Category: Living in a Small Maine Town

Living In A Small Maine Town, What’s It Like?

Small town living In Maine, how does it different than be surrounded by people in an impersonal city setting?

There are so many differences. Ask people what they like most about small Maine town living and nine times out of ten the answer is the connection. With others living in that small Maine town.

Day Is Done In Maine. Fresh Rain, Sunset Sunshine Combine With The Wild Flower Fragrance.

There is an intimacy, a bond because smaller means folks know your name in small Maine towns.

As a kid, the village raises their young. Kids feel like they matter, that they are to be heard and guided. The young in our small Maine towns are our greatest resource. Everyone takes pride in following their accomplishments in the local Maine newspapers. The online social media images and captions don’t go unnoticed. And some of the kids are related, family.

In small Maine towns, how great the community is depends on the roll up your sleeves and pitch in to get done whatever you have talents to do.

Volunteering, community service is huge in small Maine towns. Because without it, there is not the money to hire it down. And the take away would not be the fierce pride that home grown creates over store bought. The talents of the small Maine town is off the charts and there is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer. That goes above and beyond and not for the recognition. Because they were built for the task and when they look behind them, there is not a long line of others to step up and take their place.

Small Maine towns have a tiny population.

Fresher Lobster Than This? Only What’s Still Underwater, Swimming Along The Maine Ocean Floor.

Cover a vast area of woods, farm fields, lots of acreage. Salt and peppered with wildlife of all kinds, clean lakes, wide open space but not a lot of people. Eight out of ten people live in a city but not because they want to, just consider they have to for specialized employment. To make career financial objectives.

But the cost of living in a city compared to a small town is staggering. You make lots, you spend even more and stress from crime, traffic, just a lack of space all takes its toll. You pay for parking. Hope your car is there when you return.

We don’t even lock doors in Maine. Everything locked up tighter than a drum with dead bolts, chains, security cameras and chain link fencing in a city. There are neighborhoods you don’t venture into and live in a steady level of low and sometimes high level fear. If you travel and set your tent stakes in the suburbs and end up commuting than it means you miss out greatly. You don’t get home in time to tuck the kids in, to hear their prayers. To weigh in and trade your day experiences around the family dinner table conversation. You are missing in action. You leave early, arrive home late. Nice house, you just are never there much.

If you are thinking of the best environment to raise a family, small town living in Maine is hand’s down the right choice.

If you want to someday own your real estate and be free and clear of mortgage debt, small town Maine community living wins again. The lack of permits for everything under the sun, because Maine is the 4th lowest crime state means less worry about the cost of living, personal safety.

Smaller population means less options for spending your money.

Cities are fun to visit, not so much fun to call home. And maneuvering around all those people, through the toll highways, even with mass transits means time is wasted waiting to get from “A” to “B” and back.

Maine’s Pure, Natural, Fun Waterways. Tap Into Them. Protect And Preserve Them.

The shift happens from buying everything to doing more and more on your own when you consider small town living. You develop talents to fix this, build that and bartering happens in small Maine towns. Someone knows someone that is good at this, and you have something for a talent or skill to exchange for the service. The IRS might not like it, but the swap involves no money that is taxable.

Who would not want to get more for less?

Raising your own food, slow cooking it and taking the time to enjoy your front porch, the open deck and being a part of the community. That is what small town living in Maine is about and with a backdrop as drop dead gorgeous as Vacationland, keep your money in your wallet or purse. The cost for most of the fun recreational options when you live in Maine full time is no or very very low cost. You live in a place that many have to settle for one measly long weekend, maybe if you are luck a full week a year. That’s it to squeeze and savor the joy of living in small town Maine. And that’s all she wrote.

What are the other benefits of living in a small Maine town?

Try getting sick in a city, see how many people turn out to help you with your smallest tasks around your house. To organize a benefit supper to help you carry the burden of household and medical expenses when you get sick. People come out of the woodwork in small Maine towns to show they care and really help out when a person needs it the most.

Outdoors, That’s Where People Hang Out In Maine.

Clean resources, the air and water are not messed up in Maine. The overhead night sky is black velvet backed in Maine with a million stars that you just don’t see when light pollution and smog erase them. And when you better keep your wits about you, mind your P’s and Q’s avoiding a fender bender, tangling with a gang in a bad neighborhood. You miss out on the little things that don’t exist but that make a small Maine town shine brightly.

