ROCKLAND — Shopping at the Festival of Lights Craft Show, hosted by Pope Memorial Humane Society, was a win-win on Small Business Saturday, for both the artisans and crafters and the shelter animals who benefited.

“We have more than 40 tables here, which were booked at maximum capacity by October of this year,” Kasey Bielecki, Event Coordinator at Pope Memorial Humane Society. This popular craft event, once a mainstay at the Samoset Resort, moved to the spacious and warm-toned Elks Club in Rockland. Now in its 39th year, Festival of Lights Craft Show had vendors from all over Maine. “It’s not technically juried, but we interview single vendor who applies to get a sense of what they create and make sure that we don’t have multiple tables selling the same type of craft.”

A multitude of Maine-made, unique and one-of-a-kind wares were offered at this Craft Fair, one of the biggest in the Midcoast around the holidays. Crafters offered knitted and felted items, toys, buttons, ornaments, among many interesting items. Little know artists were also present with jewelry, inspired artwork from found materials and food vendors gave samplings of  special barbeque sauces, lobster-flavored crackers and homemade fudge. It was a chance for those who make and create all winter long (and who may not have a web or Etsy presence) to showcase their items, and for the community to shop locally, find unique presents and stocking stuffers and support the artists of Maine.

The Craft Fair asked for a $2 donation at the door, as well as the vendor table fees, which went entirely to Pope Memorial Humane Society. Proceeds from the bake sale did as well. In addition, most of the vendors offered a free item to the silent auction, which concluded at 3 p.m.—and likewise, all proceeds from that silent auction went back to helping the shelter animals as well. “Last year, I believe we took in around $7,000,” said Bielecki.

Many of the vendors said they would also be displaying at the OHS Holiday Art & Craft Fair next weekend.

Check out our gallery of faces and crafts. Photos by Kay Stephens

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is largely regarded as the first day of the traditional Christmas shopping season, often benefiting big box stores and online giants such as Amazon, but where does that leave the little guys — the local shops, restaurants, inns, and artisans?

November 24 is Small Business Saturday, where shoppers plan to support small and entrepreneurial businesses around the country, a movement spearheaded by American Express in 2010. Maine is home to a little more than 145,500 small businesses, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration,  employing more than a quarter million Maine employees. The National Retail Federation estimates that 41 percent  of shoppers (67 million) are expected to shop on Small Business Saturday, and 78 percent of those say they will do so specifically to support small businesses.

A number of community organizations and retailers are already gearing up to attract shoppers to buy locally, handcrafted, Maine-sourced items, such as the Maine Federation of Farmer’s Markets, as well as a number of craft and artisan fairs such as the Craft Fair held at the Maine American Legion in Rockland and the Annual Festival of Lights Show at the Rockland Elks Club.

In Belfast, Larraine Brown, Director of Belfast Creative Coalition, said, “I'm happy to report that Saturday brings another great chance to celebrate Belfast's fantastic, art-filled community. We can purchase unique, 'perfect' gifts, and support our neighbors, our local businesses and our wonderful, diverse artists. All the shops will be open to welcome you with delights for your eyes, ears and taste buds. I hope you can join your neighbors and friends downtown on Saturday for art, food, fun and shopping!”

Downtown Rockland is also participating heavily in Shop Small/Shop Local initiative. "Shopping in a downtown district is far more appealing than any shopping mall,” said Gordon Page, Executive Director of Rockland Main Street, Inc. “ ‘Main Streets’ in every town and city of all sizes offer unique advantages during the holidays and all year long. Downtown Rockland offers a vibrant community connection with city residents, friends from neighboring towns and merchants that are known by their first names.”

According to a National Federation of Independent Business news release, it’s not too late for businesses who have yet to do any marketing for the day. Three tips that take minimal effort include:

• Let everyone know you’re part of Small Business Saturday social media. If you’re on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or Pinterest, post often and promote any Small Business Saturday deals. Use the hashtags #ShopSmall and #SmallBizSat so shoppers can find you easily.
• Brick and mortar stores: tell your regular customers about Small Business Saturday. Put a sign in your shop and flyers in bags reminding folks to come back the Saturday after Thanksgiving for special deals. Download free “Shop Small” signs from www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/promote.  
• Showcase the merchandise that would make a great gift. Group items on a table with a sign saying it would be the perfect gift for dad or a great gift for the grandparents. Restaurants can offer Small Business Saturday specials and gift cards.

Another way to check and see who else is participating in Maine is to log onto twitter.com and search with the hashtags #shopsmall and #maine

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

NaNoWriMo, what is that?

November is National Novel Writing Month. On November 1, participants all over the world begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 p.m. on November 30.

In Maine, there is a statewide community with a number of “Come Write In” meetups happening in libraries and coffee shops all month which can be found here (type in Maine).   Locally, the St George River Café, in Warren, is one of the “Come Write-In” sponsored locations. They plan to have NaNoWriMo themed events on Tuesday nights during November, starting at 5 p.m..

Previously, When Penobscot Bay Pilot covered NaNoWriMo in 2013 “Get Crackin’ Scribes”, there was only one Maine group. This year, Maine split up into eight regions with one named  “Elsewhere,” an at-large region that everyone is welcome to join if they wish, but if you fall in one of the other regions make sure to check there for more localized information.

Writers tend to help one another along, encouraging one another to keep their word count goals on track. The Maine NaNoWrMo Facebook group, a closed group with 428 members, functions as a virtual cheerleader, particularly when writer’s block sets in. When member Rebecca Douglass, posted “Just past halfway and I'm feeling the slumps. I know the cure: throw a curve at my protagonist. But I can't even think of a curve. Nothing but straight lines. Ugh.” she received many encouraging suggestions to keep plugging.

For the Midcoast region, the focus includes Bath to Bar Harbor along the coast. They welcome those in surrounding areas too, like Brunswick/Topsham and Ellsworth/Hancock/Winter Harbor. To sign up for the Midcoast region visit https://nanowrimo.org/regions/usa-maine-mid-coast

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

NORTH HAVEN— The emerging talent currently on display at  Center For Furniture Craftmanship’s Messler Gallery, is, as usual, exceptional. The exhibition opened September 21 with 21 pieces on display.

What makes this show different from most is that each piece was created by scholarship and fellowship awardees and selected by a jury. One cherry bench, in particular, made a play of light from the late afternoon sun coming through the windows. The piece, with maple inlay and scrollwork, belongs to artist Christina Vincent, who lives and has a small shop on North Haven. Having previously attended two workshops with the Center For Furniture Craftsmanship, she recently completed a scholarship for a 12-week Furniture Intensive. 

With a degree in art and design, Vincent knew that moving to an island wasn’t going to lead to a lot of design jobs, so, she started a landscaping business  and began working on her furniture on the side. When she was awarded the scholarship, she was thrilled, but she had to overcome a few obstacles to make it work.

“I couldn’t travel every day by ferry, so I ended up renting a friend’s room in Rockland for the twelve weeks, while ferrying back home to North Haven on the weekends to see her husband and tend to elements of her landscaping business,” she said.

In the last few weeks of the Furniture Intensive, Vincent’s class focused on steam bending, lamination and curvature. Out of those lessons, she created a pair of walnut high stools with graceful movement titling them Blue Heron.

“The interior of the stools are laminated wood, with intricate edging and a coopered seat,” she said. “They’re very delicate, but notably artistic pieces.”

Vincent prefers to work with hardwoods native to the Northeast. Every piece of rough timber is hand selected for its unique qualities such as color, pattern, and texture.

The call for the Messler Gallery exhibition was during her Intensive, so she submitted a previously made piece, a bench, named Fernwood. The scrollwork is, upon first glance, fairly feminine in its design, but the cut out in the shape of ferns.

“In that piece, it’s all traditional joinery and Bird’s Eye Maple inlay work,” she said. “The movement comes from the way the light passes through the scrollwork during the day and makes intricate shadows.” Vincent, who strives to create functional furniture, borrows from natural elements for her work, much of it inspired by North Haven itself. “I just wanted a few decorative elements that separate this piece from a typical bench.”

Vincent not only makes each piece with a function in mind, but with her artistic training, often adds elements of carving or handpainted imagery on her pieces “just to add a little bit more of my style to it.”

As a result of her experience and the quality of work she was able to produce, Vincent has been invited to exhibit at CraftBoston holiday craft show in mid-December. 

“That was also a juried application process, and as soon as I wrap up things outdoors for the season, II’m going to get ready for the show.”

You can view Vincent’s work and 20 other fine pieces of furniture at the Messler Gallery, which will be up until January 2, 2019.

For more infomration about Vincent’s work and style visit: https://www.christinamvincent.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — For anyone who has ever imagined owning a business, Midcoast Women (formerly Midcoast Women’s Collective) hosted three female entrepreneurs with small businesses on Rockland’s Main Street on Thursday, November 15, at the Rockland Public Library. Here are four takeaways from that night, with insights on dealing with the obstacles and what energizes them to keep going.

Inspiration

“I grew up in the environment of small businesses,” said Lacy Simons, owner of hello hello bookshop. “My parents owned a photography studio when I was young, however I didn’t actually believe until 10 or 12 years ago that I could own a small business myself. I thought it was this magic thing that you had to go to this tree and the tree would tell you what to do and then you had to learn math. I went through a lot of paths to get here. So, I started taking small business classes with Betty Gensel of The Women’s Business Center and I didn’t have to fight with myself on whether I was capable, there was no doubt in my mind.

“For me, the desire to be independent and not take directions from anyone, was my inspiration,” said Leah Ondra, owner of Clementine. “One of the unglamorous things about my bio is when I went to college, I worked in retail. I was grateful for the job, but I had to work weekends, late nights, I had to do whatever they said. So, when I moved back to Maine, I felt ready to do something slightly different. Two months after we got back, a friend of my mom’s had a space in Bar Harbor, but it was in the process of getting the roof repaired. I was told if we got into that space, they’d let us have it for three months before it shut down for repairs. So if someone told you you had two weeks to open a business—why not? Also, at the time I was reading the book, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously and was so inspired by it. These are the little breadcrumbs that happen, but until I looked back to all of the little steps I’d taken, it’s how I realized I got here.”

“Back in 2009, I had a great job, and a new husband,” said Nancy O’Brien, owner, FIORE Artisan Olive Oil and Vinegars. “We lived in Rhode Island. We didn’t live in Maine full time yet, but wanted to. After a few years of talking about it, I had the idea of opening an oil and vinegar shop, but I really didn’t have a plan. I happened upon an available space in Bar Harbor before I had a plan. I’m usually a black and white thinker and not much of a risk taker, but this time I went out on a limb. I signed a lease and filled a notebook with a million things to do.”

Obstacles

“I had student loans; I had no savings,” said Simons. “So, I just did it and I’m going to pretend it was just as easy as it sounds. I had to get to work immediately; I had to build a business plan, secure a loan and rely on my community to help me get through all that. Those first days of opening the bookshop, I was working six days a week, I was exhausting myself. I’m not saying I did it all by myself; I had the help of my husband and friends. I also had to learn how to delegate to my manager, and that was hard. It’s still something I’m learning to do.”

“When you’re given an opportunity, go with it,” said Ondra. ”Pick a [starting point]. Because you’re going to have 20,000 things to do before next Tuesday. I did end up having to move all of the items in my store in Bar Harbor from one side to the other three or four times because the roof kept leaking.”

“In 2009, it was during the onset of a big recession, when I was going around to bank to bank with my business plan, and was turned down several times,” said O’Brien. “This was a time when businesses were failing; banks were too big to fail and I was trying to open an oil and vinegar shop.”

Perseverence

“The down side is, you never stop putting out fires,” said Ondra. “And I used to think it was just the opening day fires, then it was the ‘we need more staff’ fires, but you have ask yourself: “Can I be okay with how far I’ve gotten past each obstacle?’ Because there will be 20 more things that need me tomorrow. It can sometimes overwhelm and burn out, but if those 20,000 things you have to do are connected to what you love, you can do it.”

“Even though I was turned down a couple of times, the banks said I had a really strong solid business plan,”said O’Brien. “They liked the concept; they just couldn’t fund it. Great You believe in me, but you’re not going to give me any money. But, I took every conversation apart from those bankers and I learned to alter my plan and knew what to say at the next bank. Persistence paid off and I found a local bank that believed in me and was willing to work with me.”

Practicalities

“The number one thing is to develop a business plan,” said moderator Diane Sturgeon and Deputy District Director for the US Small Business Administration's Maine District Office.

“My business plan was an outline on paper for me to show myself and my bankers what my vision was. And that plan has always helped me to look back and see what I intended to do, what I didn’t do and adjust the vision.

Midcoast Women continues their Collective Voices storytelling series this winter, highlighting women of different backgrounds, interests, ages and career paths. See more at https://www.midcoastwomen.org/

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

WALDOBORO— Elizabeth Flanagan, 18, a senior at Medomak Valley High School, got a crash course this past year in what it’s like to be a published author, thanks to Portland’s Telling Room, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth in writing and storytelling.

“She applied for our Young Emerging Authors program last year and had to submit a book pitch, 10 sample pages and a recommendation,” said Kathryn Williams, the lead teacher of the YEA program. “Of the number of applicants, we chose four fellows, which included Elizabeth. I was really intrigued by her concept, because we’d never done a historical novel before.”

The premise of the novel, titled The Secrets They Left Behind, is set in 1950s and 1920s Iowa and follows 14-year-old Clara Rollins as she untangles an intricate web of secrets involving her father, his brother, an infamous bootlegger, and his beguiling wife.

“I came up with the idea for the book when I applied for the fellowship,” said Flanagan. “It developed more once I got accepted. I sat down and wrote four chapters and those ended up being the sample pages.”

Williams, who served as Elizabeth’s executive editor, said: “It was fairly ambitious because it weaves together two different timelines with a mystery at the heart of it. I was also impressed at how ell thought out the book concept already was.”

“It felt right to be a historical novel and take place in a small farm town and I knew I wanted it to be about two generations so there needed to be a time jump with mysterious goings on,” she said.  “And I love the Roaring Twenties and the Prohibition era, so I wanted that in there too.”

Each week, she was allowed an early release from school to fulfill the fellowship. Her father drove her down to Portland to The Telling Room from Waldoboro, and waited while she attended a two-hour writing and mentoring session. “I couldn’t have done it without my Dad. When I applied, both of my parents told me that if I won the fellowship, they were going to make it work,” she said.

Like all authors, she had to delve deeply into researching her setting and characters, the most challenging of which, was describing farming, something she’s never done. “I did a lot of research online, and ended up on this Iowa Historical Society website,” said Flanagan. “In one scene, I had the characters on a working farm and needed to learn about winter wheat harvesting, so I listened to these recordings of these old farmers and working with threshers and how to harvest winter wheat.”

“We worked with Elizabeth for almost a full year,” said Williams. “At one point, we brought in writing mentors who came in to work with the students and really get into the manuscript, starting out on structural issues on the macro level, on character development and for almost four months, they worked on editing and revising the manuscript.”

Flanagan worked closely with a mentor, published author Deirdre McDonough-Fulton, as well as the book’s editors and designer. “Dierdre got to know my characters and story so well, almost as well as I did and just talking with her fleshed out a lot of things in the editing process,” said Flanagan. As for the cover, Flanagan also had input with The Telling Room’s designers, supplying the idea for the overlay of the farm silhouette superimposed on what looks like an old-fashioned handwritten letter.  “There’s a letter in the book that sparks the start of solving the mystery,” she said.

As part of her fellowship, Flanagan signed a contract with the Telling Room that allowed her the copyright of the manuscript, but assigned The Telling Room exclusive worldwide rights to publish the novel, with all proceeds reinvested into Telling Room programs.  “All of our core programs are free to students,” said Williams.

In August, The Telling Room celebrated with the launch of the fellows’ books and a celebration of the authors. “It was awesome. Some days I really can’t believe it; and I have to hold the book and say it was real. I did it,” she said.

The publishing launch has been a success. “The first print run of 75 copies book sold out, so we are on our second print run,” said Williams.

Flanagan is only planning to do a one-night-only book reading at the Waldoboro Public Library on Wednesday, November 14 at 6: 30 p.m. Williams will also be on hand this evening to sell copies of the book. For more information visit: http://www.waldoborolibrary.org/

To purchase a copy of Flanagan’s book online visit: https://www.tellingroom.org/store#Books

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

SEARSPORT— Apple crisp, cider and enthusiasm for the creative economy was on the docket Monday night, November 12, for the Belfast Creative Coalition, which organized a public information gathering event at the Mermaid Plaza in Searsport.

