Hello NE FIRST community,
On behalf of all of NE FIRST, it is with great disappointment that we have made the very difficult decision to cancel the Pine Tree District Event that was to be held in March 2023.
This is not what our plan was for our district as we thought about the 2023 season. We are extremely appreciative of the Pine Tree Planning Committee and their continued level of excellence throughout this process. We have witnessed their Gracious Professionalism as we made this difficult decision. Mount Blue High School was a tremendous partner and FRC team 6153, The Blue Crew, were preparing to work hard to be the host team this spring. Thank you to both Mount Blue High School and The Blue Crew for all of their efforts to plan this event.
When we made our team forecast for the 2023 season, we had planned to have more teams participate. Because we didn't reach our goal, we did not have enough participating teams to make the Pine Tree Event viable. An event is viable at 28 teams; Pine Tree only has 18 teams registered, even after the first few days of third play registration.
We are committed to growing the FIRST Robotics Competition presence across the district,
including in Maine, and as such, we are committed to hosting an event in Maine in the 2024
season.
The teams who were planning to attend this event have been contacted via lead mentor emails this morning. We have a plan in place to get them into another event as soon as possible. We appreciate all of their patience through this process, and we hope that we can accommodate all teams' requests as best we can.
For the volunteers who were planning to participate in the Pine Tree Event, we sincerely
apologize as well. We realize that this event is, for many of you, the only event you volunteer
for, and now there are no other realistic options for you. We encourage you to volunteer this
season in another way that will hopefully fill the gap until the Pine Tree Event is back in 2024.
The FIRST LEGO League Challenge Maine State Championship is being held on Saturday, December 3, at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay, ME. We would invite you to register to volunteer at that event through your FIRST dashboard. We also welcome you to join the FIRST Mentor Network, where you can search for a team in your area that would welcome your time. You can register for the FIRST Mentor Network on your FIRST dashboard as well.
We appreciate everyone's understanding and support through this. All of us are working hard
to create the best situation possible for the teams involved. If anyone has any questions or
concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out: mfantom@nefirst.org.
Michael G. Fantom
New England FIRST