PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Dancing, live music and good food sounds like an ideal way to spend a Saturday night, but a winter storm changed many people’s plans – shrinking the band and the size of the party.
The city of Presque Isle had set up the Sargent Community Center as a dance hall on Saturday, Jan. 29. The original plan was to have the band Common Crossing play inside the gym, and invite residents to have dinner, dance to the music and participate in raffles to close out the day. The center was set up for 120 people.
But the winter storm on Saturday made travel hazardous and kept many of the people who had planned to attend home and out of the weather.
For those who did arrive, there was plenty of food paid for by the city, and while not all band members were there, Brian Mosher braved the storm to fill the hall with music. The lone musician was enough for Arthur and Cecile Wood to get out of their chairs and start dancing, filling the hall with some more joy after disappointing attendance of only 35-40 people.
The city also held a raffle for two firearms. Jacque Morneau was the winner of a new Glock handgun, and Tom Berube won a new .22-caliber rifle.
The storm had shut down most Snow Fest events for Sunday as well, with only skating at the Forum and Victorian Christmas at the Estey House still proceeding as scheduled.
This was the first year that Presque Isle has put on a Snow Fest, and the plan is to make it into an annual event. While the city can’t control the weather, City Councilor Craig Green is hopeful for the outcome next year.
“This is only our first year doing this,” Green said. “We can learn from what went well and what didn’t and use that to help make next year better.”
