm during the winter months to ones that offer health advice and products, as well as electronic gadgets to keep individuals entertained when the snow flies. Several non-profit organizations were also on hand featuring fall and winter activities, such as Aroostook Football League and Presque Isle Youth Hockey.
Attendees could purchase a variety of locally made items through a collaboration of several small businesses in the “Made in Aroostook” section. A bouncy house, hands-on activities through the Caribou Children’s Discovery Museum, and a small floor hockey area provided lots of fun for the kids.
Also featured on Oct. 2 at the Expo was a Community Health Fair put on by seniors in Northern Maine Community College’s nursing and medical assisting programs. They provided information on more than a dozen topics, including seasonal and H1N1 influenza, frostbite prevention and treatment, winter sports safety, and fall and winter driving safety.
“The 2010 Fall and Winter Expo was a great success; the vendors and attendees were very pleased with the show and had nothing but positive things to say,” said Kelly Landeen, WAGM-TV sales manager.
WINNING TICKETS for the more than $15,000 in prizes awarded at this year’s Fall and Winter Expo held Oct. 2-3 at The Forum in Presque Isle were drawn at the end of the show by, from left: Northern Maine Community College Foundation board members Bruce and Connie Sandstrom; Jon Gulliver, WAGM-TV news director and station manager; and Kelly Landeen, WAGM-TV sales manager. A record number of more than 4,100 area residents attended the event, with approximately 3,700 entered into the door prize drawing (children’s tickets did not include entrance into the drawing). The show is sponsored annually by the Northern Maine Community College Foundation and WAGM-TV.
SIX-MONTH-OLD Kaytlin Crouse of Caribou, left, and five-month old Landyn Violette of Van Buren model their new hats purchased from a Made in Maine vendor at the Fall and Winter Expo. With them are their moms, Cassandra Martin and Veronica Violette.
