Dear Editor:

I was disappointed to read yet another letter to the editor recently bemoaning all that the region has lost in recent years. Disappointed because, quite frankly, that notion is ridiculous. As someone who has deep roots in the community as a business and property owner and a graduate local schools oh so many years ago, I take umbrage.

Look at all that we have gained in the past decade:

Bigelow Laboratory's sparkling new facility has brought new, high paying jobs to the region and the work done there reflects on a commitment to environmental stewardship shared by many of us and carries our shared name of Boothbay far and wide in the scientific world.

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens has exceeded all expectations and measures of success in its first decade. Sorry not sorry. The region has spent decades hoping – sometimes praying – for businesses that would provide wintertime sustenance. As with all things, burdens must be managed, but they are consistently and effectively managed by good people. Easier to solve problems borne of success than stagnation.

We can drink a beer brewed right here at home with a 633 label and do it overlooking some of the finest golf greens in America – and if the price to tee off is too steep now, just wait for fall like the rest of us.

The Boothbay region must be open to change and investment and I have every confidence that the elected and municipal leaders in all towns of the peninsula are up to the management task.

Carry on!

Keith “Kip” Luke

East Boothbay