The longest days of the year are coming up and Saturday Rockland’s got it going on with its revived annual summer street party, side dance parties and public gatherings.

Summer Solstice Street & Dock Party

Saturday, June 18—Rockland

Rockland Main Street is kicking up its collective heels to bring the annual street party back to the downtown area this summer. The street will be closed off for foot traffic from 4 to 7 p.m. with plenty of live music, food, and family-friendly activities. Then, the adults-only dock party starts rocking out at Journey's End Marina at the end of Tillson Avenue, featuring a cash-only bar, music, and dancing from 6 to 10 p.m. ID will be required. FMI: Facebook event

Maine Street Market’s Solstice Picnic

Saturday, June 18—Rockland

It’s National Picnic Day,so Main Street Meats is holding a public picnic. Bring a pack of cards or a game and meet somebody new! From 4 to 6:30 p.m. they’ll be spreading out blankets and offering picnic foods available such as drinks, snacks, and grab & go treats along with world-class blues band playing in the background.

Up In Smoke hosts Primo Cubano

Saturday, June 18—Rockland

Portland’s Primo Cubano will be complementing Up In Smoke BBQ’s jerk chicken and brisket with its saucy son, bolero, salsa, cha cha cha and other Cuban dance music starting at 6 p.m. while the Dock Party is going on down the street. Get ready to eat your face off and dance your shoes off. FMI: Facebook event

Lobster Boat Races at the Rockland Breakwater

Sunday, June 19—Rockland

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

LINCOLNVILLE—In the summertime, people drive by rural, roadside farm stands like they’re a dime a dozen. But, there is such art and beauty in a local hutch at the end of a dirt driveway.

For many, a farm stand is a way for home gardeners, farmers, and fishermen to supplement their income without having to necessarily be present at the time of purchase. The old piece of Americana that still holds true is that most of these farm stands sell their wares on the honor system.

These rural farm stands and microbusinesses are all over the Midcoast—one only needs to pay attention while driving to see the signs by a driveway.

For example in Lincolnville, along Route 173, there is one corridor that has everything from fresh herbs to locally caught lobster, wood-fired pizza to quail eggs.

Once you reach Lincolnville Center, there are still even more food and beverage options at Drake Corner store and Lincolnville General Store.

Let’s take a tour. [Note: some of the larger businesses who have an online presence will have the address provided. In order to keep the other tiny roadside farms from being overwhelmed, one must drive through to find the farm stand.]

Wood-Fired Pizza and Baked Goods

Dolce Vita Farm & Bakery, a one-woman home business (488 Beach Road) is the subject of two Pen Bay Pilot stories, “‘Traveling Baker’ takes Italian/American fusion to Lincolnville pop-up dinners” and “Lincolnville’s Dolce Vita makes pizza — and lots of it – to help friend fighting cancer.” Owner Rose Lowell Rose makes everything from scratch and sources as many local ingredients as possible. Keep posted on what’s coming out of the Dolce Vita Farm & Bakery by visiting its Facebook page.

Honey & Quail Eggs

That’s it; that’s all you get. A sign and a roadside stand with the decadent option of buying fresh raw honey and gourmet (nearly impossible to find) quail eggs. This tiny roadside business only has limited inventory, so when they are out, they’re out.

Lobster and Clams

M & L Seafood (638 Beach Rd) is on Trip Advisor.  As one loyal customer said, “You're buying local lobsters from the guy who pulled them out of his own traps that morning. Same with the clams and crabs. Really nice, down-to-earth locals serve up fresh, every day.” Make friends and you might even be able to have them cook them for you to take home.

Fresh Chicken Eggs

A cooler with a predator-proof box sits at the end of another driveway in Lincolnville. Lucky patrons who find the cooler full may drop in a few bucks and take home fresh farm eggs.

Herbs, Flowers, and Plants

One driveway over from the farm eggs is another little gem of a roadside stand that sells all kinds of plants, herbs, and flowers that have been grown on the property and the greenhouse.

Cash or check will suffice; just leave it in the little cookie jar. If you’re interested in leaving a note, the owner provides you with a pen and notepaper to leave your name and she’ll text you back.

Note: to protect the privacy of the homeowners, please follow the directions from each roadside stand and do not knock on the door, unless invited by the sign, if inventory is gone. Please come back another time.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

NORTHPORT—Down the road on Route 1 from The Only Doughnut sits the newly built brick-and-mortar home of The Scone Goddess.

“We call this area of Route 1 ‘The Corridor of Yum,’ ” said founder and CEO Veronica Stubbs, who held the grand opening of The Scone Goddess’ new physical location on May 26.

A one-woman business in 2019, Stubbs began baking and perfecting her scone recipes out of her kitchen.

