MEXICO – The River Valley area includes all kinds of businesses, services, educational opportunities and talented artists. But not everybody knows that.

That’s why a River Valley Business Expo is planned for September.

“We want to showcase everything the River Valley has to offer. There are many things people just don’t know about,” said Rosie Bradley, chairwoman of the River Valley Business Expo Committee.

She, along with 15 other committee members, have been working for more than a year to pull the two-day event together. The trouble is, many businesses and other organizations in the region have not yet stepped up to participate.

About 35 have signed on so far, but the goal is to reach about 150.

Uniformed men ready for dates

RUMFORD – A race car driver, a couple of medical technicians, a firefighter and a forester.

These are but a few of the men who stepped forward to become a part of the River Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Uniformed Men of the River Valley 2004 calendar.

Not all of them volunteered themselves. Some were volunteered by their wives, significant others, or relatives.

But the pictures came in.

Tammi Lyons, executive secretary for the chamber, doesn’t want to reveal names just yet. But many occupations and virtually every town in the 10-town region will be represented.

The price or the calendars will be low, said Lyons, so that more people will buy a copy. Besides the monthly portraits, the calendar itself will list special events that take place in the River Valley towns.

It goes on sale during the July 4th festivities. About 500 will be initially printed by a local printer. More will be printed as needed.

Titcomb revenue exceeds estimate

FARMINGTON – The numbers are in for the 2002-03 ski season, and Titcomb Mountain posted strong results, proving that little mountains can pull in big dollars.

The not-for-profit mountain is owned and operated by the Farmington Ski and Outing Club.

The total income generated for the season was $200,299.96, more than $5,000 more than anticipated.

Season-pass sales are expected to rise next season as more and more people head for the slopes. According to mountain manager Megan Roberts, season-pass prices will increase by 5 percent next year because of escalating insurance, fuel and maintenance costs. Passes for a family of four for both nordic and alpine trails will work out to around $100 per person.

“The last few years have been great,” said Roberts, attributing the financial success of the mountain to a drive to get youngsters off the couch and into the outdoors during the long winter months. “We have been really working hard to develop more programs to get healthier kids,” she said.

Petitions force issues to ballot

MEXICO – Residents will see two more articles on the annual town meeting warrant thanks to two successful petition drives to get the items back on.

Selectmen last month approved a $1.5 million proposed municipal budget. The warrant excluded money for most social service agencies and for the usual amount the town contributes to the Mexico Trailblazers Snowmobile Club.

The move, according to officials, was an attempt to keep the municipal budget down. This year’s mill rate is $30.80 per $1,000 valuation. The adopted 2003-04 budget by the Board of Selectmen is expected to result in at least a 1 mill decrease.

But a week before the deadline for submitting petitions, local people turned in at least the minimum number of signatures from registered voters required to force both issues onto the town meeting warrant.

Copy the Story Link