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Thumbs up the first responders and campground staff and visitors who assisted a 2-year-old girl and her family after she fell into an extinguished but still-smoldering fire pit last weekend. The girl, from Milton, N.H., was seriously burned, but her condition improved when she was moved out of the ICU of Shriner’s Hospitals for Children in Boston, according to Lebanon Assistant Rescue Chief Jason Cole. Cole said the staff at Flat Rock Bridge Family Resort along with campers and the girl’s family provided first aid care and kept her calm until rescue units arrived. We’re pleased the girl’s condition improved, and that so many were willing and able to lend a helping hand in this emergency.

Thumbs up to the twin cities ”“ Biddeford and Saco ”“ for pursuing a branding strategy and plan to attract new residents, business and visitors to the cities. Saco Economic Development Director Peter Morelli said Lewiston and Auburn have had a similar campaign for many years, and it’s worked well for them ”“ to which many can attest after hearing the LA jingle on television commercials. The joint campaign will allow the cities to highlight features of both and their close proximity for visitors and prospective residents alike. We hope the proposal from Arnett Muldrow & Associates of Greenville, S.C. ”“ the company hired to do the work ”“ will help attract more people and businesses to the area.

Thumbs up to Gail Boisvert, a courtesy boat inspector for the Acton Shapleigh Youth Conservation Corps, for keeping an invasive species out of Mousam Lake. Last weekend, Boisvert saw what looked like a blob of grease, but turned out to be a seed pod from the invasive water chestnut on the bottom of a boat readying to enter the lake. Thanks to Boisvert’s efforts, the invasive water chestnut, which can form nearly impenetrable floating mats of vegetation, did not enter Mousam Lake, and the lake remains clean of invasive species so far. The efforts of Boisvert and other boat inspectors are keeping Maine’s lakes clean, and their work should be lauded.

Thumbs up to the crew from the Maine Conservation Corps that worked in Biddeford’s Clifford Park last week to better mark trails and create a new map for the 140-acre area. The group painted color-coded marks along the park’s wooded trails, including some that weren’t previously marked. They also used a GPS system to create a better map of the park’s trails. The Maine Conservation Corps gets many of its crew members through AmeriCorps, a federal program in which young adults work at local or national nonprofit organizations and receive assistance to help pay for college. These programs provide important resources to nonprofits that likely couldn’t afford the extra help. Biddeford officials were smart to take advantage of the opportunity to hire these crew members to make improvements to the park, which will benefit all who want to use and enjoy the trails.

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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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