Page 52 - Newsletter_Fall_2022
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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.
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