Grateful for everyone who has helped make Biddeford Hall of Fame a success

Editor,

One of the reasons that the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center (BCHC) was formed was to recognize our predecessors and celebrate their lives so that we would not forget how our great city came to be what it is today. So many people have been instrumental in giving of themselves, both personally and professionally, that it will take many years to recognize even the most conspicuous of those.

This year the BCHC Hall of Fame Committee has chosen 5 more recipients for the Hall of Fame Award and has documented their accomplishments. Anyone can go to see the details of some of their lives at the display in City Council Chambers at Biddeford City Hall. There you will find a continuously expanding display of these people who have helped give our City its identity or natives who have gone on to do great things in this world to make it a better place. The information is also available at the BCHC website at biddefordculturalandheritagecenter.org/biddeford-hall-of-fame/

As the chairperson of the committee that handled the selection of the recipients and organizing the presentations and displays, I have been absorbing a tremendous amount of information about the history of our city. It has been a great education and I’m finding out that we live in a very special place!

On behalf of all the BCHC Board Members I want to thank a number of people who have made this program possible, including; Denis Letellier, Past President of the Biddeford Historical Society, who has handled more aspects of this program than I thought possible; Diane Cyr, President of the BCHC, who kept us all on track for getting the program off the ground and going into its second year; Paul Gagne and the entire La Kermesse organization, who made our ceremony a success by working with the La Kermesse Board and incorporating the program into their festival, allowing us to make the presentations on their big stage and of the their promotion of the program; Dana Peck, President of the Biddeford Historical Society, who lent the benefit of his historical knowledge and resources; Mayor Alan Casavant, for his involvement and support of the program from inception to the presentations; my wife Debbie, who organized the street banners that were hung on Main Street to recognize the recipients; Bruce Audie, for arranging the bus (and driving it) for the recipients ride in the LaKermesse Parade; and all the others who worked on the Hall of Fame Committee and the Selection Committee. We also want to thank all the families of the recipients, who came and made the presentations worthwhile. Many of these people emulate the qualities of the recipients as they volunteer their time to help make our city a better place.

I hope that many people learned from this program that we have a rich and varied history in the City of Biddeford involving people who were willing to give of themselves and their resources to create a better world for us to enjoy. I hope that everyone thinks about the people in their lives or in their memories and submits names for next year’s awards. We plan to continue hosting this program in “Preserving the Past to Inspire our Future”.

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