The only Black Friday shopping Steve Aucoin did was adopting two black cats from the Humane Society Waterville Area shelter.
He and his son Martin visited the shelter to replace two black cats they’d bought 14 years ago, the last of which had died recently. Aucoin didn’t know the shelter was running a special promotion on black cats for Black Friday, but it worked out great for him, because Martin was home for the Thanksgiving holiday from Boston.
Other than that, he didn’t participate in any Black Friday specials or shopping “events.”
Aucoin wasn’t alone.
While waiting in line to get the best deals on holiday gifts is a Black Friday tradition for some, others in central Maine spent the day after Thanksgiving exploring other activities, including ones at the Waterville pet shelter and Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley.
With the first week of the ski season just getting underway at Sugarloaf, skiers there Friday said they’d rather be on the slopes.
At the animal shelter, adoptions of adult black cats were offered free as a Black Friday promotion, but cats and kittens of every color got a lot of attention.
“Black cats are often the last ones to get adopted,” said Lisa Smith, operations director at the shelter. “We were thinking of things we could do for a Black Friday special and one of our staff said, ‘Let’s make our black cats free,’ and several of us thought it would be a good idea.”
“Black Friday is a shopping day and people shop for what they like,” she said. “That could mean shopping for tools at Home Depot or going to the animal shelter and shopping for animals.”
Smith said she isn’t sure why black cats are often the largest population at shelters.
“I don’t think it’s because they’re superstitious. I think it’s just that in a lot of people’s minds there isn’t anything remarkable about black cats.”
Aucoin took home two solid-black cats, Muhammad Ali and Carmen. The shelter also released several other cats, kittens and two dogs for adoption.
“For me, I’ve always liked black cats,” Aucoin said. “My favorite big cat is the black panther, or jaguar. They’re really sleek. Muhammad Ali, who we just got, is a really big cat.”
He said he and Martin had picked out another pair of black cats 14 years ago, the last of whom died just a few weeks ago.
“This was the only time my son and I had to go together, because he has to go back to work,” he said. “It was a really easy, positive experience.”
Kelly Herrick, of Otis, also said Black Friday was the perfect day to visit shelters around the state.
Herrick said she was in search of a kitten to be a companion to one she already has at home. “It’s my only Black Friday shopping,” Herrick said. “That was my plan for today.”
Although the Waterville shelter had several kittens, many of whom were adopted on Friday, Herrick said she didn’t see any she wanted to take home and planned to also stop at the Kennebec Valley Humane Society in Augusta and the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society in Lewiston, both of which also advertised Black Friday adoption specials.
Friday was also one of the first days of the ski season at the Sugarloaf resort in Carrabassett Valley, which officially opened last weekend. Despite temperatures nearing 60 degrees, there was man-made snow on several trails and a small crowd of skiers looking to get outside the day after Thanksgiving.
“This was our first day out for the season, and there was a lot of snow for the mountain only having been open one week,” said Dana Doran, of Belgrade, who was skiing with his two children, Brennan and Alden Doran.
“I don’t like shopping,” 9-year-old Brennan said.
“We’d rather be outside,” her father said. “Even though it’s warm out, the snow is in good shape.”
Dan LaCombe, of Delaware, was hitting the ski slopes Friday afternoon in preparation for his first season as a ski instructor at the mountain.
“You have to be careful on a day like today, because (the snow) is a little sticky,” he said, “but there seems to be a pretty good crowd in the parking lot.”
“It’s awesome,” said Chris Lyford, 47, of Scarborough, who was skiing with his son, Noah, 10. Lyford said they don’t usually go shopping on Black Friday because “we’re just not that into it.”
The mountain on Friday, however, “was perfect.”
“It’s like spring skiing in the winter,” Lyford said. “We call it Black Diamond Friday.”
Rachel Ohm — 612-2368
Twitter: @rachel_ohm
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