The top news stories of 2020 in southern Aroostook Part 2

Editor’s Note: The following is the second of two articles highlighting some of the top news stories from 2020. This article highlights events from July to December. 

July

While downtown Houlton’s usual midnight madness event had been canceled this year due to COVID-19 concerns, the Chamber of Commerce still had a successful strawberry shortcake sale, which normally marks the start of the celebration. While many of the shortcakes were sold in advance, with the desserts delivered to local businesses, Chamber Executive Director Jane Torres said there were a number of walk-up sales this year. 

Fourth of July was held this year in a socially distant manner. Dozens of vehicles streamed by as  part of the “Fourth of July People’s Parade,” a non-traditional 6-mile parade through many town streets. Organized by Fred Grant, owner of WHOU radio station in Houlton, participants were encouraged to decorate their vehicles in a patriotic manner, and many did not disappoint as cars, trucks and military Jeeps were adorned with a wide variety of regalia.

After receiving a grant last year to help expand its operations, the Maliseet Advocacy Center added new members to aid with its mission to assist survivors of domestic violence and abuse. Members took part in the Core Comprehensive Advocacy, Intervention, Response and Ethic Training (CAIRNET), which teaches people how to recognize domestic violence, as well as provide a response to those who may be calling that have been affected by abuse and violence. The Center had received a grant of more than $700,000 last year from the U.S. Department of Justice to help improve its services.

The four EMT workers who contracted COVID-19 in early June officially recovered, and resumed their official duties. The four EMT workers, alongside one member the Houlton Fire Department (which shares a building with the ambulance service), had contracted the virus as part of an outbreak that saw at least nine cases appearing in the Houlton area. That figure was nearly double the total numbers of cases appearing in The County up to that point.

While other museums found themselves closed throughout the summer, the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum reopened for tours on July 11. The museum contains an impressive display of historical artifacts relating to the agricultural history of Aroostook, with walls covered with vintage tools such as hammers, saws and wrenches, to larger pieces of machinery used for harvesting potato crops, such as seed cutters and conveyors.

August

Though COVID-19 may have limited the ways in which people could get together, it wasn’t able to stop the town of Danforth from holding its annual Summerfest celebration, albeit in a much more limited manner. The celebration continued Saturday morning, with a parade featuring fire and ambulance trucks, as well as people dressed in costume as figures such as Mickey Mouse and Smokey Bear. The parade started on Bancroft Road behind the Mill Yard convenience store and restaurant, and looped around to the Houlton Road entrance side, a distance of approximately one mile.

Houlton Police announced a new partnership with Houlton Farms Dairy, in an effort to reward youth in the community for performing acts of kindness. The program, titled “Sweet Treats for Kind Feats,” will have officers carry tokens that can be redeemed for free ice cream at Houlton Farms Dairy, to be given to youths who they witness performing “kind feats” in the community.

The town of Orient completed its annual town meeting, an often contentious affair that had to be recessed into two meetings after the first ran for more than three hours. Tensions between the townspeople and the town office contributed to the elongated meeting, with a main point of contention being the town’s lack of an audit since 2016. Town Selectman Paul Lamach addressed this issue, saying that Orient was not the only town that was behind on its audits. Another issue was whether the town would adopt a law passed in the Maine Legislature saying that write-in candidates must declare their candidacy 60 days prior to the election. The previous lack of adoption by the town contributed to write-in candidate Keith Hayes’ victory.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, traveled to Houlton Middle-High School on Aug. 18, speaking with Superintendent Ellen Halliday and Principal Tim Tweedie on steps to make sure the school can reopen safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A native of Aroostook County, Collins is also a member of the bipartisan U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which helps oversee legislation regarding those matters. The committee had held several hearings to discuss the reopening of schools and colleges for the fall semester.

Collins’ opponent in the 2020 election, Sara Gideon, also visited southern Aroostook in August, holding an event at Hidden Spring Winery in Hodgdon. Gideon, who originally hails from Rhode Island and represented the Cumberland County town of Freeport in the Maine House, spoke of how she entered politics after a voicemail on her home phone urging her husband to run for town council inspired her to run instead.

