MADAWASKA, Maine — The town of Madawaska will hold two events centered around Bicentennial Park renovations, a groundbreaking and a telethon, in October.
The town held an informational meeting earlier this year about the park renovations, which will include new amphitheater seating, a playground and a skate park. The work will also include an electricity hookup for musicians and food trucks.
The upgrades are estimated to cost roughly $200,000, and the town has already received some help from businesses. United Insurance committed $20,000 over three years and Reed & Reed, the contractors who built the new international bridge connecting the town to Canada, committed $5,000. The telethon is a new approach for the town.
Residents at the January informational meeting were receptive to the project. Former Madawaska exchange student Carol Botelho, a Brazil-based architect, also offered to provide design services at no charge to the town, showing what the new park could look like. Botelho said at that meeting that this project was a way for her to give back to a community that helped her so much.
The groundbreaking ceremony is set for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at the park on 12th Avenue.
The radiothon and telethon will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 30. The radiothon will start at 9 a.m. and run until 6 p.m., at which point the telethon will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and feature live music.
Town Manager David Daigle said during a Sept. 25 meeting that he and Town Clerk Nathalie Morneault have checked with state officials and the town attorney and there do not appear to be any legal or licensing issues associated with hosting a telethon.
“This is not typical, and Madawaska does things that are sometimes not typical,” Daigle said. “We don’t feel there are any liability issues here, nor do we feel that there are any accounting issues.”
According to the meeting packet, the town will set up an account, and a lump sum payment of all donations will be made to its bank account. Local students will also create about half a dozen pre-recorded short videos that will be played during commercial breaks. One of these vignettes, Daigle said, will feature the Oct. 14 groundbreaking ceremony.
The telethon will also have six sponsorship tiers, with the lowest being between $500 and $1,000 and the largest being $40,000. These tiers come with multiple rewards, including a radio or TV mention during the event, and seating at the ribbon cutting ceremony. The $40,000 tier includes all of this as well as an engraved aerial photo of the finished park and a speaking opportunity at the ribbon cutting.
Board chairman Jason Boucher also suggested at the meeting that a lower tier be added to encourage people who may want to donate an amount under $500.
