Dear Editor:

I’m not a golfer, but I’m thrilled by the investment and the care I see being lavished on our local golf course: The Boothbay Harbor Country Club. From what I read in these pages, it looks as though it’s going to be a major community resource (even more so than before) with much needed tennis courts as well as golf. I understand that there will be a visitor-friendly and kid-friendly atmosphere and pricing strategy. And, a great restaurant!

At a time when so many things, like our local critical access hospital and ER, are being taken away from us, I find it encouraging that one of our local entrepreneurs has decided to step up to the plate and invest in improving the amenities in our region. Paul probably realizes, as Lincoln County Healthcare doesn’t seem to understand, that the biggest source of income for our peninsula comes from retirees, seasonal residents, and those of us who aren’t yet at retirement age but have chosen to move here because of the region’s beauty and quality of life, and find it practical to work from home.

So, Paul Coulombe has embarked on a business venture that caters to retirees, seasonal residents, summer visitors, as well as to our year-round population of all ages. If he can restore our cross-country skiing, sledding and dog-walking in the non-golf season (without harming the greens), it will be an even better year round resource.

I wonder why LCH and the St. Andrews Board couldn’t look to the changing demographics of our region and offer us a healthcare facility that would be a similarly welcoming mecca for year-round residents, retirees and seasonal residents, instead of scaring people away, by getting rid of late night emergency care, so they won’t buy homes here anymore? That’s a stupid mistake that’s going to stall economic development in our region. Even a lovely country club may not make up for it.

Patty Seybold
Boothbay