“We’re hosting these community events as a way to get feedback from the people who live here on a cultural plan we’re developing for Waldo county,” said Larraine Brown, Director of Belfast Creative Coalition. “We’ve got an economic tool to develop the creative economy and to support and appreciate the artists who live and work here.”

The goal, according to BCC, is to create the Waldo County Arts and Cultural Plan, with an inclusive study to:

1) Get an inventory of existing resources:

2) Get feedback from residents on their arts and cultural preferences;

3) use public meetings to identify local priorities; and,

4) Develop a plan that addresses those local priorities.

“The end result of meetings like this [is that] we will have a plan that identifies what the people in both the town and surrounding rural areas want,” Brown said. “We have a lot of wonderful things that are happening in the art and cultural scene, but we also want to know from people what else they want to see happen here.”

While a young man, Jonah Palumbo, 11, played violin, residents from Waldo County gathered in the back room of the former Mermaid Restaurant and Pub to watch a presentation and share their opinions in a survey.

Next Monday, November 19,  the BCC, will once again, host a Cultural Planning community event at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast from 4:30 to 7 p.m. to gain input from the residents. For more information visit: Hutchinson Center. “We’ll have a little bit of arts and performance to kick it off,” said Brown.

For more information about the Cultural Planning process visit: www.belfastcreativecoaltion.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — Joseph Ascrizzi and his son, Max, will tell you that, along with Joseph’s brother, Tony, who passed away in 2014, the three family members never consciously set out to thematically echo one another’s artistic styles. It is evident however, from the layered artwork that currently hangs at Waterfall Arts’ Corridor Gallery, that the Ascrizzi Gene, as Joe calls it, is part of every piece.

“Sure there’s a genetic thread, but we don’t try to collude,” said Joe. 

Apart from a similar show put together this past summer in Wiscasset, it never even occurred to Joe, Tony or Max to do a group exhibition. They’d all just done their own thing.

“When Tony passed away, it sort of became this need to have his artwork out there one last time,” said Joe. “We initially thought we’d just showcase Tony’s work, and then we were sort of like, ‘Well, why not put all of us in there?’”

Each artist has his own approach. Joe is known for his carved box sculptures with materials such as wood, bone, antler, gold, silver and stone. Max’s paintings are inspired by rural Maine landscapes, often in stark, nightscapes. And Tony’s work is largely sculptural, as he’d worked in bronze, welded steel, hand-sewn fabrics and mesh.

Unlike their Wiscasset show which separated each artist’s work in a different room, the pieces hang and stand on pedestals all together in Waterfall Arts’ Corridor Gallery as if produced from one artist—something that Joe and Max rather enjoy, for it feels as though with Tony’s work, they are all together again, seamless.

The Ascrizzis roots hail from Italy’s Calabrian town of Sant’Eufemia d’Aspromonte. In a tribute to the family for the show, Liberty artist Alan Crichton, summed up the family’s artistic ethos as coming from: “a rich heritage of invention and an intuitive love of primal materials that has challenged and informed their art and their lives.”

As for Max, who grew up in Freedom, traveled, then came back to Freedom, his rural landscapes are captured in a raw state “during their transition from dark to light or vice versa.”

He never paints from photographs.

“They just come to me,” he said. “The scenes are just glued into me. They just appear.”

Joe’s process is unsurprisingly, exactly the same. In two of his ink paintings, he borrows from mythological elements such as minotaurs and maidens and things not quite human emerging out of the shadows.

“They appear to me as well,” he said. “Probably because we read a lot, immerse ourselves in different writers, different literature, sometimes this just comes out of the subconscious. There is a balance between receptive and creative. If I ever try to consciously flesh out an idea, to me it looks contrived. It doesn’t feel right.”

Another similarity between all three artists is their love of music. In the middle of the gallery stands an odd-shaped thing made from a hollowed out log, a functional art piece and a musical instrument Joe invented, which is a cross between a thumb piano and a mbira, an African instrument.

“There was an apple tree in Connecticut where we lived at the time that had gotten struck by lightning and had a hollow in it,” he said. “I just hollowed it out more, added the skins to the ends and added garden rakes to it as the keys.” “I invented the name and call it an Applelimba.” Unlike most art you can’t touch, Joe encourages people to touch and play it. 

On the far wall is a dulcimer handmade by Tony. 

“He made lots of these,” Joe said. “Some of his earlier stuff was all made in fine woodworking.” And Max has always played guitar and has written his own music.

“We have that connection, a love of wood, and making and that goes back generations,” said Joe.

Go see the exhibit, which is only up until November 16. For more info visit: Waterfall Arts.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

The days are shorter and the nights, colder. And rodents are locked in an age-old battle with humans: They want in. You want them out.

This past summer, an unusual number of squirrels zipped frantically across the roads. The Portland Press Herald and The Bangor Daily News both published articles this past summer pointing to  “population irruption” or a population spike, particularly with gray and red squirrels, due to an abundance of acorns and last winter’s protective snow cover.

While hard data is unavailable on whether Maine’s rodent population has significantly increased, local pest exterminators caution that when the fall months get colder, squirrels and mice are going to be looking for away into homes and cars for warmth. This is a problem, not just because humans are loathe to share their residences and vehicles with “nuisance wildlife,” but because these rodents can burrow into tight spots, die and cause a stink. Or else they gnaw at insulation and damage electrical wires.

Jesse Richards, owner of Central Exterminating Services said:  “To be honest, we’ve been seeing a boom in the rodent population for the last four years. Four or five years ago, we weren’t handling a lot of rodent work in the area, but now, particularly in the fall, it’s nonstop. Rodent extermination is probably our biggest source of business right now. We’re handling five to 10 rat and mice jobs a week.”

Thomas Swartz, owner of Hot Wax Auto Detail Center in Rockport, has also been getting incessant calls about the issue.

“We’re getting hundreds of cars in with mice nests in the cabin air filters this fall,” he said. They get inside the side panels of the car, up in the headliner. 

“Probably 25 percent of the cars coming in to be detailed have that issue,” he said. “People don’t even know they’re driving around with these nests, sometimes even with dead mice inside, and they’re breathing in all that air. It’s so unhealthy. If you could see some of the ones we’ve extracted out of cars you’d be shocked.”

Swartz said a popular myth to keep mice and squirrels out is to place Bounce dryer sheets in the car.

“I’ve found more nests made of Bounce sheets,” he said.

Swartz said the best remedy to keep rodents from getting into your car is to buy a vial of essential peppermint oil and soak cotton balls with them, placing them under the seats, under the spare tire in the trunk and in any small compartments of the car.

“They’re getting in through the tire wheel, so place some in there too,” he suggested.

Trying to close up a camper or an RV for the winter? Many crowdsourced suggestions coming from camping pages on Facebook recommend putting bars of Irish Spring soap, whole cloves and moth balls inside the camper/RV, whereas others have not had luck with such remedies.

Plug up any holes with steel or bronze wool or clear packing tape to seal up any visible opening into the vehicle. Others recommend Fresh Cab, which can be purchased online or at Tractor Supply.

“They also don’t like walking on crushed gravel,” said Richards. “Park your car or camper on a pad of crushed gravel rather than on the grass.”

To keep them out of the house, Richards said, “Keep your property maintained and manicured as rodents seek shelter in tall grass and underbrush. Look around where your oil pipes go down to the basement and plug up any small holes or openings with insulation foam to prevent these spaces for being entry points.”

For more information click on “How to protect your car from rodents”

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—The day I met 17-year-old Isabelle Olson, she was soft spoken, apologizing for her voice, because she was fighting a cold. That’s generally not a problem when you’re a senior in high school and just have to get through the school day. But, Isabelle is one of the lead actors in the CHRHS play Anything Goes, staged at the Strom Auditorium—and a strained voice is not ideal when you’re singing soprano.

However, she’s already a professional and knows the show must go on.

A full day of schoolwork and nightly rehearsals aren’t her only challenge. Isabelle lives on Islesboro and in order to participate in theater, she must travel back and forth on the ferry and stay at a family’s friends, going home to see her family on the weekends.

“The ferry leaves at 5 p.m. so when we have rehearsals later than five, which has basically been the last two weeks, I stay on the mainland,” she said.

“I live out of my duffle bag,” she said. “I’m in a limbo between two families, so I just try to self-parent. Some days I’m here when school starts to 10 at night. I’m always really excited to go home, but during the week, I don’t even have time to be homesick.”

This is Isabelle’s fourth year in theater and she not only has moved from ensemble to lead roles, she has just been named “Student of the Month” from the CHRHS Visual and Performing Arts Department, which stated, “[Isabelle] shows her love of the arts by going the extra mile to be involved at CHRHS: traveling across the bay each week to get to Camden Hills, and hosting fundraising concerts ...”

“I’m the kind of person who needs at least three hours of silence after a show wraps,” she said. “I’m both an introvert and an extrovert. You need to be an introvert to get into a character’s emotions and feeling and you need to be an extrovert to convey that to the audience, but, I have to decompress after.”

Anything Goes is on its last run this weekend. Details can be found in our Weekend Spotlight. Additional photography provided by www.martistonephotography.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Additional

APPLETON— In most paintings of Maine islands, conspicuously absent is the debris and junk that regularly washes up onto its shorelines. A lot of it tends to be ghost gear— lobster traps that have been smashed apart by the weather and have drifted to shore in mangled pieces.

Appleton artist Abbie Read, whose family owns property on Matinicus Island, noticed the junk along the shoreline and decided to haul piece by piece back to the mainland. No, not to the dump, to her studio.

“I spend a lot of time on Matinicus and for years, I’ve been collecting these little pieces of broken, rusted traps and all of the parts,” she said.

Read said she’d haul back the unsightly debris  from the island to the mainland and store them in her studio, unsure of what would become of it. 

“I always had it in the back of my mind I’d make something with the pieces,” she said. “Then, last spring when Waterfall Arts held a call for artists on the theme of Intertidal Zones, I began to assemble all of the pieces into an installation. For me, all of the junk that gets washed up on Matinicus was perfect for that theme.”

After the Waterfall Arts show concluded, the community arts center allowed Read to hang the installation on the second floor wall by the stairway, where it now resides indefinitely. Only those familiar with the lobster industry will notice some of the details in the rigging. Woven throughout the pieced-together grids of the wire traps are discarded bait bags, nylon netting, a plastic escape hatch, old frayed warp. Broken and lost gear is an economic hardship lobster fishermen know only too well. These unglamorous workaday pieces of fishing gear have now transformed into a tribute to the many unknown generations of lobstermen.

But, there is one more layer to this installation; and one has to know Abbie Read’s particular style of work to catch it. Within the rigging, which is patched up like a crazy quilt from various broken traps, are subtle grids made from linen thread that Read has constructed, which mimic the gridwork of the broken traps and blends right into the exhibit. These handmade nets also lace across her multimedia collages, which often incorporate altered books, maps, found objects and natural materials such as stone.

Read isn’t done with the piece.

“I stopped working on it because I ran out of materials,” she said. “But, I still plan of adding to it, it’s just a matter of being able to haul this stuff back from the island. I call it an ongoing project because it will get bigger. It no longer fits in my studio.”

For now the piece can be seen at Waterfall Arts.

For more information visit: Abbie Read and Waterfall Arts

Related: Check out this altered book ‘library’ at the Belfast Free Library

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—Skulls and skeletons still linger days after Halloween has passed. On November 1 and 2, the world celebrated Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday that honors loved ones who have passed on.

If you ever wondered what this was all about, the festivities originated by the Aztecs around 3,000 years ago. The cultural practice merged with elements of Christianity to coincide with All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Death was recognized as a normal part of the human cycle and not to be feared. On these particular days, the deceased awakened from their eternal slumber when the living relatives and friends put on feasts and celebrations to “call to them” so to speak. Many of these celebrations would be held in cemeteries. All the food, tequila, mezcal and parties were meant to let the departed enjoy all of the things they enjoyed in life for a night or two.

Two of the more recognized symbols from these festivals are the brightly colored skeletons and skulls (calacas and calaveras). Dating back to the Spanish conquest, the Spaniards added to the already established practices of the Day of the Dead with their own contribution: sugar. Making little molds of sugar and water into skulls, people would write the names of the deceased on the forehead and decorate with ribbons and icing. Often, the smallest sugar skulls were meant to honor babies and small children who passed on too early. Rather than make them hideous and ghastly (as one would for a Halloween mask), the skulls were decorated with bright color—because once again, color represented vibrant life and no one wanted to offend the dead with too much mourning or sadness.

Around the state, the University of Maine held a Day of the Dead celebration making paper skull masks and a number of Mexican and Latin American-themed restaurants around Maine participated with their own Dia de los Muertos traditions including La Mesa in Liberty and El Ancla, in Camden, where staff dressed up with masks and painted faces. Kids were invited to construct sugar skulls at 5 p.m. and at 9 p.m., the celebrations for adults kicked off with a Day of the Dead dance party with DJ Markos a.k.a. Mark Elwin from Mother Summer Soul radio show. 

For more information on Day of the Dead visit: Aztec Central

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — In a long-awaited moment for brewer Rich Ruggerio, the doors of his WW II aviation-themed nanobrewery, Liberator Brewing Co., officially opened to the public Wednesday, Oct. 31.

“Back in the ‘90s, I had a brewery called Rocky Bay and over the years, I put in breweries for other people, but I just felt it was time to do something on my own,” he said. “It just felt awesome to finally open the doors.”

With a two-barrel system, Liberator opened with four beers on the opening day menu, including an Air Screw Pale Ale, a tasty single hop pale ale and the Illuminator, an American wheat beer that was subtle and well balanced.

Ruggerio said, “Our plan is to offer up to six ‘mainstay’ beers at all times and beyond that, be brewing up to 15 beers, which we will rotate out.”

He said they don’t yet have a flagship beer and that they will be waiting on customer feedback.

“We’ll have a new beer coming out for the fall called Axis Night, an American old-style ale around 9 percent ABV with some Belgian-style malts and American-style malts from Blue Ox Malts in Lisbon Falls, kind of malty but very drinkable, very smooth,” he said.

Beset by a number of delays, including  a complete build-out of a brewhouse in the back, building renovations, and state and city inspections that prevented a June opening, nevertheless Ruggerio persevered with Liberator, making it a Maine-licensed farm sustainable nanobrewery, offering “unique hand-crafted ales and lagers, local wines and locally prepared light fare.”

Inside the tasting room, members of the Rockland community, including fellow brewer, Dan Pease, owner of Rock Harbor Pub and Tasting Room, were on hand to welcome Rockland’s newest business with a pint.

“It’s another reason to come to Rockland,” said Tom Peaco, Executive Director at Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce. “We have breweries and wineries in the surrounding Midcoast area and just adds one more aspect of enticing people to Rockland. It also adds one more incentive to spend time in the South End, where we have that hidden gem across the street, the Center for Coastal, Jess’s Market, Primo,and Archers on the Pier just down the street.”

“For everyone coming up from the St. George Peninsula, this really is a great spot to be; it’s right at the entrance to the city,” said Gordon Page, Sr. “The whole concept of the downtown industry is about growth in incremental changes. You can’t do it all overnight. I’d have to say Rich has been enormously patient in getting through all of the paperwork and the process to get this place open.”

The microbrewery and tasting room is housed in a historic building, which according to owners Polly Saltonstall and John Hanson, once used to be a motorcycle repair shop in the 1970s, called Stone Choppers custom motorcycle repair shop, and a notorious hangout for to the NSKK Motorcycle gang.

“The story has it that a rival gang threw a bomb at this building and it bounced off and blew up in the street,” said Hanson.

“I had a lot of interest from a lot of different people,” said Saltonstall, whose offices for the magazine, Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors, are upstairs. “We very much wanted whomever took over this building to serve the community and be a center for the community in Rockland. Rich is a guy who has a solid reputation for having worked as a brewer in Rockland for so long.”

Liberator Brewing Company, named for the World War Two B-24 bomber, has a Farm Sustainable license, which stipulates that a certain percentage of the ingredients in the beers must be locally produced. Ruggerio also plans to offer locally sourced  and homemade food, such as the sausage and sauerkraut they had in the crock pots on opening day as well as collaborate with local restaurants, including Rotary Pizza.

