Galen Wilde confessed Thursday.

The owner of Shiretown Coin in Houlton said he wrote off the Boston Red Sox after decades of watching them when "that ball went through Billy Buckner's legs in 1986," ending the team's World Series hopes that year.

"There were lots of great matchups, but after 1986, I just got discouraged and thought, 'Well, maybe there is some truth to this curse,'" he said.

On Thursday, Wilde said he had been ecstatic "since midnight last night. What a game!"

And what a reaction around Maine, where Gov. John Baldacci announced that the world champion Boston Red Sox will visit Portland next Wednesday to celebrate their 2004 World Series victory.

Baldacci said he received confirmation from the Red Sox organization that members of the team will visit Monument Square in Portland at 3 p.m. the day after the election.

His proclamation will declare all next week Boston Red Sox week in Maine - "all week because it's been 86 years" since the Sox won a Series, "so we have to have the entire week to reflect upon it."

"I think it will probably take a little bit longer but at least a week will give us a good beginning," Baldacci said.

Reaction in Maine to Boston's historic win wasn't sedate.

Some 4,000 people rallied on the University of Maine campus in Orono minutes after the fourth game ended Wednesday night. UM set up a bonfire for students to celebrate.

Dustin Ryder, 18, of Alfred was arrested by UM Public Safety officers for allegedly ignoring barriers set up around the bonfire in the university's Lord Hall parking lot.

"They observed him jumping over the barricade and entering the prohibited area close to the bonfire," UM spokesman Joe Carr said Thursday.

Ryder was taken to Penobscot County Jail where he posted bail at 4 a.m., according to jail officials. He is scheduled to appear Friday, Dec. 3, at Bangor District Court.

A small fireworks display marked the win, and UM officials gave out free food while students listened to a live

disc jockey.

In Camden, Red Sox mania meant a serious shake-up in the usual professional attire at the Belfast branch of Camden National Bank. Long-suffering fan Larry Quinn, a bank vice president, was seen wearing a Curt Schilling T-shirt. Tellers and other bank employees also sported Red Sox attire.

In Bangor, a letter carrier was spotted delivering mail by the Bangor Mall, wearing a Bosox cap and sweater over his U.S. Postal Service uniform.

At a real estate agency on Bangor's Main Street, a bright red truck was parked in the company lot festooned with a Red Sox flag hanging off the bed and the words "Go Red Sox" scrawled on a cab window.

Fort Kent's Emery "Legs" Labbe, who in his younger years was known statewide for his pitching prowess, was still shaking his head Thursday when he spoke about the Red Sox win: "Unforgettable, just unforgettable, especially the four wins over the Yankees, and then they followed it up with four wins over the Cardinals. We finally reversed the curse. We finally won!"

Labbe said he watched Wednesday night's game with his cocker spaniel - and both were dressed in Red Sox jerseys.

Emilien "Mulligan" Picard of Madawaska was emphatic about the victory: "It's about time," said the retired Fraser Paper employee, who usually makes several trips to Fenway Park each season.

Even Maine's senior senator, Olympia Snowe, was quick to note the significance:

"Decade after decade, generations of Mainers have invested their baseball hopes and dreams in the fortunes of the Red Sox," she said in a statement. "Today, Maine, New England, and members of the Red Sox Nation everywhere can bask in the glow of this ultimate victory."