A mother and daughter team in South Paris are in the process of opening a new bar at the former location of Crazy Eight on Main Street.

April Harris has been in the service industry since she was 15-years-old and now she and her daughter Kasey Mills, who also has worked in the service industry, are working together to open The Hydrant.

I spoke with Kasey about their new endeavor and how much it has been embraced by the Oxford Hills Community. "We have plans to have live entertainment at our bar. We have pool, we will have darts, open mic," Kasey said. "Our goal is to bring new live entertainment to Oxford Hills and highlight local favorites. Daniel Taylor from Farmington is a good friend of mine and is looking forward to playing there. Bands such as Cadagan and To Be Determined and Natural High Jumble are on the list as well."

Norway and South Paris have recently seen a boom in local restaurants and bars. X Vault Pub & Provisions, 290 Maine Street in Norway and Norway Brewing Company have all opened recently to add to long time favorites, Market Square Restaurant and Maurice Restaurant, which happens to be owned by Harris' brother Corey Sumner.

Kasey said that the support from the community and other restaurants and bars has been overwhelming. "Although we are serving food, our goal is not to compete with businesses in the food department. We want to see small business thrive in the area and support local businesses, not compete with them."

There's still no word on an opening date, but April and Kasey are excited about the changes they are making to the former Crazy Eight at 187 Main Street. "There are some new additions to the bar that we think are very cool but we don't want to give too much away so people will just have to come in and see what The Hydrant is all about!"

The Paris Board of Selectmen approved The Hydrant's liquor license this week, bringing them one step closer to an opening. You can follow the progress of The Hydrant and get some behind the scenes glimpses of what's to come on their Facebook page.

 

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