Farmington is really sticking up for its sister.
Sister city, that is.
Farmington and Lac-Megantic, Quebec, have been sisters since 1991 and their “family” bond is generous and strong.
On July 6, after a Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway train exploded in Lac-Megantic, and the resulting fire consumed 72 oil tankers and much of the downtown, firefighters from Farmington and elsewhere in Franklin County immediately streamed across the border, making the 100-mile trip to help. And, back in Farmington, city officials, business owners and volunteers pledged to raise money to help displaced homeowners and businesses before anyone even knew just how devastating the damage would be.
Not only did Farmington pledge help, it sustained active efforts for six months.
That’s true sisterhood.
In the face of a major disaster, human generosity abounds. But, in many cases, generosity has a limit, fading with time.
Not so for the good folks of Farmington and surrounding Franklin County towns.
Locals spent six months raising money and, just last week, delivered the last $6,851 in the relief fund to Lac-Megantic officials. In all, they donated $59,351.
That’s extraordinarily generous for a cash-strapped county where the median household income is $39,831, the fifth lowest in Maine.
Worth noting is that the money was raised through active, involved community efforts, like arranging for donation cans at libraries across the state to collect $3,500 for the Farmington Public Library relief fund. Collecting contributions from hundreds of people, however small, takes much more effort than asking a single benefactor to write a check. It’s also more meaningful to think that so many people in Maine were moved to help a sistah.
The libraries raised money specifically to help restore the massive collection lost at the Bibliotheque de Lac-Megantic, but money raised from a benefit concert and through dozens of individual fundraisers was donated to Lac-Megantic to be used as seen fit.
In addition to the efforts in Franklin County, others across Maine’s extended family stepped up.
For example, in Rumford, the Women of Steel Committee of USW Local 900 took up a collection at NewPage. During a single shift one day in July, the women collected $2,090 from mill workers who were either arriving at or leaving work.
Given the economic worries in Rumford, and the ever-present worry of more mill layoffs, it’s extraordinary that mill workers reached so deep into their own pockets to donate the cash they had on hand.
And, sprinkled among all the financial efforts to help, there were plenty of shared tears and prayers between the sister cities.
The outpouring of help so touched the people of Lac-Megantic that firefighters traveled to Maine in September to personally thank Maine firefighters. And, Lac-Megantic Mayor Collette Roy-Laroche has traveled to Franklin County several times to offer her personal thanks to volunteers and government officials, including Franklin County EMA Director Tim Hardy for mobilizing Maine firefighters so quickly, and also to thank Farmington First Selectman Ryan Morgan, state Sen. Tom Saviello, R-Wilton, representatives of local chambers of commerce and dozens of others for working so hard to raise money.
Most sisters will say the bond of sisterhood is strong stuff, and we’ve seen that played out between Farmington and Lac-Megantic. That sense among sisters that, as has been said, a sister is a forever friend.
jmeyer@sunjournal.com
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