I was much cheered reading in the Aroostook Republican last week in a great article by Lisa Wilcox that Arlen Dow had decided to upgrade the Caribou Theatres to digital despite the high cost. His decision will mean a continued presence of the movie complex downtown on Sweden Street.
One line particularly resonated: “…and after discussions with the city of Caribou about efforts that are being taken to revitalize downtown, Dow decided…closing the Caribou Theatres was really not an option.” Way to go, Caribou, and thank you, Mr. Dow. This is great news for downtown.
The Chamber’s Facebook page can be an interesting place. We are five likes away from 4,800 likes, by the way. Anyway, in a random post, someone played off of our “On the move” theme for the Caribou Cares About Kids events by saying, “Caribou is on the move to be north p. I [sic].” While such a negative comment can be chuckled off, it goes to a deeper issue that I call the basketball mentality.
Basketball is very important up here, and as such, one town or city beating another is a source of pride. But that mentality spills into everything cities and towns do around here. It is OK for sports, but in our economic, sociological and future life, all of us, no matter what municipality we live in, are in the same boat. The County poses interesting challenges and they are shared by all of us.
Should we compete for business? Well, yes, tax bases are important. But the bottom line is that a new business in our area is good for all of us. Should we compete for new home buyers moving into the area? Of course. But raising our overall population profile in The County is important no matter where it occurs.
I do not feel like I compete with the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce or the Limestone or Fort Fairfield Chambers of Commerce. We work together if we are doing this right.
All we who work for, or in, this community are interested in is making Caribou the best it can be. If that means growth, which is the only alternative to me, and that leads to comparisons, well, OK, I will take that. I will take that any day of the week.
Speaking of building a better community — and I know this is somewhat off the rails as far as what my mission with this column here is — part of being a great community is to respect each other and to respect the laws of the community. My father died when I was 10 years old as a result of a car accident. As such, I am a very careful and conscientious driver.
But that is sometimes very difficult around here. When pulling out into a road, I always wait until there is a great distance between oncoming cars. For example, when leaving the Caribou Country Club, I wait until I cannot see any cars north to the top of the hill and south below the connector intersection. If you think about it, that top of the hill to the north is a good two miles away.
I pull out and drive the speed limit or a few miles an hour above to drive back into town. Always — and I mean always — a car has caught up to me by the time I get to the section that turns 35 miles per hour. How fast do those vehicles have to be traveling to catch up to me? I am not good at that kind of math. But it has to be fast. And try driving Route 1 to Presque Isle at 58 or 59 miles per hour. Yeah, that’s fun too.
Unless there is a police car posted somewhere, the downtown is like LeMans. Speed limit signs and yield signs are not suggestions; they are laws. Let’s be good to each other.
Hey! By the time you read this, Thursdays on Sweden will be tomorrow, Aug. 22! And the weather looks pretty good in the forecast. It is Luau Night and as I promised, there is a special event happening in front of the bandstand at 7 PM. It is a surprise! And I know you will be freaked out! I cannot wait, especially since I am terrible at keeping secrets. I hope to see you all on Thursday!
Burger Boy had a car show this past Saturday. Man, those cars were slick too! I wish I took some pictures. That was a nice event, Spenser—good food and very cool scenery.
That is all for this week. I will see you on Thursday, and get ready for O.P. Pierson Weekend coming Wednesday, Sept. 25, through Saturday, Sept. 28.
Executive Director William Tasker may be reached in the CACC office at 498-6156 or e-mail him at cacc@cariboumaine.net.
