Wild West Weekend update

7th Wild West Week-end plans in motion

DEXTER - Dexter Regional Development Corporation is saddling up for the 7th Annual Wild West Weekend, held annually the 1st weekend of August which falls on July 31st, August 1st & 2nd in 2009. Come help us “Unite Family and Community, now and in the Future”.

Wild West Weekend has become an economic boost for area businesses, helped with fund raising, creating awareness for non-profits, and showcasing our beautiful Main Street and the Town of Dexter.
Part of this years events include or are tentative: P & L Markets Pig Scramble on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm, Dragon Den’s 3rd Annual Stick Pony Rodeo on Main Street and Country Charm’s 3rd Annual Wheel Barrow Race, Friday’s Kiddie Parade, Crazy Bob’s Pizza Eating Contest, DRHS Field Hockey Maine Chicken BBQ, Maine Choice Realty Skillet Toss & New Hope Baptist Church Wild West Olympics, Ray Stafford Concert, Debbie Myers Friday Night Concert 7 to 9 pm, North Country Riding Club Horse Show, Wild Jim’s Jamboree at Wayside Park both Friday and Saturday, Christian Community Church Chicken Pie Supper & outside Sunday Service, Dexter Fire Department Ducky Race, Roger Brawn Real Estate Scavenger Hunt, Dexter Health Care Ride-In, Poulliot-Seavey Post of the American Legion Bingo, Christian Community Church Sunday Service, Kiwanis Silent Auction, Town of Dexter Silent Auction in the Town Council Chambers, Bud’s Shop’n Save Customer Appreciation Day on Saturday 10 to 4, DRHS Football team Hot Dog Sale at Buds on Saturday.

Businesses, vendors, churches & organizations currently signed up;
Adoption Plus
A.E. Robinson
American Legion
Bangor Savings
Blackwell Insurance
Blanket Works
Brewster Inn
Buds Shop'n Save
CD Electric & ABCD Pre School
Christian Community Church
Country Charm
Country Singer Ray Stafford
CPB Food Wagon
Dexter Creamery & Community Farmers Project
Dexter Family Practice
Dexter Fire Department
Dexter Health Care
Dexter Lakes Association
Dexter Municipal Golf Course
Dexter Print Shop
Dexter Sunrise Kiwanis
Dexter Variety
Dexter Exxon
Dick's Sticks
Down East Liquidation
Dragons Den
DRHS Football Team
DRHS Key Club
Dusters Car Club
Friendly Forest Day Care
Half Moon Acres
Hall's Wholesale
J & D’s Crafts & Pantry
Judy Craig Consulting
Kent's Dogs
Mainely Cookouts
Mainely Crafts
New Hope Baptist Church
Norm Nugent Trivets
North Country Riding Club
Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church
P&L Market
Prudential
Renys
Roger Brawn Real Estate
SAD#48 Food Services
Sebasticook Family Doctors
Sebasticook Valley Chamber of Commerce
Skowhegan Savings Bank
Snap of the Dragon
Tatto Temptations
The Eastern Gazette
Thomas Honea Balloons
Tillson True Value
Toot's Deli
Town of Dexter
Varney Insurance Agency
Yogi's Doughboys & More

DRDC will be holding the 7th Annual Costume Contest with $250 in cash prizes to be held right before the Debbie Myers Concert on Main Street.

The 5th Annual “Wild West Business Decorating Showdown” will again take place with judging on Friday.
Dress up your window(s) and/or create displays in your Dexter business for Wild West Weekend and an impartial panel of judges will be discreetly going around town during WWW and choosing who will have the honor of hanging the Annual Wild West Weekend Plaque for 2009. The winner is announced during the Main Street Concert on Friday night on Main Street
Please let me know what your plans are to make your business, club, church or home "wildly" stand out. Also, please invite your business neighbors to participate. I have created an emailing list, but may not have everyone’s email address, so let me know if you want to be added to the Wild West email list.
The Dexter Fire Department will be ending Wild West Weekend at the end of the week, August 6, 7 and 8 with their Annual Auction.
So grab your partna' and join us on July 31st, August 1st & 2nd in Dexter.
If you would like more information, contact DRDC President Judy Wilbur Craig, Wild West Weekend Coordinator at (207) 924-3067 or email judy@DexterMaine.com and check us out on the web for more details and LOTS of pictures from the past 6 years at www.WildWestWeekend.com.

Dexter Creamery & Community Farmers Project

Dexter organizers create farmers market plan

By Diana Bowley
BDN Staff

DEXTER, Maine — Dexter is circling around its farmers to ensure they survive so local residents can continue to get wholesome and fresh farm produce.

Organizations from the local book club to the Dexter Regional Development Corp. have been working with local farmers behind the scenes for months on plans that would both support the farmers and improve the region’s economy.

“We all feel that we need to become, in the climate of the country, locally self-reliant and this is the first step in doing that,” Judy Craig, town councilor and Dexter Regional Development Corp. president, said Friday.

The group has adopted a “three-prong” approach: the development of a local creamery where milk would be pasteurized and where other milk-derivative products such as ice cream, yogurt and cheese would be made; the creation of a year-round farmers market on Main Street; and the purchase of a warehouse to store the local goods. They also envision wholesaling the local products to health food stores throughout the state.

“This is all a big, old idea with lots and lots of local support,” Craig said. She said the organizers are working to secure grants to help move the project forward.

Craig said a search is being conducted for a building that could be used for the creamery and the farmers have a search under way for equipment needed for the business. She said organizers envision a processing plant that would have a glass partition where visitors and residents could watch milk being pasteurized, and butter and ice cream being made.

“We’re doing lots of legwork right now,” Craig said. “We’re each going in a different direction to try to get information to bring back to the next meeting.”

Residents also are being asked to weigh in. In the town’s comprehensive plan survey, residents are being asked whether they would pay a little extra for organic products and whether they would support local farmers.

The organizers envision the products made at the creamery, as well as locally grown or raised products within a 50-mile radius, would be sold at the farmers market downtown. Those products would include honey, locally grown meats, and maple syrup as well as garden produce.

Craig said the Fossa building location owned by the corporation is being eyed for the market. Because the building is in “very bad disrepair,” the group hopes to secure a $250,000 grant to remove the building and replace it.

“When we first got the [Fossa] building, the first thing our vision was for it, was a farmers market,” Craig said. “This will take it to the next level.”

The Town Council last week agreed to support the submission of a Community Development Block Grant for the communitywide effort. While the town would be the applicant, no local property taxes would be used, Craig said. Any match would be provided by the corporation, she said.

The town’s part-time economic development specialist, Jason Bird, is writing the grant on behalf of the town. USDA officials also are working with the organizers.

The project is growing in support daily, according to Craig. Local doctors are enthused because of the wholesome quality of local produce and its relation to good health. In addition, a school official in the region expressed his interest in the possibility of offering the fresh produce and milk products in his school system.

“While we’re supporting our local farms and becoming more self-reliant, we’re also becoming healthier,” Craig said.