Downtown Skowhegan Nears Funding Goal

Skowhegan, Maine - Hight Family of Dealerships, Kyes Carpenter Insurance, and fifty-nine other businesses and individuals have come together this month to support Skowhegan’s downtown revitalization.  Main Street Skowhegan, the nonprofit organization founded almost ten years ago to coordinate this work, will be using the funds to expand their programs in 2015.

According to the Main Street Skowhegan website, the organization has raised over 75% toward a goal of $10,000 for the end of 2014.  They hope to raise $2,250 more in the remaining days of December.

“The number of donors and the amount of money raised so far shows the community’s commitment
to maintaining and improving our historic core,” said Main Street Skowhegan Board President, Matt DuBois, who is also co-owner of downtown businesses The Bankery and Skowhegan Fleuriste & Formalwear.

The twelve-member Main Street Skowhegan Board of Directors plans to use the money they are currently raising to expand their programs in 2015.  Main Street’s four volunteer committees are making plans for new incentives to grow downtown Skowhegan’s base of young entrepreneurs, new community-building events, and a renewed façade improvement program for historic downtown buildings.

The Main Street board is also drawing attention to the achievements of Skowhegan’s first ten years as a nationally-designated Main Street community, which they have dubbed the “Decade of Development.”

Since 2009, the organization has played a key role in the redevelopment of the former Skowhegan County Jail into the Somerset Grist Mill and epicenter of Skowhegan’s growing food hub.  “Main Street increased our capacity to create jobs downtown and boost local agriculture by helping the grist mill’s bricks-and-mortar improvements and its programs,” said grist mill owner Amber Lambke.

Main Street has also served as a central coordinating entity for a calendar of annual downtown events like the Maple Festival, River Fest, and Holiday Stroll.  Main Street volunteer Heather Davis of Cayford Orchards helps organize the Maple Festival each year.  “My family has been farming in Skowhegan for six generations.  I am proud to play a role in celebrating our traditions,” she said.

Main Street Skowhegan is accepting donations through their website, www.MainStreetSkowhegan.org, through the mail, and at their office.

Businesses and residents who have already contributed toward this campaign include Hight Family of Dealerships, Somerset Bar Association, Butler's Car Wash, Dr. Gust Stringos, Belmont Motel, Bill and Louise Townsend, Ann Dorney, David Axelman, Kathy LaPlante, North Country Rivers, Grassland Farm, Kel-Mat Cafe, Kyes Carpenter Insurance, Foe Meader, Carol Leonard, Al's Pizza, Paul Hollick, Gailian Magruder, Pleasant Street Daycare, Drs. Jack and Gail Gibson, Bruce and Elizabeth Haynes, Bob and Gloria Nicholson, Chris and Claire Perkins, Higgins & Bolduc Agency, Taconnet Federal Credit Union, Dr. Oto and Petra Prokop, Violet Ferland, Warren's Office Supplies/The Paper Klip, Strawberry Hill Farms, William and Margaret Reid, Hammond Lumber, Linda Haith, John Doucette, Bob and Mary Burr, Mark's Complete Automotive Service, Dr. Ganna Chugay, Linda Cipriano, Dr. Robert and Mrs. Marianne Steinhacker, Peter Mills, Sarah Workneh, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Country Crow Primitives, Anne Roosevelt, Maine Wood Heat, Lakewood Golf Course, Bangor Savings Bank, Scott Price, Maine Center for Dental Medicine, Hurricane Cleaners, Cherylene Seavey, Sarah Davis, Anne Roosevelt, Dr. Alexander Turbyne, GFWC Women's Clubs, Happyknits, Norm and Pat Dickey, Jeanne and Warren Shay, Paavo and Mary Titherington-Carey, John Kimbell, Bangor Savings Bank, and 3 anonymous donors.