Why I Love Maine

Last night was a tough night in Bar Harbor. The Portside Grill burned down, and workers lost their jobs. People were displaced from their homes, and volunteer firefighters from 8 towns turned out to save a block. Residents came out and brought food, coffee and water to help. The owner, was more concerned about finding her displaced workers new jobs, then figuring out if she was going to rebuild.

I want to introduce you to Carrie Jones. Carrie is a novelist who lives in Bar Harbor. She's also a new volunteer with the Bar Harbor Fire Department. Carrie wrote why she loves Bar Harbor.

She explains

At least seven fire departments responded. Most of our area firefighters are volunteers. Some stayed all night, working, making sure that fire didn't spread. I am not much of a firefighter, at all. Basically, I am the lowest and least trained, the weakest and least knowledgeable. All I got to do was move people away, take pictures to make sure everything was documented, and to occasionally help in tiny bits. I did this little tiny bit and still when I went home I was sick from the smoke. I was sick for hours.

But the other people?

They were big time heroes. They were the put-your-life-on-the line heroes. They were the fighters who didn't look back, who just did.

And that is why I love Bar Harbor (despite the occasionally evil tourists).

To read her story, click HERE. It's 10 Reasons why she loves Bar Harbor, so eloquently written. They apply to Bar Harbor, and to many many towns and cities in Maine. When Maine experienced the ice storm in 1998, Governor King asked Mainers to look out for their neighbors, but they were already doing it. They opened their homes, ran extension cords so neighbors could keep their furnaces going. They provided coffee to linemen who were from Maine and other states.

When we at the radio station hold a pasta drive in January, we annually collect almost 4 ton of pasta. That's nearly 8000 pounds, which are given to food pantries and keep them stocked until April! When we collect turkeys before Thanksgiving, Mainers donate nearly 2500! When we collect money for the Pine Tree Camp via the egg run, our listeners donate more and more each year, despite the fact that the cost of living increases, and wages don't keep pace.

Carrie Jones sums it up perfectly

I am so proud of the people in my community. They bicker over politics. They fight about town managers and property lines, land use ordinances, development and occasionally the school,  but when it matters? When it really matters?

They care.

 

Amen! That's exactly Why I Love Maine!