“I started baking scones one day a week as a way to get to know my community,” said Stubbs who lives with her husband and daughters in Northport. “We’d start at the farmer’s market and sell out in an hour. Then, the pandemic hit and we had to pivot, so we began making scone mixes that are now shipped across the U.S. Last summer, we had a food trailer custom-built and Liz Lane, who owns the Bayside store, allowed me to park there as a test spot. We collected data to see if there was enough ‘scone love’ to build a brick-and-mortar shop. We sold out of scones in 15 minutes in that trailer, so in September we bought a piece of land and began building.”

The building went up in six weeks, thanks to her contractor, whom she rewarded daily with scones. Stubbs thinks that might have had something to do with how quickly the project got done.

Still, people kept coming.

“Before there were even walls, people were putting on masks, and walking into an active construction site looking for scones,” she said.

Today, she sells more than 40 varieties of fresh-baked original and gluten-free scones.

The custom-built shop is a bakery inside with a retail section for her scone mixes, English accompaniments, such as U.K.-imported honey, clotted cream, and preserves.  There’s even a back room dedicated to making gluten-free scones. The mixer is actually a cement mixer with a food-grade drum. A storage area and her office are upstairs. After renovating their two-car garage into a manufacturing building, the business is continuing to expand with online orders, and even offers franchises to licensed bakers across the country. Stubbs said the second floor might be converted to a public area for high tea by invitation.

The scone, a British tea staple, is a pastry that has been around since 1513 and is connected with Scotland, Ireland, and England. It is no coincidence that a lot of people from the U.K. have stopped by her shop to try her baked treat and compare it to what they can get at home.

“We have a ton of European customers,” she said. “I had a customer from England tell me she was a scone snob and that I nailed it, which is huge for me. Because, when I first started, who knew?”

Her most popular scones are the raspberry and cream and wild Maine blueberry lemon, along with savory scones such as spinach feta and sun-dried tomato.

In addition, the shop offers a custom-blended full-bodied medium roasted coffee under The Scone Goddess label, as well as teas, lattes, iced tea, iced lemonade, bottled lemonades, and ginger beers imported from the U.K.

“We carry as much as Maine-made products as possible, such as cards, mugs, jewelry, honey, Tea Maineia, and Bixby chocolate bars out of Rockland,” said Stubbs.

For more information visit their website or their Facebook page.

Kay stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Call this the weekend of anniversary parties and business birthday bashes! We’ve got a couple of events that are centered around food, drink, music, performers, food trucks, and artist/makers.

Stone Tree Farm & Cidery Anniversary

Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12—Unity

Last summer we did a story on the newly opened Stone Tree Farm & Cidery and now they are ready to party for their one-year anniversary. All weekend they will be hosting the Salty Dog food truck with delicious barbeque and plans for live music.  Remember the wine slushies we wrote about in the aforementioned article? They are part of Stone Tree’s offerings and a must-try. They’ll also be releasing a new, highly anticipated wine. Stone Tree Farm & Cidery will be open each day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. FMI: Facebook

Killer Road Trip: ‘Resurgam’ Music & Arts Festival

Sunday, June 12—Portland

Maine Academy of Modern Music is launching a brand new inclusive community-minded music and arts festival called Resurgam (definition: I will rise again) that will showcase Portland’s creativity and youth from 12 to 9 p.m. The event, held at Thompson’s Point, will be FREE and open to the public from noon to 9 p.m.  There will be music all day, food trucks, a maker’s mall with local businesses and artists, a children’s parade, and even a limited-run Resurgam beer made by Bissell Brothers. Check out the website for its performers and makers as well as more details. 

MCMA’s 10th Birthday Bash

Sunday, June 12—Rockland

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

DAMARISCOTTA—Walking through River Arts Gallery in downtown Damariscotta (36 Elm Street), it’s evident there are a lot of artists from Midcoast Maine represented in their latest juried show, “Wild Things.”

“Wild Things,” an exhibition with 70 selected artists was designed to encourage individual interpretation of the theme, bringing in works that focused on the natural world with an exciting display of expressive landscapes or untamed creatures.  

“This ensured a stimulating and often surprising array of submissions,” said Alice de Mauriac, President.  “It also allowed for creative exploration by abstract artists who submitted works with dramatic, emotional significance.”

PBP: What surprises you or delights you when you host a certain theme and you get to see what artists’ interpretations of that theme turn out to be?

Many of our artists are regularly submitting work throughout the year and it is always exciting when someone steps out on a limb and produces something that shows an evolution of their creative process.  A standout in this show was Karen Nadeau, one of our volunteers, who has been doing experimental poured paintings for a number of months.  Her entry into this show clearly shows that she has completely grasped her materials and all of her hard work has paid off in a beautiful painting.

PBP: Is there a particular artwork that absolutely nailed the theme?

