• The Caribou City Council began 2009 with the first meeting of the new year held on Jan. 2. At that time newly elected council members MaryKate Barbosa, Christopher Bell and Mark Goughan were sworn into their respective council seats by City Clerk Judy Corrow. The new council’s first item of business was completed when they elected Councilman Kenneth Murchison as Chairperson/Mayor for the 2009 panel. • Westmanland and Stockholm residents attended a public hearing to gain more information regarding the School Reorganization Plan.
• Area snowmobilers were informed of several new trail changes by Kathy Mazzuchelli, superintendent of the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department.
• The Caribou City Council voted to back the school consolidation plan.
• Members of the Woodland Board of Education unanimously voted “no” in regard to participating in the RSU plan.
• Members of the Limestone Community School met to discuss LCS options regarding the mandatory school consolidation plan.
• The Bread of Life Soup Kitchen received more than $600 from Vermont middle school students, who spearheaded a fund-raiser for a soup kitchen in a town that they had never been to. The students’ classroom instructor was Caribou native Lucas Peterson.
• Olivia Marie Canwell, daughter of Sara Canwell and James Carrero born on Jan. 14, 2009 was Cary Medical Center’s 2009 New Year’s Baby.
• The Caribou Rotary Club committing to purchase 75 trees to be planted throughout Caribou proper, was among the first events commemorating the city’s 150th birthday. Caribou’s Sesquicentennial Celebration Committee was gearing up to unwrap a number of solitary opening events.
• Limestone Selectpeople approved a Fleet Safety Program through their current auto insurance company pending questions about the impact the program would have on town employees who take vehicles home after hours.
• The Caribou Children’s Discovery Museum Campaign Fund received a $10,000 boost from the TD Banknorth Charitable Foundation.
• Thirteen area youth made the transition from the County Patriot Young Marines recruits to Young Marines during a graduation ceremony held Jan. 24.
• For the first time Aroostook Idol, the popular county-wide vocal competition held private auditions for prospective participants.
• Twenty-five Caribou firefighters battled a house fire on the Limestone Road in Caribou.
• Caribou, Limestone and Stockholm voters agreed on the School Reorganization Plan.
• Due to harsh winters and increased natural predation, the whitetail deer population of Aroostook County has dwindled. According to Jerry McLaughlin, Maine Guide, in the Madawaska Lake area deer yard, there used to be more than 100 deer but McLaughlin said he recently had found only four deer in that same yard.
• February 6, marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Darrel F. Smith, 56, of Woodland, who was discovered in his sawmill on the Thomas Road, by his wife, Barbara. The investigation is ongoing.
• Caribou High School students presented “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” onstage at the Caribou Performing Arts Center.
• At 7:30 a.m. EST a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS0) steam gauge recorded the temperature to be 50 degrees below zero on the Big Black River near Depot Mountain in northwestern Maine — an all time record.
• Caribou got ready for events such as the Keystone Kops, a Chocolate Festival and some good old Maine humor with Tim Sample.
• The Woodland Consolidated School held its 50th Winter Carnival with Chelsea Bard and Logan Sutherland, crowned the 2009 Winter Carnival King and Queen.
• The Aroostook County Commissioners unanimously voted to donate $1,000 to the Maine Acadian Heritage Council in support of the opportunity to host the 2014 World Acadian Congress.
• Sub-zero conditions giving way to warmer temperatures led the Maine Warden Service to alert outdoor enthusiasts to use caution when traveling on certain bodies of water in the area.
• Caribou’s Sesquicentennial committee was encouraging community sponsorship levels of platinum, $1,000; gold, $500; silver, $250 and bronze, $100.
• On Feb. 15, over 150 people gathered at the Caribou Health and Wellness Center, honoring 7-year-old Marissa Lloyd who one year earlier, was killed in a vehicle accident. During the gathering, Lloyd’s mother Kristin, who created the Sunshine Fund, in memory of her daughter, friends and family released red balloons, many with pictures or messages into the sky.
• Gary Cleaves was named Limestone’s 2008 Citizen of the Year.
• Fort Kent’s Pamela Cyr became the 2009 Aroostook Idol. The fifth Aroostook Idol event brought $30,000 to the United Way coffers.
•The 150th Sesquicentennial Committees from Caribou and Presque Isle co-sponsored a Celtic Celebration, a combination of authentic Irish stew and Celtic music at the Caribou Performing Arts Center.
• Jane White-Kilcollins, principal at the Hilltop Elementary School in Caribou was named Maine’s 2009 Elementary National Distinguished Principal of the Year.
• Gov. John E. Baldacci announced March 4, 2009, that he had instructed the Maine Department of Transportation to advance an Aroostook County transportation project so that construction could begin in 2010.
• Officials with Boralex Inc. announced that they had signed a two-year Power Purchase Agreement for the company’s Fort Fairfield wood-residue thermal power station with New Brunswick Power Generation Corporation.
• Brianna Gorence was named the 2009 Miss Teen Caribou; Regan Buck became the 2009 Junior Miss Caribou.
• The Caribou High School Class of 2010 held the first “Dancing Like a Star” competition.
• Mark Jones, principal at the Caribou High School announced that Victoria Wong, the daughter of John and Karin Wong, had been selected to receive the 2009 Principal’s Award, sponsored by the Maine Principals’ Association.
• During the annual Caribou Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dinner, Richard Lagasse was named Caribou’s Citizen of the Year for 2008.
• The Caribou Rehab and Nursing Center was named Business of the Year during the annual Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Recognition Night.
• Danielle Lane was crowned the 2009 Miss Caribou.
• Students from the Maine School of Science and Mathematics showcased their work to legislators at the Capitol building in Augusta.
