CARIBOU, Maine — A handful of Caribou residents are coming together to help improve the city of Caribou.
The community collective, consisting mostly of people with prior municipal experience, is operating under the name “The Glass is Half Full,” coined by member Dave Corriveau, who has experience serving as a member of the planning board, zoning board, Chamber of Commerce Director, City Councilor and mayor.
Corriveau said the name suits the task force’s goal of bringing optimism to the country’s most northeastern city and brainstorming ideas for improvement.
Formed in April, the group meets on the first Tuesday of every month at the Caribou Rec Center, and has so far held two meetings.
Members would like to see momentum build during the monthly gatherings and eventually assign community members to one of four teams, each focusing on one aspect of community development.
The four categories are tourism, agriculture, school involvement, and business incubation. TGIHF members say agriculture has received the most attention, and that Caribou is the perfect place for farmers to try growing different crops and expand their business. Their ideas have included growing barley and hops for craft beer, utilizing industrial hemp, exporting root vegetables, greens, silage and animal feed.
TGIHF member Sandra Huck, who has experience on City Council and the Nylander museum board, said she’d like to help younger farmers maintaining family businesses research additional agricultural opportunities and inspire new ideas.
Group members also believe the airport and riverfront could become future resources.
Ken Murchison, who served on City Council for 13 years, three as mayor, as well as the Economic Development and Growth Council and Chamber of Commerce, said Caribou’s river has great potential.
“Every community in state of Maine celebrates their river,” said Murchison. “We have a river running through Caribou and it’s another asset we can help develop.”
Corriveau suggested adding a lodge to the City could boost winter tourism.
“We could have a big lodge with maybe 30 rooms where people could come with their wife and kids as a destination attraction,” Corriveau said. “It wouldn’t just be guys coming with sleds and $10,000 in their pockets, they could bring mom and the kids and spend $20,000 in the area.”
While Corriveau acknowledged that a project of this scope would not be cheap, he said it could be achieved by partnering with others in the community.
Corriveau, Huck and Murchison said the group’s mission is to respond to negativity within the community by getting together and doing something about it.
Huck moved to Caribou in 1978 when Loring Air Force Base, a significant economic driver for the region, was still open. She has seen Caribou at its best and worst, and has been “discouraged by the negative atmosphere in the community lately.”
“I don’t like the negative vibes that I hear and feel,” Corriveau added. “We are going to do something about it — no ifs, ands, or buts. I have grandkids who could have a nice life in this community if we do the right thing.”
Huck and Corriveau said they did not want to elaborate on any specific experiences related to pessimism in the community, instead focusing on what could be done to make Caribou a better place to live and work.
“My hope is that, through community involvement, this group will provide us with the leadership needed to get back on track with economic development,” Murchison said, “something that has been missing since we no longer have a Chamber of Commerce or Downtown Revitalization Committee. People are looking for direction and maybe, as a group, we can provide that.”
Huck said younger residents have come to the meetings, and the group wants to hear their ideas for the city.
