Small Town Pride

Support small towns, get to know other communities, notice how change effects you and your home.

[milojodreyposts-blog]

Technology and change has pushed the train business back a little bit, but trains are still used in Rumford. We use the trains not only for a means of creativity/vandalism but to load the paper from the mill and ship it out to its various destinations. You don’t see them as much as you used to but they are still in service. Trains can show both use in the form of delivering things but also in the form of art. All across the world people have used the blank carts and turned them into a showcase. This makes sitting at the track waiting for the train to go by much more entertaining. You get to see the hard work and determination of artists. 

[milojodreyposts-blog]

These three photos represent the majority of the towns income. The first photo is of windmills, the county has installed windmills near the town and have used the energy to help power some smaller towns that are considered by many to be part of Rumford. The second photo is of the Rumford Mill (Catalyst), this mill provides most of the income in the town and is the largest employer around the River Valley area. This mill has been around a long time but the change in technology is pushing the paper industry to go in a different direction. The mill used to specialize in making magazine paper and coded paper such as that. Now they are looking to advance into different types of paper even discussing cosmetic paper. The third photo is of the downtown area. That is congress street where the post office is located as well as the town office, fire station, and cop shop. 

[milojodreyposts-blog]

Back to the theme of change in technology, more and more kids are stuck inside glued to some form of entertainment (TV, game systems, laptops, phones etc). Due to lack of interest and use somethings have gone to waste, such as an old  baseball field known as the Spaghetti Bowl, a place I played at as a kid. A building next to the school used to be a adventure play land type building was recently demolished due to many different reasons while the building had been shut down for years due to lack of use. The mini golf course along with the bowling alley has been closed down and starting to look awful.  These types of changes are bad for the community because now we have less to offer not only people in town but tourists as well. 

[milojodreyposts-blog]

On the topic of changes, here are three examples of how change effects the town. The first photo used to be two different things, it was once a train station, but when the station went out of business thanks to advancements in transportation it turned to a bottling plant. According to the locals that also didn’t last very long. Small family owned business’s sometimes struggle in an area like this due to lack of new  customers and change in  trends. The second photo is of a old steam plant, this like the falls was controlled by a dam and used the water to help run and make steam and energy. Not sure when it went out of commission but for as long as I can remember it has been vacant  and  run down. The third  photo is of a motel that was mainly used to host outside contractors and other workers. A fire few years ago has put the motel out of commission. The owners don’t get enough business to be able to repair the damages and still run. The town  needs more attractions to help these business owners. 

[milojodreyposts-blog]

These photos are all taken around the town of Rumford, Maine. We are primarily known for being a mill town. Over time things start to change. Such as my original plan for this project. My original idea was to look at how technology was changing the town for better or for worse. Then as I started looking around I noticed even more changes are happening around the town. Things are being upgraded or torn down, other stuff not used as much. I noticed that more and more construction was going on around town. I also started to notice how many people are always looking down at their phone. Some take this town for granted, while others are trying to fix it to help advance and enrich the town. More people are playing the new Pokemon GO! Technology is taking over. The middle photo is of the Rumford Public Library where not many go to use or read books anymore, their main form of  business is letting its members use the computers. While my original idea was how technology is changing this town, the middle photo is a great example of a negative effect. 

[milojodreyposts-blog]

Oh how the times have changed. Before the dam was put in water used to have to be pumped through this wheel which in turn created electricity. Through advancements in technology we now have other ways to generate electricity. Rumford has a deep and long history, many tourists come to see the falls and the other monuments such as Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.  #Rumfordfalls #touristattractions #change #advancement

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Challenges With Project

This project is challenging in ways that should make it interesting. I am attempting to try and paint a picture of a small town that maybe none of you have seen before, and show how it has progressed. That means having to take photos that show both age and additions to contrast how the small town has changed. Like all small towns there are people who have been here a while so finding sources of information will be easy, but verifying the information through photos maybe hard. I am not the most artistic, nor do I take a lot of photos. So this project will be both challenging in explaining and showing, but I hope it helps paint a picture about change. 

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First Contact

I have gone around some older relatives that grew up in the area and noticed some things that they said used to be here. When my parents and family were my age this town used to have a small movie theater, now there is no trace of such things, and the closest one we have is 30 minutes away. Many other things have changed such as a train station used to be present, now its an old run down business, and many other hotels and motels along the way. I hope to document some of these changes and show you all the aftermath of the situation. 

[milojodreyposts-blog]

Photographic Project

Thank you all for following, this blog is to explain an issue of my choosing. The issue I have decided to look at is how technology is changing my small town of Rumford, Maine. I grew up in this town and have noticed many changes lately, and have decided to look into the effects of such changes. Some can be positive, while others could be negative. Challenges I may face while trying to do this project is that no one really knows what Rumford used to look like before the changes. I hope to overcome this issue and provide a glimpse of my home town.