Living in a city is anonymous. In small towns, people look out for their neighbors and rally around the needs of anyone living in the small Maine community.

Because small town living means you have a greater involvement in the community, there is a deeper stake in the village. Because you helped build it, maintain it and add to whatever you step forward and sign up for as your contribution. A great stake in the small town happens because you are hands on and would be missed if gone. Everyone in a small Maine town has a vital role no matter how big or small. Like a family, you feel needed, loved, and have a role in a small Maine town. Whatever you do is appreciated and so much is done behind the scenes that does not get press. And no one is seeking the attention from recognition done from the heart not to gain fame or notoriety.

Small towns don’t have the financial resources to just underwrite events.

The small town communities organize collectively what they offer to the local area. They get resourceful, creative. There is small town talent that gets center stage and tapped into, not just big name headliners brought to the area to entertain. With high speed internet, telecommuting can happen in small Maine towns too. Work online, out of state but enjoy the perks of living in a Victorian home, a farmstead you build over yourself or on the waterfront for a song. And have money left over for other areas of your life because you are not house poor.

Happy? I Guess. Drove Hard To Win, Place In The Top Eight For Maine’s State Soap Box Derby Race In Houlton ME.

Retirement on a fixed income makes Maine one attractive location. You can give back and serve the local community and enjoy stretching those lower monthly retirement funds to stretch and maximize. There are quality health care facilities, churches, libraries, unique local shopping options where you know the owner in the store. Folks wave at you. Smile, notice and talk to you on the way in and out of the post office.

Kids have teachers where it is not just a job for the paycheck. It is their passion, their contribution to the small Maine town. Not for the money, for the reward that you made a difference in a child’s life and the direction your helping hand guidance added to the young members of your local community. You don’t have one or two mentors in small Maine towns. There are hundreds rooting for you. Your coach, pastor, family members are teaching you the right pathway lessons for life. When you are a kid fortunate to be raised in a small Maine town. Helping local farmers, be responsible with after school and summer jobs. You are not a latch key kid alone with no one home to help raise you in small Maine towns. People care, are hand’s on and involved in raising all the kids in small Maine towns.

Small town living means thinking of the greater good and not number one who you brush your teeth with daily looking back at you in the mirror.

There is a deeper commitment in a small Maine town that struggles and has challenges to stay afloat. You are not just a city transient working your way up the career ladder. Your civic, social involvement completes something inside when you serve on local level small town capacities. You are more aware of the local history, you are deeper meshed in the local community landscape.

If you were lucky enough to live, be raised in a small Maine town, it is preaching to the choir. But if you have never sampled small town Maine living, what are you waiting for, head north. Get to Maine and see what has been missing, why Maine is the way life should be.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton ME 04730

June 4, 2017
Christmas In Maine, The Holiday Traditions In Big Families, Small Towns.

Small Maine towns, which is the majority of the population centers scattered around Vacationland, all celebrate Christmas like one big family.

The school bus drivers know which kids have a hard home life. Collect the extra food to bound down the steps of the school bus. Paced with love and care in a back pack to make sure Christmas includes good food.

Merry Christmas From Small Town Maine. Rich In Traditions, Shared At Family Gatherings.

While local churches in Maine hang the Christmas gift pleas for the congregation to take.

To buy for an unknown boy that is eight and likes Lego building toys. Or a teen age daughter that could use a warm pair of boots. Secret Santas, there are a slew of them in small Maine towns. Helping without calling attention to the local elves pulling off the behind the scenes to make the season bight. To lend a helping hand to make sure Christmas happens in town and out in the country for the local residents.

I ran into a lady who’s Mom and family picked potatoes for my Dad back in the 1960’s.

Christmas Light Parades To Say Hello To Santa Who Tours Maine Small Towns.

I asked her what was the best Christmas she could remember and she said her first year in her own house, to celebrate with her own family. I asked her as a child, which one stood out. She said the one when she was ten and was not sure if Christmas was going to happen or not. Her parents had a tough year with a big family and struggled with making the household financial ends to meet.

But with the help of friends, family and neighbors, who all pulled together, she remembers the best Christmas ever.

Hunger improves the taste and to her surprise what seemed unlikely to happen because of being strapped financially as a family turned out other wise. The miracle of giving, opening hearts and making sure no one goes without in the local community. Because in small Maine towns, there is a strong connection. We help each other, our lives run in smaller circles that over lap and the grapevine helps whisper the needs that need addressing. SHhhhhh. Pass it on.

