This is progress. Bring the cameras.

January 2007
Published in The York County Coast Star:

I’d like to thank Atlantic Holdings Company for bringing the Cottages at Fishing Pole Lane to Kennebunkport. Our town seems to be fading from the spotlight. George HW Bush is receding into history. The current President would rather spend his summers in Crawford, Texas (average temperature 95); enough said, there. The Dump Parade is gone. Network news crews are practically extinct here. “Real People” and the like no longer come to film. We’re not exactly a quaint fishing village anymore, either. What’s left to bring notoriety to our fair town? The Cottages at Fishing Pole Lane.

It’s all about television exposure.

The Travel Channel (Travel.com) broadcasts a series of “Best of” shows, which are also posted on its web site. For example, there are “The Ten Best Beaches,” “The Ten Best Resorts,” etc..,. Kennebunkport has yet to be noticed. But when “The Ten Best Mobile Home Parks” is aired, we will make our mark. The exquisite architecture and styling of Atlantic Holdings’ work will insure that the Cottages at Fishing Pole Lane land a top spot on that list. Honor, respect, and prestige will return to our community.

Then there are the television series possibilities. With the popularity of mobile homes in today’s cutting edge television on such programs as “My Name is Earl” and MTV’s “Trailer Fabulous,” the Cottages at Fishing Pole Lane will prove a natural setting for a hit show. Some enterprising producer could combine the earthy mobile home-theme with the wealth and splendor of present day Kennebunkport. “Mobile Homes 04046” featuring scantily clad, desperate summer residents in the throes of humidity and mosquito attack would be compelling television. Someone call Hollywood!

Initially, these ideas might not seem to make sense. But they’re as logical as zoning that deems a prefabricated house sitting on a concrete slab a “mobile home.” Or as rational as thinking that there will be no detrimental effects for current residents by doubling the number of homes off of Goose Rocks Road between Route 9 and Oak Ridge Road. We should also ignore any possible water table, traffic, wildlife, septic, and noise concerns. For these are surely a small tradeoff—the Cottages at Fishing Pole Lane are poised to make the Greater Goose Rocks area the next Beverly Hills.