To say the Town of Berlin has something it ought to be thankful for this year would be a gross understatement.
By any measure, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the town has had a magical year and that the food on the Berlin’s table Thursday would likely grow cold were it to enumerate all its blessings.
The highlight, of course, is the “Coolest Town” award, which led to the recent state recognition for the social media campaign that made that designation happen.
But something subtler is taking place as well, as more people are drawn to Berlin because of its growing reputation as a great place to be.
Evidence of that will be apparent during Friday’s Holiday Arts Night, which brings hundreds of people – and maybe more than that – from the area not just to shop, but also to experience the event and the atmosphere.
How many small communities, after all, will have a giant ice sculpture taking shape in the center of town as part of the holiday ceremonies? And yes, the sculptor, Erik Cantine, is another one of those relatively new arrivals to the Berlin scene.
Civic-minded business people and residents, who recognized that Berlin needed to burnish its image in order to thrive, laid the foundation for the community’s amazing transformation many years ago.
That effort, which resulted in the rehabilitation of the Atlantic Hotel, was the impetus for many good things to come, all of which seemed to bloom into something even more special this year.
This isn’t to say that Berlin hasn’t had and will continue to have the same difficulties as other communities’ experience, but the positive attitude that what’s wrong can be fixed and that even better times are ahead seems to be catching.
By any measure, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the town has had a magical year and that the food on the Berlin’s table Thursday would likely grow cold were it to enumerate all its blessings.
The highlight, of course, is the “Coolest Town” award, which led to the recent state recognition for the social media campaign that made that designation happen.
But something subtler is taking place as well, as more people are drawn to Berlin because of its growing reputation as a great place to be.
Evidence of that will be apparent during Friday’s Holiday Arts Night, which brings hundreds of people – and maybe more than that – from the area not just to shop, but also to experience the event and the atmosphere.
How many small communities, after all, will have a giant ice sculpture taking shape in the center of town as part of the holiday ceremonies? And yes, the sculptor, Erik Cantine, is another one of those relatively new arrivals to the Berlin scene.
Civic-minded business people and residents, who recognized that Berlin needed to burnish its image in order to thrive, laid the foundation for the community’s amazing transformation many years ago.
That effort, which resulted in the rehabilitation of the Atlantic Hotel, was the impetus for many good things to come, all of which seemed to bloom into something even more special this year.
This isn’t to say that Berlin hasn’t had and will continue to have the same difficulties as other communities’ experience, but the positive attitude that what’s wrong can be fixed and that even better times are ahead seems to be catching.