Caribou Cares About Kids is here
BUSINESS MATTERS
By William Tasker
Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce
Thursdays on Sweden has become such an amazing phenomenon. Every time it just gets more enjoyable and it is such a good feeling to see everyone come out and just groove together on the street. Never has money spent by the city had more bang for the buck!
Sitel has done a great job sponsoring the event and they are our newest Chamber members. So we are proud about that! I will share one thing personally here. While I was very, very proud to be a part of the ATX story that we built here in Caribou, I could never get the founder to reach out to the community and give back. I couldn’t even get a Little League sponsorship!
That always bothered me. And while providing great jobs, learning experiences and building an incredible customer base were all rewarding and benefited Caribou, we should have done more to the cultural side of things in a community aspect.
Sitel has no such problems and I am super impressed that they want to be a big part of the fabric of the community.
We are on our third order of Caribou bracelets that we have been selling here at the office and at TOS. They have been a big hit and I am shipping them all over the country to ex-pats. Come and get yours this coming Thursday or purchase some Houlton Farms Dairy Lemonade in our collectible Caribou cups!
Please see our ad in this same paper for Caribou Cares About Kids. We have a great schedule, some great sponsors with S.W. Collins Company and Pines Health Services that will allow us to roll our prices back on T-shirts at the Tie-Dye Extravaganza back down to just a dollar. Look for the ad for all events.
The following is my own opinion: On August 10, there will be a public hearing at the City Council meeting concerning city parking lots. I am not in favor of passage of this ordinance and here is why:
The original proposed ordinance was simply to cover the sale of one parking lot, the so called “Albair” parking lot. There is enough to debate about there but I can understand the city’s reasoning here at least. But the change to the ordinance was amended to give the City Council power to sell any city parking lot without a public hearing. That doesn’t mean the City Council will sell more at this time, but that it can without a hearing. That is my big objection.
Selling a city-owned parking lot is a big deal and a hot button issue and as such, should always require an ordinance change and a public hearing. To me, it is too important to give the City Council carte blanche on any such future decisions without greater awareness made to the public of what is at stake. I would urge the public to attend the August 10 City Council meeting.
The city of Caribou and the Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce are working tirelessly to make this year’s Caribou Cares About Kids weekend the best yet! Friday, August 7th will host a tie-dye activity and hotdog cookout, the traditional parade, a comedian, and a movie in the park! Saturday, August 8th will be a fun day in the park, with a number of inflatables, games, music, food vendors and more!
Tuesdays at the library are filled with fun! Children ages 0-5 are invited to attend the free “Little Explorers” program from 10-10:30 a.m. Enjoy stories, games, poetry, songs, and crafts!
Have a great week everyone!
Executive Director William Tasker may be reached in the CACC office at 498-6156 or email him at cacc@cariboumaine.net.
