Contributed photo
IMPACTED — Carriages of Acadia, which is owned by the Carpenter family of Houlton, is one of the many individuals impacted by the federal government shutdown. The business is the exclusive provider of carriage rides in Acadia National Park, which has been closed by the shutdown. With two of her horses is Emily Carpenter.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON — The shutdown of the federal government has had a wide sweeping impact on many businesses and individuals since it took effect on Oct. 1.
One particular business, with a connection to the Shiretown, is experiencing a deep financial loss because of the shutdown.
Carriages of Acadia owner Mike Carpenter, a Houlton attorney who started the tourist business in May 2009, said his company has been deeply impacted by the closure of Acadia National Park. The closure is a direct result of the federal government’s shutdown.
Since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, Carpenter said he started losing about $3,500 a day in revenue from tourists visiting Acadia National Park. Carriages of Acadia are the exclusive provider of horse-drawn carriage rides in the park, having signed a 10-year contract five years ago.
The closure has caused a trickle-down effect as well, as all of the supplies that Carpenter uses in his business are purchased in the greater Houlton area.
On Oct. 1, the United States federal government entered into a shutdown, suspending all services except those placed on the exempt list by the Anti-deficiency Act established in 1884.
Carriages of Acadia operate from the middle of May to the middle of October. Carpenter said the shutdown could effectively end his company’s season, right when it is at its peak.
“We’ll basically lose about one-fifth of our season,” Carpenter said. “We were schedules to do 49 busloads from cruise ships in the month of October.”
With the fall foliage at its peak, Carpenter said the number of people coming through Acadia National Park in the past few weeks has been staggering.
“We were so busy with leaf peepers last week, that we had 1,006 people come for rides,” he said. “That’s pretty amazing. Most of those people came from cruise ships visiting the area.”
Over the next two weeks, Carpenter said he was scheduled to provide services to 49 busloads of tourists from cruise ships. In addition, they were averaging 75-100 people per day.
Since they are headquartered in Acadia National Park, taking the carriages outside of the park for rides is not feasible, he said.
“Our people are allowed to stay there (inside Acadia),” he said. “We’ll keep the teams of horses there for now, in hopes this gets resolved because once we bring them home, that’s it.”
Carpenter added even if individuals managed to find their way into the park, he was not allowed to give them rides because the park is officially closed.
He added, for the time being, he is leaving his teams of horses in Bar Harbor in the hopes that an end to the shutdown will come before his contract expires for the season.
According to the company’s website, Carriages of Acadia is a Maine corporation based in Houlton. It is a company wholly owned by the Carpenter family – Mike, Joanne, Charles, Dennis and Emily. Carpenter is a longtime attorney licensed to practice in all the courts in Maine, is a veteran of the Vietnam War, and was Maine’s Attorney General from 1991-95.
He is also a lifelong lover and owner of horses. He grew up on a local potato farm and used draft horses for much of the farm work. He learned his horse knowledge from his father a well-known local blacksmith who once shod for the Genesee Brewing Company out of Rochester, N.Y., Emily, soon to be a biology graduate of the University of Maine, shows quarter horses and will be on-site at the Park this summer also.
