A special holiday homecoming
BUG GUTS & BEAUTY
By Orpheus Allison
Ellis Paul came to the Turner Library on a pleasant November night. November is a month of remembering. The harvest is done, the trees are bare and the snow and cold have not really gotten started. Winter is still in its infancy. It is a time when darkness comes early and the stars have plenty of time to play in the sky.
Growing up with the Library was an experience. Andrew Carnegie is today considered one of the builders of libraries across the United States. Carnegie valued libraries for what they offered in future hope.
At a time when industrialists appeared to have taken over the country buying up major industries and trying to control events and people in the same manner as manufacturing goods, Carnegie was unique. He valued education and saw it as a way of increasing a person’s worth. With his vast fortune, think of Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg today, he set up trusts and funds to build public libraries around this country.
At the time a library was considered sacred space. Going to it was the same as going to church. One was to be quiet, respectful, and speak in very soft tones. People were reading! Presque Isle’s library exemplified this.
But on this Saturday night in the month of November a few patrons and a bunch of kids were given a treat: Ellis Paul in performance! Those who remember him through his high school years know him for his running ability. Given the venue, Paul ran with the moment and had kids from 6 to 86 enthralled with stories and songs from his songbook. Dropping broad hints as to his love for his hometown, Ellis Paul came home to The County for a few short moments.
A joy to watch as he brought up a variety of youngsters to help sing the songs and importantly stopped singing to let the youngsters carry the tune; only providing a bit of music to underscore the effort. At times it was tough to tell who was entertaining whom.
Other moments of delight came as he read from his latest kids book about the Christmas lights going out because there were too many. The audience absorbed and responded with affection. And yet, as joyful as the evening was, a larger question emerged. When will his community recognize his accomplishments.
Dropping broad hints that he would like to put on a week-long program for students in the schools raised some of the same homesick questions heard from those who have left The County. Can I come home? It seems that the answer lies in our part of the court now. The local university, community college, and school system could build on this loyalty and bring our stars home.
Not much at all but certainly worth the effort when we are struggling to compete with other communities for possibilities. There are plenty of Presque Isle’s best and brightest who have walked across the stages of the world and brought our sensibilities to the rest of the world. We are setting the example and it is high time that we prove the strength of our words.
Let us start honoring those students who have succeeded by bringing them home to share their humor and optimism about what tomorrow offers. Let’s have programs where these graduates are honored for what they have done to make the world a better place.
The Turner Memorial Library has done its job, pointing to a proud citizen of Aroostook. Now it’s time for the schools to accept the challenge and bring our students home.
Orpheus Allison is a photojournalist living in The County. He began his journalism career at WAGM television later working in many different areas of the US. After twenty years of television he changed careers and taught in China and Korea. Graduating from UMPI he earned a master of liberal arts degree from the University of North Carolina.
