Is pulling into a lake lot cottage with full bath, microwave, satelite tv and video games for the kids your idea of "camping"? Or is hiking with a 60 pound back pack up into a remote tent site and drinking hot black coffee at sunrise in the woods your desire?  Or something in between?  The word camping is wide in meaning for folks making the trek to Maine this summer.  Some "campers" strap on cross country skis, and shoe shoe thru ice and snow to a summit of a mountain to crawl into a tent with gas heater. No power, no people, just the wide open Maine outdoors.  Depending on your age and stamina, camping can mean many things to Maine bound real estate buyers. Over and over I hear the comment that "we just want to get away..feel cramped and crowded where we live now".  Maine countryside... 06/28/2008

     The weather turned out super, over 50 drivers raced down Derby Hill in Houlton Maine June 21st! And the winner of the Stock division was Sara Heath..for Super Stock Lucas Grant came out on top! Safe race, families helps the drivers and a big party afterward at Community Park!  Watch the You Tube video for more action and imagery from the big race!  Maine Realtor Andrew Mooers' Property And Area Information 06/22/2008

Does your son or daughter have to tote a taser to a school that has 2400 kids in the graduating class alone?  One of the top three reasons to move to Maine is the high quality educational system, small class sizes (70 in the graduating class) and a friendly community helping raise those children.  A happy childhood full of love and confidence building events is a given in Maine. No taser, no drugs dogs, no metal detector. Simple family oriented lifestyle. Couple the school atmosphere with low cost housing and areas where white tail deer out number the local population of people, and you have the right place to live, work and play.  Maine's outdoor unspoiled 4 season beauty awaits you...Maine...the way life should be.  Come for a vacation and stay a life time! For a visitor's package of ... 06/19/2008

Promotion of the area you live in.  It starts with the thoughts and perceptions in your head.Do you figure you lack some man made attraction like Disney Land or a major league baseball or other franchise team, etc and that you have nothing to toot your horn about?  Sometimes what you don't have is what you promote.  This is the way it is in Northern Maine...what we don't have..tons of people and traffic. No pollution. The folks that live here are friendly, we don't lock doors, we don't have crime.  What we do have is unspoiled 4 season beauty..crystal clean lakes, miles of rolling fields and forest, plenty of wildlife, and scenery like no other place.  Capture the beauty and let others see it.  Share it. Create a photostream of what you do have but also push what you don't have that is ... 06/13/2008

     Get a big fat crayon, and circle September 6th a bunch of times...for the Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood Comedy Show coming to Houlton Maine.  Stars of the hit show "What's My Line Anyway" will entertain at the Millar Civic Center as one more comedy act hits Houlton Maine in a string of top performers with the likes of "Larry the Cable Guy" and others! Visit the Houlton Maine State Fair site at www.houltonfair.com for all the details.  While you are in there seeing about tickets to the comedy show...take a gander at all the events around the 4th in Houlton.  This July offers Midnight Madness shopping promotions with local merchants, the state's largest fireworks display, animal, car and exhibit competition, Demolishing Derby, truck pulls, a midway of family orient rides and way way ... 06/10/2008

Many areas with population centers have many zip codes for the same city or large town. But in Houlton Maine and Aroostook County zip codes mean something different. For example, Houlton's 04730 zip covers all of Houlton that is six miles by six miles in size geographically. AND you get parts of the town of Littleton...to the north. Some of the northern section of Littleton Maine spills into 04760 which is the post office jurisdiction of Monticello Maine. To the west of Houlton you get Hammond, Ludlow, to the south into Hodgdon, Linneus, etc. So when someone says you are looking for a home on such and such an address with the Houlton Maine 04730 zip, don't assume it is actually in Houlton. For years everything from RFD 1 and up which at least helped the reader know oh...that is out the ... 06/08/2008

    For starters, nearly every National Association of REALTORS ad will end with the tag line..."every market is different." Many of the ads have the premise that interest rates are lower than ever, the selection is plentiful and you have lots of choices. But in the back of the mind of listeners, viewers, readers, there's the nagging notion from the media that EVERY market is dire, that homes left and right are being foreclosed on. Images of long lines of sad looking, dusty former home owners looking like the Beverly Hillibillies loading up the old pickups with family heirlooms, and slowly leaving cities or where ever they live run thru their heads.  In Houlton, Maine we are fortunate to be parked in the upper left hand corner of the country.  We enjoy lower cost living across the board... 06/08/2008

