Dear Editor:

I'm perplexed, but not surprised, at the strength of feelings of those Boothbay area folk who want things to stay the way they remember them and automatically find suspicion in any suggested change.

My Boothbay Harbor native 97-year-old mother-in-law is a good example. We hear constantly the theme “all of us could hardly wait for the summer to be over so those tourists would leave and we could have our town back to ourselves.”

And at 97, no longer do we challenge her with questions such as, “Don't you like all the restaurants we frequent every summer?” or how nice the rejuvenated Opera House, the expanded YMCA, and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens are?

If this letter is published it won't be in the Register until after the November 5 voting. Thus at least for the present, the die will be cast for the TIF and bond issues dedicated to a changed look and future direction of the area.

Frankly I'd hate to see the general fiber of the area change. The weeks we spent as our children were growing up every summer for our first 50 years of marriage, and now during the three months we spend every summer in retirement, have been greatly enhanced over the years by those opportunities mentioned above.

But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that we almost lost the Opera House, and wouldn't have the bennies of a top-drawer Y, to name but just two of our major attractions, if the area had sat on its laurels and the infusion of new monies from newcomers to the area had not appeared.

Spinning our wheels simply because we don't trust the deep pockets folk, are fearful of change, or question the motives of our elected or town officials gets us nowhere.

Let's at least give those who are attempting to develop and implement a vision assuring that the Boothbay region's future will be every bit as enjoyable as its past a break. Let's address their efforts with an open mind.

Dennis C. Brown
Villa Rica, Ga. and
Boothbay