It has been a busy and glorious summer here in Aroostook County. Every community has great events put on by energetic and good people. Here in the Caribou area, we have had Thursdays on Sweden and recently celebrated Caribou Cares About Kids. The latter was a very good success and the former continues to amaze as one of the best things that have happened around here in a long time.
While most of the country will get to bask in summer for another month, the air changes here and warm, warm days are farther between and each day loses a little daylight. What I am saying is that autumn comes early and the trick is to enjoy each day and anticipate days filled with bright, natural colors and harvest.
To that end, Thursdays on Sweden will celebrate its last hurrah this week with Family and Friends Night. The weather forecast looks to be delightful and hopefully, that holds up so we can have one last go-round on the street. One of northern Maine’s favorite bands, French Toast, will be musical act and just the thought of French Toast with fried dough sounds mighty good right about now. I’ll see you on Sweden Street this week!
In a little over a month, we will have another celebration similar to O.P. Pierson Days last year. The dates are September 26 and 27. Details will be forthcoming in future weeks. So mark it on your calendar and stay tuned.
I understand that several seats may be open on the Caribou City Council this coming Election Day. Please consider if this would be a great way to serve your community. It is an almost impossible job, so wisdom and patience are needed. Think about it.
Speaking of the City Council, that brings me to another Did You Know:
Did you know that the Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce can and should be a voice for the business climate here in the area? Call it a lobbyist if you will. Since I started this position, I have missed only three City Council meetings. Most of the time I sit and observe but there has been the occasion where the Chamber needs to represent our members and I have done so.
The Chamber also advocates for businesses in other ways. Here is one of two examples:
I was speaking with a member on a visit and the then sign ordinance was brought up as highly restrictive to area business. It turns out that the ordinance was fairly ancient and was instituted back in the Loring Air Force Base days to prevent the community from becoming this glaring neon sign. Understandable. But, now obsolete.
I took the concerns, which I found out were shared by several of the Chamber’s members to city leadership. It became an agenda item for the Planning Board where a new sign ordinance was written to replace the old one. The ordinance went from nine pages to four.
Since the City Council voted in favor of the revised ordinance, lovely new signs have popped up all over town adding to the business climate without being unsightly.
After speaking with another member, he was planning on expanding his facility but was scared to death because of some nightmares he experienced the last time he tried did so. I brought those concerns directly to the City Manager and to his credit, his answer was to tell the member to contact him directly when he was ready to get started so they could all meet and iron out everything ahead of time and not cause costly delays.
Since then, the city has been working harder to streamline the way things are approved so that projects can go more smoothly. To the city’s credit, communication is much more open and interested in helping local businesses.
This might seem like support for a special interest and our members are my very most special interest. But if you have been following along, our members employ over 2,000 local citizens and so their interests touch everyone.
I received a box of the new 2015 Aroostook Tourist Guide this week. It is very attractive and looks very nice. These go out in all information packets, so they are welcomed.
Have a great week!
Executive Director William Tasker may be reached in the CACC office at 498-6156 or email him at cacc@cariboumaine.net.
