RUMFORD — A small group of residents and business owners gathered Friday morning at the GOP Victory Center to meet with state House District 92 candidate Tom Skolfield of Weld.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Summers of Scarborough was scheduled to attend but was forced to cancel at the last minute.

Skolfield repeatedly voiced his appreciation for the town of Rumford, where he grew up.

“Rumford was the place to be,” he said. “When I lived here, Christmastime in Rumford was like going to Disneyland.”

Skolfield and his treasurer and longtime friend Mike Pratt fielded questions and heard complaints, including one from Cherry Smith, the owner of Ink Plaza on Congress Street, and her husband, Randall.

“With our equipment, we paid taxes on them when we first bought them,” Randall Smith said, “and when we moved into Congress Street, we had to start paying taxes on them again.”

Skolfield called the situation “unconscionable” and said the state “needs to help its small businesses.”

Following the gathering, Skolfield and resident Candice Casey, field office coordinator for the GOP Victory Center, visited local businesses on Main Street.

Skolfield, a selectman in Weld, had a 43-year career in public service with the Maine Department of Conservation's Bureau of Parks and Lands, according to his campaign website.

District 92 includes Madrid Township, Rangeley Plantation, Sandy River Plantation and Weld in Franklin County, and Andover, Byron, Roxbury and Rumford in Oxford County.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com