Sunday, August 29, 2010

Finding the quiet delight of Maine: Visitors from state, beyond continue to discover beauty of state parks | Maine Sunday Telegram

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – When Scott Thompson, the Aroostook State Park manager, was invited to a trade show in Boston this spring, he didn't let an opportunity pass him by.
Thompson, the manager of Maine’s northern-most state park, looked at the convention center full of intrepid tourists and seized the chance to send them 10 hours north.

“I was told to just hand out brochures. But I just thought, ‘Here we go,’ ” said Thompson, a Presque Isle native.

The affable and amusing Thompson told as many people as he could about the beauty of Aroostook County in summertime, about the 15 miles of Nordic ski trails he grooms around the state park in winter, and about the booming winter carnival held there now, which increased in attendance from 100 to 700 in three years.

Thompson must have intrigued a few tourists because attendance at Aroostook State Park is up 30 percent this year, according to the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.

Click for the rest of the story by Deirdre Fleming in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

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