Editor’s Note: The following is the first of two articles highlighting some of the top news stories from 2020. This article highlights events from January to June. The second installment will appear in the Jan. 6 issue.
For better or for worse, 2020 will likely be remembered among citizens of southern Aroostook County for a long time. In a year that saw the nation affected by the worst pandemic in a century (and a subsequent economic downturn), protests against racial injustice, and a historic presidential election, 2020 deeply affected the lives of nearly everyone.
January
The year 2020 started off explosively, with firefighters having to extinguish a fire at Houlton’s Summit Academy after the school’s computer room overheated. The fire closed the school down after just three months of operation. The students were relocated to the Military Street Baptist Church.
Hundreds gathered for the inaugural “Heartbeats and Handlebars” snowmobile racing event in commemoration of Simon Cyr, a young boy who died of complications from a congenital heart defect. It was the first race in what is a series of races around the state, with sledders competing for cash prizes. Featuring a half-mile endurance course, the track featured lots of turns and inclines to challenge snowmobilers.
Cody Woods, a graduate of Houlton High School who attended the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, was one of 14 students selected to receive the 2019 Alva S. Appleby Scholarship from the Maine Dental Association Charitable Foundation. Each of the students was awarded $3,500. To be considered for the annual Appleby Scholarship, a student must be from the state of Maine, have completed their first year of dental school, and be currently enrolled in a dental school accredited by the American Dental Association.
Local Hodgdon seamstresses helped make pillowcases for children who were battling cancer. For the past six years, members of the Hodgdon United Methodist Church have put their sewing skills to the test to create pillowcases for “Ryan’s Case for Smiles,” a non-profit organization whose mission is to decorate hospital rooms of children who are fighting cancer.
Morris the Moose leads children in the “snow dance” event during Houlton’s 24th annual Moosestompers winter carnival. (Joseph Cyr | Houlton Pioneer Times)
February
February began with the 24th annual Moosestompers winter carnival, with mild temperatures attracting a larger than average crowd. Snowsled rides, hayrides, ice skating and cross country skiing were popular attractions for young and old alike. All of the events in the park were free to the community. Volunteers with Vital Pathways, a non-profit group that develops and supports healthy communities in northern Maine, were on hand to pass out free coffee and hand warmers to people this year.
An East Grand School teacher was awarded the Maine Environmental Educator award. Tammi Matula, a pre-kindergarten to grade 12 physical education/Health/Outdoor Education educator at East Grand School, was named the Maine Environmental Education Association 2019 Eberhard Theile Environmental Educator Award winner. Matula spent the past 10 years in the East Grand school system, working alongside Dave Conley to create the outdoor education program for students.
RSU 50 pulled out of a plan to create a regional high school in southern Aroostook. The school board unanimously voted Feb. 10 to withdraw from a plan that would have combined Houlton, Hodgdon and Southern Aroostook, as well as the Region Two Career and Technical Education Center, into one regional high school. This move came just a few short weeks after the Maine Department of Education re-approved the consolidation project following the departure of SAD 14 East Grand of Danforth.
Houlton resident Stephen Nelson was appointed by Governor Janet Mills to the Aroostook County Superior Court. Nelson primarily presided over criminal cases for Aroostook County at both the Caribou and Houlton superior courts. The remainder of this caseload included civil lawsuits involving personal injury claims, medical malpractice, contract disputes and real estate and foreclosure.
Island Falls held its Winterfest weekend, hosting snow-themed games for children. The “Snowman Showcase” once again brought smiles to adults and children. The Snowman photo booth proved to be a popular attraction. Taking home top honors in the Snowman Showcase contest were first place, Vacationland Estates; second place, Island Falls Library; and third place, G.R. Porter’s.
Longtime Houlton paramedic Mike Cummings retired after more than 40 years of service. The town hosted a retirement party for him Friday, Feb. 28, at the town’s fire department, with a steady stream of well-wishers stopping by to visit. Cummings got his start in the business when Morris Blanchette and Clyde Hiltz were sitting in a local coffee shop one day and asked him if he was interested in driving an ambulance. He was still in high school, but began working with the department.
Houlton resident Kristal Martin casts her ballot during the Super Tuesday elections in Houlton in March. (Alexander MacDougall | Houlton Pioneer Times)
March
The month of March began ordinarily, with Houlton residents turning out for Super Tuesday and state referendum elections. According to Cathy O’Leary, town clerk and deputy registrar for the town of Houlton, the flow of voters remained steady throughout the day. Residents of Houlton turned out in larger than expected numbers to vote in the Super Tuesday election at the Gentle Memorial Building as well as to vote on the special referendum election on Question 1 regarding Maine’s new immunization law.
Houlton’s Riverfront Committee announced they were disbanding after more than 20 years. The move comes following the advice of its chairman and founder, Bob Anderson, who announced his resignation. In a letter to the town of Houlton, Anderson explained that the original task given to the committee had been completed and that his current state of health dictated that he should resign.