Sea Food For Christmas? SURE! Lobster Not Just Stuffed Roasted Birds, Prime Rib Or Ham Are Always Welcome At The Christmas Eve / Day Dinner Table.

Your own personal family traditions for Christmas? Candle light church services, school musicals with Up On the House Top Click Click … oh oh. There go some more roof shingles. And reindeer games, took out the guy wire securing the antennae to pull in the few television stations we have in Maine and across the border to over home, into near by Canada.

Food, always part of the celebration with family and friends. Dishes your mom whipped up with her eyes closed and so tasty.

Mocca balls, coconut clusters, date filled cookies, divinity fudge, fruit cake and nut rolls. Forget the calories, keep the phone number for the gym to tap out after the season ends. Being on a diet prior to Christmas and until the noise makers are put away with the empties of party juice at New Year’s is a steep uphill battle.

Oyster stews, lasagna, hams, turkeys, pies of all kind. What do you remember as a kid besides ribbon candle and peanut

Small Maine Town Christmas Light Parades Welcome Santa, Entertain The Little And Old Alike.

brittle among the ho ho ho? Playing Hearts happen on Christmas Eve in our house hold by the glow of the Christmas tree. With Andy Williams, Ray Conniff, Perry Como, and others belting out the old Christmas standards.

Pass the egg nog and more shrimp cocktail for me? Yes please. Don’t want to appear to be a hog. But just being social and not wanting to hurt the cook’s feelings. Grandmothers wear the biggest grins when you reach for seconds, thirds or more helpings of what they live to put on the table for a holiday spread. Nothing store bought or from a bakery or deli. Everything from a family recipe that was served up at every Christmas family celebration bar none.

If you moved to another venue for Christmas Eve or the 25th Day vittles, would the menu change from lobster or crab, prime rib, grilled steaks of all kinds? Would you have fiddle heads if preparing to eat out in the Midwest, the other coast or in the Florida pan handle?

Or a Maine baked potato if sitting down, pushing in the table chair in Idaho or Oregon? Not a lot of rice dishes served up in the potato country of Northern Maine. Pass the green bean casserole please. Is that cranberry sauce over there by Grandma? And I’ll pass on the jello with the carrots, pineapple and whatever else got sifted and folded into the jiggle and wiggle. But ambrosia, save some for me. The food of the Gods with those cherries, whipped cream, pure heaven.

Heading To The Kitchen Pantry To Rustle Up Some Christmas Meal Dishes. Planning Something Big This Year?

The extras beyond stuffing from the bird, the bread and butter pickles, real whipped potatoes, other veggies like butternut or acorn or blue hubbard squash.

Boiled, pearl creamy onions, turnip, home made gravy and breads, rolls, biscuits. Speaking of turnips, ask a Mainer if a rutabaga is different and how? If you are on the coast of Maine, seafood, fish takes up a big portion of the serving platters. It’s what’s for dinner all twelve of the months on the kitchen calendar in a Maine coastal household.

Whatever you eat, have planned, don’t forget the round guy with red velvet and white fur, flying deer who is working over time. Beyond his pay grade to make the season bright for kids of all ages without all of our help if you still believe. A carrot or two for the eight reindeer, a sugar cookie, brownie and ice cold milk for the red faced sleigh master driver. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. A video of Santa touching down in the Aroostook County recently.

Here’s wishing you the best for the New Year! From all the Maine towns that put the extra effort to celebrate the reason for the season beyond the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730

December 22, 2016
Tips For Moving To A Small Maine Town, What To Remember.

You climbed the corporate ladder and are coming back to the state where you were raised, Maine.

This blog post is not so much for the local that left and returned. More geared for the never been here for a long stint of time. Just maybe liked the place because of a few vacation stop experiences.

Well, for starters there is the actual making the move itself and here are a few tips for how to reduce the stress. And to have it down pat on what to do, when and why for a time table check list.

It Is The Prettiest Weed I Can Think Of… Lupines.

But now that you are here, adjusting the goggles to see life in a small Maine town is different than the way folks move and groove, shimmy and shake in a large city.

For starters, the locals have the home court advantage. Are established, involved, work pretty hard to make the small Maine town what it is.

But lots of room for more talent to add to the small town community flavor. Whatever you enjoyed in your life giving back to the wherever you lived before are areas to apply locally in Maine too. But holes, spaces where someone passed on that used to hold down a certain event is a place to step in and help out.

