MARS HILL NEWS
There will be a Benefit Barbecue Dinner and Silent Auction for Max Miller on Thursday, July 1 from 5 – 7 p.m. at Central Aroostook High School. Anyone that would like to donate items for the auction is asked to contact Sonja Day at 425-5301 or Joy Hewitt at 429-9823. Please mark your calendar and make plans now to attend this event in support of Max and Kathy. Above all, please keep them in your prayers.
Churches plan joint services
The United Methodist Churches in Mars Hill and Easton will be combining for services at 10 AM throughout the summer.
The schedule for the summer is: June 13-July 4 at 39 Station Road in Easton; July 11 at the Union Church, River de Chute, Ladner Road in Easton; July 18 at 39 Station Road in Easton. July 25 – Aug. 29 at 20 Main Street in Mars Hill. Starting on Sept. 5, the churches will resume their regular worship schedule of Easton UMC at 9 a.m. and Mars Hill UMC at 10:45 a.m.
It’s time for Vacation Bible School at the United Baptist Church in Mars Hill — like you’ve never experienced it before! Children age 4 through grade 5 are admitted free from July 5 to July 9 from 6-8:30 p.m.
Call Edie Jordan at 429-8859 or Pastor Mitch Ross at 429-8069 for more information.
Saddle Ridge Ranch will be an event to remember; come join in the fun!
The Mars Hill Rotary Club met on Tuesday morning, June 15 at 6:30 at the Aroostook Health Center.
The special speaker was George McLaughlin of the Maine Potato Board. George is also the President of the Fort Fairfield Rotary Club. George updated the club on the Porter Seed Farm facility. Originally run by the State of Maine, the farm is now under the management of the MPB. The State of Maine will continue to subsidize the farm for three years, by which time the board plans to have made several capital improvements and for the farm be self-sustaining. The facility currently has contracts with McCain Foods and Lays.
Two of the old greenhouses have been eliminated and a large new hydro greenhouse is being used. The new building is 42-foot by 100-foot and has radiant floor heat and a side-to-side air flow system to regulate the temperature in the greenhouse.
This system allows two cycles per year of growing and harvesting tubers on special sliding trays – from April to early July and from late July to September. Mini tubers, M1 and M2 seed is harvested several times throughout the growing season.
Harvesting happens by lifting the black cloth to expose the roots and tubers. They grow on special mats that distribute special nutrients to the plants. These nutrients are mixed differently according to the variety of potato being grown. This system generates about 10 tubers per plant, compared to an average of 1.75 tubers per plant obtained in the old system. The remainder of the year at the farm is spent testing the various varieties of potatoes and on building and system maintenance. There are four full-time employees and two part-time.
A big advantage of growing and harvesting tubers in this manner is the ability to keep them disease-free. Another market that is being explored is offering smaller amounts of tubers in more varieties.
Tomi Henderson is the correspondent for Mars Hill, Blaine, Bridgewater and Westfield. She can be reached at 429-9126 or e-mail tomihen@yahoo.com.