Doreen Nardone is another artist whose work in this show pushed her boundaries and as the title ‘Outliers’ expresses, she created a work that is unusual for her.  It is a remarkable virtuoso handling of vibrant paint.
However, I could honestly state that many of the artists pushed their boundaries and the result is a show of high creative energy and exciting exploration. 

PBP: Why do you think so many artists who applied for this theme happened to reside in the Midcoast area?

Our membership is around 300 and all of our juried shows bring in a number of non-members from all over the state as well.  Midcoast is always well represented.

The show closes on June 11 and the next show, open to all members of River Arts opens June 18, 2022. For more information visit: https://riverartsme.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—This is our annual “Welcome back” article to acquaint those who haven’t been around this winter to see what’s open, what’s closed, what's new, and what's happening. Here is your Rockland rundown for the summer.

New Restaurants and Food Trucks

Me Lon Togo, Midcoast’s only restaurant with West African cuisine moved from its Camden location to 10 Leland Street in Rockland on Christmas Eve. Owner Jordan Benissan, who immigrated from his West African country of Togo was featured in one of our past PenBay Pilot stories.

A new nano-distillery and tasting room called Luce Spirits opened in 2021 at 474 Main Street, regularly serving up classic and inventive cocktails. Look for our PenBay Pilot story coming soon.

Tuck and Roll, a locally owned food truck specializing in breakfast and lunch, set up base at Buoy Park and is readying for a spring opening. See our recent story.

And over in Union, a new bakery and grab-and-go breakfast and lunch spot opened  in February of this year. Sterlingtown Bake House is the sister entity to the restaurant and bar, Sterlingtown Public House. See our recent PenBay Pilot story here.

New Businesses

Maine Sport Outfitters will open its third retail location at the corner of Main and Park streets in Rockland on Saturday, May 7. See that story here.

Arctic Tern Books opened in January on 432 Main Street, the third bookstore to cement Rockland’s reputation as a thriving cultural scene. Owner Allison Worden opened the boutique bookstore naming it after the migratory bird that travels from pole to pole every year. It was chosen as a metaphor for exploration. “Books have the power to take people wherever they want to go—whether it’s somewhere back in time, or into someone else’s life, or on a personal journey.” See that PenBayPilot story here.

Modern Metalsmith opened at 497 Main Street. Their motto: “Bespoke hand-crafted jewelry produced in small batches in our workshop.”

Spine By Design Chiropractic, the office of Dr. Thomas White opened at 62 Maverick Street offering a disc-based, manual approach to adjusting the spine and extremities. Read that story here.

The Tiny Tattoo Studio in Rockland recently opened at 144 Union Street just behind the Dark Harbor Barber Co.

In Union, the George’s River Mercantile, a hardware store at 2179 Heald Highway is hosting its grand opening on Saturday, May 6 with food and prizes.

Businesses that we missed

This is a little shout-out to the businesses we missed covering that opened during the pandemic.

Famed artist Eric Hopkins opened a new gallery in 2021 in downtown Rockland. Read DownEast’s story on him.

Dark Harbor Barber Co. opened in 2020 at 144 Union Street, a barbershop whose name is nod to beautiful Islesboro village. Read that story here.

The Painted Pirate (329 Main Street) is a gallery and store of original paintings, prints, cards and hand-painted furniture by Virginia Souza.

A number of cannabis dispensaries have opened in downtown Rockland and surrounding areas. Here’s a list of where to find them.

Ruckus Donuts, (377 Main Street) is a year-round takeout donut shop open Monday 7:30 – 11 a.m., closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 to 11 a.m.

Short Shots

A couple of city streets in Rockland that receive heavy pedestrian traffic as part of the Rockland Harbor Trail are being eyed for a beautification project by the City. Read that story here.

A new Family History Center built into the lower level of the Rockland Public Library allows people to do a deep dive into Midcoast’s history with old Courier-Gazette negatives, boxes of old photos from photographer Jim Moore, who worked for the Courier-Gazette and The Portland Press Herald, as well as bound volumes of the Courier Gazette. Read that story here.

The Maine Lobster Festival, which has been on hiatus for the last two summers due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions is roaring back to life this summer for its 75th anniversary, August 3-7, 2022. Read more here.

The Rock City Café, which has been open only as a takeout service for much of the pandemic recently announced they have now opened the café’s seating area back up to the public.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKPORT−Brother Shucker is a new fixture in Rockport and beyond the cheeky name, the food truck offers something no other food truck in the Midcoast has ever offered: fresh, raw oysters shucked on site.

Zak Kuras moved to Maine in 2016 and started oyster farming on the Damariscotta River, first with Glidden Point Oyster Farm in Edgecomb. After that,  he managed Community Shellfish’s Oyster Farm in Bremen.

