By Natalie De La Garza
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Community announcement banners will fly a little straighter around the city this year, thanks to a collaboration between the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department and the Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce.
Caribou has a number of signposts along highly travelled routes for community members and organizations to hang event banners on, but until recently, it looked like they’d seen a few too many winters.
“The complaints were that they’re not straight and they didn’t look good,” explained Superintendent of the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department Gary Marquis. “Those were my complaints as well.”
The signposts are frequently adorned with banners advertising car shows, family reunions, class reunions, and they’re used by the city as well to promote events, and thanks to the two-department collaboration, the signs have been flying straight and level. The Caribou Chamber paid for materials while Parks and Rec provided the installation, and the small project has had an aesthetic impact for the community — plus they’re pretty durable for long-term use.
“I just thought it would be nice to put some nice new posts up that looked good and straight, and that everybody could use,” Marquis said.
He installed three brand-new posts above the Lyndon Square lot, two at the intersection of Sweden Street and Hatch Drive, and two more at the intersection of Fort Street and U.S Route 1.
The fact that there’s still a demand for event signage, Marquis noted, is a good indication that even in the digital age, folks around the city still like to come together for community events.
Two upcoming community events are the Caribou Adventure Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 20 and Caribou Heritage Day on Saturday, Sept 27.
“Caribou Heritage Day is similar to last year’s O.P Pierson Day, and this year we’re featuring the family of Alexander Cochran,” Marquis outlined.
In additional to new poles for banners, Marquis did confirm that there are plans for new parking lot signs and new park signs in the near future. Working with a local company, Marquis explained that the new placards will resemble the “Welome to Caribou” signs.
Though the signpost collaboration was accomplished working with the Chamber, Parks and Rec will be partnering with the Highway Department on the future signage project.
As both projects have very tight budgets, Marquis explained that the city will cut their own signs utilizing free aluminum.
