Year in review 2015: Part II
2015 was a big one for Presque Isle’s new community center as construction got underway. Here are some highlights of what happened during the second half of 2015.
July
Voters in SAD 45 weighed in on the proposed 2015-16 budget during a lengthy meeting and eventually agreed to cut $60,000 from the proposed $4.37 million spending package.
The collective dream of many in the Star City finally took root as the first shovels of earth were turned for the new Presque Isle Community Center.
SAD 45 Superintendent Ed Buckley stepped down and Dr. Elizabeth Ervin took his place.
The Presque Isle City Council appointed Martin Puckett as the new city manager during their regular meeting. He replaced Jim Bennett, who had served the city since 2010.
Placing her hand on the weather-beaten summit sign on Baxter Peak, Jacquelyn Lowman of Crouseville became what may be the first paraplegic to reach the top of Katahdin, Maine’s tallest mountain, on Tuesday, July 14.
Boldly going from Houlton to Presque Isle, more than 60 runners made the 40-mile trek by planet hopping through the Maine Solar System Model to celebrate NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto.
August
The highly anticipated construction on Main Street began and work crews from Lane’s Construction set up work zones on the Chapman and Academy street end of Main Street.
In the first of what could be many meetings on the local level Republican Congressman Bruce Poliquin sat down with Aroostook County municipal leaders at NMCC and listened to his constituents’ needs and concerns.
Authorities investigated two suspicious fires that damaged a supply shed and destroyed a storage building on separate nights at a mobile home park in Presque Isle.
Fourteen hot air balloons flew over the northern skies as part of the kick-off of the 12th annual Crown of Maine Balloon Fest.
Presque Isle High School students got acquainted with new iPads.
September
As the nation observed the 14th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the town of Ashland honored the fallen heroes by dedicating the community’s newly erected 9/11 Memorial.
For residents who don’t have a yard or land, the new Presque Isle community garden opened up a new opportunity to access the rewards of tending flowers, herbs and vegetables.
October
Five hundred people from near and far came to Mars Hill to celebrate the Maine craft beer frontier. More than 30 beers, ciders and wines from 15 Maine and New England breweries were on tap under the heated and packed tents at the Aroostook County Brew Fest, at the base of Mars Hill Mountain.
With a new tribal center opening in 2016, the Aroostook Band of Micmacs hoped to reconnect youth and elders, and begin work in new areas. Members of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs and representatives from the federal government celebrated the start of construction on the tribe’s wellness center, located on the tribe’s existing 24.6-acre complex adjacent to the Northern Maine Community College campus.
November
With the World Cup returning to County in February, the Nordic Heritage Sport Club updated the County with its plans to host the eighth round of the International Biathlon Union World Cup, the only U.S. stop of the international biathlon competition.
A local man received a special honor on Veterans Day when he was presented with the Purple Heart for meritorious and courageous service in the Korean War. In that conflict, Cpl. Joseph Norman O’Clair, now 84 and known by most as “Norman,” was wounded in the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge. He was the guest of honor on Nov. 11 at a special ceremony held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9699 in Ashland.
Presque Isle Middle School teacher Bill Guerrette was the recipient of a state education award, thanks to some secretive behavior by his peers.
December
The Aroostook Medical Center spent $1.5 million on a new positron emission tomography scanner as part of an effort to offer comprehensive cancer treatment in the region.
Presque Isle’s approved 2016 budget, totaling $11,268,547, was 6.6 percent larger than the 2015 budget, mostly due to the $525,000 anticipated payment for the community center’s financing.
The Presque Isle Rotary Auction was deemed a great success, raising more than $92,000 for community projects and doubling its fund-raising goal for the Quoggy Jo Ski Center.
