PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Free rides will be available for passengers of the Aroostook County Regional Transportation Service at the beginning of next week.
All general public rides will be free for Aroostook County residents for one day on Monday, March 18 to remember the contributions the late Mavis Towle and James “Jim” Tweedie made to the community.
The decision to offer free rides came from an annual meeting of the nonprofit’s Board of Directors to honor the memories of past ARTS board members Tweedie and Towle. Pick up locations for Monday’s schedule are in Presque Isle, Caribou, Houlton, Eagle Lake, Winterville, Wallagrass, Fort Kent, and Quimby.
“We wanted to do something to remember them and to thank them for their years of service,” said Micah Desmond, Executive Director of Aroostook Transportation.
Tweedie was a board member of Aroostook Transportation for 22 years and Towle was a board member for 30 years.
Both were big advocates for Aroostook Transportation and were instrumental in creating it. They helped get the nonprofit transportation service to where it is today, Desmond said.
Tweedie was a representative of the Aroostook Agency on Aging and was a big advocate for older and low income residents.
He served on many boards including the Maine Potato Council, Maine Potato Growers, Maine Board of Environmental Protection, Maine Turnpike Committee, and the Northern Maine Development Committee. He lived in Mars Hill where he died at the age of 95 on September 26, 2022.
Towle was a representative of the Central Aroostook Association for 50 years, and was instrumental in getting Aroostook Transportation to give people with intellectual and developmental disabilities rides to job training and adult programs.
Central Aroostook Association is a non-profit organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Towle owned a women’s clothing store called The Modern Shoppe from 1948 to 1963 and later served as office manager at the Fort Fairfield Utilities District until her retirement in 1991.
When Towle’s youngest daughter Kathryn was diagnosed with down syndrome at birth, she became an advocate for families with loved ones with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She lived in Mars Hill where she died at the age of 100.
The last free ride to be offered by Aroostook Transportation was on national Rural Transit Day last year on July 17.
There was nothing but kind words and positive feedback from past Aroostook Transportation employees who had worked with Towle and Tweedie, Desmond said.
