News

FORT KENT – Power of Prevention and 10th Mountain Outdoor Club are partnering to offer a winter hike for all interested participants, starting at the Lonesome Pine ski lodge in Fort Kent, on December 14 at 1 p.m..

FORT KENT – On Friday, December 6, the 10^th Mountain celebrated the Christmas Season with a “Deck the Lodge” event that packed the facility at the top of the mountain on the southern end of Fort Kent with more than 60 holiday and outdoor enthusiasts.

FORT KENT -The Fort Kent Recreation and Parks Department, along with Maine Families/Early Head start, will be co-sponsoring “Circle Time Activities” for toddlers and children up to five years on Monday, December 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Fort Kent Town Office meeting room.

MADAWASKA -The Madawaska Middle/High School "25 Days of Christmas / Les Vingt-Cinq Jours de NOEL 2013" fundraiser is complete and organizers will announce a new winner each day of December right here on the Fiddlehead Focus.

Winners can collect their prizes at MMHS.

DECEMBER 9 - Erin Dugal

DECEMBER 8 - Kyle Blanchette

DECEMBER 7 - Jacob & Alyssa Lajoie

DECEMBER 6 - Jamie Boucher

I am frequently asked what the most limiting factor to innovation and entrepreneurship in Maine is. The truth is that our attitude and imagination are the only limiting factors, but creating a business friendly environment and supportive infrastructure are two important steps to unleashing great ideas here at home.

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JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Today the world mourns the death of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon, who died "peacefully" at home and surrounded by family, at approximately 9 p.m., Thursday night 5 December.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY -Snowmobilers ready to hit the trails this winter are encouraged to pick up the 2014-15 Snowmobile Trail Map hot off the presses from Aroostook County Tourism (ACT) and the Aroostook Chambers of Commerce.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY -Aroostook Partnership for Progress (APP) officials, along with five Aroostook County lawmakers, met on December 4 to discuss economic development issues facing the region and the state.

MAINE -The six New England Governors, on December 5, committed their states to an unprecedented level of regional cooperation to develop an energy agenda designed to bring more affordable, cleaner, and reliable power to homes and businesses across the northeast.

FORT KENT - The Arooskis Adult Nordic Program, designed for any adult interested in being outside and getting active on cross-country skis, is back for another snowy season with a weekly program at 10th Mountain meeting every Tuesday evening at 6 p.m..

AROOSTOOK COUNTY – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the availability of nearly $10.5 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants to help agricultural producers enter into value-added activities designed to give them a competitive business edge.

WALLAGRASS -On December 4, nineteen members of the Valley’s hunting and trapping community met with James Cody at the Track Down Kennel and Lodge, which Maine Guide Joel Guimond owns, in order to rally support to fight an upcoming referendum which would restrict the methods the state allows for hunting bears.

FORT KENT -Family and friends alike are invited to help celebrate the beginning of the winter season at 10th Mountain's "Deck the Lodge" coffee house this Friday, December 6, from 6 to 10 p.m..

AROOSTOOK COUNTY –The National Weather Service out of Caribou is predicting freezing rain in the region, and they have issued a freezing rain advisory in effect from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

The advisory covers an area north of a line from Caribou to Clayton Lake

The advisory says there could be as much as a tenth of an inch, and the NWS singles out the St. John Valley specifically.

EDMUNDSTON, NEW BRUNSWICK - The public is invited to attend the book launch of photographer Roger Grandmaison, "Coup d’œil sur l’Acadie des terres et forêts / A Look at L’Acadie des Terres et Forêts," at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, December 9, at the local PSL-105-Simon Larouche building of the Université de Moncton, Edmundston campus.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY - USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel announced an historic fiscal year-end investment in Maine’s rural communities on December 4, with over $11 million distributed to Aroostook County.

FORT KENT - Officials at the Fort Kent Police Department reported a two-car accident on 3 December at around 7:45 a.m. on West Market St., said Chief Michaud.

Sherrie Pelletier, 32, of Frenchville, was driving a 2007 GMC utility wagon westbound on W. Market St., when she struck another vehicle that Gary Bosse, 54, of Wallagrass, was driving.

FORT KENT - A man called the Fort Kent Police Department on 30 November at approximately 5 p.m., during shift change, to report a breaking and entering, said Police Chief Kenneth Michaud.

Benjamin Latvis, age 22, of Fort Kent, called to report that a woman, Sara Martin, age 23 of Van Buren, had entered his residence at 34 Paradis Circle in Fort Kent, without his permission.

PISCATAQUIS COUNTY - After returning home early Monday morning on 2 December, both missing hunters just wanted to get their bearings, rest, spend time with family and 'finish the job' at hand before talking to anyone outside the family, said Travis Hafford of Millinocket, half of the hunting duo.

FORT KENT -Mark Kelly recently joined the Student Supports Services TRIO program at the University of Maine at Fort Kent as its new Reading/Writing Specialist.

