Welcome to another edition of Boos and Bravos, the quick-hit, catch-all column of Here’s Something. This week, remarkably, we have nothing but positive bravos to report:
Bravo to a fantastic, though fleeting, Maine summer. The weather was what Goldilocks would have ordered – warm but not oppressively so. There was little rain and few beach day-ending thunderstorms.
The rosy weather picture will likely translate into some good economic numbers for Maine’s summer tourist season. Between the weather and the stellar national economy, summer 2019 may have been a record-breaker. We’ll find out when the Maine Office of Tourism releases its annual report.
And now that tourists and summer residents have mostly gone, it’s late summer, early fall and the state is ours once again. There’s no better time to enjoy Maine. It’s still warm and nice but the usual tourist spots aren’t as crowded. So get out and take advantage. It’ll be winter soon enough.
Bravo to Global Partners for announcing it will go above and beyond the recently imposed government requirement requiring the Massachusetts-based oil company to improve the air quality surrounding its storage tanks in South Portland.
Neighbors are right to complain about the oily smell, which is truly awful and makes one pity those who live nearby. Global will spend $400,000 on odor control measures, aimed at further reducing emissions from its tanks. It will also contribute $15,000 to bolster the city’s air quality monitoring program and create a website, globalsouthportland.com, so residents can report complaints and read emissions data.
We all know South Portland’s oil industry has hit a rough patch in recent years, namely with the failure to reverse the pipeline leading to Canada and more oversight by the host city. Cleaning up the oil companies’ act, an effort Global is leading, is required so this critically important industry can reverse its public relations slump.
Oil is important to our way of life, especially here in brutally cold Maine, and we need the companies’ products and services. City officials should remember this. But it needs to be as pollution-free as possible, especially for the sake of immediate neighbors.
Let’s hope other emitters in South Portland follow Global’s example. As Global’s CEO said, “At the end of the day, it’s got to be a broader approach.”
Bravo to the Freeport Flag Ladies for demonstrating persevering, long-lasting patriotism.
Carmen Footer, Elaine Greene and JoAnn Miller, all in their 70s or 80s, waved flags each Tuesday morning on Route 1 in Freeport since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. For 18 years – in heat, rain, snow, wind or fog – they waved their flags and reminded passersby of Sept. 11 and those who died.
The tireless trio also championed our brave soldiers. They served as troop greeters at Bangor International Airport, meeting thousands of departing U.S. soldiers headed for Iraq and Afghanistan. They also worked to coordinate care packages for the troops, sending essentials for daily living as well as the equally essential sentiment that Americans would never forget those going off to war in service of the country.
In a radio interview, Greene, the youngest of the flag ladies at 73, explained the three women were motivated by memories of how returning Vietnam War soldiers were treated and stigmatized. Greene said they wanted today’s soldiers to know without a doubt they were supported.
In their own way, Elaine, Carmen and JoAnn served our country and became role models in the process. Just as the flag ladies remembered Sept. 11, Mainers will always remember their faithful service as well.
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