What's coming up for events? There are many but some of the big ones...for June!  5th Houlton High School 2008 Graduation - Millar Civic Center 7pm  6th Hodgdon High School 2008 Graduation - HHS Gymnasium 7pm  7th Great Houlton Christian Academy Bike A Thon/Walk A Thon. Call 532-0736 For Details  8th Knowles Corner ATV Club Regular Monthly Meeting At Club House - 2pm 11th Compassionate Friends Support Group - Meeting At 6:30/7:30pm At Houlton Regional Hospital 12th McGill's Community Band Concert In Monument Park 7pm 12/13th Houlton Fair Picture Passes For Agricultural Fair Go On Sale! Visit www.houltonfair.com 14th Alpaca Shearing Clinic For More Information Dial 207 532 9696 16th Catch The Reading Bug at Cary Library. Program Begins June 23rd. 207 532 1302 20th Northern Maine Soap Box... 05/29/2008

Looking Down The... Meduxnekeag River in Downtown Houlton Maine.  Now that's a setting. The east end of the Houlton Maine foot bridge will lead to a new housing project in the Shiretown. Over 2.5 million to be invested in the Market Square parking lot development.  Coastal Enterprises, the owner of the complex, will offer units to residents meeting eligibility guidelines. Tenants will expect to pay rents in the $430 to $575 range which includes all utilities.  CEI's John Egan talked recently at the Houlton Rotary Club to announce the plans to the group.  This project is adjacent to the Temple Theatre and offers real community living with a short walk being the key to reaching everything from the post office, shopping, library and summer nights listening to McGill's Community Band. This... 05/26/2008

     You know winter is over when you can throw on some shorts after your day job, run to the Houlton Community Park and climb on a bleacher to watch an exciting little league game.  The parents are great and not matter how tired you might have been that day because of adventures at work, it all disappears when you hear the crack of the bat and see an inside the park home run.  Little league is exciting!  Here is a link to Houlton Maine's little league for sponsors and game schedule/times. Commission Ben Drew has done a super job with getting this year's program underway with lots of support from fans, coaches, parents and players.  Ben helped spear head the "Field Of Dreams" project for new fields needed due to increased popularity and scheduling conflicts for games and practices. The ... 05/14/2008

You know spring is in Maine when the canoes are everywhere on top of pickups and paddlers enjoy swollen rivers in yearly races.  Little league tryouts are over, teams begin to play this week in Houlton Maine. And fiddleheads are another part of Maine culture.  A fiddlehead is the early stage of an ostrich fern.  A delicacy to many, an unknown to most.  The plant that looks like the head of a fiddle grows in wet, moise areas along Maine waterways as a rule.  Learn everything you wanted to know about fiddleheads.  Fun to clean, steamed and with a little vinegar added eat! Have to fill your bag along the river and stream beds quickly as the little Maine black fly comes out this time of year too! The black flies don't like fiddleheads but your neck and arms look pretty good to their air for... 05/04/2008

     As real estate brokers, we help in the moving and relocation process by locating and selling homes.  Personally, have you moved a few times in your own life or pretty much stayed within a few miles of your current home? The expression "air force brat" (or other armed services branch) is used proudly by some I deal with.  I often ask if that 14 move childhood was good or bad and get a 50% return on the process being a positive thing.  Some folks are more resilent to learn about new areas, others are a tad bitter because they were uprooted and had to start the make friends / enter a new school routinel over and over.  I grew up on a Maine farm for most of my life and can remember as a little guy the move from Franklin Avenune  in Houlton to the farm. International pickup loaded high,... 05/03/2008

     Weather is a drug...a good elixir for whatever ails you.  Maine had an old fashioned winter with record snowfall like many northern states.  So as the sunshines, snow melts, locals are venturing out to rake lawns, walk at dusk, and to just be glad to be outside full time as season's change. Maine canoe races underway with plenty of water for spring paddling in canoes and kayaks.  Plans for opening summer homes, taking school vacations with kids, building decks, washing down home exteriors, and general busy bee industry is evident thru out Maine.  In Houlton, the local dairy bar just opened so you know little league games are not far behind either as ice get removed from the Milliar Civic Center too.  Living in Maine and enjoying all four seasons is such a blessing. Blue blue skies,... 04/19/2008