Hours will be Wed-Sunday, opening from 2 to 8 p.m. during the weekdays and on Friday through Sunday 12 to 8 p.m.

https://www.liberatorbrewingmaine.com/

Related: Liberator Brewing Company to touch down in Rockland

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST— The kitchen at Waldo County Technical Center is fired up with activity on Friday mornings as Chef Matt Maniscalco works with high school students on preparing a simple menu. On October 26, it was potato and corn chowder, spaghetti with a homemade meat sauce, and an apple crisp with strawberry puree.

By 8 a.m., Maniscalco and his students were busy prepping the pre-fixe menu, setting up demos of how each dish is prepared, in anticipation of the lunch crowd.

“We’ve only been open since October 19, so right now, as the students are learning, we’re starting off simply,” said Maniscalco.

The public café originated nearly 20 years ago when the center’s previous chef worked with the students to create a hands-on restaurant experience replicating real world skills.

“When I started this position two years ago, people kept asking when we’d bring the café back,” said Maniscalco.  “With 32 students in our Culinary Arts Program, we now have the numbers to pull this off. And it’s a great way to connect with community, especially the grandparents and parents for the students, who, not only get a great meal for a low price, but also get to see their kids learning in action.”

The dining room, which can seat 30 people is far from fancy, but it’s light and airy with simple pine furniture.  In some ways, it almost feels like a stage set.

In the age of cooking shows, culinary travel shows and celebrity chefs, the WCTC café is a refreshing experience because it is not quite real. Yes, one pays for the meal and the students are serving as both sous chefs, and front of the house servers, but no one is going to be held to a standard one expects from a real restaurant. There’s no need for tips, or a Yelp review. In fact, mistakes will be made, because that’s how the students will learn.

Hannah Paige, 17, performs as the café’s general manager, seating each person coming in and instructing her “staff” to make sure diners have enough water, coffee, and napkins.

“You should have seen her the first day,” said Maniscalco. “She was very nervous, but now she is a pro. Waiting tables with the public is very daunting for some of these students. Some kids have expressed to me their anxiety of interacting with the public and I just let them do whatever feels comfortable.”

Maniscalco, who has worked both as a chef and server in Manhattan, Mississippi and Hollywood for 14 years, keeps an eye on his students throughout the entire service.

“I can just take a peek out the door and know what needs to be adjusted,” he said. “And then when the public is gone, we go over everything that can be improved.” Yet, he is no taskmaster. His students trust him and know that if they don’t get everything right the first time, it’s going to be okay. “Often, my kids will go home on the weekend and prepare something from scratch they learned to make in the kitchen that week and surprise their family with a dish, then come back in on Monday and tell me all about it,” he said.

Most of the food is donated from the local food pantry and farms. Maniscalco also sources ingredients from certain purveyors and often will pop into Hannaford the day before the cafe to pick up last minute items.

“We try to use the best ingredients possible,” he said.

While the Culinary Program is still in its infancy, the pre-fixe menu each week will be simple constructions of classic comfort foods. But, as the students build on their skills, Maniscalco will continue to offer more sophisticated flavors, tastes and menus. “We’re not going to garnish plates with foams or sauces or anything that fancy, but we will explore more food within certain geographic areas, such as homemade pastas that you’d make from Italy, or Lo Mein, that you’d make in China,” he said. “We’ll embrace those flavors and begin working with them. I eventually want to step back and oversee them take over.”

Many of WCTC’s students, once they’ve graduated from the Culinary Program, have gone on to get cooking and serving jobs in the Maine restaurant industry. “They’ve had two years of real life experience our program, and they know what they’re doing,” he said. With a very real shortage of experienced staff in the Midcoast’s restaurant industry, this program is a guaranteed pipeline for experienced workers.

The café will run every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. until June, barring any school functions. Each week the Center will offer a pre-fixe menu, which can be found on their Facebook Page. The public may come to the Center, pay $9.00 for the meal at the door with cash or a check only. Call or email the Culinary program to make a reservation 342-5231 ext#122 or email mmaniscalco@waldotech.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

WARREN—Ever since partners Ann Gonzalez and Fanny Faye Davis opened the St. George River Café in 2016, they’ve always wanted to add a literary component to their weekly music offerings and artist showcase. Starting Tuesday, October 30, they plan on hosting a monthly Tuesday Story Hour, a nod to the Moth Radio Hour on NPR, in which local storytellers can share a story, whether it’s funny, serious, sad, real, or invented.

“Doing something on the literary side has been an interest of mine for a long time,” said Ann Gonzalez, who holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. “Last year, I went to a storytelling event at the Camden Public Library, which was great fun and we heard some amazing stories. Mainers in particular have some great stories.”

Asked about the format, she said, “It’s open mic, but we’re not going to make it too formal. The way it worked at the library event, someone would just get up and tell a story. We’ll try to keep the time limit to around five minutes.”

A community member recently built some bookshelves for the café in the back and Gonzalez said she’s interested in selling local authors’ books.

“We’d like to get some local authors in here to read from time to time,” she said.  Gonzalez said they also plan on hosting their space for NaNoWriMo, an abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month.

STORY HOUR has no cover and is open to all. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. and goes to 7 p.m.

Related: Sleepy village of Warren wakes up with St. George River Café

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — Every Thursday, up to 10 girls from sixth to 11th grade meet at the Camden Public Library in a club called Girls Who Code. The club, a local offshoot of a national network of the same name, “allows girls to join a safe, supportive environment of peers and role models to see themselves as computer scientists.”

Before the topic of coding gets underway, the girls first get a little distracted by candy, a favorite snack.

“But it’s not just about eating candy,” said sixth grader Dana Lee. “You can make a website about candy. You can make a game online about candy.”

Candy isn’t the only topic that the girls find interesting enough to create code around. (Although club coordinator Loraine Murray has learned that delaying gratification of snacks until they’ve gotten some club business done first helps with their attention span.)

In a spreadsheet Murray did based on all of their interests, the girls listed marine life, social justice, technology, sports an activities, music and activities, among other topics to delve into in the program.

“For our younger students, we’ve got interests around puppies, kittens, video games and boy bands, whereas our older high school students focus their time around social justice issues, sustainability and college debt,” said Murray.

The club is a hive of chatter where the girls feel free to say whatever is on their mind, joke around and talk about their daily lives. Then, Murray switches their focus to a female role model. 

“Every week we have a slideshow and a YouTube video about an important woman in technology,” said Murray.

This past week, the spotlight was on Haiyan Zhang, the innovation director at Microsoft Research, who also appeared on BBC’s Invention Series, Big Life’s Fix.

“She invented a wearable watch that helps control tremors for sufferers of Parkinson’s Disease,” Murray told the girls. “She’s not just an inventor, but she’s done some really cool things that help other people.”

The club, which runs from October to April, allows the girls to collaboratively work on building a website from scratch.

“We just started the girls with basic coding last week,” said Murray. “We log into this platform called Scratch, a free online program from MIT, and the girls learn basic animation, some different vocabulary and coding techniques. Throughout the year, the girls will build upon their coding skills through Scratch and other programs, as well as work on a Community Impact Project. Thanks in large part to their sponsor Kepware, a software development company in Portland, Camden Public Library provides each girl with a laptop, so they get to work at their own pace.”

All of the girls have hobbies beyond computer science, which Murray taps into to keep the coding projects interesting. 

This past September, during the Mini Maker Faire, Murray displayed a website designed by last year's Girls Who Code Club. Club member Abby Harrison, 13, was on-hand to talk about using the Jimdo platform.

“Abby and the other club members did a bunch of research on honeybee behavior, and the girls built the website, as well as also coded a couple of games within the website to play with,” said Murray.

“I came last year in the middle of last year and was the youngest and at the time, I didn’t really know a lot of coding,” said Dana Lee. “But this year, I can do a lot more and it’s fun to do computer coding  here instead of being at home, doing homework.”

“I just like being around other girls like me,” echoed sixth grader Sanbatè Doshi.

“The thing I like about coding is that it’s all girls, and it’s fun and there are cookies,” said sixth grader Tigger Hearst.

So, yes, it’s back to cookies, but at least you can make a website about cookies. You can make an online game about cookies.

For more information visit: GirlsWhoCode

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST— The word “Isuken” means unity in the Somali language, and after a successful crowdsourcing campaign this summer, six Somali Bantu members of a farm-to-table cooperative in Lewiston were able to parlay the word into the official name for their new business — the nation’s first Somali Bantu farm-to-table cooperative food truck.

With October being National Cooperative Month, the Belfast Co-op invited the Isuken Co-op food truck to Belfast on Saturday, October 20, to share the fresh, local cuisine of Somali Bantu farmers and chefs with the Midcoast community. 

“A lot of the co-ops are celebrating the month of October in different ways,” said Marketing Manager Carisa Carney. “Co-ops operate under seven principles and the sixth is ‘Cooperation Among Co-ops,’ so we thought it would be a great way to honor the principle by inviting the Isuken Co-op Food Truck to Belfast.”

Inside the truck, parked in the Belfast Co-op’s parking lot, several members of Isuken’s worker-owned cooperative were busily preparing for lunch.

“We have our own food traditions that I want to share with a culture that has never tried it,” said Isaac Garrow, worker-owner and Operations Manager for Isuken Co-op.

On the menu were sambusas, which are fried pastries filled with meats and local vegetables sourced from New Roots Farm Cooperative, a 30-acre farm in Lewiston, run by four Somali-Bantu refugees, who became citizens after coming to the United States in 2006.

A long line began to form around noon, when Isuken was open for business. Beyond the sambusas, Isuken was also making and selling Somali chai tea, a sweet, spicy, milky tea.

This is the first time the Belfast Co-op has hosted a food truck in their parking lot for National Cooperative Month.

“Any collaboration we can do to assist and support another co-op in the state of Maine is really important to us,” said Doug Johnson, Belfast Co-op’s General Manager. “It’s something we’ve been building over the last several years with the Cooperative Maine Business Alliance, which we’re part of. And that’s how we came to learn of Isuken and the work they’re doing in Lewiston.”

This past summer, Isuken’s Kickstarter campaign successfully raised more than $14,000, surpassing their original goal of $12,000 to launch the business. More than 200 backers contributed to the campaign, which allowed the worker-owned cooperative to purchase the food truck. After they spent the day in Belfast, Isuken headed back to Lewiston, where they will continue to work at fairs, festivals and downtown locations selling their food. As they continue to build their brand and raise money. Isuken’s long-term goal is to put down roots toward a permanent farm-to-table restaurant.

For more information visit: https://isukencoop.com/#

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

LINCOLNVILLE— Books and cooking have been Nanette Gionfriddo’s passion for the last 12 years, but after the combination of a particularly slow summer season for her bookshop, Beyond The Sea, and her landlord’s announcement that the building is for sale, Gionfriddo will be closing her shop for good by October 30.

Gionfriddo got her start in Belfast with a small shop selling only gifts, gift books and espresso. One day, a friend asked her to carry some of his book titles.

“I researched the quality of his books and they were fabulous,” she said. “Then I started to put my own recommendations on certain books. When those sold, the bookshop grew from there, as I started buying more new and secondhand books.”

Gionfriddo’s niche has always been to champion lesser known Maine authors and smaller Maine publishers. 

“Folks would come in and ask ‘Do you have Stephen King? Or the latest and greatest best seller?” she said. “And I’d say no, because you could find that on Amazon and I can’t compete with that.” 

Instead, her formula has always been to research every single title that she brought into her bookshop.  If it garnered a high rating online, she’d often read and review each one.

“Every book in our store was a ‘Staff Pick,” she said.

Loads of books upon her bookshelves and spread along the tables would have Gionfriddo’s handwritten recommendations on Post-It Notes.

“People would come in and tell me they didn’t know what to choose in these big bookstores such as Barnes & Noble because there were so many and it was so overwhelming, but that they could always find something they loved here.”

Six years ago, she made the decision to move to Lincolnville Beach after losing her downtown Belfast space when the owners decided to open their own store.

“I knew it was a challenge, because other local business owners told me that this location wouldn’t do the kind of business you see in Belfast or Camden,” she said. “It’s a beautiful location, but a tough spot for retail.”

Add to that, the current owners of the building are retiring and want to sell the building.

“It was a fast decision,” she said. “We decided in September and didn’t want to put the owners in the position of trying to sell the building in the middle of winter, so we decided to wind things down at the end of October.”

Last year, Gionfriddo got a license to open a café with her signature “Grab And Go” Italian subs, chilis and soups, as well as baked goods, which drew an entire different clientele.

“I succeeded to a certain degree, but not enough,” she said.

However, she is not entirely done with the bookshop and cafe concept, and will be taking some time off with her husband to contemplate their next steps.

“I am taking people’s information and emails at the counter, because when we land on our feet again, we want to be in touch with those who’ve been loyal to us,” she said.

There is a 25 percent sale all merchandise in the store, except for the artwork and most of the furniture is for sale. For more info visit: beyondtheseamaine.com

Related: Beyond The Sea Cafe

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Every year we do this Halloween Rundown, it gets bigger and better. Just like last year, Halloween falls in the middle of the week, so we’ll have events before and after on both weekends to share. We have combed through every cool event going on to bring you a comprehensive rundown of Halloween-themed events. From parties to art, from poetry to theater, and to haunted houses, we've color-coded these events for Adults and Parents and Kids to make finding them easier. Don't forget that there is also a Candy Drive for the Camden and Belfast neighborhoods most hit up for Halloween.

Friday, Oct. 26

· Adults and Parents and Kids: The Belfast Makers are opening the doors of its highly haunted playhouse, the Basil Burwell Community Theater, for three chilling nights. Questionable characters will attempt to guide foolhardy adventurers through the labyrinth inside the old Church at 17 Court Street. Many are expected to survive the trip and make it all the way through, but safety is not guaranteed.Friday, October 26 • Saturday, October 27 • Wednesday, October 31 5:30 to 7 p.m: Free admission. Spooky Tours for all ages.

· Parents and Kids:  Ashwood Waldorf School’s annual All Hallows’ Eve Walk takes place from 5-6:30 p.m. Free. FMI: Ashwood Waldolf Walk

· Adults Join FOG Bar and Cafe for the annual Halloween Hootenanny Spectacular. This year’s theme is ‘Animal Farm ‘ A Frightening Place Just Outside All Of Our Haunted Souls’ Wildest Expectations. Animals Will Revolt, Rules Will Be Made... & Broken... Zombies Will Walk The Farm... The band playing will be Farmer Funk & The Disgruntled Livestock. No Cover • 21+  Starts at 8:30 p.m.

· Adults and Parents and Kids: Fright at the Fort’s theme this year is “King of Horror”based on Stephen King’s iconic novels and short stories. The best haunted house in Maine goes from
5:30 - 9:00 pm on Friday, October 26 and Saturday, october 27. Arrive no later than 8:30 pm to experience the full 20+ minute tour.  Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids under 12. Pro-tip: it’s absolutely worth it to beat the lines and get advance express tickets at FrightXTix.com. Additional information on Fright at the Fort may be found on the fortknox.maineguide.com 

Saturday, Oct. 27

· Parents and Kids: Want to go out and do an adult Halloween and don’t have a babysitter? Kids Unplugged (Belfast) is throwing a Parent’s Night Out from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. with crafts, costumes, games, pizza and a movie. Price: $30 per kid or $50 for two kids. Reservations required.

· Parents and Kids: The Boothbay Railway Village is not doing its annual Ghost Train this year (returning in 2019.) Instead, join them for a Railway SPOOKtacular from 2 to 8 p.m. A ghoulish afternoon and evening of monstrous family fun.  Guests are encouraged to dress in costume and bring along their own trick-or-treat bag. Tickets.

· Adults Crosby Center (Belfast) is hosting a play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, which tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and is an allegory to the McCarthyism of the 1950s. The play goes from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.  The play also runs Sunday night, October 28. Tickets.

Cancelled· Adults  CMCA  (Rockland) is back with their annual themed Halloween event; this year it’s Dark Matter. Don't be a "normal matter!" Step inside the galaxy and get lost in the mysterious power of dark matter. This one is looking like another crazy night filled with all sorts of fun yet unknown to mankind. Expect a costume contest, cash bar (21+), music, dancing. Goes from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. Tickets sold at the door.

