With 2010 coming to a close, I’m looking back at some of the people, organizations and activities I’ve written about this year to find out what has happened in the interim.
My selection method was reviewing headlines for the first column of each month, so we’ll review 12 columns in all: six today and six on New Year’s Day.
We start with Judy Cook and members of the Dixmont Historical Society, who got the headline January 2 with “Dysart’s to hold historical society fundraiser.”
Thanks to the efforts of Dysart’s co-owner Mary Hart, the DHS was the beneficiary of a mid-January spaghetti dinner hosted and sponsored by the restaurant in Hermon to raise funds to help renovate the 1836 Dixmont Town House.
The building, Judy told me, is the oldest town-owned building, having been town property since it was built.
That January benefit and many others have helped restore the historic facility on Routes 9 and 202.
The main accomplishment for 2010, Judy said, was painting the outside.
The roof had been repaired previously, “and we did a few more outside things, so it made the building look like something was happening here.”
With a donation from Central Maine Power coming up, “we will be able to get electricity and build a foundation.”
“We’ve known, from the beginning, this is a very long-term project,” Judy said. “We earn a little, we do a little.”
February’s first headline was “Reception to recognize former city manager,” about the Feb. 5 Bangor Civic Center gala honoring Ed Barrett, who retired after 22 years as Bangor’s city manager and is now the city administrator for Lewiston.
When I talked with Ed this week, I learned that he feels comfortable in his new position now that he has “had a chance to settle in and get to know people in the community.”
He told me Lewiston’s “biggest issue” is its “severe budget problems,” but he’s pleased that the city has adopted a strategic plan.
“We have some things moving forward that I think will help in the future,” he said.
Ed is pleased with a proposal to hire a consultant to study reuse of the city’s riverfront, especially along the old mill complex area.
“It’s been an interesting year,” he said of the career he began Jan. 11 while continuing to commute, through late February, from Bangor.
Ed now has a home in Lewiston and hopes to have his Bangor house sold soon.
“I miss everybody and hear Cathy is doing well,” he said, referring to Bangor’s new manager, Cathy Conlow.
“I enjoyed my time in Bangor and have good friends and close memories,” Ed added.
“I wish the city nothing but the best and hope it keeps moving forward up there.”
The March 1 lead reported “Oakfield supper, auction to benefit family” and told the story of community members holding a benefit for Avis and Terry Noyes and their young daughter, who reside in that small Aroostook County town.
Avis, described by her friends as “a very well-known local community volunteer,” was being treated for cancer, and neither she nor her husband was able to work during that time.
Her friend Barb White of Merrill told me this week that Avis is “finally home” after being hospitalized for many months, both in Bangor and in Houlton, and that she “is doing fine.”
Avis is receiving treatment every three weeks, Barb said, “and is back to being her bubbly old self.”
April’s first column reported “Hike for the Homeless fundraiser announced,” and your response to that benefit went far beyond expectations.
Hoping to raise $40,000 for the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, executive director Dennis Marble reported in a later Bangor Daily News story that the total amounted to $50,000.
“All I can do is echo our appreciation for the success of last April’s hike,” Dennis said when I talked with him this week. “It was one of our highlights of our year.
“Our hike this year will be April 9, and for all kinds of reasons, we are hoping it will be bigger and more successful.”
In announcing the total raised, it was stated that when Dennis became shelter director in 1996, funding from state and federal homeless programs covered 50 percent of the facility’s operating costs.
In 2010, that amount had dropped to 26 percent.
Dennis credited the success of this 15th fundraiser “to a combination of a fantastic leadership team and compassion in the community that’s always supported” this event.
Leading the way in May is a headline sure to confuse when I tell you what I learned.
The May Day headline read, “Bangor Band to enter 151st season with concert.”
That event, the band’s Memorial Concert dedicated to the memory of deceased band members, was held the next day at All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor.
But now, dear readers, I must report that in talking this week with band Vice President Bob Pentland of Ellsworth, he informed me that when the Bangor Band opens its 2011 season, it will be its 153rd.
What happened to 152?
Well, it was there, and we all missed it.
Bob, you see, is a stickler for dates and details.
“The Bangor Band originated in January 1859, and it had a 60-concert season that year, so you have to count that as our first season,” he said. “So we’re really starting our 153rd year in 2011.”
Many of you may be familiar with what is known as East Asian age reckoning, in which some cultures count a person’s age from the day of birth, which means during your first year of life, you are considered 1. Since the band played 60 concerts in 1859, that was its first season.
So next May, at its annual Memorial Concert, we will welcome the return of the 153-year-old Bangor Band, one of the oldest continuous community bands in the country.
June’s first column headline brought us to where we are today with “It’s time for a new adventure: telling our stories.”
That new adventure included a new column format which, rather than featuring many items six days a week, now generally features one subject four days a week and often includes photos.
However, this column retains its original intent: telling your stories.
So if you have something to share that you believe would be of interest to our readers, get in touch with me and we can talk about it.
I look forward to hearing from you at one of the addresses below.
Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; javerill@bangordailynews.com; 990-8288.