“I decided after that, I’d like to run my own business with my brother, Hudson,” he said—which removes the mystery of where the name “Brother Shucker” came from.

“Our mom named us,” he said, adding, “She named us at birth and she named the business.”

Having opened last July, the brothers have been dividing their time at various locations and breweries in the Midcoast. This spring marks the first time they’ve been in Rockport. For the last few months, they’ve been situated at the Rockport Farmer’s Market at the Guini Ridge Greenhouse. Now, going into summer, they’ve added an additional location at the Rockland Harbor.

Brother Shucker offers eight to 12 kinds of locally-farmed oysters on the menu, primarily from the Damariscotta region, which many oyster connoisseurs in Maine are familiar with, such as Johns River oysters. 

“As we move up into Rockport, we’ll source from some of the northern farms, such as North Haven, said Kuras. “I like finding new, small farms. It’s like wine varietals—you can really taste the difference in each oyster.”

Customers can buy oysters by the half dozen or a dozen. Their most popular food offerings also include scallop sashimi, which they source from Maine Dayboat scallops. “They’re super high-quality scallops and we place four of them on Japanese spoons served with my own chili oil,” said Kuras.

The smoked mussel dish is also served on spoons. They get their mussels from Mook Sea Farm and Marshall Cove. “We take them home, shuck them, steam them up, and throw them in a smoker for an hour and a half.” They offer a pint of these smoked mussels for $12.

The crab cake sliders are another unique offering. “We get these from Harmon’s Seafood down in Portland,” he said. “They’ve been a real hit. We offer two sliders with either  a spicy kelp bird’s eye chili sauce or a classic tartar sauce.”

For those who want comfort food, Brother Shucker also offers grilled cheese sandwiches and gourmet hot dogs with kimchi and jalapeno sour kraut from Thirty Acre Farm in Bremen. They also offer a hot dog with “curtido” South American spicy, tangy, relish.

“Or, you can just have a plain one and throw some ketchup on it; it’s up to you,” he said.

Stay updated on their weekly schedule via Instagram and Facebook

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Coming out of the weird cold front, Sunday is looking like the best day for outdoor fun, so here are a few indoor events to keep you entertained on Friday and Saturday.

Waterfall Arts Kickoff Event

Friday, June 3—Belfast

Waterfall Arts is pulling out the stops with an all-ages season kickoff event featuring a new art exhibit, an immersive shadow puppet experience, open studios, wood-fired pizza from Uproot Pie Company, local Marshall Wharf beer, and pop-up shows. One of the exhibits pairs up with Coastal Mountains Land Trust (CMLT) called “Art Gone WILD” and has to do with trails. It goes from 5 to 8 p.m. and is open to the public.FMI: Waterfall Arts

Killer Road Trip: Hallowell Pride Festival

Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4—Hallowell

On Friday, Hallowell Pride is hosting a festival from 12 to 4 p.m. at Granite City Park with 30+ vendors and non-profits. Enjoy live music on the bandstand on Water Street near Granite City Park from 12 to 2 p.m. and 2:30 to 4 p.m. with performers Random Ideas and Scolded Dogs. At 2 p.m., a Pride Parade takes place on Water Street. On Saturday, The Quarry Tap Room is the only place where you won’t find someone in a “Disco Sucks” t-shirt.  A disco-themed drag show will take place as performers take the stage with the theme: “Love Will Keep Us Together” from 5 to 8 p.m. Online tickets are sold out but if the weather holds out, additional tickets will be available at the door, weather permitting. Best to check before you go. If that happens, there will still be a disco dance party at Easy Street Lounge from 8 p.m. to midnight. Costumes are encouraged for that event. More information at hallowellpridefest@gmail.com 

Live, Love, Dance

Saturday, June 4—Camden

Sherri’s School of Dance presents its annual showcase for adult and children performers at the Camden Opera House called “Live, Love, Dance” including ballet, tap jazz/hip-hop, and tumbling. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $20 per person, free for children three and under. FMI: Camden Opera House

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—A little shack set back on 346 Main Street in Rockland has just been taken over by veteran restaurateur, Patrick Cazemajou, who once owned the bistro, Ephemere in Camden.

His latest venture, considerably scaled-down, offers breakfast and lunch at kind of the prices everyone was lucky to see before the pandemic. At a time when rent, food, utilities, gas, and just about every other cost of living expense has gone through the roof for Mainers, it’s nice to see a homemade roast beef sandwich for $11.50—and it comes with a fresh side salad.

Just newly opened, Cazemajou said he’s being flexible about the menu, determining what people want. You can’t beat a three-egg omelet for $6.50. And the prices, he knows, are good.

“It used to be a lobster shack, but I took it over, and am just trying to figure out a menu that people want,” he said.