· Adults Edgar Allan Poetry Slam at The Pour Farm Brewery (Union). For Halloween, celebrate the macabre, the morbid, and the melancholy at The Pour Farm brewery in Union, Maine! Read a spooky poem you wrote, bring a classic, or just come out and drink a few beers with the ghosts. From 7 to 9 p.m.

· Adults: Trackside Station (Rockland) is holding their annual Halloween dance party with Just Teachers playing from 9 p.m. to midnight. Costumes encouraged with prizes and a $5 cover.

· Adults: Bowen’s Tavern (Belfast ) is having their annual Halloween party with the band, Fallen. Best costume contest; winner takes $150 prize. The band starts at 9 p.m. and there is no cover.

· Adults: Myrtle Street Tavern (Rockland) is having a Halloween Hootenanny with the band, The Shizzle, with a costume contest, giveaways and oddities from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

· Adults: The Country Rose Lounge (Belfast) is throwing a their annual Halloween party with the Tyler Healy Band from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. and a costume contest with prizes. No cover.

· Adults: The Black Harpoon (Port Clyde) is throwing a Halloween party from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. with the band Living Room Circus.

· Adults: Island Zero screens at the Strand Theatre. Written by NY Times Bestselling author Tess Gerritsen and directed by Josh Gerritson, the horror film Island Zero is about the inhabitants of a fishing island off the coast of Maine who find themselves mysteriously cut off from the outside world after the ferry suddenly stops coming. When dead bodies turn up along the water's edge, the hardy band of survivors must find out who, or what, is killing them. Shot at midcoast locations, and the cast includes some local talent. Followed by Q&A with director Josh Gerritson. Starts at 8 p.m. Tickets: $8.50.

Wednesday Oct. 31

· Parents and Kids: Trunks For Treats hosted by Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 15 Wesley Lane, Rockland, from 5 to 7 p.m. There will be a "Silly Haunted House” with creepy things to touch and sniff, but not to scare with games, face painting, crafts and, of course, treats from the trunks of cars that are decorated for Halloween.

· Parents and Kids: Another Trunk or Treat for children through 6th grade will be held at the People’s United Methodist Church (13 Chapel St.) S. Thomaston from 4 to 6 p.m. In case of inclement weather, the event will be in Fellowship Hall.

· Adults: and Parents and Kids: Thriller Flash Mob. Each year Kinetic Energy Alive teaches the community how to do Michael Jackson’s Thriller Dance in six weeks and takes to the streets on Halloween night to dance right in the middle of Pearl Street, a well known trick-or-treating community gathering area. To learn more about how to join visit: Thriller Dance

· Adults: Ada’s Kitchen is throwing their second  Halloween bash with special cocktails, costume prizes and The Dolphin Strikers rocking all night from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

· Parents and Kids: Alder & Vine (Belfast) will be open from 3 to 6 p.m. with trick or treating; crafts for kids; nacks and beverages and “spooky sights and sounds.”

· Parents and Kids: The Lincolnville General Store is hosting a community Halloween party inside the Grampa Halls building, directly across from the General Store,where there will be a photo booth. Come dressed in your finest expression of yourself and participate in our annual costume contest. Two categories, one for best group, one for best individual. Starts at 5 p.m.

If we’ve missed anything, please email any corrections/updates with the subject line: “Halloween Rundown” to news@penabypilot.com

ROCKLAND— On a rainy, dreary fall day in October, a table had been set out behind the Rockland’s South School (RSU 13) on 30 Broadway with boxes of garden vegetables, grocery store bagged lettuce, Maine-picked apples carrots and other fresh offerings. A simple sign said: “Free Farmer’s Market.” There was no waiting line, no eligibility requirements, no quota. Anyone could pick up a plastic bag and fill it with what he or she needed. It was simply a gesture of goodwill on the part of a group called PFT (Parents, Teachers & Friends) and the administration of South School.

On the first Tuesday of each month, Brenda Thomas, the chair person for the South School PTF, goes to pick up a delivery of donated food.

The Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry and the Backpack Program, run by Coordinator Sherry Cobb, have organized this monthly food pick up from Good Shepherd Food Bank in Warren. 

By 10:30 a.m. Thomas and other volunteers have tables set up under the trees at South School filled with boxes of fresh food. They stick around for the first big rush of people, while people go “shopping,” then leave the tables to work behind the scenes by delivering bags or boxes to a short list of people who don't have transportation to get to the Farmer's Market.

“This method came out of some trial and error,” said Thomas, who first started working with this “Produce Program” since March, 2018. “The Produce Program is intended to supplement the weekly Backpack Program that provides shelf-stable foods for food-insecure families. Oftentimes, the bag of food kids take home in their backpacks on Friday is the only food they have until they return to school for breakfast and lunches during the school week.”

The Free Farmer’s Market is another way to make sure families get the food they need.

“The first few times we tried this, I was filling plastic bags with equal amounts of items from the boxes and sending the bags home with the kids on the buses,” said Thomas. “But, then we got the feedback that many of the kids weren’t taking them home, just leaving them on the bus and the bus drivers were having to deal with all of this discarded food on the floor.”

Thomas and the South School administrators brainstormed a “Grab ‘N Go Farmer’s Market” concept going forward. “Letting people choose what they wanted not only saved us the time of having to put all of the food in equal amounts in bags, but it also allowed people to choose what they want and not waste what they didn’t want,” she said.

After a few times standing at the tables while people drove up and came through, Thomas further noticed that the volunteers’ presence was a bit of a hindrance.

“Even when you’re standing there and telling them, ‘Take as much as you want’ we realized people hesitated to take too much because they felt like they were being watched.”

So after setting up the tables, Thomas and the volunteers took off.

Even that innovation raised some questions.

“People would ask me, ‘is there a limit on what I can take? I have a sister who’s at work today, but could use some food,’” she recalled. “And, we want the stigma of taking home food removed. It’s not need-based. You don’t owe anything. And I told the woman, ‘If your sister needs something, take it for her. I’d rather see people go home with the food than have it not be used.”

The Free Farmer’s Market generally goes from 11 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m. Many parents who are coming by to pick up their kids will also swing by and pick up a bag.

On October 2, by the time Thomas came back at the end of the day, she said, “We put out 1,126 pounds of food and when I got back we had maybe 13 limes, a half a box of apples and a half a box of tomatoes.”

And that was a productive day.

The next Free Farmer’s Market giveaway will be Tuesday, November 6.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — As anyone who has come home from the grocery store knows, there is an art to bagging groceries so the bread doesn’t end up squished under a bag of potatoes and the hot rotisserie chicken isn’t melting the ice cream.

Amy Taylor, of Rockland, has this bagging system down pat.

“I’m probably the world’s pickiest bagger,” said the Shaw’s Supermarket employee. “And I tell that to customers when they say, ‘just throw all in the bag.’ And I start to stress. I say ‘I’lI can’t put this chicken in with this produce; I can’t do it!”

A part-time grocery bagger for the last 10 years, Taylor takes her job seriously. So much so, she just won “Maine’s 2018 Best Bagger Champion” at the Maine Grocers and Food Producers Association’s Fifth Annual Best Bagger Championship September 27.

Her award provides her with an all-expense paid trip to San Diego for two to represent Maine at the 2019 National Championships in February at the National Grocers Association Show.

If you were unaware that such a competition exists, you are not alone.

“Yeah, who knew?” she said. “Every independent grocery store has their own competition and then, it just gets bigger from there. A lot of my customers had no idea about it and have asked me to explain what it is.”

Taylor, 33, is not only a grocery bagger, but also works part time as a K-5 substitute teacher, as well as a third job as a work-study student at the college of the University of Rockland. She is also putting herself through college to earn her education degree. She is also a mother to four young children.

The most exciting part of this upcoming competition for Taylor is not necessarily the chance to compete for the grand prize of $10,000; it’s getting on a plane and leaving Maine for the first time in her life.

“I have to say I was very nervous at first when they announced I was the winner [of the 2018 Best Bagging Competition] because I knew that meant I had to get on a plane and go clear across the country.”

When she arrives in San Diego, the competition, which is held over a period of three days, will test 32 grocery baggers from all over the country on their skills in a series of heats. Taylor says the key is practice. The competition will require speed and ideal item placement in several reusable grocery bags.

“I’ve been doing this for so long that for the state championships, I didn’t need to practice my speed,” she said. “I took a more logical approach. Since we knew what the items to be bagged were going to be ahead of time, I divided each bag equally by weight, figures out how each item should be stacked, wrote it all down and memorized the placement of the two smaller bags.”

Asked it she is still using her shifts at Shaw’s Supermarket to continue to practice until the February event, she said: “Yes, I can’t help it. Then I drive myself crazy with it and tell myself to stop.”

Maine will be rooting for you Amy Taylor.

For more information of the NGA Best Bagger Championships visit: National Grocers

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—Dave Davis has a collection of old, hard-bound oversized books of Maine atlases from the 1880s and they’re not only a trip down Memory Lane, but they’re a trip down every known road, street, byway and bridge “The Way Life Used To Be.”

“Maps are really quite rare,” said Davis, of South China, who was one of the vendor present at the Rockland Historical Society’s Postcard and Ephemera show in September. He runs a side business called Snow County Nostalgia, featuring historic New England and Maine images and has been collecting maps for 25 years.

“We usually find them in auctions and they come in these large bound books,” he said. “But some of these books are all stove up, so we just pull the maps out and laminate them.”

Davis said many people will buy a map of the the town they live in and frame them. And there are hidden gems in many of them.

“I had a lady looking at a Rumford map in the 1880s and in that one, there were no French names listed on the houses,” he said. “With Rumford having a large French population today, she wondered why that was and it was because, the map was printed before the mills were built. And you remember, the French people came to work in those mills.

“What’s really interesting about them is that the original printed editions were less than a 1,000 print run and they were hand-colored. When you look closer, there are houses listed on each map and the atlas even shows who lived in the house at the time.”

Davis, who has been an avid skier since the 1940s, also finds old postcards of Maine ski resorts and makes posters out of them. Now mostly retired, he displays his collection in the Fairfield Antique Mall and on eBay.

Maps and atlases still remain a source of fascination for many people, not just collectors.  To that end the University of Southern Maine has reproduced Historical Atlas of Maine. The atlas provides an in-depth look into the many cultural, economic, environmental, and geological elements that have shaped Maine's history, from the earliest evidence of human population right up to today.. And this summer, they received an extraordinary gift of one of the world’s finest private collections of rare and historic maps.

Photos by Kay Stephens

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

PROSPECT— In the many years I’ve written about Leon Seymour, the eccentric, passionate executive director of Friends of Fort Knox, whose sole pleasure for the last 18 years was planning for and putting on Fright at the Fort, one of the best Halloween events in the state every October, this year will be bittersweet, as Seymour passed away this past May. A Stephen King-themed event was something he’d always wanted to see realized.

And starting October 13, it will happen. Dean L. Martin, the new executive director said that before his death, Seymour obtained permission from author Stephen King to put on an event with characters from some of his greatest works.

“We got permission to use the intellectual property of his books and characters, which is very important, because like most authors, he wants the courtesy of being asked when an organization puts on an event in his name,” said Martin. “I’ve heard he almost never refuses and graciously supports local communities.”

Staff and “Fright” fans alike will all have Seymour in their minds this year.

“I barely have to do any marketing or advertising because Leon worked so hard to build this event up nationally,” said Martin. “I’m standing on the shoulders of a giant. I have also always loved Halloween. We used to set up our house for Halloween for my kids and the neighborhood kids, so this will give me the freedom to do what I’ve always wanted to do on a scale 10 times as big.”

Martin has only had little more than six weeks to prepare. Having served as a pilot in the military and with a background in health care administration, he said he’s up to the task for this year’s “Fright” event.

“With my training, I have skills in logistics, operations, facilities management and event planning and this year, it’s even more of a challenge, because so many volunteers are coming out of the woodwork for this Stephen King theme,” he said. “We have super fans and theater groups who already know certain characters and want to play them, but are only available on certain nights, so it’s a bit like corralling cats to try to get the best show every night.”

The super fans are not the only ones excited for this year. Rumors have been swirling online that King and/or his family might be present at the event due to the fact that King’s radio station 100.3 WKIT will be broadcasting live on one of the nights, but Martin downplays that notion.

“We have no confirmation of that,” he said. “The name of this year’s event is ‘The King of Horror’ and I think some people got confused when they hear that the King of Horror was going to be at Fort Knox this year.”

“Every year, we change the theme and change up the sets, props, designs and rooms,” he said. This year, they’ll feature elements from 15 of King’s most iconic novels and short stories. And with Maine as a character itself in many of these novels, it’s going to feel very meta.

Let’s just say they’re going for the “IT Factor.”

The area before the entrance to the Fort will feature a number of family-friendly inflatables, including Pennywise from IT.

“We try to keep the outside more G-Rated and entertaining for the crowds,” said Martin. “Our policy is that this is not an event for kids younger than eight, because there are some scary elements, such as a chainsaw-welding madman, which of course the chain is off the saw, but also the characters do a lot of jump scares. So, you just have to know your child best and if he or she is easily frightened, you might not want to take them. That said, I spoke with a 22-year-old woman who has been coming to Fright since she was five and now she always goes through twice each year with her grandmother.”

Once participants go through, there is only one way in and one way out. Snaking through claustrophobic dimly lit corridors, the entire Fright Walk is about 20 minutes.

John Darling of Darling’s automotive dealerships, has given the event 30 cases of props and Animatronics.

“It’s on scale to be the biggest one that Fort Knox has ever had,” said Martin. “We can’t recreate the exact detail for the King purists. For example, the colors of the bed sheets in Misery may not be the same, but it will feel very much like the way you imagine a Stephen King set of hallways and rooms to look like.”

As their biggest fundraising event of the year, ticket sales from Fright at the Fort all go toward Fort Knox’s operations, conversation and preservation costs throughout the year. In the past, crowds coming through have surpassed 10,000 people.

The dates for Fright at the Fort are October 13, 19, 20, 26, 27, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Tickets sold at the door are $10 for adults and $5 for ages under 12. Advance Express Tickets $13 adults, $7 for under 12.  Express Tickets allow brave Fright Fans to skip the line to begin their tour through the mind of the King of Horror and experience a Fright at the Fort that would make Seymour proud.

Related: The ghoulish underbelly of Fright at the Fort

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BREMEN— Katherine Dunn and her husband, Martyn, own a farm with a special focus: they take in elder/special needs goats, pigs, sheep, donkeys, cats, dogs and more. Since they moved the entire farm from Oregon to Bremen, Maine, two years ago, Dunn has always hosted an annual special day for the 30-plus animals whom she calls “The Misfits.”

“I would always have one day where I made pies and brought her donkey, Pino around to the neighbors.” 

This Saturday, October 6, Dunn plans to host their first public fundraising day called “Misfit Love Day” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

“I’ve always had a special place in my heart for unwanted animals, particularly the elderly ones and the ones with special needs,” she said. “We live in such a throwaway culture; people can’t even hang on to their old version of an iPhone anymore. It’s always onto something newer and better.”

She has also taken on needy animals that arrive as young adults, but grow old on her farm. She recalls the situation of Rosie The Grumpiest “But I Am Fine As I Am” Pig.

“This pig lived a spoiled life with an elder woman, in a house where the pig had her own room and furniture,” said Dunn. “The woman died and the pig ended up in a shelter, but was so grumpy nobody could deal with her. I took her on and she has been grumpy since day one, but I just let her be herself.”

Today, Rosie, lives in her private quarters, grumpily, but also content in her elder years. She will most likely be sleeping during the event.

Many of her rescues come from state cases where the animals were seized from an individual or a farm from neglect or abuse. Each has its own story on her blog. Take “Girl George” a hermaphrodite goat adopted out of a neglect case. Girl George was one of three goats Dunn brought home from a state case.. (She originally intended to bring home one) Each animal is brought to the farm for one purpose— to live out their lives, and sometimes to be hospiced.

The expenses of running a farm are laid out in her colorful blog posts. Dunn, an artist and a writer, brings the plight of the animals into sharp focus, only in the way a writer can:

“Hay is probably our most important thing, besides love...and water...and care...and loyalty....and time....and pasture maintenance....and fence maintenance...and hoof and feet trims....vacinations....did I mention time,” she wrote.

Other posts personify the animals like a living children’s book. In one post about Sir Tripod The Goat, Sir Tripod tells her he is wants to sleep outside. She worries about his safety, but she listens to him.

“If one pays attention, one often will understand why they made that choice,” she wrote.

