Following is a look at the top stories of the year, beginning with the first six months.
January
A young Madawaska man died on Jan. 5 after striking a utility pole and coming into contact with a downed pole. Those who knew Curtis Levesque, who was just 19 years old when he died, say he had incredible potential as a welder. He was less than a year away from finishing a two-year welding program at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.
Nurses at Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent voted in favor of unionizing and are now part of the Maine State Nurses Association and National Nurses Organizing Committee. Sixty-two percent of the hospital’s 90 direct care nurses voted in favor of union representation. The nurses officially filed their petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Dec. 7 of 2023.
People came out in record numbers to attend the Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby, the largest in the state. When registration closed, a total of 1,852 people had signed up, breaking the event’s previous all-time record of 1,806 in 2022.
February
A Van Buren teen was set to graduate both high school and college. At 16 years old, Addion Davis is to receive both his high school diploma and an associates degree in liberal studies from a state university campus. Davis said he hopes to pursue a future career in the finance field.
Madawaska Town Manager Gary Picard submitted his resignation. The town’s selectboard voted during an emergency meeting at 4:30 pm on Feb. 9 to accept his resignation letter. Picard’s resignation comes amid a controversy in which three public works employees, including the director, resigned in late 2023. Picard began serving as Madawaska Town Manager in 2017.
Madawaska, after searching for over two months, hired a new public works director. Mark Berube was appointed as the new director on Feb. 5. Berube said he was looking forward to taking on the new role. The hiring comes after multiple resignations in the department and, at the time of Berube’s hiring, the department only had two vacancies.
March
Madawaska police recognized the actions of four people who helped save a woman’s life during a house fire. Officers Seth Querze and Xavier Denis were recognized alongside dispatcher Cheyenne Finemore and neighbor Asa Hayes.
A Madawaska couple rescued a lost German Shepherd that was wandering the town for nearly two months. They believed the dog may have belonged to a family that left town about three months prior, but attempts to reach them were unsuccessful. The dog did not have a collar. They planned to take the dog to the vet in the spring to get more information about the owners, and to give it a place to stay in the meantime.
April
A 105-year-old World War II vet from Madawaska received over 1,500 cards for his birthday. Armand Martin turned 105 on March 1, and some of the cards he received came from as far as Germany and China. Caretakers at Country Village Estates, where he was staying, said he was overwhelmed by all the cards.
Madawaska Public Works Director Mark Berube resigned just a couple months after his Feb. 5 appointment. Prior to his appointment, he served as interim director. Berube, in his resignation, said that the new role had taken up too much of his personal life.
Madawaska business owner Ricky Nadeau led a community effort to get an electric wheelchair for lifelong resident Robert Dufour, who recently suffered an injury that prevents him from using a non-electric wheelchair.
May
Fort Kent could receive roughly $3.2 million for road work, which will be obtained by the Maine Department of Transportation via Congressionally Directed Spending. The funding would help with planned improvements on Pleasant Street through the DOT’s Village Partnership Initiative.
Madawaska town officials worked on a budget that would not include any mill rate increases. The town last year set the mill rate to $25.40 per $1,000 worth of property, which was a $2.65 increase over the previous mill rate.
Theater students from Fort Kent, Madawaska and Wisdom rehearsed for a play called “Nan’s (Intergalactic) Diner.” The play was written by theater director Doug Clapp and the music was composed by former Fort Kent music instructor Steve Vonderheide.
June
A new bridge connecting Madawaska to Edmundston, New Brunswick in Canada officially opened to traffic. The project had been in the works for over 20 years, as officials on both sides of the border saw that the nearly century-old bridge would eventually need replacement.
Madawaska residents approved a $9.5 million school budget. Out of this total, $4,814,265 will be funded locally, which represents a $224,275 increase over last year’s locally-funded total of $4,589,990.
Madawaska officials hired David Daigle to serve as town manager on June 20. Daigle served as town manager in St. Agatha from 1989 to 1998. He owns property in Madawaska, worked as the operation manager for Autotronics, LLC in Frenchville, and before that he spent 22 years as the director of financial aid for York County Community College in Wells.
Part 2 of the year in review will be published in next week’s St. John Valley Times.
