London and Paris, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Boston and Cambridge, Central and Keystone.
Relationships between cities go back as far as Ancient Greece, though not all as tense as the one between Athens and Sparta. These relationships come in many forms with some municipalities acting as a suburb of another more metropolitan area and some rooted in rivalries mirrored in their sports teams. The histories of Bangor and Brewer in Maine seem to compliment one another with their industries growing out of the Penobscot River's gifts of accessibility and transportation. Yet with lumber on one side of the river and brick on the other, I can't help but think of the story of the Three Little Pigs, or of Bangor's Great Fire of 1911 and the reconstruction that followed from the smoking cinders and ashes of the wooden downtown.
While I've been heavily involved in many recent Queen City happenings over the past few years (some of my own devising), this year I find myself with quasi-dual citizenship. Contracted by the City of Brewer's Bicentennial Committee, I am spending a good portion of 2012 in the role of executive director of Brewer's Bicentennial, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Brewer as a community after it broke away from neighboring Orrington in 1812.
Does this mean I am forsaking Bangor over the coming year? Perhaps you've mistaken me for a sane man. Oh no, wild escapades in event planning will continue in Bangor this year, along with my involvement with River City Cinema, Bangor Arts, Downtown Bangor Partnership, FUSION:Bangor, PechaKucha Bangor, Social Media Breakfast Bangor and no doubt more. Let's not forget my own wacky hi-jinx under the BangPop! banner including Kid Central Festival, West Market Festival, the BangPop! Comic Con, planning for the 2013 SnowCon Gaming Convention and the next 5 ideas that cursedly pop into my head. (Cursedly, as there are some of you out there that are cursing me very loudly right now, and will continue to do so as you jump into the deep end with me because you just can't help yourself.)
As I straddle the two worlds connected by no less than three bridges, I expect to need an outlet to discuss, rant, as well as tar and feather myself throughout the year. So say hello to my little blog. I'll attempt at times to be funny, poignant, thought provoking and guarantee to insert foot into month at least 5 times. Thanks for joining me, please follow through Google, RSS, or smoke signals and let's hope this doesn't end as it did for the 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae.