Since becoming a nonprofit once they were settled in Maine, they’ve been able to not only take in smaller, individual donations, but also, receive gifts in higher amounts. Not only does this help with the day to day financial costs, but it allows Dunn to bring the animals together with elder/special needs people for mutual healing and wellness visits, not only at their farm, but also at elder residences.

Pets are not allowed (strictly enforced) and children must be chaperoned. All funds from the event will go to feed and maintain the animals, and allow Dunn to continue her outreach mission to connect the animals with other elders in their homes. There will also be a fiddler playing amongst the wandering animals, and Dunn will have her books and some of her art of sale. For more information visit: Misfit Day and www.apiferafarm.blogspot.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

WALDO—When students walk through the doors of Waldo County Technical Center each morning, Math teacher Lacey Breems has learned to pinpoint the behavior of a hungry student.

“They can’t focus; they’re usually exhausted, or really disengaged in the lesson and program,” she said. “Some of them are old enough that they’ve gotten used to it, and they still can get through their class.”

Though not a traditional high school, WCTC, a technical center serves 255 students from Belfast, Searsport and Mount View. Of those students, Breems estimates about a quarter to a third of the students have the greatest need for food security and warm clothing.

“We get students come through for our programs both in the morning and afternoon,” she said. “In the morning, for some students, either there was no time to eat or they didn’t have anything at home to eat for breakfast, or they couldn’t afford a breakfast at their school. Not all of the high schools offer a free breakfast or lunch, so we started stocking instant oatmeal and dry cereal in a closet pantry. In the afternoon, they might grab some mac and cheese or an instant soup and heat it up. Then, you start to see more of an engagement. Sometimes, it’s just the joy of eating food is enough to wake them up and put them in better moods.”

Maine ranks seventh in the nation for food insecurity and first in New England.

“The economy is not in a great place right now, especially in Waldo county,” said Breems. “We’ve got families struggling; students struggling with homelessness and going hungry. We feel it’s our responsibility to help our students in any way possible. Sometimes we help families as well and allow students to take food home.”

And it’s not just food that some students need.

“Of those students with the greatest need, they rarely have gloves or hats,” she said. “Some have no good winter coats or footwear and are wearing a heavy sweatshirt or the same beat up sneakers year round, even in the bitter cold. Then, there are other students who need protective footwear for some of the programs we offer and they can’t participate in the class if all they own are a pair of flip flops.”

Waldo County Technical Center has two programs that speak to these needs: Food For Friends, which provides free food for students, and the It’s Cool To Be Warm clothing closet run by Rachel Littlefield, which provides students with clean clothes, warm coats, and winter boots.

Students can access the food and clothing donations year round. Breems said that WCTC’s Student Services Coordinator Bonnie Kein will often procure a specific item or items to outfit a student for the wintertime through the school’s small budget and largely through donated items. Breems added that WCTC’s own staff is the primary source of those donations.

The clothing and accessories are given out year round and just before Christmas break, the staff lays all of the items out on cafeteria tables for the students to “shop” and take home for free calling it ‘Tis The Season.

WCTC is looking for help from the Midcoast community as the weather turns cold. Food items that are most needed are easily prepared, teen-friendly food items such as mac and cheese, cereal, and canned soup or pasta.Adult sized clothing items, especially coats, boots, and hoodies (sweatshirts) are of greatest need.  Gift cards to local grocery and/or clothing stores are also very helpful . Anyone interested in helping feed and clothe the teenagers of Waldo County, please contact Lacey Breems at Waldo County Technical Center at 342-5231. ext/ 222 or via email at lbreems@waldotech.org

Related: When a free school lunch saves the day in Waldo County

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BREMEN— Katherine Dunn and her husband, Martyn, own a farm with a special focus: they take in elder/special needs goats, pigs, sheep, donkeys, cats, dogs and more. Since they moved the entire farm from Oregon to Bremen, Maine, two years ago, Dunn has always hosted an annual special day for the 30-plus animals whom she calls “The Misfits.”

“I would always have one day where I made pies and brought her donkey, Pino around to the neighbors.” 

This Saturday, October 6, Dunn plans to host their first public fundraising day called “Misfit Love Day” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

“I’ve always had a special place in my heart for unwanted animals, particularly the elderly ones and the ones with special needs,” she said. “We live in such a throwaway culture; people can’t even hang on to their old version of an iPhone anymore. It’s always onto something newer and better.”

She has also taken on needy animals that arrive as young adults, but grow old on her farm. She recalls the situation of Rosie The Grumpiest “But I Am Fine As I Am” Pig.

“This pig lived a spoiled life with an elder woman, in a house where the pig had her own room and furniture,” said Dunn. “The woman died and the pig ended up in a shelter, but was so grumpy nobody could deal with her. I took her on and she has been grumpy since day one, but I just let her be herself.”

Today, Rosie, lives in her private quarters, grumpily, but also content in her elder years. She will most likely be sleeping during the event.

Many of her rescues come from state cases where the animals were seized from an individual or a farm from neglect or abuse. Each has its own story on her blog. Take “Girl George” a hermaphrodite goat adopted out of a neglect case. Girl George was one of three goats Dunn brought home from a state case.. (She originally intended to bring home one) Each animal is brought to the farm for one purpose— to live out their lives, and sometimes to be hospiced.

The expenses of running a farm are laid out in her colorful blog posts. Dunn, an artist and a writer, brings the plight of the animals into sharp focus, only in the way a writer can:

“Hay is probably our most important thing, besides love...and water...and care...and loyalty....and time....and pasture maintenance....and fence maintenance...and hoof and feet trims....vacinations....did I mention time,” she wrote.

Other posts personify the animals like a living children’s book. In one post about Sir Tripod The Goat, Sir Tripod tells her he is wants to sleep outside. She worries about his safety, but she listens to him.

“If one pays attention, one often will understand why they made that choice,” she wrote.

Since becoming a nonprofit once they were settled in Maine, they’ve been able to not only take in smaller, individual donations, but also, receive gifts in higher amounts. Not only does this help with the day to day financial costs, but it allows Dunn to bring the animals together with elder/special needs people for mutual healing and wellness visits, not only at their farm, but also at elder residences.

Pets are not allowed (strictly enforced) and children must be chaperoned. All funds from the event will go to feed and maintain the animals, and allow Dunn to continue her outreach mission to connect the animals with other elders in their homes. There will also be a fiddler playing amongst the wandering animals, and Dunn will have her books and some of her art of sale. For more information visit: Misfit Day and www.apiferafarm.blogspot.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Right now it’s easy to be green, because, as the Fall Foliage Report from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry notes, there is spotty color change out there.  But as we roll into October with crisper nights, the reds, oranges, yellows and golds will pop like a bag of Newman’s Own in the coming weeks. 

Here are three road trips to take this October for leaf peeping, apple picking and the sweet reward of a craft brew or tart hard cider on the way.

Western Maine

The best time for peak color in the western mountains is predicted to be October 6-13.

Grafton Notch Byway

If you start from the tippy top of Rt. 26 in the town of Errol (see map) you’ll have more than 20 miles of absolutely fantastic scenery: of rivers moving through mountain valleys and past Umbagog State Park. Stop at Grafton Notch State Park for a picnic and a walk along the river, or take a short hike to Screw Auger Falls and Mother Walker Falls. Your rewards come at the end of this trip (or beginning, depending which way you choose). First stop: Sunday River Brewing Co. on the access road to the Sunday River Ski Resort. Their selection of beers all pair well with the golden, brown, and red hues of the surrounding mountains. After that, it’s a short trip to Grover Hill Orchard which has pesticide-free pick-your-own orchard as well as free cider tastings on Saturdays.

Northern Maine

Peak conditions are estimated to be October 15-20.

Million Dollar Highway Route 1

It’s going to be a bit of a haul to get to the start of this road trip, which begins in the the town of Danforth (see map), but before you get your million dollar views, stop first at the Maine-ly Apples (346 Moosehead Trail, Dixmont), which specializes in the highly anticipated Honeycrisps. They grow 48 different varieties with five popular varieties for pick-your-own and they have their own cider making facility on site! Once you get to Bangor, hook up with Route 9 going east. You ‘ll hit Airline Brewing Co. along the way.  Enjoy a tasting at their refurbished wood working machinery from the late 1800s through the early 1900s. The toffee and caramel flavors of their Red Ale make a great fall beer.Keep going until you reach U.S. Route 1 north and bang a left, which will take you up the Million Dollar Highway, affording unsurpassed views of the Chiputneticook chain of lakes including East Grand, Brackett and Deering as well as rolling hayfields, Mount Katahdin, Peekaboo Mountain

Midcoast

Peak conditions are estimated to be October 15-30.

Midcoast Ramble

Heading down U.S. Route 1 past Rockland, your first stop will be in Damariscotta to Biscay Orchards, a pick-your-own apple farm voted the Best Orchard in Maine by Down East Magazine in 2018. With 15 varieties to pick from, plus unpreserved cider, this is a refreshing way to start your road trip. Next, wind down toward Wiscasset and head left on Rt. 27, on one of those long, leisurely drives through rural forested areas before you hit Boothbay Craft Brewery  and sip on a flight (definitely try their road trip brew 257 Lager-perfect for the occasion) either inside their rustic Tavern Taphouse or outside on the picnic tables under the trees. After that, there are plenty of ocean views in the town of Boothbay and check out the Fall Foliage Festival October 6  to 8 (which happens a bit before peak season).

Autumn enthusiasts can visit the state’s official foliage website at www.mainefoliage.com to sign up to receive weekly reports by email, and can share their photos from throughout the state as the progression of color begins.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—Though Dunkin Donuts may be dropping the “donuts” from their brand soon, that hasn’t stopped a 10-year-old caped crusader named Tyler Carach from eclipsing those headlines in his mission to deliver boxes of donuts to every police officer in America.

On Thursday, September 27, Tyler and his mother, Sheena, arrived in Maine after driving up from Florida for the sole purpose of delivering boxes of Dunkin Donuts and coffee to law officers in Brunswick as well as in Rockland. With a homemade cape that his grandmother made him with that states: “I donut need a reason to thank a cop,” Tyler was all smiles and enthusiasm, as he played “Hangman” with Lt. Reggie Walker and the officers at the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and answered reporters’ questions.

Maine is now the 41st state that Tyler and Sheena have visited to thank law officers for their service, protection and dedication. Sheena, a former police officer, said the idea started one day in a store when Tyler was eight-years-old and they spotted four deputies.

“He wanted to buy them some mini donuts from his allowance and they were super excited to receive it,” she said. “When we left, he asked me why the officers had gotten so excited over a snack and I told him, ‘Well, it wasn’t just the snack; it was that you took the time to say thank you and appreciate them. In his mind, he thought that was a thing everyone did and I explained to him that unfortunately a lot of people choose to judge the police and are not always nice to them, and sometimes target them, so then he looked at me very seriously and said, ‘OK, well, I’m going to thank every cop in America and buy them a donut.’ I told him there were 900,000 cops in America, and no matter what I came back with, he told me ‘That’s okay, I’m going to thank them all.’”

The Carachs started their mission locally in 2016 delivering donuts around Florida.

“Most of the travel, we fund a lot of it ourselves, and most of the donuts we get sponsored, but today, we purchased these today as Dunkin Donuts had met their quota for donations in this area,” she said.

Occasionally the family will also receive donations through a Go Fund Me account.

“We’ve always taught him, no matter how big of a goal you have, you can accomplish it,” said Sheena. “And he’s shown me that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. He’s also got a big support system behind him with our entire family.”

Usually when the Carachs plan a trip, it takes from one to two weeks and typically takes place in the summertime. Tyler goes to a charter school, but when he’s on the road with his mother, they provide Sheena with lesson plans to teach him along the way.

Sheena said the response across the county to Tyler and his donut giveaway has been phenomenal.

”We’ve been to a lot of departments, not intentionally, but just right after they’d had a fatality or an officer injured, and some people are just in tears because it means so much to them,” she said.

With more than 70,000 donuts given away, they’ve covered most of the eastern seaboard on their trips. On their way back home, they have stops to make in the greater Pittsburgh area.

“It’s just such a positive, thoughtful thing they’re doing,” said Chief Deputy Timothy Carroll. “Just going all over the nation thanking cops, there’s no better way to do it.”

Tyler is already working on turning his mission and brand into a 501(c)(3).

”He’s not going to stop until he’s reached every single police station in the United States,” Sheena said.

To learn more about Tyler and his cause, visit: www.idonutneedareasontothankacop.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND— “Do you remember the time we went went fishing up above the dam and you fell down in the mud.” —Fred.

CAMDEN—Though not on the official roster, Jack Churchill’s steampunk buggy was one of the more memorable additions to September’s Mini Maker Faire. A functional art piece on wheels, the buggy is Churchill’s latest project that took two and a half months to build with the help of local electrical engineer, Alex Taliadouros.

“I wanted people to stop on the street, look at it and say ‘WTF?’” he said.

The ‘73 VW dune buggy was in a dilapidated state when he’d purchased it earlier this spring.

“The engine worked great; it was basically just a frame,” he said. “We towed it home and stripped it down. Alex did all the welding. I did all the steampunk stuff.”

The street rod, though it looks like it might fall apart, is actually street legal. Churchill had to classify it as an antique, so he didn’t have to go through the hassle of registering it, but if needed be, the buggy would pass inspection. He retrofitted it with all new disc brakes, ball joints, working turn signals, seat belts and even a back-up camera.

Steampunk accents are evident in the details; in the rivets, leather, copper, brass.

“All of the things in Victorian era which comprised steam machines,” he said.

To get the authentic rusted-out look on the aesthetic parts of the buggy, Churchill applied three coats of vinegar, followed by a coat of hydrogen peroxide and salt.

“It started to rust in 10 seconds,” he said.

Then, he left it out a couple of weeks to let Mother Nature finish the job.

At the Faire, when Churchill took it for a spin in town, the buggy attracted people like bees to a flower. It’s a vehicle rife with inside jokes, such as the “Violation” ticket in the upper left hand corner of the windshield.

“It’s the kind of thing where if you get closer, you start walk around the whole car, noticing more and more things that will make you laugh,” he said. “It’s basically a honey trap. When people come over to look at it really closely, that’s when the fun begins.”

A retired film director, Churchill paid homage to the industry and people who love films with a number of hidden meanings in the buggy, such as the Red Rider BB lever-action gun from A Christmas Story.

“I was going to originally put the phrase ‘You’re going to put your eye out, kid’ on the buggy, but let the prop tell the story instead,” he said.

Prominently displayed on the right rear side is a “dead” upside down stuffed parrot in a cage, a tribute to the Dead Parrot Monty Python sketch.

“That’s probably the funniest thing Monty Python ever did in a sketch,” he said.

Then there are the subtle details, such as the vent on the hood of the buggy which is a set of “barn doors” or a light modifier with a paper clip attached to it.

“In the days of forced lighting with barn doors, you always had to have a piece of blue film clipped to the barn doors to balance the daylight,” he said. “That one is for the filmmakers.”

“Everybody loves two things on the car,” said Churchill. “One, that the headrests are made from old catchers’ mitts and two, that the bumper is fitted out with two Crocs so you don’t hit your shins on it. I added those details to give people some glee.” 

Churchill has been asked several times if he planned to sell it and he says no, and that’s not the point.

“The point is just to have fun building it,” he said. “I’m sure it will end up in a museum somewhere, but now my attention in onto the next thing.”

Check out our video of getting a ride in the steampunk buggy.

Related:

A visual tour of a steampunk motorcycle

He's like a little kid with a big toy

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Wait a minute; why are we talking about Oktoberfest in September?

You can thank the German Crown Prince Ludwig and his bride to be, Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen, for getting the stein rolling on this fall festival when they got married on October 12, 1810.

All of the citizens of Munich were invited to attend the Royal Party in the fields in front of the city gates.  But it was the horse races that marked the end of the event that got the citizens thinking, “Wir sollten das jedes Jahr machen!”(tr: “We should do this every year!”)

However, the following year, 1811, desperately needed a German version of Julie McCoy from The Love Boat, because while the horses were back prancing about as the Bavarian entertainment, that was about it. There were no food tents or beer offerings, much less field games, leaving most Munich citizens to shrug and say “Meh” in German and go home.

