April 30 marked the ninth year of Orono student housing complex, the Avenue, being used as the location for Maine Day partying. Annually, hundreds of University of Maine students trespass the apartment complex to drink alcohol in a large crowd from the early hours of the morning until night on the Wednesday before Finals Week. Originally sanctioned by UMaine as an opportunity to volunteer in the area, Maine Day has also become a massive illegal gathering. Since 2016, when the Ave was built, the fences have been knocked down, the grass torn up and the streets littered, regardless of attempts to make it stop. This year was no exception. Maine Day swept through Orono raising more concerns about damage and public health.
After safety issues were reevaluated by UMaine Administration two years ago, Maine Day was readapted into Maine Day Week. Yet, the concerns are still very much present with the Ave lacking support. While a nearby apartment complex, The Block, sent out warnings over email before the event to residents about participating in Maine Day, Property Manager of the Ave Kendall Lane and Maintenance Supervisor Tim Mishou mentioned that the Orchard Trails complex tore down their fence bordering the Ave.
Lane expressed concern for the safety of students and liability for damage. Maine Day has become a day of reckoning for the Ave, with reported damages being the torn-down fences, doors kicked in and massive amounts of litter and debris. Underage drinking, trespassing and criminal activity has limited enforcement by the Orono Police who monitor the party. From accounts of Lane, this could be due to the worries for the possibility of starting a riot. Safety and security have been nearly impossible to balance, leaving the Ave with the cleanup.
“This is not something that we want to have happen here and we have taken steps to try to make it not take place. We hire security. I get in touch with the Town of Orono and state police so that we have a game plan to try and stop people from coming here. We know it is inevitable, people get in, but we are doing our best to make sure it does not happen” said Lane one day after the gathering this year.
However, the perspectives of some students in attendance were more positive.
Benji Gilman, a third-year student at UMaine revered Maine Day as a unique opportunity to connect with students of every type.
“Maine Day is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because you get to experience everybody in every grade. There are marketing majors, there are chemies – it does not matter who you are, but you [are] drinking,” said Gilman.
“I think it [Maine Day] is one of the best events we have on campus. Obviously, there are parts of it that are not sponsored by the school, but it is one of the more fun events we have,” said Kendra Williams, a second-year student at UMaine.
According to the University Volunteer Ambulance Corp (UVAC) Student Chief of Service, Anthony Mazzola, there were two ambulances on the perimeter of the party, one staffed with advanced EMT-level equipment and the other basic with the addition of a paramedic. Additionally, they set up a first-aid tent in partnership with Orono Fire Department at the American Legion. The party also had alcohol compliance surveying. Staff member with Waterfront Security Mary Chessa explained her duties.
“We get hired through certain venues to make sure people are safe, protected and [that] no one gets hurt, everyone’s safe,” said Chessa.
When asked about what Waterfront Security staff do if something were to occur, such as a fight or an overdose, Chessa shared that, “If anything escalates, it is PD and EMS.”
Partnered with police presence, the staff was focused on the aftereffects of physical altercations, alcohol poisoning and injury, as opposed to prevention. Mishou spoke to his disappointment with police allowing certain behavior and taking photos with participating students. Reported from the event, there were two assaults that required police intervention. Deterrence, noted Mishou, is far more difficult to enforce with multiple attendees climbing light poles being a serious concern.
“When you have a kid climbing the top of the light pole– those poles are not that strong. One of these days, it is either going to break or fall. If they do, they are going to die,” said Mishou. “That is my biggest concern.”
The light poles swayed under the weight of a steady stream of students climbing them, not as isolated incidents but as part of a continuous rotation throughout the event. As they went up, the masses from the grounds threw beer cans at the climbers. For the property manager and maintenance supervisor, it is not a matter of if they fall, but when.
Given that students get contained within their block, Lane noted that Maine Day being at the Ave could be benefitting the town of Orono to have it there rather than students in neighborhoods or near businesses. Nonetheless, the stress of the party on the Ave is large, leaving Mishou and staff to re-focus multiple days of work on Maine Day duties which stops work being done for the residents.
“The trash is horrible. It is everywhere. We have to use a bucket loader to clean it. There is urination everywhere,” said Mishou.
In pursuit of paying for damages, Lane works with police looking through their security cameras to identify students. Residents of the Ave are charged in accordance. In case of crime, Orono police launch investigations to name participants.
In any situation with large masses of people, similar concerns are raised, not just for the damage and harm they may cause, but also for the possibility of tragedy.
“The other big concern I have is that… there is a whole road full of students. All it would take is one vehicle to go nuts and drive right down it and I worry about that. Someone could bring a gun,” said Mishou.
The safety of students at Maine Day cannot be guaranteed, with the worries from this years’ Maine Day voiced by the management of the Ave. Eager to look for new deterrents, the Ave hopes next year’s party will look different given right support from the town and the university.
