All the talk Monday night on Zoom by the ordinance review committee, mulling where to propose marijuana commerce can go and how it could add to the tax base, got me thinking about what else would be good here, whether or not it will ever happen, or ever again. 

There has long been a chorus for a pharmacy again, chain or otherwise, to shorten residents’ trips for prescriptions; and years ago, a local couple explored putting in a tenpin bowling center and other fun possibilities. Bowling could fit around here, given it is a lifetime sport; as a child a lot of the bowling I did was with senior citizens at Yankee Lanes in Brunswick, in leagues, tournaments and in “open” or practice bowling, which was mostly after school for my sister and me.

When gas and other things cost so much, I’m not sure enough area families have the disposable income for bowling to keep a center open and, either way, if someone built it, would they come? It has crossed my mind, the former Big Al’s Super Values Store, for example, might be just the right size for a small center. Tourist season might help, not that people come to Maine to bowl, but it does rain; and locals’ patronage and local businesses advertising at bowling centers are what have traditionally sustained them. 

What would you like to see around here? And of course the bigger question is, what is the region’s shot of getting it? Whether the time is right or way off, or never, everything starts with an idea.

Week’s positive parting thought: A long ago acquaintance once recalled her efforts to get marijuana for the comfort of her husband with cancer. It should not have been that hard, for that limited purpose. But that is love, and now it’s legal. Wiscasset is taking a lot of time and effort to navigate all the legal uses of marijuana, including adult use, manufacturing and testing. So whenever it gets to a hearing and a town vote, let’s hope residents give it serious consideration. For all the work alone, it deserves that much.