HOULTON, Maine – The owners of one of Maine’s few remaining family owned dairies were honored on Saturday night during the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce Gala at the Elks Lodge on Main Street.
Alice and Leonard Lincoln, who own Houlton Farms Dairy with their children, received the Chamber’s Lifetime Achievement Award for their long standing commitment to quality and the community.
“They give the community great press every season and have contributed to the wellbeing of every man, woman and child with their products,” said chamber board member Lori Weston during the presentation. “They bring tourists into town and the work ethic of Alice and Leonard Lincoln is exceptional.”
The Lincolns’ nationally known dairy processing facility sits at the end of a downtown Houlton street where some of the nation’s best butter and ice cream are produced. So famous is the Lincolns’ butter that purchases are capped at one per person and ice cream lovers have been known to travel from other states for their warm weather delicacy.
In addition to butter and ice cream, the dairy produces milk, cream, sour cream, buttermilk and their much sought after lemonade.
The dairy has three dairy bars located in Houlton on Military Street, Presque Isle on Main Street and on Bennett Drive in Caribou.
Each year, for more than 30 years, the chamber combines its annual membership meeting with a fundraising gala and community awards ceremony. And for 14 of those years, chamber executive director Jane Torres, other board members and volunteers have been cooking the gala dinner on their own.
This year’s menu included chicken, pork loin, mashed potatoes, vegetables and strawberry shortcake for 125 members.
The funds raised at the gala go right back into the community for the chamber’s 14 town events including Potato Feast Day and Midnight Madness among others. It’s a good year when the chamber uses all of its money to do good for the town, Torres said.
Of course there was talk about the eclipse during the gala event as planners said that the media coverage has already totaled more than 20 stories about Houlton and its prominent spot for the April 8 total solar eclipse.
“The media coverage has been worth millions of dollars,” said Eclipse Attraction Committee Chairman Chris Anderson. “We can’t pay for the value of what the media has done.”
Cooks on Maine and owner Cara Weaver was honored as the Business of the Year for her unwavering innovation and community support.
Weaver is an artisan who creates cutting boards and other kitchen items and after selling her creations on the road throughout the state, she opened Cooks on Maine in downtown Houlton.
“She is a force. She had me at kitchen store,” said Torres. “She is truly a gift. Cooks on Maine quickly became a destination in our town.”
Torres said Weaver is giving, gifted and sharing of her talents.
“Cara has a natural exuberance and is a perfect candidate for Business of the Year, ” she said.
Weaver said when she first heard that she was being honored for her business achievements, she thought Torres was kidding.
“I just wanted something different in town,” she said. “Our town is coming back and it’s great. Thank you.”
The Carleton Project, a private, state licensed not-for-profit Houlton alternative high school, was given the Above and Beyond Award.
“Every once in a while there’s an organization or a person that just does something very special,” Torres said. “Civics is not taught in school anymore and that’s something they excel at; they are teaching the kids to be part of the community while at the same time teaching them to go out and get a paycheck and explore other things.“
According to Torres, the Carleton Project goes above and beyond just by being the kind of school they are and the students are out in the community doing something at every town event. Whether it’s providing hot chocolate and popcorn for the Annual Holiday Parade, planting flowers in the downtown or helping set-up town events, they are a part of things, she said.
And for the chamber gala, students from Carleton lugged stacks of heavy chairs and other equipment up the Elks Lodge historic steps to an upper floor ballroom.
“We are so pleased and proud to accept this award,” school therapist Carol Westerdahl said during their acceptance. “We are very grateful to be recognized for this.”
Westerdahl said all the credit goes to executive director Lilly Haggerty.
“She has done a phenomenal job this year, our kids have been out in the community all the time and they are just growing in leaps and bounds,” she said. “And I can’t believe the difference you folks in the community make for these kids. The confidence. The ability to see you on the street and talk to you feeling like they are absolutely a part of Houlton, Maine.”
Pediatric nurse practitioner Dayna Lincoln, owner of Magnolia Aesthetic Med Spa, was honored with The Young Entrepreneur Award.
Lincoln said Saturday was her first chamber dinner and she could never have imagined herself being honored in this way.
She saw a need in the community to help people feel well and investing in the adults in the community will trickle down to generations to come.
Cecilia Rhoda was presented with the Chamber’s first volunteer of the year award for her countless hours of volunteering in Houlton.
“First of all it’s just been a joy working with this team,” Rhoda said. “I think the most important thing I have gathered is working with the amazing young people we have in our community. It gives you so much hope. These young people gave so much of their time and they are so much fun to work with and they don’t make me feel old.”
Rhoda, who is heading the Houlton Ambassadors for the upcoming April 8 total eclipse of the sun, also let the chamber members know that the eclipse headquarters will be right downtown.
“This will be the hub of the eclipse,” she said.
This story was updated to correct the spelling of Cecilia Rhoda and Lori Weston’s names. It was also amended to clarify that Houlton Farms is a dairy processing facility and the Carleton Project is a private school.
