The Summit

I’m off to Augusta, to the GrowSmart Maine Summit for the day. GrowSmart couldn't have picked a better locale to illustrate unsustainable development and sprawl. The retail jungle across the street from the Civic Center (where the Summit is being held) is a case study in what's wrong with much of what passes for development in our state over the past 30 years.

I’ve looked over the brochure to get a sense of what workshops I want to attend—some of them look pretty interesting and some of them sound downright weird.

This is apparently a well-attended event. My hope is to meet a few people, maybe chat with Eleanor Kinney (the woman from Damariscotta who co-founded Our Town Damariscotta, to keep Wal-Mart out), possibly Stacey Mitchell of Big Box Swindle fame.

For me, personally, I’m hoping to see whether my own vision for the state’s future fits with GrowSmart’s and those of the various presenters.

My biggest complaint about the day is that you have to make tough choices between sessions and there are multiple sessions I wish I could participate in, but will have to miss.

My goal is to have a post up over the weekend on the Summit; mostly my observations and possibly some unique bit of information that you’ll only be able to get here at Words Matter.