My
name is Brian
Hamel and I am the President & CEO of the Loring Development
Authority, which is the entity that played host to "The Great
Went", "Lemonwheel" and "It"
Phish festivals. I wanted to take this
opportunity to extend our thanks to each and every Phish fan for
"adding value" to our community and to extend our appreciation
for the way in which you conducted yourselves during your ventures
to northern Maine. The people of Aroostook
County, Maine are always commenting to me on how pleased they
are that Phish and its fans continue to bring vibrancy to our
community, and a day doesn't go by that I'm not asked by a well-wishing
citizen if Phish will return in 2004! Thank you all for reminding
us of the importance of friendships, loyalty, caring for people
and our environment, and the joy of life. I am in hopes that our
paths will cross again, but in the meantime I wish you much joy,
happiness and success.
While I have your attention, although I recognize
that your initial interest in visiting northern Maine was your
love for Phish, I wanted you to know that northern Maine is a
wonderful place to visit under any circumstances. I moved to northern
Maine in 1994 initially to take on the professional challenge
of redeveloping the former Loring Air Force Base (now referred
to as the Loring Commerce Centre),
after living my entire life on the north shore of Massachusetts
and in southern New Hampshire. From a professional perspective
I have certainly been fulfilled, but more importantly, my family
and I have fallen in love with the region and its people. As you
have experienced during your "road trips" to Loring, the beauty
of our countryside is breathtaking and our citizens are warm,
welcoming and genuine. Who wouldn't want to return to northern
Maine with all of these attributes? Therefore, I would like to
extend to you an invitation to come back and visit northern Maine
outside of "Phish season" and experience all that northern Maine
has to offer. I would encourage you to first take a cyber visit
to www.visitaroostook.com
or call 1-888-216-2463 and then make arrangements to come back
and visit with us soon.
Lastly, I thought I'd take this opportunity to
solicit some advice from you as it relates to my "real" job of
economic development. I'm certain that there are many Phish entrepreneurs
that would love to start up a small business at the Loring
Commerce Centre in our new Loring Applied Technology Center.
In addition, you or your friends and family members may be working
for a company that might be considering an expansion or relocation,
but the company may have never considered northern Maine. This
is where I need your help. Who better to extol the virtues of
northern Maine than a veteran of "The
Great Went", "Lemonwheel" or
"IT" Phish festivals? Are you willing to
be our economic development ambassadors? I would truly enjoy hearing
your thoughts on this subject and I would invite you to visit
our website at www.loring.org
to gain a better understanding of our day-to-day development efforts
and then send me an e-mail at bhamel@loring.org
so that I can be the beneficiary of your creative thoughts.
Once again, thanks for enriching our lives and
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Take care,
Brian
P.S. I hope the photographic smorgasbord from
the Phish festivals held on Loring in 1997,
1998, and 2003
will bring back good memories for you!
FAQ
