Greenville will go purple for Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month

GREENVILLE — The town of Greenville will continue to symbolically change its name to a different color to mark Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month in June. 

This year the community will be known as “Purpleville” from June 26-28 to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease and brain awareness. Purple is the signature color of the Alzheimer’s and dementia awareness movement.

Organizer Katie Bridges of Sidney told the select board during an April 15 meeting that seven generations of her family have lived in the Moosehead Lake region and four of these generations have been impacted by Alzheimer’s disease.

“In 2019 you were amazing in giving us the opportunity to start Purpleville,” she said. “It has grown over the past six years to become something that is an annual event.”

Activities such as a kickball tournament, ATV rides and more have helped raise over $60,000 in the last six years to benefit caregivers and research.

“On the caregiver front, Pine Tree Hospice is serving more people in this community than ever before because they have volunteer power and they now have funds thanks to a good chunk of that $60,000 that we raised here in this community,” Bridges said. “That has made a significant difference for people that are living with the disease and that are caring for people with the disease.”

There are exciting developments on the research front, she said,“I am grateful for the fact that AI has helped a team in San Francisco discover a gene in a new way.”

Alzheimer’s disease comes in two forms, genetic and spontaneous which researchers are still unable to find the cause of, Bridges said.

AI has helped a research team in San Diego uncover part of a gene they then were able to connect to a treatment which is now being tested on mice.

“The money we raise through Purpleville helps to support the Jackson Lab, which is one of the only labs in the country to develop new mice models to test the research that’s coming out of anywhere in the country or globally,” Bridges said. “So the work that we have done here, thanks to you supporting what we do, we have been able to help support these efforts that are getting us so much closer to being able to have a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and help people to maybe even reverse some of the Alzheimer’s that has already progressed. This is an unbelievable development.”

When Purpleville was first observed in Greenville in 2019, false claims online promoted cures. 

“But now we are getting much closer to a world in which that actually is possible,” Bridges said. “As we continue to bring joy and infuse fun into a really dark topic, I just wanted to come and give you each a flower to be able to show your support.”

The purple plastic flowers are a “sign that you are behind not just this community but a global community that is really doing something fantastic.”

“Thank you again for your time, your support, your generosity and we look forward to raising even more money in June,” Bridges said.

Select Chair Geno Murray congratulated Bridges and thanked her for the informative presentation. 

“It sounds like it’s headed clearly in the right direction which is awesome,” he said. “I know the town will support you in any way we can.”

It is nice to hear something positive about AI, Selectperson Burt Whitman said, with this often not being the case.

“With more time and resources and beautiful brains working on the thing, I’m really hopeful that this is going to be a turning point,’ Bridges said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had hope.”

In other business, the select board approved the names of two roads — Blair Hill Overlook Road and Summit Ridge Lane — in a new Blair Hill subdivision.  

Code Enforcement Officer Tim Post and his predecessor Ron Sarol have worked to list all 218 streets and roads in Greenville, Planning Board Chair John Contreni said.

Per town ordinance, roads cannot have similar names and Blair Hill Overlook Road and Summit Ridge Lane both meet the criteria — bringing Greenville’s street total to 220.

These new roads are private travelways so the town won’t be taking on any more obligations such as plowing. A connector street between the two will likely be named in the near future.

Town Manager Mike Roy gave an update on infrastructure to be installed for the Northern Forest Center housing project off Spruce Street. 

“The contractor will start mobilizing for the infrastructure on Monday the 27th of April and then the infrastructure is projected to end at the end of August roughly,” Roy said about water and sewer extensions into the property.

Engineer Haley Ward, Inc. sent out requests for proposals for street reconstruction to more than a half dozen contractors. The document includes a clause saying funds are subject to town meeting approval

”No contract will be awarded until after town meeting,” Roy said, with the meeting scheduled for Monday, June 1.

The Northern Forest Center is developing a 28-unit housing development off Spruce Street to help provide more affordable options in Greenville. The center is a regional nonprofit working on rural economic and community development programs across northern New England and New York.

Infrastructure improvements are being funded by the town with $1 million in funding from the Northern Border Regional Commission and $265,000 matching funds provided by Northern Forest Center, with Sargent Corporation carrying out the work and Haley Ward providing civil engineering for the project.

The work is scheduled to complete by the spring of 2028 at the latest, with the potential to have construction done sometime in 2027. The 28 units will have a homeowners association to manage basic maintenance and common areas.