Thunderstorm does little to dampen community event
CARIBOU — The unique vendors and entertainment of Sweden Street’s biweekly event were all moved to the Caribou Wellness Center last Thursday due to a severe storm.
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Aroostook Republican photo/Christopher Bouchard Shirley Leavitt sells a variety of homemade wooden crafts during the July 14 Thursdays on Sweden event, held in the Wellness Center because of severe storm warnings. |
The sudden relocation did little to stifle the local event’s momentum, as the turnout was still relatively high. Nearly all of the event’s regular vendors and attendants made their way to the Wellness Center before the storm eventually hit around 6:45 p.m.
Many vendors, such as Shirley Leavitt, sold handmade arts and crafts.
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Aroostook Republican photo/Christopher Bouchard Dominic and The Lucid, a Portland based band with St. John Valley Roots, provided music for the July 14 Thursdays on Sweden event, which was moved to the Wellness Center due to heavy rain. |
“I’ve been doing crafts every day for about five years,” said Leavitt, who stood behind a table covered with a variety of hand-painted, wooden crafts.”
Leavitt says she had always liked to draw, and picked up crafting on her own. Aside from Thursdays, which she has been attending for the past two years, Leavitt’s crafts are also available through Wreaths by Natalie and Gifts Galore.
Though this is her first time having to relocate to the Wellness Center, Leavitt’s booth still saw a good amount of traffic.
“I get a lot of ideas in my head and I just go from there,” Leavitt said, noting that her owl and star crafts “are usually good sellers.”
While the concepts are mainly impromptu, the creation is a careful and labored process, with Leavitt painting designs on the wood and her husband cutting it based on her outlines.
“I am very particular and, usually take a long time because I try to do my best,” said Leavitt. “I get up in the morning and will craft until 10 or 11 at night. I have my own little room with the TV. It’s very rewarding.”
When entering the building, the first thing visitors saw was a booth set up by the Caribou Church of Christ, offering free literature and information about their local organization.
Keith Book, an elder and minister at the church, sat at the table with his wife Martha Jane and daughter Rebecca.
“We want to let people know we’re here for the community to spiritually serve in any way we can,” Book said, adding that their church has been in Caribou for 60 years.
“A lot of people see our building (located on 104 Bennett Drive between Houlton Farms Dairy and Rite-Aid) and think it’s been deserted, or that it’s just a warehouse.”
According to Book, the Caribou Church of Christ has been involved with Thursdays on Sweden ever since the event started, and they try to make every single event.
“We’ve had three families come to our church fellowship because of this, so people are seeing that we’re here and it’s working,” said Book. “We want to go where the people are instead of expecting them to come where we are.”