By 1818, after all of the yearly Bavarian horse prancing, someone put up a small beer stand. That took off hotter than Sonnenstich, or “sunstroke,” because then the meager beer stands became beer tents in subsequent years, then great beer halls, while the festival expanded into athe ultimate Bavarian carnival with carousels and games.

As the momentum of the annual event took off, organizers stretched it out to a week, but then realized that mid-October was a bit too cold to enjoy outdoor festivities under the tents, so subsequent Oktoberfests were planned in mid-September, when the nights were warmer with the last of the festival ending the first weekend of October.

Here, then in order of chronological order are the Oktoberfests open to the public to enjoy this fall:

September 22, 2018

ANAH Shrine YOSHI Oktoberfest — Bangor

Hosted by Rollies’ Bar and Grill, this event is a fundraiser for the Shriners Hospital going from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a VIP Hour from 11 a.m. to noon and beer, brats, and pretzels available. Prizes for best dressed will be awarded, get your lederhosen out! Tickets are $25-30  (which include two drink tickets). FMI: ANAH Oktoberfest

September 27-30

Rangeley Oktoberfest — Rangeley

These guys are serious. For four days, this festival will offer food, entertainment and a cornucopia of beers along with a Brat and Streudel Contest, Stein Hoisting Finals, the Maine Forestry Museum’s Apple Festival on Saturday, a Scarecrow Ball on Sunday. And the fall foliage will just start to be showing its true colors right about then. FMI: Rangeley Oktoberfest

September 28-30

Maine Lakes Brewfest Weekend — Point Sebago

Though, technically a Brew Fest, this will encompass more than a few of the Bavarian styles and tastes with Oktoberfest entertainment. This all-inclusive three-day weekend is only for adults, designed to celebrate Maine made beers and wines while highlighting a Maine artisan craft show on September 29 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. . Note: you can book the entire three-day package with lodging through Point Sebago or just go for the Saturday event for $35 FMI: Brewfest Weekend package  or Maine Lakes Brewfest single ticket.

October 5-6

Acadia Oktoberfest — Southwest Harbor

With a wine tasting on the Friday night and 20+ brewers represented on Brewfest on the Saturday afternoon, the Acadia Oktoberfest’s Beer, Food, Music and crafts festival is lighting up the quiet side of the island for a weekend. This year also launches its first Homebrewing Competition Saturday, October 6. Tickets are $20 for the wine tasting event and $35 for the Brew Fest event. FMI: Acadia Oktoberfest

October 6

Swine and Stein Oktoberfest — Gardiner

It’s a pork party! It’s a street party! Visit the Biergarten tent  to taste great Maine craft beers, ciders, and wine. There will also be food trucks, music, corn hole and a giant Jenga, a Frozen T-Shirt Race, Main State Rock Paper Scissors Championship, and Swine Calling Contest. Tickets range from $15 to $50. FMI: Swine and Stein

October 13

Odd Alewives Oktoberfest — Waldoboro

Odd Alewives Brewing Co. is pairing up with Morse’s Saurkraut to do it up locally. If you can think of no finer way to spend a fall day than at a farm brewery in Maine, drinking crisp ale & eating hearty German fare to the sounds of a Bavarian oompah music, we hope you’ll join us and make this historic year one to remember. Goes from 12 to 6 p.m. Tickets are $35-70 with all of the details here. 

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Many outdoor people think working in the remote Maine woods is a dream job. But Tim Caverly, who was the supervisor of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway for 18 years, can tell you some stories. For example, from the first day he stepped into the role, he had a target on his back.

“When I first started the position in 1981, I’d heard rumors that people didn’t think I’d last six months,” he said.

When he started with a staff of 20, there were one or two individuals who had a grudge.

“I was told when I’d first started, one person was causing a lot of issues in the area, driving campers off their campsites, threatening them, then carving out his own campsites and cutting illegal trails,” said Caverly. “My job was to get him to stop.”

While everything he did was to ensure public safety and protect the natural resources of the Allagash Wilderness, some individuals who thought they were immune to the state’s laws began to extract revenge. One such scofflaw with a history of theft and vandalism had already targeted Caverly’s predecessor a number of times with malicious pranks, such as cutting electrical wires, adding water added to his generator, vehicle destruction and break-ins to his office, among other serious violations.

“The first six months I was appointed supervisor, things were relatively quiet,” said Caverly. “Then, I had to start clamping down on this particular individual and his antics. We started experiencing vandalism after that: rocks thrown through our picture windows, wires cut, and so on. One day in 1982, my wife and I went down to Reid State Park for a baby shower and when we came back by 11 p.m., our entire house had been burnt down to the ground. It wasn’t an accident.”

Caverly said only a few of these people made the job difficult as they had no regard for the law and wanted to use the Allagash for their own selfish purposes.

“They didn’t like to be told ‘no,’” he said.

But even those negative experiences couldn’t overshadow the positives and the joys that his 32-year career brought.

Caverly comes from a family who has spent their lives in the Maine outdoors.  He began working as a ranger at Sebago Lake State Park for the State Parks and Recreation Commission. After Sebago, he continued his employment with the Department of Conservation with assignments as a manager of Aroostook and Cobscook Bay State Parks as well as a regional supervisor of the Allagash Region; which included the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and the Penobscot River Corridor.

The career move required be ready for anything all four seasons.

“On any given day, I didn’t know what to expect or where I’d be when I got up,” he said. “I might be in an airplane looking for illegal construction in the one-mile zone around the Allagash; I’d more likely be patrolling in a canoe or boat looking for violations such as folks cutting down trees on state property.  For example, I’d typically have to stop someone who thought they could fell a particularly good pine tree and sneak it across the line to sell it. Or, I might be Augusta either supporting or rejecting a bill that a legislator wanted to pass concerning the Allagash.”

Other times, he was called to assist on a search and rescue for people lost on trails or drowning victims.

“I learned to be self-reliant quite a bit,” he said. “The key is to never lose your cool; quickly appraise the situation and decide the best route.”

More 40 different laws concerning the Allagash Wilderness Waterway were proposed during his position with the state.

“Some were good bills and some weren’t,” he said.

But, he showed up for every hearing with the intent to weigh in on every single bill that would protect the legacy of the Allagash.

Now the author of nine books with the support of his wife Susan, the Caverlys have presented 234 programs to more than 8,000 students in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. In addition they have donated more 1,750 books to 145 schools in Maine, N.H. and MA.

Though the day-to-day responsibilities of the job supervising the Allagash are over, the woods and waterways are so intertwined in Caverly’s life, he will always be the famed Maine woods’ protector.

All photos courtesy Tim Caverly

For more information: https://allagashtails.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — I started my afternoon in a Fallujah “Boneyard” of destroyed Iraqi vehicles, artillery pieces and armor. Ten minutes later, I was smack in the middle of New York City crosswalk, looking up at the sky, the buildings, the construction going on to the right as some guy set down his iced coffee and went back to work. Amid all the cacophony, my world went dark. Then, I was standing in the middle of the lush Hoh Rain Forest of Olympic National Park looking up at tremendous mossy covered Western Hemlocks, the only sound of a stream gurgling at my feet.

The Camden International Film Festival’s “Storyforms” exhibit has taken over Winter Street’s barn in what I can only describe as an adult fun house. Much like The Collective’s past interactive parties, there are stations throughout the converted barn that will transport you into another time and in the head of someone else’s story.

The main “stage” of the exhibit looks straight out of Blade Runner. A surreal sculptural installation by an artist whom I recently covered in a story Rachel Lee Zheng, layers monofilament lit by eerie green LED lights while participants sit in chairs with virtual reality headsets and earphones. From an observer’s standpoint, it’s unclear why they are moving in 360 degrees in their swivel chairs, their heads looking up, down, everywhere as if searching for something.

Then, I get in one of the chairs while a CIFF volunteer sets up a “story” for me to experience. “Do you want action or do you want meditative?” she asks.

“Action.”

The headset goes on; the earphones are next. And in seconds, I’m watching a documentary “Mind at War” about a soft spoken young man, Scott England, who signed up to join the military after 9/11, desperate to have some economic security. Through a series of interactive virtual reality paintings, I can now see why everybody is moving in their chairs. As England tells his story of being in Iraq, and losing his wife to another man, then coming home as a depressed veteran and his battle with PTSD and homelessness, it’s a story I can’t take my eyes away from. The scenery is all around me; I have to move my head to see the 360-degree picture. In my ears, England is talking to me and I’m hearing all of the nuances of his story in a way you just can’t get from watching a flat screen. It feels personal and I’m invested in what he has to say. That’s why this exhibit is called Cinema 360.

All of nine Storyforms in Cinema 360 immerse you in either virtual reality or augmented reality like this. The next one I watch, “Sanctuaries of Silence,” is also part of its own physical installation in the exhibit which puts you in a simulated room of a rain forest. In this one, I’m watching Emmuanuel Vaughan-Lee, while he stands holding a high fidelity microphone the height of a pool cue, first, in a busy crosswalk in NYC, before takes me to an immersive listening journey into Olympic National Park and on driftwood-littered beaches. I am listening with him to the sounds of water, the tides, the screeching bird, the trickle of a stream, the sway of wind.

I didn’t have to move more than a few feet and I traveled across the country and to a different continent in 20 minutes. This exhibit will put you in places and in the perspective of people you will likely never meet, but will feel as if you know them afterwards.

There is a scary looking white room called “Terminal 3” in this exhibit and there for 12 minutes with a “Hololens” headset on, you will experience what it is like to sit in an airport interrogation room, and through interactive, augmented reality, you’ll directly interrogate, and determine the fate of, the hologram passenger before you. These interrogations will become strikingly personal encounters that only end when the you decide if the hologram should be let into the country or not—but there is a twist.

There are a number of other installations in this exhibit, including “Fireflies: A Brownville Story,” where you will not only wear a Hololens, but you’ll be able to touch objects with hand controllers. Then, you’ll be inside a Brooklyn neighborhood which is divided by an ongoing rivalry between public housing developments. You’ll also see in “Manic VR” what it’s like to be bipolar and experience “the heightening of senses and the untamed imagination that accompanies this complex and mysterious condition.”

As I mention in my Local’s Guide To CIFF column, you don’t have to be a CIFF passholder to be able to go on these fantastic journeys. $30 will get you in on an experience you’ll never get in a small town. FMI: CIFF Storyforms

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Having covered this event since its inception for various newspapers and magazines, the Camden International Film Festival is one of those events that started small in 2005 and blew up to be this big international thing that it is today. So, while the cost of the weekend pass and maybe your weariness of more tourist traffic might deter some of you from going, let me just say: This is a cultural opportunity to see the world through filmmakers’ eyes. And given the divisive and acrimonious political climate we’re all immersed in (doesn’t matter which side you’re on) CIFF is the virtual passport to understanding how other people think and live. There is tremendous power in these documentaries that will move you. Trust me.

Here is my Local’s Guide To CIFF and what to spend your hard-earned money and time on this weekend.

Tickets and Waiting In Line

As always, CIFF makes it affordable for the average joe to see a lot of good stuff in this Festival if you pick and choose wisely. The Hub for tickets is located at 16 Bay View Hotel in Camden (side entrance via Bayview Landing) Tickets for individual screenings are still only 10 bucks. But here’s a Pro-Tip: Tickets go on sale 15 minutes prior to each screening, so camp out, and get there early if you really want to see something as screenings tend to sell out. Tickets are on a first-come, first-served basis and are dependent upon availability. 

Opening Night

Thursday night, CIFF kicks off with screenings of They'll Love Me When I'm Dead in Camden and Rockport. The film is the latest film from Academy Award-winner Morgan Neville and is the provocative story of legendary director Orson Welles during the final fifteen years of his life. Q&A with director Morgan Neville to follow. Local phenoms The Toughcats play the Camden Opera House at 7 p.m. to start off the night. Make sure to line up early; screenings are sure to sell out. As always, All Access passholders enter first.

Storyforms

What is a storyform? This is something fairly new to the CIFF format from last year and not something you typically see in a small town. So what you do is, you go to the Storyforms Barn at 8 Winter Street in Rockland across from CMCA. On the walls will be interactive screens, sort of a cross between an art installation and a cool, museum experience involving augmented reality and VR (Virtual Reality headsets). There are 20 different installations to interact with. With each topic the screens will unfold multiple stories in real time, so you’re getting multiple perspectives to the storytelling experience. You just have to see it.  Due to the growing popularity of VR installations in the Storyforms program at last year’s festival, there will be a Storyforms Day Pass available in 2018. These day passes will be available for Friday or Sunday only of CIFF.

Shorts

Shorts are my absolute favorite form of documentary filmmaking; they are like the Twitter of the film world in that you have yo get your point and capture your audience in a very short time period. These microbursts of culture and people’s stories from all over the world are a must-see and they are free and open to the public. The Shorts Categories are around two hours and consist of about 5-6 films broken up into five themes. (Water, Fire Air, Metal and Earth) There’s also a category of Dirigo Shorts, ($10 pass) which are Maine-made documentaries. For my money, this is the one to definitely check out and support Maine filmmakers. Just look at the synopses of: Alan Magee: art is not a solace, Not A Citizen, Hit ME, I like it! Underwater Rockland and Yojani: A Cuba Skate Story among others. All Maine viewpoints that will take you right out of the Midcoast and into wondrous worlds. These Short program are like an individual screening and cost $10 per screening.

The Parties

CIFF usually throws one heck of a bash and this is worth it. Friday night at the Bicknell Building in Rockland starts at 10 p.m. for Western Mass fever-pop duo HOME BODY, DJ Dayglow (Pink Noise, Boston) and local hero DJ Milkweed. You don’t have to be a passholder, but it costs $30 general admission. Drinks included. You definitely want to buy online. No tickets will be sold at the door. We’re told that if you do hold a pass, you’ll also be able to get a ride from their new shuttle this year, which can take you back to Camden at various points of the night.

That’s it; check out the schedule all weekend and you can look up the backstory of the individual films on the site. Or read more on Pen Bay Pilot. Get out of your head for a couple of hours and into someone else’s.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — Approximately 20 makers, artists, engineers, coders and designers engaged a mostly young crowd on Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Mini Maker Faire, held under a tent in the Amphitheatre of the Camden Public Library.

A table of volunteers with patterns, fabric and sewing machines were at the front of the tent to get people involved and sewing— not just for art’s sake— but for a good cause. Sewing For Malawi, which partnered with Sweet Tree Arts of Hope, sews sundresses and pants for children at a primary school in Malawi.

“We’ve had a number of people come by and just sit down and start sewing on the machines,” said volunteer Argy Nestor. “Children have even participated sewing buttons on pockets and dresses.”

Nestor said that volunteers sewed close to 200 pieces of clothing last year.

There were a multitude of hands-on interactive art projects at the Faire, which appealed to many adults as well as kids, including small paper sculptures from CMCA’s Art Lab, Aquaculture Art from seaweeds gathered from Hurricane Island, a giant sticker mosiac put together by Camden Public Library’s Miss Amy and fairy mushrooms made from modeling clay and plaster of paris called Negative Space by Charley Lind, an engineer.

Certain artists were on hand to explain their process such as Wayne Twitchell, a scrap metal welder who makes whimsical animals, and Chris Pinchbeck who handcrafts Scottish smallpipes, while Andy White, a woodworker and designer, helped kids fashion the best aerodynamic airplanes they could create with a competition and prize on who could sail theirs the farthest.

The Faire, which also heavily promotes STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), had its fair share of electronics and devices. Inside the library there was an open source 3-D printer, where participants could get themselves scanned while BOSEBuild gave people a demo on wireless headphones.

Loraine Murray, a CPL employee, showcased the Girls Who Code club with a website designed by 13-year-old Abby Harrison using the Jimdo platform. “Abby and some of the club members did a bunch of research on honeybee behavior, and the girls built the website from scratch, as well as also coded a couple of games within the website to play with,” said Murray.

One of the biggest “puzzles” of the day turned out to be a Kotzsch-in-a-Box, a 133-piece pipe organ that had to be taken apart and reconstructed before it could play. “Elsa Geskus, Education Coordinator of Friends of Kotzschmar Organ, said the pipe organ was hand built and is used in schools as a STEM project. “Today, we probably had this thing taken apart and put back together six times,” she said. “Kids just came up to work it out and when they got stuck, we nudged them in the right direction a little, but some just dug in and started putting it all together without any help.”

Check out our video on Clarissa Brown, a participant, who happens to be an organ player. She began playing a tune on the Kotzsch-in-a-Box once it was all assembled as Geskus pumped the hand bellows.

