Tale of two Woodlands

Reading the Bangor Daily News (March 9) about growing contentions between two places named Woodland has caused me to reflect on how harmonious solutions might be found in this and similar settings. The situation between Grand Isle and residents of Lille shares some aspects with the Woodland(s) case, as did the recent unpleasant and perhaps unneeded battle in Orono over addressing. At a minimum, all these were sparked by the implied demands of E-911.

Here is a suggestion for the Woodlands. My copy of Attwood’s “Length and Breadth of Maine,” a standard place-name source, identifies the following four places: Woodland (town) and Woodland Center (location), both in Aroostook, and Woodland (village) and Woodland Junction (village) in Baileyville. Perhaps the Woodland (Baileyville) residents would consent to calling themselves Woodland Village in the future, a relatively minor change.

ZIP codes were supposed to resolve place name confusions for postal purposes. Now E-911 suggests towns change their histories and identities in favor of a new technology.

Issues of public safety are constantly raised, and are mainly legitimate, but can we seriously believe a call for help to the Aroostook sheriff’s department will result in a dispatch to the Calais area? If so, there are problems even the most perfect E-911 system will not solve. Paul Schroeder Orono