The menu offers breakfast dishes and sandwiches, soups and salads, sandwiches, and wraps, hot dogs and tater tots.

The lobster rolls and crab rolls are sourced from fishermen locally from Jess’s Market in Rockland and are always a popular item on the menu. But, he’s got a few gourmet surprises as well, including a sushi-grade tuna served rare with a honey soy dipping sauce ($14) or a smoked salmon cream cheese bagel ($11).

“That’s the first thing people are telling us, they can’t believe the prices,” said 19-year-old Ava Baeza, who along with Patrick’s daughter, Alexia Cazemajou, also 19, runs the counter and the prep.

Find them and their menu on Instagram @theshackonmain.e

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

For Memorial Day Weekend, we’re looking at a gorgeous couple of days in the 70s (except for Saturday, which is looking pretty iffy with showers and thunderstorms) with a mix of indoor and outdoor events, plus where to go in the Midcoast for Memorial Day parades and celebrations.

Two Museum Openings

Saturday, May 28—Rockland & Searsport

Given the weather Saturday, here are two indoor events worth checking out. The Center for Maine Contemporary Art will be hosting an opening artist reception from 3 to 5 p.m. for their summer 2022 exhibitions featuring Reggie Burrows Hodges, Veronica Perez, and Yashua Klos. Refreshments will be served in the courtyard. FMI: CMCA

And Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport launches their exhibit season starting today, Thursday, for a free opening reception between 4 and 7 p.m. but will also be open Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. With a new photography collection and stories at sea, Maine’s oldest maritime museum is worth a look. FMI: Exhibits

Live Music at Two Breweries

Saturday, May 28—South Thomaston & Union

The Pour Farm in Union will be hosting the Running of the Black Flies 5K race starting at 9:30 a.m. with live music and cool island sounds at the finish line by Catcha Vibe featuring B Positive. FMI: The Pour Farm.

Splitwillow, a five-piece band from Maine, will be bringing the music while Waterman’s Beach Brewery slings the beers from 4 to 7 p.m. Here’s a video of their musical style. The event is free to the public.

Memorial Day Celebrations

Friday, May 27 through Monday, May 30—Midcoast

Here are all of the events happening in the Midcoast.

Elsewhere:

On Friday, May 27 through Monday, May 30, the Fort Knox Kampground of America in Bucksport is hosting a weekend Memorial Day celebration and annual cookout. FMI: Bucksport

On Monday, May 30, West Bath is holding a Memorial Day parade at 10:30 a.m. at the American Legion in Bath, but best to get there early to grab a spot. FMI: Bath

On Monday, May 30, Down East Singers, Mozart Mentors Orchestra, and soloists Sarah Tuttle and John David Adams, will present Johannes Brahms’s piece, sung in German at Watts Hall (174 Main St., Thomaston) at 5 p.m. Admission is $20 and free for 18 and younger, everyone must have a ticket. Doors open at 4 p.m. Masks required; free masks provided. FMI: Down East Singers

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—Nate Luce and his partner Justine Kablack have a little spot on Main Street that’s probably going to be Rockland’s hippest joint this summer.

They quietly opened Luce Distillery last October and have kept it fairly under the radar while perfecting their nano-distilled spirits, which are brewed in 25-gallon batches in the back.

“We’re both New Englanders,” said Luce. “My Dad lived part of his life in Maine, from Presque Isle to Kittery, and I always loved visiting him.”

His career started off by working for a whiskey distillery in New York City, skills that he’d take with him when he moved to the Midcoast in 2019. Kablack was already living here and working at the Center for Contemporary Maine Art with a passion for foraging and botanicals.

When Luce and Kablack met, they realized they had a lot of shared interests that would be ideal for making craft botanical-infused spirits.

“I had the good fortune to witness the distilling process from the company’s inception,” said Luce. “That set me down the path of researching herbal-infused spirits and their origins. I’m really interested in the medicinal aspect of herbal spirits and the way they were used in spiritual rituals.”

Luce’s flagship spirit is an Aquavit, a Scandanavian traditional spirit.

“Traditionally, you drink this ‘neat’ and cold during feasts, typically around mid-summer and Christmas,” he said.

But switching it up, the couple has experimented with making cocktails with the Aquavit.

“When we first opened, we did a Scandanavian daiquiri with that, but the drink of the summer we’re very excited about will be making this Aquavit highball—the Aquaball,” he said.

Their Old Tom gin is their other flagship style that predates London Dry.

“We’re currently making it with entirely foraged botanicals, said “Luce. “We collect the juniper from a friend’s property and then add spruce tips and bayberry.”

The handmade bar sits only about six people–it’s what is considered a “snug” in Europe.