• Members of the Caribou City Council proclaimed April 5, 2009 as Caribou’s 150th birthday.
• Sen. Olympia Snowe visited the Van Buren U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities.
• Tax Day Tea Partys organizers protested government spending.
• The Caribou City Council appointed Miles Williams to fulfill the vacancy created by the death of Councilor Robert Albert.
• Dr. Carl Flynn was named Maine’s Family Physician of the Year.
• Kyra Thibeault became the 2009 Little Miss Caribou.
• A flood warning issued by the National Weather Service was in effect April 8. The warning was issued in response to several ice jams that had caused flooding in the Aroostook River basin, threatening flooding elsewhere in the area.
• Candidates running for the new RSU Board of Education which combined Caribou, Limestone and Stockholm schools, included: Michelle Albert, George Obar III, James Pelkey Jr. and Leslie A. Pelletier all of Limestone; David Strainge, Stockholm; and Katherine Anderson, Kent. J. Forbes, Dale J. Gordon, Nancy Todd and Scott M. Willey, all seeking to represent Caribou.
• Ralph Bearce was honored by Gov. Baldacci and the Maine Health Care Association for his lifetime achievements.
• The National Weather Service in Caribou announced that the city of Caribou had become a StormReady Community.
• Caribou property evaluations were to be explained during City Council meeting, due to some residents becoming alarmed when checking out their property tax cards.
• Students from NMCC’s graduating Class of 2009, participated in “Graduation: Can Due,” an initiative to help raise $150,000 in cash and nonperishable food for the state’s food pantries.
• Three black bears found their way once again to the backyard trees on Reservoir Street.
• The Maine Dance Academy was geared up for itsr 15th anniversary performance at the Caribou Performing Arts Center.
• NMDC was awarded $1 million to cleanup and assess brownfield sites.
• Micmacs obtained 619.2 acres of trust land in Limestone and Caribou.
• Caribou’s annual City Wide Yard Sale, sponsored by the Caribou Chamber of Commerce and Industry saw bargain hunters from as far away as Massachusetts travel through the city checking out the wares.
• Forty-four mile per hour winds downed trees during a May 14 storm that affected every county in the state.
• Limestone Selectpeople voted to have the Robert A. Frost Library Expansion Project go forward.
June
• Members of the Caribou High School presented a concert in honor of the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln and the Sesquicentennial of the city of Caribou. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was guest narrator for the event.
• Sen. Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook County) of Allagash expressed concern over a decision by Irving Woodlands, LLC., to layoff all full-time employees unless the Maine Legislature overturned a collective bargaining law.
• Kathryn Olmstead one of Aroostook County’ strongest advocates for community journalism was recognized during the University of Maine’s Academic Honors convocation.
• An Ef-1 tornado tore through Eagle Lake May 24, leaving a trail of destruction roughly 3.2 miles long that averaged 100 yards wide, destroying hundreds of trees.
• The family of the late Dr. Cesar Siruno, a general surgeon at Caribou Medical Center, who died in January, honored the physician with a donation of more than $120,000 to serve as the foundation for a Stroke Education Center, which will be dedicated in the physician’s name.
• The Caribou City Council, after lengthy debate voted to hold the city’s 2009 mil rate at 24, the same as 2008.
• John Noble, of Caribou received a Congressional Sentiment recognizing the continuous support he and his wife, Joyce, have given to the Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery.
• The Board of Trustees of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone accepted the resignation of executive director Walter Warner.
• By a collective 292 “yes” votes and 107 “no” votes, area voters validated the acceptance of the Eastern RSU School Budget of $19,584,984.
• The Limestone Fire Department was awarded the prestigious SHAPE award by the State Department of Labor.
• School officials announced that the Caribou High School would go back into session on Aug. 12.
• Caribou firefighters battled a three-alarm fire at Northeast Packaging Company on Sincock Street.
• More than 350 spectators witnessed a first-ever land speed racing event held on the old runway at the former Loring Air Force Base. Sponsored by the Loring Timing Association, eighty-three races from as far away as California were among those racing on the 1.5-mile track.
• Caribou police officers arrested a 21-year-old male and charged him with burglarizing Tracy’s Gun Shop on Sweden Street.
• Members of the Caribou City Council approved a malt liquor license and special entertainment permit for Troy Haney, dba Spud Speedway, Inc.
• SSG Jesse Cote, of Caribou and SGT Steven Gagnon from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 286th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, Maine Army National Guard, instructed members from the Afghan National Army, Kandak 5 on wrecker operations at Camp Hero, Afghanistan.
• Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan announced his department would join other law enforcement agencies throughout the country in support of an intensive crackdown on impaired driving. The tagline for this program was known as: Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.
• The Loring Military Heritage Museum looked to encourage community members to visit the site via holding an open house.
• Two vehicle operators walked away from a U.S. Route 89 collision that left a 1989 Ford tractor trailer, that was hauling a full load of woodchips, break through a guardrail and travel down an estimated 65-foot embankment.
• Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development (LEAD) and the Northern Maine Development Commission gathered a group of 30 concerned rail users representing prominent industries in northern Maine — lumber, wood products, food processing, farming, etc. — and community leaders to discuss the very real possibility of the facing the abandonment of 241 miles of the Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railroad.
• Madawaska Lake( T16R4) residents were allowed to vote to official become Madawaska Lake or remain known as T16R4.
• Limestone Selectpeople set town’s mil rate at 22.
• U. S. Sens. Snowe and Collins announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) had granted $70,189 in funding the Northern Maine Development Commission for economic planning.
• Key Bank donated $5,000 to the Caribou Children’s Discovery Museum.
• The newly constructed Memorial Footbridge at the Northern Maine Veterans’ Cemetery in Caribou was dedicated in honor of John and Joyce Noble and their family.