The experiences outside Maine are valuable to add to the local mix of what we offer to make the town stand out brightly. What distinguishes it from the other over 400 that dot the landscape in Maine. Small Maine towns are big on youth activities.

Maine. The Jewels Are Out In The Open, Glistening, Sparkling The Daylight. Not Trapped, Under A Light In A Locked Up Tight Display Case.

Whether it is sports, children’s theater, a haunted hayride, play ground improvement, nature trail development, church event, or anything youth oriented, it gets lots of volunteer and financial support. Job shadowing, career days, passing on the traditions of farming, lumbering, fishing are a big part of the Maine culture.

Also, winter is one of the season, not the only one.

We don’t hibernate. It is not the land of igloos. That is further up the globe. We live outdoors all four seasons in Maine. Do dress a little different to match the hanging, displayed month on the calendar.

Forget what you heard about winter from your out of state hair dresser or guys down at the club who have never set foot in Maine.

We watch the national news. And when we see life come to a halt in a city because of a couple inches of snow and drivers and maintenance crews can not keep up, we mutter “amateurs”.

Less people, a lower population makes winter driving easier. Not so many people to watch out for on the roads in Maine. Lots of wildlife though. And in Maine we have the equipment, the experience with snow and a work ethic to get the job done the most efficient, professional way possible. More on Maine weather, the climate.

The move to Maine is motivated because of all we have here that was missing or came at a high price in the city right?

Or lower cost real estate, living debt free and stretching the fixed income monthly checks part of the sizzle. A better place to raise your kids where the village helps in the process of getting them reared right. And the outdoor natural beauty that is respected, protected and all pure, unspoiled.

Year Round, Maine Lakes, Ponds Get Enjoyed. Used Like The Outdoor Living Room.

But get involved, don’t expect folks beating down your door to be dying to meet you. They are busy, industrious and just waiting for you to step up and pitch in. They are connected and related to lots of the neighbors. And in border towns to folks on both sides of the International boundary. Remember, Maine borders Quebec, New Brunswick Canada too.

“The way we did it back where I lived before … “

Go easy on that one. The tone better not be one that is “you guys here are idiots”. If it is heard enough times how stupid the locals are for doing this, this and this coupled with lots of “back in Jersey, Mass, NY..” wherever it was you remind the locals you came from in your past.

Harsh criticism never gets good results. Just like the Pirate logic of the beatings will continue until the attitudes, comradery improves. Resentment, and pulling back happens. For that first year at least, the locals can complain, but you new to these parts can not. Listen, learn, fit in and find a way to work hard to make everyone glad you are in the small Maine town.

Also, what worked well in a populated area to support the event might not in small town Maine.

Simple economics, not enough heads to pay to have what a city supported. Maine is home grown not store bought anyway. Do it on a everyone pitch in and make it like the pot luck supper simple, easy, rich and pleasing.

Don’t let your feelings get hurt or be bent out of shape if your idea is not taken and run with and consider you are in a small Maine town which operates a little differently than the urban center you are used to for the day to day.

Children, Our Greatest Entertainment, Investment In Maine Small Town Living. Kids Don’t Raise Themselves. Or Shouldn’t.

Be kind, a good listener, watch and learn. Pretty much the same advice anywhere you travel and are dropped into an area finding yourself new to these parts.

And hardware store, where is the place to buy no trespassing signs?

On no, don’t put those up. And snow sled trail markets, the ones for ATV across land, think before just pulling up all those stakes. You are going to want to explore and discover the local treasures.

Where you can not get by car or truck, only by foot. In small rural Maine the traffic on these trails is pretty limited. Just some friendly advice from a local, me in Maine. You could have the sign about I have a gun, own a back hoe to keep them guessing. But more for conversation, showing a different way of doing pretty much the same thing. Respect my Maine land, I will yours neighbor.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

October 24, 2016
What’s It Like Living In A Small Maine Town?

Life in a small Maine town.

Too slow for some, just a dream never realized to others. What’s important in your life has constants. No matter where you live. But there is a shift in how much of this, how little of that we desire. To improve the life experience.

The Joy Of Young Children, Youth To Make Life, Holidays Bright.

Maine is outdoor living all four seasons. It’s all the missing things too. Like rush hour traffic, over the top crime, high cost of living that don’t roost here. Maine is the 46th lowest state for crime.