September

Southern Aroostook students headed back to classes for the new school year as the pandemic continued throughout the country. In RSU 29 (Houlton, Littleton, Monticello and Hammond), nearly 200 students elected to do remote learning, according to Superintendent Ellen Halliday. That number represented about 16 percent of the district’s student population. There were 1,354 students enrolled in RSU 29 as of Sept. 3.

The United States Department of Agriculture awarded a $50,000 grant to the Houlton Band of Maliseets to build a commercial kitchen at the tribe’s community center. The grant was one of eight the USDA gave to rural community centers across Maine, totaling $5.4 million. It also came shortly after the tribe received a $900,000 Indian Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which also went toward the community center.

A petition to rezone 528 acres of land near Pickett Mountain to allow construction of a mine in northern Maine became involved in controversy ahead of a Maine Land Use Planning Commission meeting on Sept. 16. The petition regarded Wolfden Resources, a mining company based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, that wants to establish a mineral mine near Mt. Chase in northern Penobscot County, under the name of Wolfden Mt. Chase LLC. Wolfden has requested that the Land Use Planning Commission exclude several parts of its evaluation of the rezoning petition, including financial viability, waste disposal, water quality and environmental impact. The petition was rejected by the LUPC. 

In Danforth, East Grand School experimented with new styles of outdoor learning, during a year marked by attempts at social distancing due to COVID-19. These new applications to learning were part of an outdoors-based developmental program for children, known as TimberNook, created by New Hampshire-based pediatric occupational therapist Angela Hanscom. TimberNook seeks to improve children’s physical coordination as well as inspire creative thinking and neurological development. 

Houlton International Airport was selected to receive a total of $4.4 million dollars from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airport Improvement Program and the CARES Act, which has provided relief funds throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The project that will be funded calls for the design, permitting and construction of the extension and reconstruction of one of the airport’s parallel taxiways, which is more than 26 years old and in need of replacement.

Though the usual Halloween celebrations became another holiday tempered by the pandemic, Linneus children had an opportunity to celebrate many festivities of costumes, candy and party games. A three-hour ‘Hello-Ween’ Fall Festival was held Saturday, Sept. 27, at Linneus’ baseball field and was organized by the Linneus Recreation Department. Some kids arrived costumed, dressed up as figures such as Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen” and SpongeBob SquarePants.

October

After closing its doors to the general public for the past six months, the Houlton Recreation Department returned to somewhat of a normal routine. The Gentle Memorial Building opened limited hours starting Tuesday, Oct. 13, following the CDC guidelines set forth by the state. Anyone participating in events must first sign in when entering the building and give a phone number for contact tracing purposes in the event that any COVID-19 outbreak is detected.

The Gateway Crossing Bridge received a bit of a makeover Thursday, Oct. 1, as the white lights that adorn the structure were replaced with new, updated LED lights. A trio of volunteers — Josh McLaughlin, Cameron Clark and Peter Chase — undertook the tedious task of removing 250 feet of existing lights and replacing them with new versions. Jane Torres, executive director of the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce, said all three men willingly gave up a day of work to spend five hours on a lift replacing the lights.

The Veterans Memorial Library, housed in one of the oldest buildings in Patten, was shut down after a survey done by the Maine Municipal Association found the building was not up to code. According to the survey, the MMA noted several deficiencies, such as faulty electrical equipment, lack of handicapped-accessible bathrooms, and anomalies in the structural integrity of the building. Selectmen voted at its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 6, to close the building until a decision could be made regarding improvements. Depending on what the cost may be, a new home for the library may have to be found.

Houlton unveiled a new return to work policy for town employees that would allow the town to continue to employ sick or injured employees in lighter duty roles once cleared by a doctor or preferred provider. The administrative policy, which was introduced at the town council meeting held on Oct. 13, says that employees cleared for light duty work may be reassigned to any department that has such work available, for a duration of no longer than six months.

