Why I love living in a small town. (Bangor, Calais: houses, high school)

[gussie]

We live in Baileyville, a small milltown. Yesterday we heard and saw sirens, fire trucks, emergency vehicles come down our street. We thought WHAT IS GOING ON ??????Then we saw the school buses filled with the Boys and Girls Basketball teams from Woodland High School. They had both won in Bangor and play in the finals next Sat. !!!!!!!!!That is something we never saw in the bigger towns we have lived in. It made us proud to see the happy kids so proud of their victories. GO WOODLAND!!!!!! yOU DESERVE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!

[BoundtofindME]

Originally Posted by gussie

We live in Baileyville, a small milltown. Yesterday we heard and saw sirens, fire trucks, emergency vehicles come down our street. We thought WHAT IS GOING ON ??????Then we saw the school buses filled with the Boys and Girls Basketball teams from Woodland High School. They had both won in Bangor and play in the finals next Sat. !!!!!!!!!That is something we never saw in the bigger towns we have lived in. It made us proud to see the happy kids so proud of their victories. GO WOODLAND!!!!!! yOU DESERVE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!

Awwww...that would have given me goose bumps to see that! How exciting that must be for them!

[Casper1212]

That's one of the things I miss living here, gussie. The culture here has its benefits, but there are things that I miss. The parents make their kids a priority, but things like yelling and cheering for them seems impolite to them for some reason. Here's a kicker for you. The team mascot here is the Blue Devils. Our son works for the school, and we bought him a Calais Blue Devils sweatshirt. It was even the same blue as the school colors here. We told him to wear it to school on casual Friday and see how long it takes somebody to notice that it says Calais and not Presidio.

[Elcarim]

I understand, Casper. I was labeled as the "Psycho Soccer Mom" the ONE time my parents attented one of the girls' games with us last fall. My mother said I embarrassed her with all my yelling and cheering. My daughters look at me everytime they score or make a good play to see my approval.

I think kids aren't cheered on enough, and that's one reason they get into such trouble these days....looking for the missing attention. It's wonderful that the community would support them like that and honor their victory in such a public way. I can't wait to participate! I'll be the short, brunette psycho yelling the loudest!

[lookinforahome]

Congratulations! My school, Thornton Academy, just won regional finals down here too

[MaineMathTCHER]

Originally Posted by gussie

We live in Baileyville, a small milltown. Yesterday we heard and saw sirens, fire trucks, emergency vehicles come down our street. We thought WHAT IS GOING ON ??????Then we saw the school buses filled with the Boys and Girls Basketball teams from Woodland High School. They had both won in Bangor and play in the finals next Sat. !!!!!!!!!That is something we never saw in the bigger towns we have lived in. It made us proud to see the happy kids so proud of their victories. GO WOODLAND!!!!!! yOU DESERVE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!

YES!!!!! Go Dragons : )

[mollysmiles]

Gotta love it! It's great! When we came home from the tourneys the last 3 years our local radio station WQDY has broadcast the location of the bus all the way down Rt 9, so those of us waiting in the caravan would know how long they would be. We had the police cars, border patrol, ambulance, and the first year we had a fire truck in the beginning of the line. Along the route back into town (we started in Baring) people in the houses along the way were waving and blinking their outside lights. The caravan is usually about 175 cars long.... all with flashers on and blowing their horns.

Yesterday on the way to Bangor Elaine, our resident non-posting lurker whom many of you have met at lunch, and Daphne, my oldest son's girlfriend were awed at the signs along Rt 9 for the teams. They were able to see the Woodland signs, and the Calais signs. Neither of them had ever seen anything like that before.

Tourney time is a fantastic time of year.... and people wonder what makes our little communities so strong....

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

I understand, Casper. I was labeled as the "Psycho Soccer Mom" the ONE time my parents attented one of the girls' games with us last fall. My mother said I embarrassed her with all my yelling and cheering. My daughters look at me everytime they score or make a good play to see my approval.

I think kids aren't cheered on enough, and that's one reason they get into such trouble these days....looking for the missing attention. It's wonderful that the community would support them like that and honor their victory in such a public way. I can't wait to participate! I'll be the short, brunette psycho yelling the loudest!

Wow...you'll do well in Maine then. We're a loud bunch when it comes to cheering our kids on at least in my experience anyway. We do nonetheless, once and a while, have an "egghead" parent who is just plain rude. The rest of us usually put him or her in place in short order.

Children do need to be cheered on. It builds confidence!

[ogre]

Kinda gets ya right there. Seriously, I got a little choked up reading the opening post. Great to see that kind of support and encouragement for young people. Sure, they dress funny, and have their awkward teenaged issues, but, as trite as it might sound to say it, they really are the future, so they need to be supported and encouraged. And it's great to hear about genuine small towns where the accomplishments of their citizens mean that much to the community.

[OakBay]

Gussie, do you play the trumpet?

JA