Page 52 - Newsletter_Fall_2022
P. 52

New Town Clock Will Be Placed in Downtown


        Houlton Thanks to Donation





                                                                                                  By Joseph Cyr ‘89
                                                              Asst. Editor and Senior Reporter for the County Papers



                                                                         A new town clock, similar to this one located
                                                                         at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation
                                                                         Authority (MBTA) Reading Station, will be
                                                                         placed in downtown Houlton this fall thanks
                                                                         to a donation by the Rockabema Lodge No.
                                                                         78. Houlton's clock will be placed on the
                                                                         corner of Main Street and Broadway near the
                                                                         Cary Library. (Photo courtesy of the town of
                                                                         Houlton)




        HOULTON, Maine — A new,               was a place where pedestrians could   Folsom said his group had originally
        old-fashioned timepiece will soon     really see and appreciate the clock.”  planned to do fundraisers for
        be erected in downtown Houlton                                              the clock, but those events never
        thanks to the generosity of a local   Bruce Folsom, a member of the         materialized. Instead, the group will
        organization.                         lodge, explained that the group had   simply fund the project with money
                                              been looking for a way to make a      from its investments.
        The Independent Order of Odd          lasting donation to the town. He first
        Fellows Rockabema Lodge No. 78        approached the town with the idea     Standing nearly 11 feet high, the
        in Houlton graciously offered to pay   for a new clock back in the spring.  black aluminum clock will have
        for the cost of placing a new clock                                         four sides, and feature gold lettering
        within the downtown area, but left    “We have been working on this idea    with the words “Houlton” and
        the specifics of what style and where   for about two years,” Folsom said.   “Established 1807.” Tortello said that
        it should go up to the town.          “We really wanted to do something     the established date conflicts with the
                                              for the community that would be       town’s seal, which features the words
        On Monday, Aug. 8, the town           a lasting gesture for generations to
        council agreed to place the clock on   come.”                               “Incorporated 1831.”
        a parcel of land at the corner of Main                                      “We decided it was important to use
        Street and Broadway, near the Cary    Folsom said the idea for a town       the established year, rather than the
        Library.                              clock came to him while he was in     incorporation date, because back
                                              downtown Portland and noticed         in 2007, we celebrated the town’s
        “The clock committee felt that        a number of similar timepieces
        the design of the clock would go      throughout the area.                  bicentennial,” she said. “We also
        well with the architecture in that                                          decided to go with Roman numerals,
        area,” said Councilor Sue Tortello,   Estimated to cost $17,000, the        which may cause some difficulty with
        a member of the clock committee.      project will be solely funded by the   younger people who have no idea
        “It’s an area of town where people    Rockabema Lodge, with the town        what a Roman numeral is.”
        congregate quite a bit. We felt this   only required to maintain the piece
                                              and provide electricity.

        www.houltonalumni.com                                                                                 PAGE 52
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