It has been a long, cold winter for those of us who reside in northern Maine as Old Man Winter’s icy grip has refused to let go.
Temperatures on Easter Sunday morning were a brisk minus-seven at our house and while the children were busy scampering through the home in search of eggs, I almost expected to find the Easter Bunny frozen stiff in the backyard.
As cold as Sunday was, it was topped by Monday morning’s reading of -13 here in Houlton. It could be worse, I suppose. Folks who live in Oxbow awoke to a chilly -18 degrees, while Masardis saw a low temperature of -19.
According to the National Weather Service in Caribou, Sunday’s temperature set a new record in the Shiretown for the all-time April record low, breaking a mark of -7 set on April 10, 1977. That record did not last very long, however, as Monday morning’s reading of -12 easily set the new low temp mark.
I blame myself for the cold weather. On Friday, when the weather was sunny and warm in the upper 40s, I believed winter was finally over. I put away all of the long johns, ski pants, hats and mittens into a container in the basement, thinking there was no longer any need for them.
After all, it was just two years ago when temperatures soared to the upper 50s and low 60s in some places during the first few days of April. I distinctly recall pulling out the barbecue and grilling on that first weekend.
The weekend wake-up call quickly put a squash to any thoughts of a barbecue Easter dinner. Saturday, a late-season storm reared its head and caused area roads to turn into a sloppy mess of wet, heavy snow, and I was forced to go looking for said container of hats and mittens, while the grill remained tucked sadly away.
A couple of Easter Egg hunts were Saturday despite the storm, and drew remarkably good turnouts. The Oakfield Pentecostal Church had more than 100 children show up Saturday for a hunt featuring 12,000 candy filled eggs.
In Houlton, about a dozen brave souls gathered at Houlton Middle/High School for the 6th annual Walking Like M.A.D.D/Remembering Darcie Hutchinson Walk. Road conditions were not ideal for a group of walkers to be out in the street, so event organizer Heather Campbell cut the walk shorter than usual.
Still, it was amazing to see these dedicated individuals gather outside the high school to go on a walk in near-blizzard conditions. We truly live in a remarkable community that goes above and beyond to help for a cause.
Joseph Cyr is a staff writer for the Houlton Pioneer Times. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of the newspaper. He can be reached at pioneertimes@ nepublish.com or 532-2281.
