HOULTON, Maine — These days, it would be easy for one to get sucked into the doom and gloom mentality, given the current state with the COVID-19 pandemic.
That is precisely why a group of volunteers decided to brighten people’s spirits by adding a collection of red, white and blue lights to the large fir tree at Riverfront Park.
“I had read some articles about Christmas tree lights being put on trees in the southern part of the state, and it got me thinking, ‘Why can’t we do something like that here?’,” Jane Torres, executive director for the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce, said. “We have a beautiful tree in that park, which people absolutely loved during the Christmas season, so I thought it would be nice to do something there.”
Torres reached out to one of her colleagues, Raymond Jay, who operates a tree service business, and the two decided that instead of simply putting the Christmas lights back on, why not do something more patriotic?
Agri-Cal/Haymart, a Houlton and Patten-based business, donated money for the purchase of the red, white and blue bulbs and the town of Houlton signed off on using the electricity at the site.
“We wanted to give people a little bit of happiness during these dark times,” Torres said. “We chose red, white and blue, because this is a very patriotic community. And at this point, we really need to feel like we are all in this together.”