The former flower shop has a bit of an uneven parquet floor, but it serves perfectly as a dance floor. They’ve had a DJ and a band do pop-up shows in the tiny space, along with karaoke, something Luce and Kablack hope to keep going this summer with the next big party centered around the theme of Midsummer.

Beginning in June, they’ll be open Thursday evenings through the weekend from about 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., culminating in Sunday post-brunch hours from about noon to 5 p.m.

“We’ll have some brunch martinis to go with it,” he promised.

Luce is located at 474 Main Street. Find out more on Instagram @lucespirits or at https://www.lucespirits.com/

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

DAMARISCOTTA—Most people associate Maine breweries with beer, but outliers such as Maine Booch Brewing, are sizzling up the craft brew scene with the fizzy flavors of kombucha normally associated with the health and wellness crowd.

Business partners Chauncey Erskin and Shea Quill opened Maine Booch Brewing the summer of 2021, styling out the building at 85 Parking Lot Lane, formerly Van Lloyd’s Bistro.

Erskin, who grew up in Bristol, had experience working with live cultures since his days at college. He turned that hobby during the COVID-19 lockdowns into a full-fledged brewery.

“I was fermenting and making 25 gallon batches in my guest bedroom,” he said. “My friends tried it and enjoyed it so with all of the free time I had during the lockdowns,  I decided to go for it.”

‘Booch, short for alcoholic kombucha, is made the traditional way by introducing a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) into a green tea. Erskin then mixes it with organic cane sugar from Brazil.

Fermenting the SCOBIES in bourbon barrels, Erskin uses stainless steel barrels to streamline the process.

“The process produces trace amounts of alcohol, but then we take the fermented kombucha and add more sugar and a champagne yeast,” he said. “So, really, it’s like a champagne kombucha.”

The result of the second fermentation which they brand the “Naked” is aged in spent bourbon barrels and picks up the oak, which reflects the flavor profile.  To Erskin  it tastes like “an effervescent, organic hard seltzer but with more body.”

“At the beginning, we experimented and created a lot of flavors, but now we’re going to release certain flavors strategically,” he said. “We use all organic ingredients and are currently pouring the Aloha, a ginger and hibiscus flavor, a IPB, double-dry hopped ‘booch with Citra and  Mosiac hops, typically used in New England style IPAs, and we mix it up on the third flavor–you have to come down and try it.”

So, the third flavor is under lock-and-key?

“Yeah, you have to stop by to find out,” he said.

“I like to thank the community for their support and for being patrons; it’s been really nice,” he added.

Erskin, who also has a full-time job managing the catalogue of the Mexicali Blues website, has expanded the business hours even more since opening last year. Now they’re open in the afternoon/evenings from Thursday to Monday.

For more information visit: Maine Booch Brewing

WINTHROP—During the pandemic when an unprecedented number of shops around Maine closed, Nicki Stanford and her husband Jesse, opened a quirky shop in 2019 called Freckle Salvage Company in the heart of Winthrop, a tiny town surrounded by lakes.

Here’s how Stefon from Saturday Night Live would describe it: “If you’re tired of ‘Live. Laugh. Love’ decor, I have just the place for you. Winthrop’s hottest club is called Freckles. It’s a former church that’s got everything: antiques and architectural salvage, recycled fashion, weird stuff, vintage doo-dads, and original Maine-made home goods and gifts. It’s like Elmer’s Barn and a Maker’s Space had a baby and it was dressed as Sarah Jessica Parker.”

Walking inside feels like walking into the Willy Wonka Factory, only instead of unending rooms of candy, the rooms are filled with vintage finds, everything from curated clothes to antiques. Turn the corner and there are other undiscovered nooks filled with furniture, home decor, art, books, crafts, and gifts made by artists all over Maine.

“The large vendor room used to be the sanctuary and the side rooms used to be the classrooms,” said Stanford.

Standford, who had spent 25 years of her career in retail management, decided to go for it and convert the former church into her ideal store with an emphasis on “maximalism” movement.

“If minimalism is the spare, neutral color look, maximalism is lots of color and texture, beautiful art and books. There’s nothing sparse about it, especially if you’re into the vintage look, maximalism embraces that aesthetic very well. The idea behind the shop was to do a mix of the old and new.”

She searches estate sales and other venues to find her inventory but Freckles keeps its offerings fresh by additionally hosting several dozen vendors.

“It’s very Maine-centric,” she said.  “Where Maine is mostly known for its rocky coast and lobster lighthouses, we like the aesthetic that’s more interior Maine, the lake homes, camps, and cabins.”

Stanford, who runs the shop with her husband, named the shop after a freckle on her son Colton’s ear.

“I would look down at this freckle on his ear as a baby, and would tell him that it was his lucky, magic freckle,” she explained.

