Calais, Maine

Oct 2, 2024
Presenter: Aroostook Mental Health Center (AMHC)
Population: 3,105

Day 7 of tour was also organized by AMHC (Read the previous post for who they are, and what our joint vision was). AMHC serves Aroostook, Hancock, and Washington Counties. On this day, we drove 2.5 hours basically along the Canadian border to the small town of Calais in Washington County. When we arrived, I had a brief panic because my phone had jumped ahead an hour, thinking it was in Canada! Calais would officially be the furthest east that Gather Hear will ever go in the United States.

Our venue was Washington County Community College, our first time performing at a community college. The crowd was smaller than at the larger town of Presque Isle, but we again had a diverse audience that included college staff, kids from the day treatment center, adults from the recovery center, and the general public. A girl on a wheelchair attended alone, and I happened to be standing around before the concert, so I helped find a spot for her and wheel her in place. After the concert, she talked to me and asked for a hug. Mike (tour assistant/artist sidekick)’s favorite moment was when a boy came up to me afterwards, and wanted to show me his Thomas the Train figures. “It was his way of connecting with you by sharing something he cared about,” Mike observed.

AMHC had kindly scheduled all of our meals so that AMHC staff would be taking us out, and we got to know people more personally. The reason I was made aware of Maine’s opioid crisis was through this documentary series “Recovery in Maine.” AMHC is staffed by many folks who are in recovery themselves, and in fact one of the folks we had lunch with was featured on the documentary.

Thank you, AMHC for organizing two days of our tour!