Special to the Pioneer Times
HOULTON – For months, the Houlton public works department has been dumping load after load of snow in the vacant lot on Hillview Avenue.
Contributed photo
LOADS OF SNOW — For months, the town of Houlton public works department has been moving snow off of the streets and into a growing mountain in a vacant lot on Hillview Avenue, across from Aroostook Milling.
After a winter of epic proportions – even by Aroostook County standards – the snow, particularly the now-infamous Hillview snow dump, have shown little signs of going away peacefully and quietly even after Easter Sunday, the first day of spring and even into April. Murmurings of ‘just when will the snow go?’ have inspired a “guess the day” contest co-sponsored by the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce and the town of Houlton.
“We’re doing this for fun. The winter has been long; everybody’s ready for it to be over. Let’s at least take all the grief we’ve had from the snow and have a little fun with it,” said Town Manager Doug Hazlett, “You have to laugh at it, because there’s nothing else you can do about it.”
The initial deadline for submitting guesses was the end of March, but has been extended to April 15.
A team of “esteemed judges” (a member of the town council, the chamber of commerce and the public works department) will be assigned to keep a close watch on the giant snow pile and will have the final authority on precisely when the snow pile is officially disintegrated.
The day on which all three esteemed judges can conclusively agree, “that is not snow,” will be the officially winning day. If multiple people guess the same day, everyone who picked the winning date will be placed into a drawing and the winner will be chosen at random (if only one person has guessed the date, they’re automatically deemed the winner). The winner will receive a set of barbecue utensils and a gift certificate to a grocery store of their choice – so they can have hotdogs and hamburgers with (officially) no snow on the ground.
Thus far, the earliest guess is April 30, and the latest guess is October 9 – although some have guessed that the snow pile will persist until next year. Guesses can be submitted either at the town office or the chamber of commerce.
Lori Weston, executive director of the chamber of commerce had another suggestion.
“We could become a national sensation if at five bucks a ride we have people slide down it on July 4,” Weston laughed.
Contributed photo
WHEN WILL IT GO? — The town of Houlton and Great Houlton Chamber of Commerce are sponsoring a contest to guess when the snow mountain will disappear.
