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Mary Roukas lives in East Machias, where she is an active outdoorswoman and trains her Belgian Malinois dog.
Washington County seemed like the center of the world this July 4th, the 250th anniversary of what I consider the most successful experiment in government the world has seen. We didn’t have the flashiest fireworks, but our people and representatives at the parades in Eastport and Machias illustrated what’s truly special about this country and why I think the American experiment can last another 250 years.
In a time when our politics feel angry and social media funnels everything through a national lens, Down East Maine is one of the few remaining places where communities are organized like they were at our country’s founding. Indeed, when Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States in 1831 and wrote his famous book, “Democracy in America,” he was perhaps most impressed by “the spirit of the New England township,” where people participate in their local government and help their neighbors like they are an extension of their family.
He realized, as we’re realizing again after years of political storms, that America is in large part dependent on neighborly charity, and acting in good faith. For these reasons, I think Down East Maine is arguably the most American place in America.
It’s this small-town spirit that I believe is the secret sauce of the American republic — the true reason Maine is associated with “the way life should be.” I saw local business owners shaking the hands of police officers, state representatives marching with their constituents, veterans thanked for their service. I saw what happens on a daily basis amplified for the celebration of the country that, through the generations, gave us these habits.
The 4th of July reminded me that the antidote to many of the problems we’re having as a country can be found in our backyard.
I believe a large part of what made the parades so wonderful — and makes Maine a continued example to the rest of the nation — was the presence of Sen. Susan Collins, who I marched with in both Eastport and Machias.
I don’t mean this as a partisan endorsement, but as an endorsement of her disposition and how she approaches service. If there’s few places left in America like Down East Maine, there’s surely fewer members of Congress like Collins.
Because she understands that legislators are tasked with primarily looking out for the immediate needs of the state — issues that know no partisan affiliation — she doesn’t alienate half the state by bickering on social media or by wading into divisive culture war fights.
She serves Maine like she’s a member of each and every one of our local communities. And for that reason, I was so happy to see Washington County receive Collins with the same warmth and respect they showed on the 4th for their neighbors and their country. I saw people of all ages, but especially young people, excited to meet the senator for the first time. In Machias in particular, I didn’t pass a single person who was not excited to see the senator, a phenomenon I hope demonstrates that the country’s and community’s thriving will always be bigger than politics.
July 4th is a yearly reminder that the republic we live in is special, but also that, as Benjamin Franklin once said, we have to work to “keep it.” Two hundred and fifty years is a long time, and the anniversary proved that the Founders’ ideas were not only good, but lasting. In order to keep our republic, we don’t have to look far.
In Machias, Eastport, and in Susan Collins — but most of all in the relationship between them — I think we can find America’s contribution to the world. While Washington, D.C., and the rest of the world still have a lot to learn from Machias and Eastport, we Mainers must in the meantime do all that we can to preserve Maine’s civic fabric, because, “as Maine goes, so goes the nation.”