Lubec’s lament

The front page of the Sept. 16-17 Maine Weekend blared, “Lubec sees glimmer beyond gloom.” As a former Washington County and Lubec resident I was at first interested and then annoyed by reporter Bruce Kyle’s treatment of the subject. To group the good citizens of Lubec together and describe them as “… too blasted ornery to leave” is a ridiculous laspe of judgment by the NEWS and implies that there may be no reason for Lubecers to stay where they are. This travesty was followed by a recitation of small-town scandals that plague every community from time to time and a biased and limited statistical view of the Lubec area that leaves the reader wondering how the community continues to exist.

When the story finally turns to more positive events, the discussion is entirely focused on a few new projects and the people who are pushing them onward. The community’s hired officials are to be commended for their hard work and success but they are certainly not singularly responsible for all that is good in Lubec. The enthusiasm of these new officials notwithstanding, it is the people of Lubec who are responsible for the success of the current projects. These same people can be proud of many other achievements of the recent past not mentioned by Kyle.

It is true that Lubec’s economy does not provide adequately for many of the community’s residents, yet year after year these people provide funding for basic public services and support the efforts of local government to improve the community. Knowing in advance that the costs of operating a wastewater treatment facility would be enormous, Lubec voters decided to proceed with a project to provide treatment to their wastewater. Lubecers were among the first in the region to implement an effective community recycling program and despite the increasing difficulties of providing health care in rural areas, the Regional Medical Center at Lubec thrives on community support.

There are countless other examples of the community spirit present in this town that could have been used in Kyle’s article about life in a small, coastal town. Why did he fail to mention them at all? How is it that I am aware of them from more than 3,000 miles away but Kyle is not? The people of Lubec deserve more from the NEWS than a regurgitation of past problems and a listing of future projects that ignore other recent successess as if they do not exist Edward M. Collins Orem, Utah