HOULTON, Maine — Something fishy is going on in the lobby of TD Bank in Houlton.
Thanks to a partnership with the Chiputneticook Lakes International Conservancy, a salmon tank filled with fish fry can be found in the bank’s lobby to help raise awareness for CLIC and the work it does with local schools.
CLIC was founded in 1992 and is a not-for-profit group which advocates for people living on and around the Upper St. Croix River Watershed’s five Chiputneticook Lakes: North, East Grand, Mud, Spednic and Palfrey, as well as for those on Deering Lake in Orient and Bracket Lake in Weston.
For the past 19 years, schools in southern Aroostook County have received a supply of salmon eggs. The eggs typically arrive in the classrooms around mid- to late-March and for about two months, the students care for the eggs in their classrooms.
In May, between 500 and 800 salmon are released into East Grand Lake. Anglers have success fishing in the lake thanks to the hatchery and the school project that began in 1994.
According to TD Bank employee Jessi Cox, the partnership between the two groups was to help bring greater attention to CLIC and its connection to the bank through the Affinity Membership Program. That program rewards non-profit groups by linking a customer’s account to the non-profit group. Non-profits receive $50 for every new checking account created and $10 for every existing account. Contributions are also made to the groups based on the customer’s average annual balance in their savings accounts.
“We do a lot of displays at other times of the year for other affinity members, so the timing was just perfect,” Cox said.
The salmon tank will be on display at the Houlton branch for the next few weeks, allowing customers an opportunity to watch the salmon fry grow.
For more information, on CLIC, visit them on Facebook.