Raising kids outside of Maine was not something I wanted to do.

Known far back into time as a young grass hopper. I believed a small Maine town would work best. Shaping the shoots or is it chutes? No matter, you get the drift.

But travel to show the kids there is life beyond the village is important. To know you can not see the World from your kitchen window. To spread those wings. And for perspective to know how lucky you really are when you are lucky enough to be involved in the day to day of small town living.

The small things are the big things.

People are less in number but way friendlier. Hands go up instinctively when driving or walking a small town side walk. Eye contact made, hello is uttered. People smile in small Maine towns. Well unless instead of talking about the local sports team or family, the topic swings to politics or pushing a certain brand of religion.

The Home Made Goodies Feasted On After A Maine Youth Game Or Performance. Your Sense Of Smell. Is The Oldest, Quickest, Sharpest Of Them All?

When a car battery goes dead, look at your watch. With an engine compartment hood raised, it won’t be long for a jump start to arrive quickly.

Using your set or the good Samaritan’s red and black jumper cables to connect the battery terminals. And if that is not the problem, sticking around to try other roadside remedies. Or make sure help arrives to take the problem to the next step of resolution.

Does everyone in a small Maine town know each other?

They would like to. Give it enough time and yes, they pretty much do. There is a connection and the strong sense of we need to row the boat together. To survive, prosper and knowing all of us get out more than we put in when volunteerism becomes automatic. Whether helping set up or tear down for a benefit church supper, a school dance, coaching a little league baseball or whatever sport’s team.

Find Yourself At The Maine Coast, Hiking To Lighthouses!

Smaller circles cause the people who live in a small Maine town to come into contact too.

There is overlap because you and I are not on one board, or in just one group.

Everyone has a big or small part, but some role in a slew of things.

Kinda like needing a certain number of credits in a variety of educational disciplines to get the life diploma. To graduate to the next level.

Families, Outdoor Fun, Maine Fresh Air. Priceless.

Home grown and closer to the action is part of it living in a small Maine town. Not so much store bought or hired out happens. When the pockets are not bottomless deep but the heart’s are full to bursting with pride.

Wanting to help in whatever way possible drives the machinery. That’s the way life should be. Hey, that would be a great slogan for Maine huh?

Rich history in our families, over lap in who’s related to who and how closely or distantly.

And once a person steps up in a small Maine town to fit a role that does not usually have a long line of replacements for the task, you’re in. For life. Or as long as you can ride shot gun and oversee the event.

The people are the small town. Not the wood and brick structures, town hall or other municipal buildings all arranged just so within the grid work. Of old streets designed before the horseless carriages or tin lizzies plied them. And horses were king.

What makes a small Maine town great?

It’s the little things that all of them have but that just does not always get the four color glossy treatment or catchy sound bite coverage. Downeast Magazine has their opinion of which of the 450 small

Maine Is Small, Friendly, Glad To Be In Vacationland Full Time Or At All!

Maine town’s stand out brightest. Depending on the benchmarks used. It just seems many of them are the tourist traps we don’t mind falling into when you have a license plate stamped with “Vacationland” above the bottom rim.

I think it is the unsung heroes in a small Maine town. The Pansy Burton’s, Win Dow’s who step up year after year. To make home made fudge or chocolate creme filled “logs”, whatever is their signature to die for dish.

Or Ken Wetmore working hours to create a lap strap cedar canoe. Or pegs by Porter, cribbage boards by Sylvester. For the local rotary auction fund raiser that pipelines money into the long list of much needed projects in a small Maine town.

This past weekend was tackling the job at a Maine farmstead with vim, vigor, gusto.

I picked up some gutter pipe, the securing elbows from SW Collins hardware store. A tool from Tractor Supply. Then tooled into store #1974, our local Walmart this past weekend to buy a can of red paint.

The last item for the cedar shingled dog house roof dying, longing, way over due for a drink of the oil based elixir. And in line at the check out, talking to the one in front, behind me and the cashier part of the conversation too. And then proceeded to walk out missing the can of barn red protective covering.

Exercised, Disciplined Maine Youth. Leave It All Out On The Sheet Of Ice Players.

To hit Dunkin’ Donuts for muffins only to find as I headed for the Jeep in the parking lot that there’s Leo Hogan. In line behind me all Wally World, that retrieved the paint, ready to deliver with a smile.

