MARS HILL
by Tomi Henderson
The Mars Hill Rotary Club met on Tuesday morning, Aug. 31 at 6:30 at the Aroostook Health Center. The special speaker was Marc Gendron, superintendent of AOS 99, the school district made up of Fort Fairfield, Mars Hill, Blaine and Bridgewater.
He spoke of the newly-formed unit and its advantages. Ideas will be shared on ways to save money and still provide what’s best for the students. Each school will retain local control of their facilities while sharing a central superintendent, special education direction, AP and payroll.
This is being phased in over a three-year period. Officially, Roger Shaw is the assistant superintendent, handling CAHS this year. Next year, Roger will reduce his work load while turning over more to Marc. Marc will be in charge of all the schools in three years.
Marc taught at CAHS for 23 years before going to southern Maine for a few years as assistant superintendent in the Poland area. He has been the superintendent at Fort Fairfield for four years. He resides in Houlton with his wife, Paula.
This year’s celebration was a great success. There was something for everyone to enjoy. A big thank-you to MPS’s Jerry Butler and Craig Hobbs for coming so quickly to replace the transformer that blew.
The local antique tractor organization had a great time with some games on Friday evening before holding a full day of pulls on Saturday.
Winners in the Parade were: First — Summer Time Fun, a Tribute to Alice Gregory by the Billings family; Second — Thompkins Plumbing; and Third — Chad Putnam with the Southern Acres Boarding Home folks on board his horse-drawn wagon.
Winners in the Adult Fry Pan Throw were: First, Shilo McManus; Second, Wendy Shaw; and Third, Jenna Crouse. Winners in the Youth Fry Pan Throw were: First, Sarah Craig; Second, Sidney Craig; and Third, Elizabeth McCrum.
Events went pretty much as planned and a great time was had by all. If you didn’t attend, you missed a lot of fun!
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.