The Vault Vintage Market

The shop took on an even bigger role when the Stanfords learned from their landlord that the former textile mill next door was available and could be used as a monthly pop-up shop for an even bigger venue with more vendors.

“We’ve never been the kind of people to stand still, and having the shop just wasn’t enough for us,” said Stanford on their Facebook page. “We like doing these themed pop-up events once a month it adds to the excitement knowing that it will only be open to the public for two days each month.”

The monthly-themed market is hosted in a 6,000 square-foot space with 24 different vintage dealers. At the market, people will find a curated selection of vintage goods including; furniture, home decor, art, books, accessories, clothing, and more.

Freckle Salvage Co. is located at 129 Main St. and is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Learn more by visiting their Facebook page.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Let’s call this weekend “The Day The Music Revived.” It’s another stellar weather weekend to catch performances all over Belfast, Camden, Rockland, and Union.

All Roads Music Fest Is Back On

Friday, May 20 & Saturday, May 21—Belfast

After two years on hiatus due to COVID-19, the All Roads Music Festival is back! The two-day festival featured performances in a variety of genres including indie rock, folk, pop, bluegrass, and indie-folk. More than 30 performing artists will be playing along with discussion panels, curated showcases, and the annual Maine Songwriter’s Circle. Tickets and FMI: https://allroadsmusicfest.org/tickets

Aidan Kaczynski plays live at Ada’s Kitchen

Friday, May 20—Rockland

Longtime readers of the Pilot might remember this young man when I interviewed him in high school. He was just 17 and starting out his music career then. Check out the embedded video of a duet he did at Camden Hills Regional High School. Aidan has kept at his craft and has come a long way. He will be “putting his unique and personal spin on a catalog of classics and deep cuts from the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s.” The show is free at starts at 7:30 p.m.

Pokey LaFarge at the Camden Opera House

Friday, May 20—Camden

Veteran singer-songwriter Pokey LaFarge, known for his old-time swing and jazz with a 21st-century spin, is performing at the Camden Opera House with special guest Peter Gallway. This is a limited capacity show! Choose-your-own reserved and spaced tickets $20 advance/$25 day-of-show via camdenoperahouse.com or 236-3154. The show goes from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Masks are encouraged.

Thompson Center Art Fair

Saturday, May 21—Union

The Thompson Center Art Fair (51 S Union Rd, Union), will be offering an open house, cornhole, food, and live music throughout the day, starting at 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the lawn. Midcoast artists are also encouraged to reserve a table.

Killer Road Trip: Find a treasure at The Vault

Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22—Winthrop

The Vault has to be seen in person to understand how vast an old textile mill is and how many cool, handmade, or found treasures lurk inside. Read my recent story on the Stanford family, why the place is called ‘Freckle,’ and why Stefon from Saturday Night Life would call it “Winthrop’s hottest club.”

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

American Craft Brew Week is upon us and for Maine beer lovers, that means another dozen options to choose from when stamping their passports on the Maine Beer Trail.

According to Maine Brewers’ Guild, as of early 2022, Maine is home to 165 active, licensed breweries, representing over 100 unique brands. While Portland tends to be the city with the most concentration of breweries, the surprising fact is that the majority of new breweries opening in 2022 were north of Bangor.

Here they are from the south to the north.

Southern Maine

Riverstone Brewing Co. is Sanford’s first microbrewery owned by Sanford resident, Michael Gill.  He is currently working full time out of his garage, producing lager and ale full time while he looks for a commercial location. But his brews can be found on tap at The Run of the Mill Public House and brewery, and the Springvale Publick House.

Portland

Portland’s mecca for craft breweries attracted a number of expansions this year from established breweries such as Stars ‘N Stripes, which opened up a new location at 3 Spring Street. Banded Brewing opened up a new location at 82 Hanover Street. (Suite 6). Also at the same location, Batson River Brewing and Distilling opened up another location at 82 Hanover Street. Après, which makes hard seltzer and hard cider, opened up at 148 Anderson Street. And, in other news, Sebago Brewing shut down their Old Port location.

Midcoast

Olive Pit Brewing Co., at 16 Main Street Lisbon Falls, took three years to come together. A woman-owned business, Christy Cain named her brewery after her beloved pittie, Olive Roo,. The first brewery in Lisbon Falls, its mission is to produce a full spectrum of beers focusing on less hoppy styles.

Kennebec and Moose River Valley

Sidereal Farm Brewery is a brewery and winery situated on an organic produce farm on 772 Cross Hill Road in Vassalboro. Many of their ingredients are grown on their farm, or locally and regionally sourced as much as possible from farms with similar values.

