Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 2 : Fall 2010 | Page 56

Fort Fairfield
honoring the heart and values of family

Sitting on the lawn of the Community Bandstand, I
watched the fireworks over the Aroostook River and breathed
a tired breath, this year’s festival was over. There were still
hundreds of people milling around and walking Main Street
enjoying the last of the summer evening excitedly discussing
the spectacular light show they just witnessed. A beautiful,
warm summer day to end an event filled week. For those
who have never participated in organizing such an event, the
only thing I can even slightly compare it to is Thanksgiving
dinner. You spend days preparing, planning, shopping,
stressing about the details and wanting everything to be
perfect only to have it over in what seems like a flash and
the whole event is a blur. Now multiply that by 9 and you
get a sense for what it is like for the festival committee.

This year’s festival wasn’t without its challenges,
but all things considered I think the week went well. One
new event we added this year was giant inflatables which
over 300 children and their families enjoyed. We had
some great entertainment this year, a nationally acclaimed
comedian, music from all genres: country, folk, rock, and
gospel, featuring artists from all over the State of Maine.
Motor Booty Affair was back again, this year joined by
Turning Point, they drew thousands to town on Saturday
night. Mother Nature wasn’t always cooperative, causing
the festival committee to make some tough decisions, one of
which was to change the parade to Sunday. Thankfully we
had a beautiful summer day on Sunday for the parade which
brought large crowds to town once again.

We crowned a new Miss Maine Potato Blossom
Queen, Katelynn Hartt from Mapleton as well as her sister
queens, Jr. Miss Regan Buck from Caribou and Little Miss
Taylor Hedrich from Presque Isle.

If you would like to see pictures of all of the events
you can see them on http://www.flickr.com/photos/
fortfairfieldchamber/ or visit the festival website www.
potatoblossom.org.

My heartfelt thank you goes out to the Festival
Committee and all the people who volunteered their time
to make this year’s festival happen. The 2010 Maine Potato
Blossom Festival is scheduled for July 10-18th and plans
are already underway. All Aroostook County residents are
invited to come to the planning meetings. Contact the
Maine Potato Blossom Festival Chair at 472-3802 if you
would like to be a part of the oldest festival in Maine.

Janet Kelle
Fort Fairfield Chamber of Commerce

54 Our Communities FALL & WINTER 09

Riverside Park Project

Thanks to a grant from the Dept of
Economic Development, we have an exciting
new project taking place in our community called
Riverside Park. A Riverside Park Committee has
been formed and has been meeting to discuss what
this new park will look and fee