The Greater Houlton Christian Academy has a new head of school for just the fourth time in the school’s 36-year history. Matthew Smith began as head of school Oct. 1, taking over the position from Tom Zimmerman, who retired Sept. 30 after many years with the school. A native of Centreville, New Brunswick, Smith spent much of his youth in the United States, attending seminars at the Whited Bible Camp in Bridgewater. As a young adult, he attended Kingswood University in Sussex, New Brunswick, where he obtained a degree in Christian School education. He also studied theology.

November

While COVID-19 cases continuing to rise across the country, it was going to take more than the virus to deter Houlton residents from engaging in Halloween festivities and traditions. In a socially distanced version of trick-or-treating, Houlton’s Main Street was transformed in the late afternoon Saturday to set up several tables where various businesses downtown gave out free candy to kids wearing costumes. It was the second year of doing so downtown, although this year accommodations had to be made to account for social distancing.

The newly configured Houlton Town Council held its first meeting following the election season to swear in four new council members and select a new leader. Councilor Chris Robinson was unanimously elected as the new council chairman during the organizational meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 4. He takes over the gavel from Jane Torres, who was unable to run for another term on the board due to the town’s policy on term limits.

Veterans from various branches of the United States military gathered at Houlton’s Monument Park on Wednesday, Nov. 11, in order to honor the many veterans both in Houlton and nationwide who have pledged their lives to protect their country. Though the event was not advertised in order to follow COVID-19 guidelines to keep social gathering to a minimum, around two dozen people still showed up at Monument Park to observe the commemoration. The park was a fitting location to honor veterans, being the site of memorials for World War II and the American Civil War.

Four area school districts were scrambling to let parents know their students would be transitioning to remote learning for varying amounts of days starting Monday. Katahdin Middle-High and Katahdin Elementary schools in RSU 89 both switched to a remote learning setting starting Tuesday, Dec. 1, through Friday, Dec. 11. Southern Aroostook Community School (RSU 50) held a teacher’s workshop Monday, Nov. 30, before switching to remote learning Tuesday, Dec. 1, through Friday, Dec. 4. Houlton High School in RSU 29 switched to remote learning for a two-day window Monday, Nov. 30, and Tuesday, Dec. 1. Hodgdon High School in SAD 70 also switched to remote learning for its high school students until Monday, Dec. 7.

December

After postponing its opening for a week following a positive case of COVID-19 found at Houlton High School, the John Millar Civic Center reopened its skating programs for this year. The Civic Center is offering all new programs this year designed to accommodate social distancing. Pre-registration for all programs will be required, in order for the center to be able to manage how many people are in each program and ensure the number of people in the building at one time remains low.

After enjoying a relatively safe period of low positive case counts during the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the nation over the past 10 months, the spread of the virus finally arrived in southern Aroostook County, with the first reported death due to the virus in southern Aroostook. Houlton Regional Hospital officials said Friday, Dec. 5, that testing was being done in five separate locations across southern Aroostook, and that the hospital alone has identified more than 30 new positive cases in the past three weeks.

The Houlton Town Council completed its review of the 2021 annual budget on Dec. 16, setting the stage for a public hearing which will be held on Jan. 4 at 6:15 p.m. The council deliberated at Wednesday’s meeting over approving all the listed amounts put forward by the Board of Budget Review, which had completed its own review on Dec. 9. The board had recommended a total municipal budget of $8.7 million, plus county tax mandates and funding for RSU 29, for a grand total of $11.6 million for 2021.

Medical workers at Houlton Regional Hospital received their first doses of the vaccine produced by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Moderna. Shawn Anderson, CEO of Houlton Regional Hospital, said that the hospital initially received around 300 doses of the vaccine, which is being rolled out across the country as COVID-19 cases surge from coast to coast. The hospital received an additional 100 doses on Monday, Dec. 28. Dr. Jennifer Cavalari, a hospitalist at HRH, was the first to receive the vaccine at the hospital on Tuesday, Dec 22.