Letter to the community from President Don Zillman:

Let me encourage you to use Gentile Hall at the University of Maine at Presque Isle as your base or ending point for the Presque Isle Light Parade on Saturday, December 4. We will open Gentile Hall for parade fans at 6 PM. We will have coffee, hot cocoa, and cookies in the lobby, along with posters describing some of UMPI’s achievements during the year.

IN ADDITION, you will have an opportunity to watch UMPI’s two films—Wind 101 and THE PROPOSAL. We will be showing the films continuously before, during, and after the parade in Gentile Hall.

Wind 101 is the 30-minute documentary of the planning and construction of the UMPI wind turbine. It has shown statewide on Maine Public Broadcasting Network and on WLBZ.

THE PROPOSAL is the 15-minute film made as part of Cathie Pelletier’s screen writing class in Fall 2008. It tells the story of a young man proposing to the girl of his dreams and what doesn’t go quite as he planned. The film has had its premieres in Presque Isle and Fort Kent. It will be submitted to national film festivals after the first of the year.

We will be selling DVDs of both films. Both are wonderful slices of Aroostook County, its places and its people. In addition to your own copies, these are wonderful presents for family and friends.

So, join us at Gentile. Park in the Gentile lot. Watch the parade as it comes up the hill. Stop in and out to watch the films, look at the posters, get some warming refreshments, and visit with old and new friends. It doesn’t cost a thing except at the DVD booth

Happy Holidays from the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

Don Zillman

President