Graduation

Tonight was Graduation for Houlton High. Tomorrow the Hodgdon Seniors will be the last area school to recieve their diplomas. Southern Aroostook, Katahdin, Greater Houlton Christian and East Grand all finished last week. Hopefully everyone celebrates sensibly one last time, before heading out into the world.

Times have changed since, I walked through the doors of HHS for the last time. The Country has seen wars come and go. The State of Maine as a whole, has seen a big drop of in population. It has been even worse up here in Aroostook County.

At one time Houlton was a Class A school, along with Presque Isle, Fort Kent, and Caribou. Fort Fairfield and Madawaska were also fairly large schools. Not today. PI and Caribou will be the only Class B Schools left next year.

Reasons for this are many. The loss of Loring AFB gutted Limestone's schools and really hurt Presque Isle, Caribou, Fort Fairfield, and Van Buren.

The Closure of Ricker College in Houlton was the real begining of the population exedous in our area. Not just the students and the millions they left in the area each year, but the staff and their families as well left. Oh a few here and their stayed- but not enough.

Larger business losses have included Ames Dept Stores, Woolworths, Mil Mac, Houlton International, Maine Glove, and Northland Motors; just to name a few.

I could fill pages with small business that have come and gone in the last decade from Landmarks such as Bells Filling Station, to the small Mom and Pop stores like Abes, The Country Store, Gregs Store and the North Road Market.

Houlton has its good points too, but the real loss is that a large percentage of the recent graduates will be moving on. Many would like to stay- but there are few good paying jobs in the area.

Hopefully some of these graduates will find their way back to Houlton and bring with them new ideas and new opportunities that they can share with others.

The World is a big place, and just waiting to be explored; but there is No Place Like Home.

The View From My Couch

When Is Art and Eyesore??

At one time or another , everyone in Houlton has been to the top of Drakes Hill. For years, most people went to the Dairy Bar or Driving Range. A lot of people used to drive up to visit "The Fort" at the end of Garrison Street. At one time , that was the only way to get to Canada- before the Interstate was completed.

Now when people drive to the top of Drakes Hill, what everyone sees is basically "A MESS". An older gentleman with artistic talent moved in about 15 years ago. He claims to do a lot of Pop Art. He first garnered a lot of local attention when he constructed a spaceship on his roof. He claimed to do UFO and Alien Art. He made some wooden life size dinasaurs and palm trees. He was going to make a park to show his art.

However, NOTHING ever seems to get finished and he continues to carry home truckloads of materials to be used as art. He purchased the old Dales Transmission Shop and expanded his junk in that direction. Now there is at least 100 feet of Road Frontage with totem poles, wooden deer, carvings, a huge replica of the Ten Commandements, plastic toys. Christmas junk, UFO Radio signs and way too much more to mention. There are numerous cats and dogs living there as well.

This is all located within 4 feet of the edge of the road. While I won't question the artist's talent or vision; I will question how the Town can allow him to (1) be so close to the road, (2) allow the continued pile of Garbage to collect by the road, (3) and wonder what if anything can the Town do about this?

It does catch the eye, but is it an Artist Vision or a local Health Hazard?

The View From My Couch...............

Rain..Rain..Go Away !!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was once again another Wet One. The Heavens opened up again this afternoon and pretty much soaked everything. This will delay Spring Planting for the area farmers once again. It also will wreak havoc with Local High School baseball and playoff activities. It's hard enough to fit everything in with Graduation just around the corner. Houlton has theirs on Thursday and Hodgdon will follow on Friday. Maybe I will be able to canoe to Graduation this year.

Rumblings from around Town today find that traffic is back to two lanes on the North Road as they are completing work on the I-95 Overpass....Heard an ad for the Band at this years 4th of July Celebration. "Cowboy Crush" Never heard of them; but did see their picture in last weeks Pioneer Times......Wiggys Trading Post had their opening this weekend. They are across the street from Dallas Henderson and around the corner from the Photo Lab. Good to see that old building being used again.....Pizza Hut is open again after some recent remodeling..........Rumors about what will be in the New Strip Mall across from York Ford. We know there will be a Family Dollar and a Rent a Center. People keep saying Wendys. I'd like to see it too; but the way the foundations look to me, I think a Wendys won't be included there. Maybe someday, One can only hope.............time For Supper, maybe I'll post again after the Town Council Meeting this evening ( At least I think it is this week? )

The View From My Couch...

The New Walking Bridge as seen from the Parking Lot

The Foot Bridge to Nowhere

For years some folks in our Town have talked about building some type of RiverSide Park by the old Horton Lumber Company. Every few years, a group of kids spends a day "cleaning up " the banks of the river. This year however, there is a group of people who are actually trying to make this dream become a reality. They have captured eveyones attention by getting the money to construct a footbridge from the Town Parking Lot by the Temple Theater to the proposed Park.

Now the first thing that captures your attention as you drive down North Street is the new high arched bridge. Paving has been completed on both sides and it will be opened to traffic by the end of the month. Town Officials are hoping that it will attract people to Houlton, and who knows?; just maybe it will....someday.



Right now, just being a realist, the bridge goes from the parking lot by the recently closed Temple to the other side of the river. A few people will walk across it the first few weeks, but will they after that? A Bridge has to go to something and right now it doesn't. And what will it cost to develop this Riverside Park? and WHEN will it ever be developed.

Personally, if I had $800,000.00 - $1 Million Dollars to spend, I think the Town may have been better served to refurbish the old Fort on Garrison Hill. At least there was some Historical Value attached to that. There was an effort made on that about 25 years ago- but that has evaporated. The Fair Committe somehow even managed to talk the Town into moving Hanncock Barracks to Community Park to be used as a storeroom. What a shame!

This Town has lost 3000 people over the last 30-35 years. Sad. It's even more Sad when pieces of the Towns History virtually disappear, like the old POW Camp at the Airport, or the Garrison Hill Fort, or Ricker College, or the Pavillion at Nickerson Lake - where everyone seemed to go on a hot summer day.

Houlton doesn't want to look back too often, and maybe that's a good thing. Time will tell. They have a State Firemans Convention around the Corner this Fall. Maybe the Fireman can use the new Footbridge as peart of their Parade Route/

That's The View From My Couch

Here I Go Again

Living in the Far North , in a small Town called Houlton, Maine; I view the World from my Couch. This blog will share my views with you.

To start the ball rolling, lets talk about the New Cutting Egde Skate Park that opened yesterday in Community Park. At first glance, it seems rather small and poorly located. I can't wait for the first foul ball from the baseball field to hit some kid in the head on their skateboard. You just know it will happen.

The first few days have seen the skate park utilized, but how long do you think that small area will hold their interests. I'm betting when I drive through Town next week, that I will see some kid on his board in the Ampitheather.

That's the View from My Couch.