     The beauty of four seasons in Maine.  The best part of living in Northern Maine is what we don't have. We lack crime, traffic, pollution, mean pushy people.  Family and work ethic is top priority. Community and volunteering and helping others is key. With 11 people per square mile, space is not a problem.  Here is a collection of over 260 images that just stratch the service and begin to give you a taste....the flavor of Aroostook County Maine.  Maine is the way life should be. Maine is way way more than lobsters, seacoast, potatoes and Mt Katahdin. Get a taste...take a look. View the slide show here. 04/17/2008

     Happened may years ago, but still makes you silent, reflective and haunted. Did a blog about a trip thru Halifax, Nova Scotia cemetary that is another experience for the family to quietly take in. Blog with some neat images here.... http://activerain.com/blogsview/73186/Titanic-grave-site-in  . To the left is a monument to World War II participants.  When you see monuments, or observe milestones of something proud, tragic or that represents loss of life, you have to stop and count your blessings and put everything in perspective.  We live in a fast paced world, and work hard at our occupations, raising a family and contributing to our area.  But there needs to be a time of silence, reflection and perspective to make all of it make sense and sink in.  What moves you this way in your... 04/15/2008

     For starters, many job searches in Aroostook County start with the local newspaper.  The Houlton Pioneer Times will have a few employment ads, but the tradition in this area of Aroostook County is to stop in or call the Career Center. That office has a book with a number of job opportunities to consider.  The Bangor Daily News would also have an employment section and career fairs are going on now in Maine.  The weekend's edition would also be more populated with jobs possibilities.  But in Houlton Maine, watching the local paper for a job would be a limited way to tackle the problem.  The Career Center takes down the requirements and perks an employer has to offer and applicants go thru this "clearing house" to save everyone time.  When I hired a new secretary 17 years ago, or pre... 04/11/2008

The first week of May, the annual Meduxnekeag River Canoe Race with lots of water volume this year will happen in Houlton Maine. Heavier than normal snows mean no shortage of water for the race in Aroostook County. Paddlers from around New England and Atlantic Canada take canoes, kayaks, boats and rafts down the the river named by local Maliseet Indians. "Meduxnekeag" means rocks at its mouth.  Past race Chairman Peter Blood told me today that in the beginng he wondered why there were a number coolers with lively party canoers celebrating spring. He felt the tradition may have been because college kids were behind the intial races.  The Houlton Rotary Club took over the race rather than see it not happen as new blood to coordinate the race was needed.  Then a local group including Peter... 04/08/2008

     This country has a cheap food policy.  The farmer is at the beginning of the food production but there are lots of middle men in the process to get the vittles served on your dinner table.Organic food production is rising and oats, wheat and corn acreages are increasing. The USDA has not made a decision on whether land in the CRP (Conservation Resource Program) or soil bank program might be released for crop production if supplies tighten nationally.  Corn prices have increased and diversion to gas production is part of the reason.  But with rising fertilizer and fuel costs, farmers are adjusting to the market faster than they used to to survive and stay viable. In Northern Maine, potatoes, broccoli, limited silage corn, grains are the major crops produced.  With rising fuel costs ... 04/04/2008

The Link For Lots Of Houlton Maine / Aroostook County Flickr Local Photos Below....Take a Peek!http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?id=8099231@N08&lang=en-us&format=atom      Where you live is special.  You may take for granted the many local events, special people that you live with and the incredible outdoor beauty and recreation opportunities though.  When you capture the local flavor of your area, and post it on Flickr or a slew of other available platforms or outlets, you become a "mirror" that reflects and spotlights your special area.  Only you can know what day in and day out "looks like".  The feed for our Flickr photo collection is here.  Every reader or view knows what it is like where they live so your images help give them a sense of what is similiar and w... 04/03/2008

     You have a stressful job where you live.  You want to have a place to getaway...a vacation home!  In Maine you can afford a second home easy.  Or consider buying a parcel of land, and put a cabin on the acreage.  Or if you needs are small, park a travel trailer and use the place as a base to explore from.  What to do? Depends on the season but in the winter months, down hill ski in Mars Hill's  Big Rock, or head across the Canadian border into the province of New Brunswick to down hill ski Crabbe Mountain in Upper Haynesville.  Snowsledding trails are the 8th best in the nation according to Snow Goer magazine. Over 3500 miles of trails to see wildlife, lake scenery and unspoiled woodlots as you discover the beauty of Aroostook County...population 11 people per square mile! That's e... 04/02/2008