LEWISTON — It’s sundown and on Park Street an a capella group is rehearsing on the sidewalk outside Victor News.

There’s something you don’t see every day.

The Lisbon Street sidewalks have become crowded and the stores are full. In Auburn, it’s wall to wall drinkers at Gritty McDuff’s.

It’s all very disorienting. Or as one local man put it, standing on the crowded sidewalk in front of the Salvation Army: “Where did all these people come from?”

A fair question with a good answer.

“All these people” are Bates College students and they’re roaming from place to place as part of an organized effort to get them familiar with their community.

For most of the day and into the night, the Bates students were making the rounds. From Guthries to Chopsticks to the Lyceum Gallery and on to Forage and points farther along.

The students said they like that there’s so much to do and how easy it is to get from place to place. They are put off a bit by Lewiston’s gritty reputation but, so far, the city has been kind to them.

Back from spring break, the students are in downtown Lewiston again and most of them already know their way around.

“I’ve been down here plenty of times,” freshman Chris Shaw of upstate New York said. “We sometimes run through here for cross country.”

His group knows Lewiston so well, they’re well aware of the shortcuts connecting Lisbon and Park streets — the alleys and staircases that cut between buildings around Dufresne Plaza.

Just before sundown, Shaw and his crew were on the move.

“We’ve been sampling the various restaurants,” Bates student Meredith Colleary of Connecticut said.

Not to mention listening to the bands and looking over student art in places such as the Lamey Wellehan building on Lisbon Street.

“We’re going to go get dessert somewhere,” Shaw said, “and just walk around.”

Which is kind of the idea.

Created last year by a group of Bates students in conjunction with the Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce, the College Night in Town was envisioned as a time to acquaint college students with the dining, shopping and entertainment options available in their backyard. 

“The goal of this spring’s event is to support the town and the local economy with an arts-crawl feeling event that showcases some of the best musicians and artists that Bates has to offer,” Meg Murphy, a Bates senior who leads the organizing group, said. “Our goal is to develop a better relationship between the town and the college through introductions, interaction and financial incentives.”

Good for the youths and good for the businesses, some of which stayed open extra late Wednesday night to accommodate the event.

At Forage, there was a steady stream of customers at about 7 p.m., but most of them were just regulars. The Bates students were only starting to trickle in. 

“We haven’t seen a lot of them yet,” Forage’s Rachel Legendre said. “I think it’s because so many from Bates come here all the time. They might be thinking, ‘I already know all about Forage. Let’s try some place new.'”

Anyone in the restaurant business will understand how comments like that usually end up, Legendre included.

“Of course,” she said, “in 10 minutes, they could all come at once and we’ll have to put more pizzas in the oven.”

Almost immediately after she said it, four Bates students walked through the door. The night was just getting started with the a capella concert planned at Dufresne Plaza just around the corner. By 8:15 p.m., there were already more than 100 people in the plaza and more were coming by the minute.

Copy the Story Link