LIVERMORE FALLS – Volunteers worked diligently Sunday painting light poles, clearing brush along the Androscoggin River bank and picking up around the gazebo downtown.
It was part of the Livermore Falls Betterment Group’s efforts to spruce up the town to attract more people and businesses, said member Ken Jacques of Livermore Falls, who is also chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
“We just want to make it more attractive,” Jacques said.
Jacques was on a lift so he could paint higher portions of the metal light poles black. Others in the group were painting lower sections of the poles, either on ladders or from the ground.
Pat’s Wallpaper, RPH Inc., Chretien and Sons Greenhouses, Jay Rent-A-Tool, Castonguay Excavation and the Chuck Wagon Restaurant made contributions to the day, Jacques said.
Carrie Castonguay of Jay and Joanne Grundy of Chesterville, both employees of SAD 36/Jay Adult Education Center in Livermore Falls, painted poles before moving on to paint a bench green in front of the town office.
Tammy Greaton of Livermore Falls adopted the front of the town office and had raked it and mulched it Saturday.
Livermore Falls resident Blanche Newell, who grew up in town, was walking by Jacques on Depot Street as she stopped to look at the work that was in progress.
“I think it’s great,” Newell said. “It needs it. It isn’t advertising when you drive in. It’s a mess.”
Sense of community
The town is going to be the next Winthrop, Jacques said, as he painted.
“People can’t afford to live in the cities anymore,” he said. “They’re coming this way. … Manufacturing is gone. … I think it’s going to be the next bedroom community.”
The better the town looks, the better the quality of people you’re going to attract, he said.
“I hope it works,” said Steve Botka of Chesterville.
He owns Foss Jewelry, which has been a family business for decades.
Botka said he’s seen groups with ideas to fix up the town to make it better, Botka said, but this is the most advanced the plans have been.
“With (Town Manager) Alan (Gove) and Kenny (Jacques) working on it, it’s the most positive it has ever been,” Botka said.
Botka said that when he was younger, the town was booming and had more businesses, including Dreamland Theater.
Resident Emile Richard who was walking his dog, Jackson, up Main Street, stopped to chat with volunteers.
Another workday
“It’s great,” Richard said echoing Newell’s comment. “It needs it. Sometimes just a change of color can make a difference.”
Richard said the town was busy at one time because the paper mills called for a lot of employees and paid well.
But the strike in 1987 split a lot of families, he said, and it affected the towns. It’s coming back slowly, he added.
Phil Poirier, a newcomer to town who grew up in Rumford, also is a member of the Betterment Group. Members would like to see more of a retail presence, he said, a more complete downtown.
The group plans to continue to take small steps to make the town more attractive. It’s scheduled a second workday for Sunday.
“Small steps lead to progress, and you know you have to start someplace,” Poirier said.
Comments are no longer available on this story