Waiting beside my unlocked SUV, with unrolled window and passing me the forgotten loot. Thanks Leo.

You appreciate the small things in Maine towns.

The behind the scenes, other side of the curtain little gestures that go a long way. The helping hand not done for attention but because it’s the right thing to do. And the reward of joy inside because you didn’t have to but you did anyway.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton ME 04730

October 18, 2016
Living In Maine, Small Rural Town Decision Making.

Common sense and being forward thinking are two skills true dyed in the wool Mainers possess in great supply.

Small Maine towns survive if resistance to change is removed, if creative brainstorming is done. To figure out what do we do now? Way way before arriving at that all important crossroad that makes it do or die important.

Resistance to change happens for a lot of reasons.

You might have liked it just fine the way it was. Or the issue(s) at hand are large and many in number. So where to begin and how will it upset the rest of the apple cart has to be considered. Like the ticking bomb, you holding the wire cutters and with sweat on your lip and brow, hoping you pick the right colored wire to snip snip in just in time. With barely seconds to spare.

When It Is Less People, More Peace And Quiet Happens.

The stakes are high because the room for error in the direction you head to work around the problems to arrive at solutions is small.

When you know hard decisions are needed but delayed, population starts to drop off. Folks that don’t want to leave do anyway. Because inefficiency and delay of implementing new policies that control the spending in a small Maine rural towns is disasterous.

High property taxes in small Maine towns, hikes in user fees and service permits signal something is not being correct quick enough in the belt tightening. When you see one by one small Maine towns and plantations lined up to wave the white flag.

To deorganize and step into the boat being lowered into the water from a sinking local community ship. That opts out to go all in with centralized services from one of the sixteen Maine counties. To lose their local identity because not enough volume of people, too low a population, and too higher a tax burden. The bilge pumps can not keep that local boat afloat.

Drift, Glide, Pop Up And Down Fishing. Maine Loons Dressed In A Black And White Tuexdo.

Local control is something small Maine towns are finding harder and harder to hang onto despite the fierce pride, the colors of the sport’s teams worn proudly at state contests on the way to the top. Reaching for the gold ball.

So when you see the loss of population going down, the cost of living in a small Maine town spiking upward, why so slow to rein in the spending?

Rather than hiking the mill rate to dangerous levels like watching the pressure readings on a steam locomotive engine with a dial needle dancing in the red. Drastic times do call for decisive measures to control the skid.

What adds to the frustration is true Mainers that know the rules of survival don’t run their own households that way. They adjust the spending and live below their means to prepare for those sharp curves, crater sized potholes in the road ahead.

Like pushing the heavy car that is out of gas to who knows where. Getting out, bailing and hitch hiking and looking for the best trail out of the situation can make it every dog for himself. Centralized services, removal the layers of duplications in spending and letting go of the way we always used to run the show in a small Maine town. With a spirit of we’ll be better off on the other side and around to rise and shine.

Style, Comfort, Home Sweet Home Made To Last Design. Life The Way It Should Be Protected In Small Maine Towns.

Like pruning a tree of life sucking dead limbs, what remains can thrive and prospers in new healthy ways. If.

Letting go of personality conflicts, using the wisdom of what happened in history when similar scenarios found their way into small Maine town life.

To arrive at this is the best course of action now for the good of the community, everyone in the small burg.

The Mainer who prides himself or herself on being independent will find new ways to work collectively because there is no other option. Just no room for slow, stalled or just not moving in the best course available correction. To keep as much of the distinct, the original flavor of a small Maine town. While preserving, at the same time streamlining and preparing for the future to assure survival of a small Maine town.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com | MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730

August 20, 2016
Small Maine Town Pride… Chasing The State Sports Gold Ball.

Small town pride in a Maine community swells around the tournaments for the local sports teams.

The squads followed through out the regular season compete for a chance to represent their small Maine town at a regional and state competition.

The Small Home Town Maine School Pride Is Strong During Sports Play Off Competitions. Held In Our Handful Of Maine City Venues That Are Big Enough To Host Them.

It is last guy or gal out of town turn off the lights. Great for the economy of the Maine city that hosts the playoffs.

To one by one go through the bracket pair ups to determine who represents half of the state.

To defend the other chunk playing in a winner takes all on some neutral field, court, arena.

This past Maine school vacation week was such a marvel.

For all ages of a community to wear the school colors, put the signs in their vehicles to tell the world that they are rooting for the small Maine town home team.

