"Cash Mob" to strike Bethel Sept. 15

    On Sept. 15, a mob of people waving $20 bills will storm some lucky Bethel business.
    A variation on a Flash Mob, this event is a Cash Mob – a mini economic stimulus for the business chosen by the Western Maine Cash Mob organization.
    One of the organizers of the Bethel mob is Michael Newsom of W.J. Wheeler Insurance, who helped sponsored two mobs in Norway-Paris this summer. As he describes, “A Cash Mob is a community-oriented event designed to support one local business while giving people the opportunity to see old friends and make new ones. Everyone agrees to bring $20 with them to spend at this local business. The business is kept a surprise until the last possible moment.”
    The Bethel event will organize on the Common at 3 p.m. on the same day as the annual HarvestFest and Chowdah Cook-off.
    Following the mobbing, an “after mob” gathering will take place at a “local watering hole,” as described on the Western Maine Cash Mob website, with refreshments provided by the Norway Savings Bank.
    Details of the businesses to be cash mobbed and after mobbed will be revealed on the Common.
    The first Oxford Hills area mob took place July 19, with 135 people participating and spending a total of $2,800 at Books N Things and Ari’s Pizza & Subs.
    A second one followed on Aug. 25, when 102 people mobbed the Fox School Farmer’s Market in South Paris. The “mobbers” spent close to $1,900 at the vendors there.
    “We’re committed to buy local in our business community,” said Newsom, whose Bethel ties include his grandparents, Ginny and the late Howard Cole.  “And this cash mob thing is fun.”
    For more on the Western Maine Cash Mob organization, go to www.westernmainecashmob.com.