Lastly, the Trashion Fashion Show, a first, for the Mini Maker Faire, allowed participants to come up with avant-garde designs in couture working with old egg cartons, plastic bags, recyclables and a number of reusable trash for the “runway” down the street, which was marked off by a hopscotch court in chalk.

For more information on how to get involved with next year’s Midcoast Mini Maker Faire visit: https://midcoastmakerfaire.com/

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—“A book is a magical thing that lets you travel to far-away places without ever leaving your chair.” This quote by author Katrina Mayer has taken on a whole new meaning with a book arts exhibition currently running the month of September at the Camden Public Library.

The event, which started September 1, features the unique and one-of-a-kind works of 14 Maine artists in the Picker Room of the Camden Public Library until Sept. 30. There will be an opening reception for the artists on Sunday, Sept. 9, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., which is free and open to the public.

Sandy Weisman of South Thomaston, one of the book artists involved, started this group with two other artists, forming a local collective known as Midcoast Maine Book Arts on Facebook. “There are many artists in Maine and quite a few in the Midcoast who love this medium and out of that common interest, we thought the best place to have our first exhibit was a library, naturally,” said Weisman.

The exhibit, which features at least two works from each artist takes the structure of a traditional book and through sculptural formats, transforms each piece into stunning art that incorporate images, calligraphy, experimental bindings, and/or mixed media. “The show ranges from a one-of-a-kind handmade book to letterpress, collaborations on original editions with other writers and one altered book,” said Weisman.

Apart from the artist reception, Weisman said the collective will meet every other month at Maine Media to share work and ideas and talk about their process.

For more information visit: Camden Public Library

Related: Bound and determined: The gorgeous art of ancient bookbinding

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST—Every September, Maine Outdoor Film Fest (MOFF) takes its uniquely curated program of short outdoor adventure and conservation films on the road and screens them in all 16 counties of Maine. This Saturday, Sept. 8 marks the second of their three Midcoast screenings, this time held at Waterfall Arts in Belfast. “For the last two years we’ve been at Waterfall Arts it has rained, so we had to move the screenings indoors,” said Nick Callanan, MOFF director and video producer. Regardless, every screening at Waterfall Arts has been well-attended.  “I think this time, we’re going to get lucky this weekend and be outside.”

More than 100 films were submitted this year and 68 films made the cut.  Each of their screening locations features a roster of films that are distinct from other locations. “This year, is one of the best line ups we’ve ever seen,” said Callanan. 

The Waterfall Arts screening will encompass eight short films. Breakout films include Yojani, the story of a Cuban skateboarder, a pioneering figure in the Cuban skating community by a team of documentary filmmakers and photographers that includes Corey McLean, Seth Brown, Shasta Mattey and Tyler Dunham. McLean, Brown and Dunham are all Lincolnville childhood friends who spent five months in Cuba over the past two years filming a feature about surfing on the island. “This short film is based on a full-length feature on surfing in Cuba they are working on, which I’m looking forward to seeing,” said Callanan.

Another one that is sure to enchant the crowd is Bears Ears, the 2018 Official selection of MOFF, directed by Hank Leukart. The synopsis: “When Hank Leukart and his friend Jake go on a hiking and packrafting trip to explore Utah’s newly-minted Bears Ears National Monument, created by President Barack Obama, they discover a political battle that epitomizes the strange culture war sweeping the nation.”

“This is just a wonderful profile of the Utah National Monument and just a beautiful film,” said Callanan. “There were some some threatening words around removing national monument status by the current administration so the oil companies could get in there and get access, so Bears Ears is sort of a love letter to this national monument. This is one of my favorite films of the Festival.”

Both Dunham and Leukart, who hails from Los Angeles, will be present after the Waterfall Arts show to do some Q & A with the audience.

Bailey and The Alewives, directed by a couple of Maine-based filmmakers, Molly Haley & David Meiklejohn, is another film that Callanan thinks will resonate with the Belfast crowd. The film, which runs about five minutes is about Bailey Bowden of Penobscot, Maine, who unexpectedly becomes a fisheries activist to save the dwindling alewife population of the Bagaduce River Watershed.

“This is a really cool story about the alewives fishery,” he said.

Each year, the Festival highlights a jury winner for “Broke and Stoked” contest, which benefits a Maine-based filmmaker with an outdoor theme. This year’s winner was HEADLAMPS: OFF by Matt Nasi (Wingspan A/V) followed Maine photographer, Tyler Inman, on his journey to capture a specific image blending his two passions: the stars, and surfing.

The screening starts right around dusk (roughly 8 p.m). Bring your outdoor chairs.

In the Midcoast, the first screening was in Union at the Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery on Sept. 3 and there will be one more screening at the Camden Snow Bowl on Friday, Sept. 28.

For more information about the films visit: http://maineoutdoorfilmfestival.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

LINCOLNVILLE—Set in the annex of the Lincolnville Beach’s Lobster Pound is a cool treat for the last days of summer: ice cream with unspoiled ocean views.

Even when the restaurant is closed, the ice cream shop is open seven days a week from 12 to 9 p.m., the only establishment to stay open that late in Lincolnville Beach.

Mariah Lapham, 23, of Belfast, is the sole ice cream scooper, and on any given day she gives her right shoulder and hand a workout scooping nearly 50-100 cones and cups. The ice cream shop also offers its own waffle cones, which Lapham also makes by hand — up to 40 a day.

“At the end of the day, I’m kinda tired,” she admitted.

The bright, primary colors of the shop also lend a summery, beach theme to the other side of the store, which hosts shelves of old-fashioned candy. Blue and green sand buckets hold Bit O’ Honeys, Pixie Sticks, jelly beans, Chuckles jelly candy and more.

“People say the buckets of 10-cent candy remind them of their childhood,” said Lapham. “One of our biggest sellers are the salt water taffy by the piece.”

Some of the candy is even locally made, such as the one-pound red-flavored chocolate bar formed in the shape of a lobster.

“I have so many favorite flavors of candy and ice cream in here, sometimes it is torture to have to stay away from it,” Lapham said.

Of the dozen flavors of ice cream, Lapham said the most requested is Eagle Tracks, which consists of vanilla ice cream with Oreos pieces and peanut butter cups. The next favorite choice is the Tiger Paw, which is like an orange Creamsicle with dark chocolate chips.

The most unusual ice cream, however has to be their Moxie flavor, which is supposed to taste like the famous Maine soda, but really tastes more like a a Chai tea mixed with licorice or anise.

The Lincolnville Lobster Pound went up for sale in 2017 and was bought by Danny and Carla Lafayette, owners of the Bangor-based Lafayette Hotels Group.

Carla’s vision for that annex was to open an ice cream and candy shop. They wanted to support a local high quality creamery and to be able to give big scoops so they chose Round Top ice cream out of Damariscotta.

The public has been slow to catch on that this ice cream and candy shop is right on Lincolnville Beach, having previously associated the space with the former brewery of Andrews Brewing Co.

The added appeal to this shop is that it is never crowded. You can sit outside in the colorful red Adirondack chairs, or take a walk around the building to the back where you can enjoy a cone watching the sailboats, lobster boats and the Islesboro ferry cross by.

For more information visit: http://lobsterpoundmaine.com/ice-cream-shop/

 Photos by Kay Stephens

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

WALDOBORO—The “melting” blue violin on the facade of Phillippe Guillerm’s gallery in Waldoboro is your first indication that what you’ll find inside will be just as quirky, surreal and fascinating.

A dozen or so sculptures grace the gallery on pedestals. Though each is one of a kind, all of the sculptural works have been handcrafted from chunks of driftwood Phillipe and his wife, Jacqueline, have found on their yearly sailing trips through the Caribbean.  Each sculpture has been modified, transformed, often with musical parts, such as violins and other stringed instruments as well as clarinets and oboes.

The gallery has been open five years since the Guillerms decided to spend their summers in Maine.

“I think Maine is one of the top 10 most beautiful coasts in the world,” said Phillipe, who was born and raised in Paris. “This coast reminds me very much of Brittany.” he said referencing the hilly peninsula in France’s northwestern most region.

In the fall, they’ll close up shop and take their 48-foot sailboat down to the Caribbean. There, as they cruise around the islands, Phillippe will inevitably find a deserted beach and a washed up chunk of driftwood, where he will examine its shape and texture and take a chainsaw to it right there on the open beach to start the carving process.

Every year, he has refined this process into a new collection of work. His artwork is in 16 galleries all over the country and in four worldwide. But in Maine, he has turned the old refurbished bank space complete with a vault into a gallery with a studio behind the “teller” window in the back.

“We like to live with it a little longer when it is in our gallery, instead of shipping it off the moment it’s done,” said Jacqueline.

Phillippe grew up surrounded by art in Paris and credits the style of surrealists, which has influenced his own work.

“When art is too realistic, a photograph could do the same job,” he said.

The fluidity of the ocean is ever-present in his sculptures, whose violin necks droop and sag while some wooden sculptures meld into lovely cello shapes of women’s curves.

“I love music and am impressed with musicians. It is for me a tribute to a beautiful piece of music,” he said.

“The whole point of the collection was to recycle and reuse the driftwood,” Jacqueline added. “Because of the organic shape, it really lent itself to the musical themes.”

A traditional installation artist, painter and woodworker, he is proficient in taking a broken or discarded instrument and using the driftwood and his carving skills to bring it back to life—sort of an artistic Frankenstein.

Take the spectacular vintage Malcolm player piano that graces the far wall of the gallery. In revitalizing it, Phillipe took the piano (which was headed for the dump) and fashioned maple “wings” to it while exposing its innards. This functional art piece titled “Rising Like a Phoenix” seems to lift off the floor as Phillippe sits down to it and steps on the foot pumps to make the rolls of music to propel the self-playing piano. See our accompanying video.

Often, musicians will donate their old instruments to the Guillerms, as a way to see it “living again” in his art, or sometimes as a commissioned piece. One sculpture in the gallery has a video above it showing Phillipe’s process from start to finish. It is a beautifully polished piece of cedar that becomes “unzipped” to reveal a curved violin inside. Called “Ta Da” the piece not only showcases Phillipe’s surrealist skills, but also his sly sense of humor. Another carved violin opens like a Swiss Army Knife. Still, other avant-garde functional pieces, such as the exposed speaker stands in the shape of cellos and guitars he created for the company Amorto, reveal his fine wood-working talents.

As we go about the business of our lives, and the minutia of our days, make it a point to pop into Phillipe Guillerm’s gallery before they close this fall. It’s always good to bend your mind a little.

For more information: www.guillermsculptures.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—Kurafuto, the long-awaited Japanese-style pub now open in Camden, completes restaurateur Matt Haskell’s vision of combining his Blaze Brewery with a menu of small plates, noodle bowls, and sushi.

“We’ve been open a week now and while sushi has been a big draw, people are really drawn to the noodle bowls,” said head chef Luigi Patelli. “The House Ramen, with Kurobuto pork shoulder pork belly, soft egg, nori and scallion, has been the favorite so far.”

Patelli, who moved to Maine to work as a chef in Bar Harbor in the early 2000s, and who formerly owned a restaurant in Key West, has made a menu of simple food commonly found at a Japanese street fair.

Chris Wolf, who shares the kitchen, makes the sushi and sashimi.

Wolf is known locally, having prepared sushi at Mikado's Japanese Restaurant in Camden for a number of years. A sushi chef for 30 years, he studied under sushi masters Aki Yaguchi in West Hollywood, California, and Kiyomi Mikasa in Key West, Florida.

Using locally sourced ingredients where possible, the small plates range from $9 to $12.

“We have a traditional charcoal grill to do the short ribs, and Yakitore, which is the traditional chicken on a stick as well as the Karaage, which is like a Japanese-style fried chicken,” said Patelli. “These are probably our most popular appetizers so far.”

The Noodle Bowls are prepared using predominantly Japanese flavors, but the menu also include a Vietnamese Pho with Vermont Wagyu beef, basil, chilis, cilantro, sprouts and lime with rice noodles.

The “garage door” window of the establishment can be pulled up on nice days so that a row of seating at the counter faces outward into the harbor lot with glimpses of the ocean. There is more counter seating on the second floor, adjacent to Blaze’s glass-encased brewing equipment. The high-end fast casual restaurant is modeled after an izakaya, a type of informal Japanese pub where people go to after work for a casual drink and bite.

Blaze Brewery is finalizing its last steps to be operational and expects to be able to deliver its first output of signature beers in three weeks. For now, guest taps are sourced from all over the United States as well as Maine and New England with a variety of styles to complement the Asian fare. In addition, Kurafuto also offers Sake, wine, cocktails and Japanese whiskies.

Related: Camden gets a new microbrewery, restaurant and Japanese pub all in one

Photos by Kay Stephens

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—Depending on the light of day, if you pass through the upper gallery of Steel House Projects, your eyes may take in a completely empty room.

Look again. There is an art installation all around you.

Rachel Lee Zheng, 24, has created a sculptural installation of filament that stretches in precise static lines across both sides of the room. Called #ffffff (which is the  hex color code for ‘white’) the exhibit’s white and transparent filament has an ephemeral quality that makes it virtually invisible. In fact, it’s worth taking a lunch break to pop into Steel House before it’s taken down on September 15.

The exhibition opened on Sept. 4, when several people almost ran right into it, prompting Steel House staff to have to provide human barriers to the exhibit so that people didn’t accidentally get wrapped up into it.

“The phrase I like to use is a geometric arrangement of static lines that interrupts physical space,” said Zheng, a recipient of the 2018 Emerging Artist Award sponsored by the St. Botolph Club Foundation in Boston. “First, I made sketches of lines on transparency paper and layered them to see what different arrangement of lines would look like in the gallery,” she said. “Then, I had to measure out the various lengths and heights of the architecture to see where I wanted the lines to be arranged across the space. I wanted it to look clean and simple and somewhat asymmetrical when it was finished. In the end, I wanted to create something that wasn’t touchable or tangible, but something beautiful that you interact with nonetheless.”

Once the eyes adjust, to the right side of the room, there is a certain “movement” to the static lines. It’s not so much what the eye is seeing, but what the mind is taking in trying to fill in the negative space of those lines.

On the left side of the room, the window by the entryway becomes the basis of a simple trapezoid made of filament lines, so that the eye has to “construct” the box out of nothing. A dichroic, which is a square of color changing film, has been positioned on the right side of the room and was matched by an identical square of negative space painted on the opposite wall. Again, it is barely noticeable until you stand and really take in the entire thing for a few minutes.

Zheng, who most recently lived in Rockland and worked at CMCA has just taken a position with the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson Vermont this September, where she will join VSC in a year-long position as a staff-artist.

To learn more about Zheng’s work visit: Rachel Lee Zheng

To learn more about The Steel House’s upcoming exhibitions visit: rocklandsteelhouse.com/projects

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

UNION —Blueberry spitting: yes it’s a thing.

The Union Fair hosted a friendly competition on Friday, August 24 to see who could turn a blueberry into a projectile that traveled the furthest.

Coinciding with the fair’s annual Maine Wild Blueberry Festival Day, more than a dozen participants ranging from age three to 75 participated in the event. Hosting the event were three lovely ladies: The 2018 Maine Wild Blueberry Queen Whitney Dow of Waldoboro, Crown Princess Sierra Beal of Tenants Harbor and Miss Congeniality Jordan Bracket of Owls Head. (All three took their turn at the end as well.)

A plastic mat marked up to 25 feet had been laid out on the grass in Sherman Park as onlookers watched each participant get up on the last stair of the gazebo and give it all they had. Techniques ranged from bending backwards and giving the blueberry a forceful hurl to standing and letting the blueberry plop out of one’s mouth as if having  just experienced a bad clam.

Volunteers then took a tape measure to the mat to estimate how far it traveled.

The first place winner this year with a 25+-range was Bob Kostelok of Bernardsville, New Jersey. “So proud,” he said. Asked how, if from New Jersey, he knew how to spit a Maine blueberry so well, he replied, “I don’t know. I think it’s genetic. I’ve always been able to spit really far.”

Check out our other gallery: Old fashioned rides and snacks at the Union Fair

Photos by Kay Stephens

 Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Summer is a dangerous time for birds, mainly due to human behavior and interference, but there is a lot we can do to be proactive and save their lives.

Avian Haven, a nationally known wild bird rehabilitation center based in Freedom is one of the largest rehabilitation practices in New England. 