However, it wasn’t long before COVID-19 began to take off and turn everything upside down. Closures of schools and Houlton’s town office, among many other institutions, began to take shape, and many events found themselves being cancelled. Town Manager Marian Anderson sent out a public notice Tuesday, March 17, stating the town office had closed its doors to the public starting. Town staff were working, but no longer interacting with the public on a personal level.
Despite the closures, Cary Library took extra steps to make sure people retained access to books. Those who wished to check out a book from the library did so by either email or through telephone. The book was then disinfected by library staff and placed outside the entrance for the customer to pick up.
Southern Aroostook schools found new ways to provide meals to students. RSU 29 Superintendent Ellen Halliday ensured her district provided free meals to students in the same manner it does during the summer. Meals were available to any student 18 years old and younger for both breakfast and lunch for the duration of the school closure.
April
The harsh initial effects of COVID-19 continued when Houlton Regional Hospital logged the first official case of COVID-19 in Aroostook County. The hospital also released a list of updated guidelines for visitors to the hospital, announcing that every person entering the hospital must put on a protective mask, and that no visitors would be allowed in the emergency department or any inpatient unit, with possible exceptions for compassionate care, obstetrics and pediatric patients.
Houlton’s RSU 29 board approved its plan for remote learning to continue the school year. The board met using the teleconferencing website Zoom, with a relatively small agenda. The lone action item was to approve the continuation of the district’s remote learning plan, which was both to address the pandemic and any future school closures in the future.
Tim Tweedie was named the principal for Houlton Middle-High. For the past two years, Tweedie has served as the assistant principal for the high school. Prior to that, he was a high school social studies teacher for 12 years and department chairperson for 11 years. Tweedie replaced Jim Hodgkin as principal.
Houlton Town Council held its first remote council meeting, congregating on the video app Zoom. Previously, the town council had held closed meetings in response to the pandemic, only broadcasting them on public access cable. But it meant that anyone without access to cable was prevented from knowing the results of any meeting. With Zoom, anyone who has the Meeting ID was allowed to join in. The meeting was also broadcast on Facebook Live by the radio station WHOU.
The Aroostook Sheriff’s office helped deliver meals to the at-risk elderly. With COVID-19 confining many seniors to their homes, the local Meals on Wheels program has been busier than ever in delivering food to their doorsteps. But when one of the volunteer drivers found himself unable to deliver on Tuesday, the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office stepped up.
The Aroostook Art and Historical Museum went virtual, with tours via Youtube. They were filmed by museum president Henry Gartley using his smartphone and the iMovie app to cut it together, and featured the voice of Leigh Cummings, the curator of the museum, who explained many of the hundreds of items held there.
Sam Hiscoe (left) delivers meals from The Vault Restaurant to workers at the Houlton Regional Hospital Emergency Department. (Alexander MacDougall | Houlton Pioneer Times)
Houlton Southside After-School program teamed up with The Vault restaurant to help deliver free meals to police and health care workers. Using the money raised from its fundraiser, the program paid for and delivered food made by the restaurant to dozens of employees at the Houlton Police Department, Aroostook County Jail, Katahdin Valley Health Center and Houlton Regional Hospital.
May
With the arrival of warmer weather, and more possibilities of social distancing, people in southern Aroostook managed to obtain for themselves a small bit of normalcy. Attempts to relieve the effects COVID-19 had on local businesses continued, with a stimulus event held at J. McLaughlin Construction selling out within its first hour.
Retailers in Aroostook managed to reopen, but not without some adjustments. Many businesses had to adjust their stores to allow for social distancing and employees and customers had to wear masks. But it was the first time many of these stores had been able to operate since mid-March.
A wildfire broke out in the Island Falls area, spreading to over 200 acres of land. Multiple rangers and members of the Island Falls Fire Department, Oakfield Fire Department, and railroad staff helped fight the blaze. Two helicopters were also dispatched to the scene.
The town council debated whether or not to reopen the town’s playgrounds, after The Just for Kids playground and physical fitness gear in Community Park, the swings and seesaw at Riverfront Park as well as the basketball and tennis courts at the Houlton Recreation Department were officially closed to the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Protestors kneel to honor the memory of George Floyd at the Black Lives Matter rally in Houlton on June 13.
(Staff Photo/Alexander MacDougall)
June
The arrival of June also coincided with nationwide protests over racism and police brutality following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and Aroostook County proved to be no exception to this. After smaller protest on June 9, Houlton saw a much larger one several days later, with more than 100 people turning out and featuring speakers from across the county.
Students from southern Aroostook schools held their graduation, many which were outdoors and socially distanced, such as in Southern Aroostook, Houlton and Hodgdon. For Houlton, the graduation ceremony was held in the hangar of Houlton International Airport.
June also saw the sudden passing of Houlton councilor Jim Bell. Bell, known by many as the kind and soft-spoken owner and proprietor of Wired Cafe in downtown Houlton, returned to the Houlton area after working for many years in the greater Boston region.
At Houlton Regional Hospital, Shawn Anderson was officially appointed as CEO, after overseeing much of the hospital’s operations in the past several months, including through the COVID-19 pandemic. Anderson took over from the previous CEO, Tom Moakler, who hired Anderson to be director of operations at HRH in 2018, with plans to eventually succeed Moakler following his retirement.
