As a little guy one of my favorite memories was sitting in the very top seats at the Cumberland County Civic Center. High above the ice, I watched the Mariners and whoever they were roughing up that night chase that small piece of rubber all over the ice.

Between periods our family friends, Josiah and Dot Collins, would introduce my Dad and I to some of their friends who, like the Collins, were season ticket holders. It was a fun way to spend an evening. It had a family feel to it. In fact, all of the people who sat in those folding chairs at the top of the arena seemed like family.

When I had a chance to get appointed to the Cross Insurance Arena Board of Trustees I jumped at the opportunity. I remembered the fun times. I remembered the games and the concerts. Unfortunately, by the time that I took my seat representing several towns on the edge of the realm of Cumberland County times had changed at the arena. Those times had become difficult at the arena.

With the loss of the Portland Pirates there was a significant shortfall of event dates throughout the fall and winter each year. Gone with those dates was the revenue from ticket sales, food, beverages and merchandise sales. Gone too was revenue from marketing and advertisements. To say that it was a tough pill to swallow would be an understatement.

As if that was not bad enough the people of Cumberland County had just spent tens of millions of dollars on a revitalization of the arena. For a couple of years, it was lean. A few concerts and more community centered events were enough to carry some of the costs of the arena, but Cumberland County bore the brunt of a dwindling revenue base. In turn this caused each town in Cumberland County to take on more of a share of the increased costs.

Finally, last year we worked to bring a hockey team back to the arena. A new team, a new league, a new affiliation. More than three dozen additional dates for the event calendar. More ticket sales, more food and beverage sales. More merchandise. Every dollar spent means more revenue for the arena and the people of Cumberland County.

Then we had football come calling. When we learned of the interest in putting a National Arena League football team in Portland we were intrigued. If a team was going to play in Portland it had to a family friendly team. It had to embrace the community and make the experience of going to a game something that a family would enjoy. The team has definitely scored a touchdown.

The Maine Mammoths have played just two homes games, but they have played to raucous crowds and are averaging more than 4,000 tickets sold for their home games. By any metric the team is exceeding expectations. With balls and players flying up and over the dasher boards the games are high speed and, in your lap, literally.

What has made the games special for me has been what you see when you look out over the stands. You see the team colors, maroon and tan. You see kids in jerseys, you see adults in hats and t-shirts. The fans have really taken to this team as though they are family. And the team has responded to this.

During one of the breaks in the action during the second game that the Mammoths played at home they brought a young man out onto the field to introduce him as their, “Home Town Hero.”The young man from Windham had been a hockey player and dreamed of one day playing in the NHL. Unfortunately, his dreams ended when he was diagnosed with cancer. As the public-address announcer congratulated the Home Town Hero on becoming part of the Mammoth’s family the crowd responded with a long-standing ovation.

While it may have been 4,000 individual people at the game that night, for one small period of time they were all family. As the arena and the Board of Trustees look to maximize the revenue of the building, we will not lose sight of the fact that this is a community asset for all of the people in Cumberland County to enjoy. We will remember that for the time we spend at an event in the building, we are all family in a way.

That’s my two cents…

Jonathan Crimmins can be reached at j_crimmins@hotmail.com