Houlton businesses celebrate 2008 Midnight Madness

Jennifer Ruth  , Special to The County
17 years ago

HOULTON, Maine — Downtown Houlton was swarming with people over the last few days. On Thursday, July 3, the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce hosted another Midnight Madness event and officials are calling the event a “huge success.”
    Businesses, as well as a number of shoppers jumped at the opportunity to re-live the 1970s by dressing up and decorating storefronts in the spirit of this year’s theme. Nine businesses took part in the Chamber’s decorating contest and out of those nine, two winners tied for first place: County Girl Fitness and Marden’s.
Lori Weston, executive director for the Chamber said the feedback she’s been getting has been positive and she’s pleased that everyone had a great time and businesses were able to enjoy the steady business boom throughout the evening.
“I think what was the best part of Midnight Madness this year were the stores that participated in the theme of the ‘70s,” said Weston. “Wal-Mart employees were dressed appropriately for that, as were Marden’s, and Hollywood Pet Salon got right into it — their store window was dressed for the ‘70s. That kind of thing just adds enthusiasm for the folks who attend this event.”
Weston said Midnight Madness is an event that people truly look forward to. Compared to last year, which was a bicentennial year for Houlton, the number of people attending the event was great.
“I’ve heard from several of the business owners and they did extremely well,” said Weston. “There are shoppers, who every year, wait for Midnight Madness to get a better deal or to even begin their Christmas shopping before the Christmas season. It’s routinely a really good evening and day for area businesses and this proved to be true again.
“I’d say there was well over 2,500, which is pretty good,” she added.
This is the second Midnight Madness event that Weston has worked on and she said last year brought a bit of a larger crowd and that was because all summer was packed with bicentennial-related activities, and she said this was a good year to judge on how most years will go from here on.
“Last summer, people came back to Houlton to celebrate the bicentennial, so I think the crowds were a bit larger last year because of that,” she explained. “But this year isn’t that far behind, which really is a good statement for Houlton because people really do come home for the 4th of July in Houlton.”
Weston said the evening kicked off with McGill’s Band in Monument Park and Tim “the tune man” Humphrey in Market Square. With the two combined, people were drawn to the entertainment, which brought attention to the downtown businesses and non-profits who were set up downtown as well.
“The people who set up in front of the store fronts had the permission of the owners and most of them are non-profit organizations trying to help their cause — they did extremely well and that’s always good to hear,” she said. “That’s just an added bonus and a great time for them to see so many people at one time. Initially, as the evening started off and the weather was holding well and the crowds were building, we had one sprinkle and it didn’t dampen any of the events at all.
“Everyone really had a good time,” she remarked. “The crowd, overall, was really, really good.”
Houlton Police were also taking part in the event. There were six officers patrolling the area, and other than a couple of minor scuffles, Lt. Dan Pelletier reported a calm evening for everyone.
“I think it was a success in that there was a ton of people there,” explained Pelletier. “I think people had a good time. The police were busy, there was a bit of activity that was brought to our attention and was taken care of. Overall, it was a success.”
The Chamber’s events didn’t end Thursday night either. More than 45 crafters and artisans gathered at the Monument Park on Saturday, July 5 to market their crafts. The sun shined and participants received a sizeable crowd throughout the day as well.
“The craft fair was wonderful,” said Weston. “We had an incredible number of artisans and crafters. They come from all around the state and folks do come to this craft fair looking for their favorite crafter or artisans so they can buy gifts.
“Some of the things on display were just beautiful and unique,” she added. “It was a steady crowd and a huge crowd all day long. The weather was perfect for it.”
For more information on Chamber events this summer, contact the office at 532-4216 or visit their Web site at www.greaterhoulton.com.