thumb”¢nail (thum’nail’)
…2. anything quite small or brief,
as a small drawing or short essay
Thumbs up to the twin cities’ continuing efforts to get people downtown and eating and shopping locally with the first-ever Biddeford+Saco Restaurant Week, which ran from March 24-30. Although the effort had some kinks, it was the first time the cities have attempted such a promotion, and hopefully more details will be worked out and fine tuned if it is to take place again next year. Maine Restaurant Week is a successful week of dining out, to which residents look forward all year long. Although most of the restaurants that participate are located in Portland, some in York County have joined in as well. The benefit of that week is that restaurants come up with a prix fixe lunch or dinner menu. Biddeford+Saco Restaurant Week offered varying promotions that seemed to be whatever the owner or management felt like offering. We agree, though, that both cities have a lot to offer, including a wide variety of ethnic foods as well as American pubs, vegetarian fare and more. We hope next year Biddeford+Saco Restaurant Week will offer more cohesive deals to draw people from all around to the area and get the word out sooner to ensure people have adequate time to plan their foodie adventure and make the necessary reservations.
Thumbs down to the ongoing tax billing issues in Waterboro. Due to procedural errors tied to the computer system that generates the bills, one North Waterboro homeowner was set to get a letter from the town’s assessing department outlining the $13,282.54 he is said to owe, covering the seven years he hadn’t been billed for the house located on his property. Assessing agent Gerald Daigle told selectmen last week that the town has annually billed the homeowner for the land, but not the house. This is not the only issue the town has had: The system has been generating bills that didn’t take into account abatements that had been previously granted, while some others showed zero assessed value. Some property owners brought the bills to the town’s attention, but for those who didn’t notice a problem, the town should work with them to deal with their bills, and not expect a $13,000 bill to be paid upon notice.
Thumbs up to the Saco Drive-In for stepping up to host independent filmmakers’ work in the wake of the Lewiston Auburn Film Festival’s cancellation. “Dead at the Drive-In,” a horror film festival, will run May 9-10, featuring the world premiere of two feature-length Maine films ”“ “How to Kill a Zombie” and “The Hanover House” ”“ as well as some short films. Another one-day festival will be held at Lewiston’s Franco Center June 14, called “Emerge,” to help fill the void. The Lewiston Auburn Film Festival’s founder Josh Shea was recently arrested on child pornography charges, and since that time, filmmakers and sponsors have pulled out, leading media sources to report the festival was canceled. It’s heartening to see a local theater stepping up to help out and get these films on the big screen. We hope locals and those who had attended the previous year’s festivals will show their support for Maine’s film-making and acting community by attending the upcoming events.
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Thumbnails is a Monday feature of the Journal Tribune’s opinion pages. If you want to respond, feel free to write to the Readers’ Forum via email at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or by dropping your letter off at our Biddeford office.
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