Founded by Marc Payne and Diane Winn in 1999, nearly 15,000 birds from more than 100 species have been treated at their facilities.

On their property, 15 buildings, some of them comprising multiple flight cages, provide pre-release conditioning for a variety of species ranging in size from Hummingbirds to Bald Eagles and including aquatic birds such as Common Loons and pelagic species.

More than 2,500 birds were admitted to Avian Haven last year. The main cause of injuries are cat predation, car collisions, and window strikes.

Laura Suomi-Lecker, their Education Outreach Coordinator, gave a moving presentation at the Hope Library August 7 to a packed audience. The presentation was primarily about how birds are typically injured and what people can do to prevent it and save them. Given the nonprofit’s name, it was a surprise to many that the center also admits 30-40 reptiles a year, mostly turtles that have been hit by cars.

“Marc Payne has been able to save a number of car-hit turtles by using a custom adhesive to repair their cracked shells, but even they can’t be saved, if their egg sac is still intact, he will harvest the eggs and incubate them,” said Suomi-Lecker.

What people can do to prevent these injuries:

• Keep cats inside or within an outdoor cat enclosure, especially during nesting season, which for most species occurs from late May through early August.
• If your cats must be outdoors consider buying a cat bib, which prevents them from pouncing.
  
• Save birds from hitting house windows by applying decals, screens or film.
• Leave areas of standing grass and fields in your yard rather than mow it all down or consider different mowing practices by mowing pathways and leaving natural areas.
• Avoid cutting live trees during spring and summer and leave dead trees alone: many raptors, woodpeckers, chickadees and warblers nest in dead trees and cavities.
• Avoid using lead ammunition when hunting: birds get poisoned when eating prey that has been shot with lead. Here is where to purchase non-lead ammunition instead
  
• Likewise, don’t use lead fishing tackle: it’s the number one cause of adult loon deaths. Here’s where you can purchase non-lead fishing tackle instead.
  
• Retrieve all fishing gear from your site when done; loons and other birds are commonly taken to Avian Haven with their bills and throats ensnared with monofilament.
• Many pesticides (rodent poison,ant poison, herbicide, garden chemicals) are toxic to birds. 
• Fly paper sticky rodent traps, artificial spider webs (for Halloween decorations) and frayed pieces from plastic tarps can all trap and entangle flying birds.

Some of the photos that  Suomi-Lecker shared to the audience were heartbreaking: a lead-poisoned eagle, a loon entangled with monofilament, a snapping turtle receiving sutures and even a tiny cast on a frog’s leg.

Suomi-Lecker also shared some practical tips for people who encounter injured or sick birds.

• First get the bird out of harm’s way. Be safe and use gloves or a towel to retrieve a large bird.
• Put an old sweatshirt or towel in the bottom of a closeable cardboard box. For birds that are unable to stand, you can roll a second towel into a U-shape to keep the bird sitting upright.
• Make sure the box is covered and put air holes around the top of the box.
• Call Avian Haven, which is open seven days a week and can be reached at 382-6761.
• Young birds without feathers will need an added heat source such as a heating pad or hot water bottle.
• Don’t attempt to feed the bird anything, unless instructed to do so by a licensed rehabilitator.

Avian Haven’s main goal is to rehabilitate the birds and reptiles.   For birds, flight-conditioning in the outdoor flight cages is the final step, so they can go back to into the wild, a feat that can take months.  During that time the volunteers and staff do get attached to the birds and reptiles and every successful release is the reward for all of the hard and sometimes heart-breaking work.   

For more information, see the many ways to support Avian Haven. They welcome volunteers from the community to work on site and/or transport birds to us from surrounding communities.

To see more stories of the individual birds and reptiles they’ve saved, go to Avian Haven’s Facebook Gallery

Related: Injured barred owl in Camden rescued, taken to Avian Haven

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—The yellow barn at 20 Winter Street in Rockland turned into a glamorous boutique on Monday, Aug. 20, when New Hope For Women hosted a VIP Opening for its pop-up shop to support women and victims of domestic violence.

Hosted by a committee of local women and the New Hope For Women’s staff, Brittany Ciccketti and Brandy Dupper-Macy, the VIP event kicked off with welcome remarks from Cathy Landau-Painter and Pinny Beebe-Center, interim executive director of New Hope For Women, before turning the mic over to Shannon Kinney, Founder of Dream Local Digital, who gave a short speech to inspire women.

The mission of New Hope for Women is to provide support to people in Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, and Waldo counties affected by domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, and provide educational resources to assist communities in creating a safer and healthier future.

With gourmet appetizers and wine, the VIP guests then had the opportunity to “shop” the boutique exclusively before the pop-up shop opens to the public on Tuesday Aug. 21, and Wednesday, Aug. 22.

More than $30,00 worth of merchandise was donated by area clothing stores and individuals. Guests had their first pick of designer items, business casual, vintage clothing and and hundreds of quality accessories such as shoes, belts, scarves, lingerie and jewelry.

“This pop-up shop has been an idea that we’ve had in the past as an Eileen Fisher event,” said Ciccketti. “So, now we’re turning the concept into a bigger event with a mix of new and gently upcycled clothing. All of the proceeds go to New Hope For Women.”

The pop-up shop is open to the public on Aug. 21 and 22 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information on New Hope For Women and a list of the sponsors and supporters of this event visit: New Hope For Women.

CAMDEN—This summer, Eva Morris better known by her “Road Babe” book series, is keen on getting a number of dynamic writers together to put on an author performance in mid-September.  In addition, all of the entries will be published in a compilation, which will be released at the event for a book signing.

Morris, author of eight books, is calling the Maine event BestLit Review.

“I’ve done this event before and my most recent event was in Memphis for all female writers, which we called Red Hot Chick Lit Review and the mix was fabulous,” she said. “Ten diverse finalists read their pieces to the crowd: Young, old, all races, professors, students, professional and green talent, but all accomplished voices. They presented their stories so well it brought tears to people’s eyes. At the same time, they were all published in ‘Red Hot ChickLit Review,’ which was released at the event, for signing. That compilation, released locally, sold out of a good first print in three months. One really talented short story writer earned a book deal from this experience and nearly all went on to write further stories, which were better, because of what we'd done together.”

Morris was inspired to come to Camden this summer and host a similar event, opening it up to both male and female writers with the same diversity.

“There are so many great Maine writers up here and I wanted to open it up to everybody,” she said.

The way the process works is writers may submit a cover letter and the piece of writing, that, when read aloud, comes in under 10 minutes. All entries will be evaluated. Morris will meet in person with each finalist to work with him or her on the performance of the piece. Morris is offering free, informal workshops on presentation at Camden Public Library and all participants may attend. A venue will be determined in mid-September once the best 10 writers have been chosen.

Morris said she’s looking for entries of primarily short stories and essays.

“Poetry doesn’t work so well in this type of setting,” she said. “I’m looking for writing that is funny, sassy, cool and confident. I don’t care what it is; I just want to see passion come off the person reading his or her work. There are a lot of authors currently working on a book and I am also interested in a short chapter from that whether they are published or are still seeking representation.”

Eva Morris was first discovered by Barney Rossett, a legendary publisher, who published Morris’ first anthology (Blue Moon Books, 2000) called “Road Babe!” Morris was then featured in Simon & Schuster’s Best American Erotica.  Morris was the last person commissioned to interview author Hunter S. Thompson, who personally requested her to visit him in Aspen one year prior to his death. This past June, she gave a presentation “Ode to Hunter S. Thompson” to the Camden Public Library featuring excerpts from his final interview.

To participate in BestLit Review, send your story or essay with a cover letter to: Eva Morris BestLit Review, P.O. 6 Camden, Maine 04843. For any questions call (772)-217-7070.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

MIDCOAST— High-speed electric vehicle charging stations are popping up all over Maine. Following a national trend, Maine businesses and municipalities are installing EV stations as a convenience to electric car drivers. The faster chargers can power a vehicle in 20 minutes to an hour, whereas others are designed to charge a vehicle overnight.

Located at various local grocery stores and chain supermarkets, such as Hannaford, along with inns, solar power companies and even breweries and distilleries, these charging stations allow patrons to use them for free or a nominal cost if patronizing the establishment. While charging, they can walk into town to go shopping or get something to eat, go hiking, or sip the latest craft brews and cocktails Maine has to offer.

We contacted some of the owners of Midcoast EV stations to find out what their reasons were for the installations.

“We decided to include the charging stations when we laid the electricity and water lines before pouring concrete for the new parking lot,” said Briar Lyons, owner of Lincolnville General Store. “It is obvious and exciting that electric cars will play a much more significant role in the future, and we wanted to be prepared for when that happens. Our electric charging stations are free to the public. The Tesla charger was free, and the universal chargers we purchased with an eye towards the future and the understanding that customers using the stations would likely also spend time and money in our store, introducing us to unique and fun individuals.”

“We wanted to create an experience for our consumers,” said Topher Mallory, cofounder of Split Rock Distilling, in Newcastle. “So the impetus was putting in place EV infrastructure for future company vehicles, and promoting and supporting EV use amongst in our community.”

Mallory said that there are a number of things people can do while waiting for the car to charge: “including time at the tasting room, patrons can grab some food from the food trucks that frequent the spot, go for a hike on a trail nearby, and play yard games like Jenga and Corn Hole.” 

Belfast is the latest town to get an electric volt (EV) charger for electric cars on the Beaver Street Parking lot.

Joseph Slocum, city manager, said: “We know it’s being regularly used by people all of the time. We’re trying to promote renewable energy and reduce our carbon footprint, which is part of the larger scheme the entire city is working on.”

By joining forces with Tesla Motors, Berry Manor Inn has become the first Tesla/Universal electric car charging station in Rockland and is offering a charge to guests of Granite Inn and LimeRock Inn too for a nominal fee.

“We have both a Tesla and a Universal on the side of our carriage house and they’re the longer-charging type,” said Berry Manor Inn co-owner Cheryl Michaelsen.

Here is a list of available EV chargers around the Midcoast and where to find them.

Searsport

Sundog Solar

222 East Main Street, Searsport

(207) 548-100

One Level 2 charger

Belfast

City of Belfast

Beaver Street Parking Lot, Belfast

(207)-338-3370

One Level 2 charger

Located in the triangular parking lot across from the Belfast Co-op

Lincolnville

Lincolnville General Store

269 Main Street, Lincolnville

(207) 763-4411

Two Level 2 chargers.

Located in the back of the parking lot on the opposite side of the street.

Camden

Hannaford Supermarket

145 Elm Street, Camden

Located on the left hand side of the store by Bangor Savings Bank

(207) 236-8577

Level 2 charger available 7a.m.-10 p.m. daily.

 **

The Country Inn

8 Country Inn Way, Rockport

(207) 236-2725

Located in the parking lot near the front door.

Level 2 charger

 **

The Lodge at Camden Hills

186 Belfast Road, Camden

(207) 236-8478

Located in the lower parking lot that town uses for hiking trail access.

50a Tesla charger

Rockland

Berry Manor Inn

81 Talbot Ave, Rockland

(207) 596-7696

Two Level 1 chargers

Located on the side of the carriage house.

St. George

The humble Farmer Bed and Breakfast

785 River Road, St. George

(207) 226-7442

One Level 2 charger

Located within the barn; the cord can be pulled out the window.

Newcastle

Newcastle Inn

60 River Road, Newcastle

(877) 798-3752

Three Level 2 chargers

**

Split Rock Distilling

16 Osprey Point Road, Newcastle

(207) 563-2669

One Level 2 charger

Located: On the side of the barn opposite the tasting room in the parking lot.

The Sunrise Guide also happens to have an extensive list of EV chargers all over Maine as well as an explanation on what the different levels of chargers mean. FMI:

https://thesunriseguide.com/electric-vehicle-charging-stations-in-maine/

If we have missed any EV stations located in the Midcoast, please email us with “EV Chargers” in the subject line.

 Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

A number of local breweries have joined ranks with statewide breweries to send their finest, cold brews through the Maine Beer Box across Atlantic last week. Those representing the Midcoast include Marshall Wharf Brewing Co., Andrews Brewing Co., Lake St. George Brewing, Boothbay Brewing Co., Monhegan Brewing Co. Threshers Brewing Co., Odd Alewives Farm Brewery, Sea Dog Brewery, and Simplicity Brewing Co.

The Maine Beer Box is an international collaborative project started last year to exchange Maine’s brews with other countries. The custom-built, 40-foot, refrigerated shipping container holds 78 beer taps and a self-contained draft system. Its inaugural trip last year collected beer from brewers all over the state and headed to Iceland. This year, its destination is the UK. This past week, the Maine Beer Box traveled all around the state to collect barrels from 65 brewers willing to donate their brews. The last day to fill the container up was July 31, before it was loaded aboard a freighter ship last week on its way to Leeds, England. There, it will land in three weeks and be a key feature at the 7th annual Leeds International Beer Festival (LIBF) in September.

The Maine Beer Box was the invention of Sean Sullivan, The Maine Brewers’ Guild’s Executive Director and David Carlson, owner of Marshall Wharf Brewing Co. in Belfast and has been called the world’s largest mobile kegerator.

“By taking the lead on an international export effort which includes nearly every brewery in Maine, we're also demonstrating the collaborative spirit of the American craft beer industry - and that is a message which brewers and beer drinkers around the country have rallied behind,” said Sullivan. It is fully capable of delivering beer anywhere by land or sea, ensuring that Maine craft beer can be transported in ideal conditions, and served fresh off the tap. The Maine Brewers’ Guild sent a film crew to travel with the Maine Beer Box to document the entire journey.

Carlson and his staff have been an integral part of this collaboration from its inception. Last June, when the Maine Beer Box collaborated with Icelandic brewers, their team traveled over to BjorFestival in Reykjavik. The Marshall Wharf crew traveled down to Portland the weekend of August 4 & 5 to do the final pack out this week before the Maine Beer Box headed to England. 

Then, the Marshall Wharf crew will once again, fly over to the Leeds festival and operate, troubleshoot and manage the Maine Beer Box for a week. In addition to the Marshall Wharf crew, and Guild staff, Sullivan predicts that over 100 Mainers will be travelling to Leeds to take part in the festival.

Each local brewery in the Midcoast put some thought in what they wanted craft brewers in the U.K. to experience when they sip a Maine brew. Keg Logistics provided all of the kegs so brewers didn’t have to sacrifice any of their own.

“This year, we're sending a barrel each of five of our brews,” said Carlson. “Phil Brown Ale is a classic style brown that tips its hat to the Scottish style of a brown ale. Our 49 Cream Ale is a classic Marshall Wharf style. The Pemaquid Oyster Stout is a good representation of an offbeat steel with a classic Maine product. The Bitter Truth ESB is an English extra special bitter, and Marzen is an Oktoberfest beer that we brewed in barrel-aged in Icelandic Brennivín barrels that we got through our connection with last year's Maine Beer Box. We wanted to give them a taste of the English styles that we do while also paying tribute to the Iceland experience.”

Several other local brewers had their own reasons for sending a particular beer.

“We chose to send a barrel of our Northern Brown Ale,” said Ben Hazen, co-owner of Andrews Brewing Co. “I figured everybody was going to send an IPA, so we wanted to send this one, which is sort of an English brown ale, and give those in England something to something try from the United States that’s just a little bit different.”

Simplicity Brewing Co.’s owner Stephen DePesa chose a barrel of their signature Venerable Jimmy Stout. “This is a Scottish stout and it was made in honor of my father in law who who was born and raised in Scotland,” he said. “He passed away a few years ago so we wanted to send ‘Jimmy’ back to England.”

The folks over at St. George Brewing Co. chose to include one barrel of Kerplunk, a blueberry sour. “We chose to send that because that beer is one of the best sellers in Maine and we wanted to represent what our customers are drinking the most,” said Elizabeth Johnston, co-owner and and assistant brewer.  “Plus it’s blueberries; you can’t get any more Maine than that.”

And Ethan Evangelos, co-owner of Threshers, chose to send a Threshers Brown Ale as their barrel. “In the summertime, that’s the beer we had the most of to send and it’s got a nice, nutty flavor without being too bitter,” he said. “It’s one of our better beers.”

In November, the Mine Beer Box will come back with beer from the U.K., Ireland and Scotland, along with many of its brews for the Winter Session, November 10 at Thompsons Point.

Photos courtesy Maine Brewers’ Guild