Our kids that everyone in the community helps polish, make grow straight and true, responsible.

All the local population is hooting and hollering for the home team. The dreams of what if and the honor from all the hard work of years of practice and play. That leads to a championship trophy for the locked, glass school display case. Or a sportsmanship banner to hang high in the gym or arena.

Tournament Time For Small Maine Towns, Bands, Fans, Teams To Head To The Maine City Hosting Them.

The championship titles help define the local Maine community. To keep score and a sport on the roster.

Puts the little burg on the planet and helps all the locals know their Maine geography a little better. When two fans quiz where is whatever that First Settler sounding name town is located. Or share what it was like on brief visits to the place because of an early meeting high school sports wise.

And the small Maine town fans in the stands are some how directly related to the local players on display during the streamed tournament competition.

And with a ten percent drop in school enrollment in the last decade, consolidations and regional approaches to education make the small Maine town school performance on the list for extinction. These games bitterly important to relish.

No small Maine town wants to lose it’s identity and everyone in the state knows that some of the colors, mascots and sports players, bands won’t be in the next round. Making the Maine sporting news sound bite and ink highlights.

Not because of failing to make the finals. But because of just no more small Maine school where there was a few years ago. As Maine mills become dinosaurs and rust, and hope dims. As resourcefulness enters the room very quickly to centralize and then out source or just plain cut services.

The Bench Awaits The House Keeping Chores Before The Buzzer Whistle Blows, The Buzzer Sounds. And A Victor Is Determined to Go On.

To stop the bleeding of the life blood of what makes the small Maine community sparkle. Or even just tread water waiting for something to change all that.

Dwindling small Maine town populations makes local control a luxury more and more communities won’t be able to enjoy.

Deepening an identity crisis for the small Maine town that struggles to stay one.

No ones likes higher property taxes and if enough to run the small Maine community is just not in the pockets or checkbook of the local residents, everything screeches to a deafening quiet halt.

When the small Maine town can not afford to be one. Waves the white flag and surrenders.

Administration from a central level is happening across the board in rural, under populated drop dead gorgeous Maine communities. Cherish the Maine small home team sports performances. And enjoy the hoopla while it lasts. Before it morphs and becomes watered down, diluted and plain less teams, but larger consolidated school systems in Maine.

The Support From The Bench, The Small Maine School Community At Tournament Time Is Huge.

When small Maine towns deorganize due to state mandates, from the tax burden of the pie piece being just too large for citizens to swallow.

Too much going out, not enough coming in.

To pull off the educational cost component. For enough locals to step up and fill the positions to run the small Maine town.

From animal control officer to shore land zoning and planning board duties. Pot hole filling, cemetery grass mowing, election behind the curtain decision making duties.

Lean and mean happens quick when the money runs out. Has to or there goes missing the small Maine town from the eerie green glowing radar sweep. And Maine towns give up local government. Like the circus that has to unbolt the rides, stack and rack to get on the road again to the next Maine small town venue for cotton candy, dough boys and carnival rides.

It is lonely outside those cozy small Maine six by six mile corner boundary lines.

The Mascot Must Be Hot, Entertaining The Fans, Supporting The Team, Helping The Cheerleaders in A Small Maine Town Tournament Sports Game.

Lost but not forgotten as the small town or plantation that gets shepherded by the county, the state of Maine tries to find a new identity swimming with a larger school of students miles down the road.

Over 5000 home schooled, grass roots under the same roof fed three R’s a day students in Maine.

Considering Maine cyber education is on the rise with charter schools.

These are exciting, trying times in the educational transition from the norm to the new and improved, best we can do with the resources we have in Maine.

Trying to keep up and not make a misstep from waiting too long and making poor decisions because just no time provided for to ace the local small Maine school test. To stay alive and thrive.

To make it better than it was and the best it can be.

Without lingering too long looking back in the rear view mirror to see what the small, independent small Maine town used to look like when lumber and paper mills were king, farmers were everywhere.

And before the Interstate, Internet happened to change the face of the small Maine town that is forced to adjust to the fast moving events that forever change it.

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The way we approach and appreciate everything earned and respected in the Pine Tree State is through hard work, small town family values and a creative spirit to preserve what we hold dear. There is a strong connection, a tug at the heart strings when small Maine community pride is displayed. And desperately searched for ways to maintain the character of a small Maine community.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton ME 04730

February 22, 2016