Mark brings a great deal of energy and knowledge to the TRIO program, having more than 30 years of teaching experience.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY -The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society is collecting DVD’s for disabled veterans, and is welcoming donations from the community during the annual Holiday Light Parade, which takes place on Saturday, Dec. 7 starting at 6 p.m..

MILLINOCKET - One mother can breathe a sigh of relief that her son is home safe and sound, according to Gayle Stevens, mother of Ryan Stevens, one of the two missing hunters from Millinocket that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer on his way to work found at approximately 5:45 p.m. on Sunday evening.

FORT KENT -Alison Theriault and Matt Fongemie of Frenchville are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Adaline May Fongemie, on 2 December 2013, at the Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent.

Adaline's maternal grandparents are Madeleine and George Theriault from St. David. Her paternal grandparents are  Lola Fongemie, Galen and Debbie Fongemie of Frenchville.

FORT KENT –The Acadian Archives acadiennes of the University of Maine at Fort Kent will host a presentation on St. John Valley architecture by Don Cyr on December 5 at 7 p.m. in the Nadeau Hall teleconference room.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY –Young professionals in Aroostook County have the opportunity to participate in a one-of-a-kind professional development course designed specifically for emerging leaders and put on by The Seventh Annual Young Professionals Institute (YPI), running on Tuesdays from March 4 to April 29, 2014.

AUGUSTA -The Maine District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration announced its 2013 lender awards on December 2, 2013.

LAC BAKER, N.B. - Officers of the West District RCMP in Clair, New Brunswick have arrested a 27-year-old man following a shooting in the Lac Baker area near Edmundston, N.B.

In a press release with few details, the New Brunswick Royal Canadian Mounted Police report that at approximately 10:30 p.m. on November 28, 2013, RCMP received a call that someone had shot a man. The incident occurred along a back road in the Lac Baker area.

A 37-year-old man from Clair went to the hospital in Edmundston with a gunshot wound.

EAGLE LAKE - The search for a missing man from Quebec will resume Monday morning near Umbazooksus Lake in TWP T6 R13 WELS, and searchers have located two men who were missing since Friday.

The Maine Warden Service reports that searchers have located two Millinocket men missing since Friday, November 29.

The men were alive.

This year's theme will be Congres Mondial Acadien 2014.

FORT KENT - Hello friends. Continuing from last time, the fundraising campaign is still going on for Kevin Pelletier. I am seeking donations from anyone in the community to help us get Kevin in a new car. Kevin has been a quiet giant for many years and i want to show him a huge thank you from the entire community for all that he has done for everyone in the community. “I want to make his dream come true” and will work as hard as I can to make it happen. 

AROOSTOOK COUNTY -Patients of TAMC’s County Dialysis Center, spending Thanksgiving away from the comfort of their own homes, received a box complete with a turkey dinner and all the trimmings thanks to the generosity of TAMC employees, donors and the legacy of a former dialysis patient who passed away three years ago.

NOVEMBER 27, 2013 -Thanksgiving offers us an opportunity to gather with our loved ones and give thanks for our many blessings.  Above all, it is a time to reconnect with members of our family, some of whom we may not have seen since the previous Thanksgiving.  However, for hundreds of thousands of children in America, the joy of partaking in this annual tradition is out of reach because unfortunate circumstances have robbed them of the affection, support, and stability of a family.

FORT KENT -The Sunday Ski Sale at Lonesome Pine Trails last weekend had high attenedence that may have received a boost because of the recent snowfall.

LILLE -Travis Cyr and Greg Klein will perform a concert of original Americana Folk and Roots Music at the Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel in Lille, on Saturday afternoon, December 14 at 2 pm.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY - The second day after Thanksgiving was far colder than normal in Aroostook County.

Along Big Black River, the National Weather Service announced that an observer recorded a temperature of -10 F at 7 a.m., which matched the reading in Estcourt Station.

Story by Andrew Birden, photos by Anne Ward

FORT KENT – Last weekend, a woman was pulling out of the Circle K parking lot in Fort Kent, and as she entered Main Street, her son called out from the passenger side, “Oh my God! Look at that.”

There have been a lot of changes in my life this past year, and suddenly finding myself with an editorial column to write is one of those changes.  It's in the job description here at the Fiddlehead Focus.

FORT KENT- Join the Greater Fort Kent Area Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Kent Lions Club for the 13th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at 6 p.m., Saturday, November 30, at Monument Square.

ST. JOHN PLANTATION – Louis Belanger, of St. John, has found a fun way to put his carpentry expertise to good use all year round by staying productive in retirement.

FORT KENT -The Fort Kent Recreation and Parks Department will be hosting a Christmas Crafts Workshop on Thursday, December 12 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. for children of all ages.

This workshop will be held at the Fort Kent Municipal Building on West Main Street.

Imagination will be the key ingedient in creating useful Christmas crafts, perfect for home decorations or to share with family and friends.