HOULTON, Maine — It was another night to remember as an estimated 5,000 people crammed into downtown Houlton Thursday for the annual “Midnight Madness” celebration.
“Midnight Madness exceeded our expectations again this year,” said Jane Torres, executive director for the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce. “Given the unsettled weather all around Houlton, we were incredibly lucky that the storms passed us by and the rain held off until 11:30 p.m.”
Setup for this year’s event started around noon and by early afternoon, many individuals were showing up to beat the rush.
Torres said there were more food vendors to be found downtown this year than in years past, with all of them reporting strong sales throughout the evening. The Haiti Mission group that sold pulled pork sandwiches said that they sold three times what they expected and the chamber sold out of its strawberry shortcake.
“The Miracle Mile Race for a Cure brought some great energy to the event, Torres added. (See sports for a story and photos). “Of course McGill’s Community Band did its usual outstanding job. Tim the Tuneman entertained the kids with music and games. It seems like there were a lot more kids than there were last year. Teddy Bither … always a crowd pleaser! At one point it was hard to move through the Square because there were so many people standing around the stage.”
Torres also singled out Cameron “Circus Cam” Clark for agreeing to once again entertain with his impressive juggling and unicycle skills.
“The fireworks went off a little earlier than planned due to a glitch in paperwork, but I thought they were spectacular,” Torres added. “I would say that a great time was had by all!”