Maine Highlands

Who thought the northern region of Maine would have the most breweries opening? Katahdin Brew Works at 10 Katahdin Street in Patten is a new nano brewery by Joel and Jona Fitzpatrick with a family-friendly tasting room. Two Knights Brewing Co. located at 136 Mcphetres Rd, Sangerville, is family-owned and operated. TKB is named in honor of the two Sangerville Maine-born men that went on to be Knighted by the royal family of England. And Bryant’s Brewing, at 1009 Great Moose Drive, Hartland, just north of Bangor, is so new that there is scarcely anything online about them.

Check out Maine Brewers’ Guild’s Maine Beer Trail for your summer beercation!

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Folks, we’re officially cracking the 70-degree mark this weekend. Break out the mint juleps, the Carharrt shorts, the lawn darts, the corn hole boards, and the grill. Combined with what we’ve got going on this weekend, it’s going to be a scorcher.

Drink a Beer and Figure out a Whatzit

Friday, May 13—Union

The Pour Farm is hosting an odd event in which a dozen or more curious old items will be on display for attendees to guess the use and/or name. Prizes will be awarded to the person with the most correct guesses. Try guessing what some curious old objects are or go deep in the barn/attic and bring something that has you stumped. This benefit for the Union Historical Society runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at 56 Crawfordsburn Lane, in Union. FMI: The Pour Farm

Four Comics—One Evening

Saturday, May 14—Belfast

Four comics will take the stage at the Colonial Theatre starting at 7 p.m. Crystal Bernard, Adam Hatch, Leonard Kimble, Nick Gordon will be keeping it very real and funny. Adam Hatch has performed with Bob Marley, Juston McKinney, and David Letterman (see embedded YouTube clip). The Tiki bar will be open and the doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here.

Music and Dancing at Ada’s Kitchen

Saturday, 14—Rockland

The evening will start soft and slow when Maine original songwriter Becca Biggs takes Ada’s Stage with her full album band at 9 p.m. and then will kick it up a notch when popular local ska band The Dolphin Strikers takes the stage at 10:30 p.m. FMI: Ada’s Kitchen

Baby Goat Cuddles!

Sunday, May 15—Somerville

Kid hugging is actually a thing. And it’s pretty darn cute to be able to pick up a baby goat and give it a nose kiss, no matter what age you are. The Pumpkin Vine Family Farm in Somerville is holding their yearly kid hugging session from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thirty-four Mama goats gave birth to baby goats this season. Visitors can view a special new documentary on the babies’ birth and Uproot Pie will be on site selling wood-fired pizzas. Their farmers’ market will have baked goods, vegetables, fiber, local meat, plants, goat cheese, and smoothies. FMI: https://pumpkinvinefamilyfarm.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—People craving an affordable breakfast and lunch option while walking around Rockland’s harbor this summer have a new place to go. A third food truck in Rockland’s Buoy Park is set to open soon. Husband-and-wife team Brian Toothaker and Lorraine Ritzi, along with business partner Tucker Murch, have turned a play on Tucker’s name into a mobile food business called Tuck and Roll.

Pretty much everything on the menu features waffles.

“We’re serving breakfast and lunch with a waffle twist,” said Toothaker.

For breakfast, the couple offers chicken and waffles, avocado toast on a waffle, and waffle bowls filled with various ingredients. The one non-waffle item is the “Un-burrito-ble,” a traditional breakfast burrito.

“That comes in a regular tortilla, but we press it in the waffle maker, so it still had waffle imprints,” said Ritzi.

For lunch, the options include fried chicken thighs in waffle sandwiches and on nachos. While the menu also offers french fries, Toothaker said supply chain issues may make them hard to come by at first. Then, there’s always waffle fries.

“Everything on our menu can be gluten-free,” said Ritzi, who added, “Our son has celiac disease, so we wanted to make sure he, and anyone else, could have everything on the menu.”

They purchased the 24-foot vending trailer originally owned by Waterman’s Beach Brewery and customized it to contain ovens, a fryolator, a freezer, refrigerators, a coffee station, and of course, a waffle maker.

The couple has made sure that the food truck has a separate waffle maker and fryolator for the gluten-free batter, so there is no cross-contamination.

Tuck and Roll will offer fresh-roasted coffee, latte, and espresso from MD Coffee in Harpswell. “We’ll have iced coffees and iced lattes,” said Toothaker.

One original concept they’re also offering is flavored Red Bull energy drinks with more than 30 different flavors for an “afternoon pick-me-up.”

With tourism expected to have another banner year in the Midcoast and the Maine Lobster Festival back on, along with a new Reggae Fest scheduled in Buoy Park this summer, the food trucks will be busy.

“With the foot traffic down here at its peak in the mornings and afternoons, we decided to offer people some refreshments while they’re walking around,” said Toothaker. 

Tuck and Roll is set to open sometime before Memorial Day. The food truck’s hours are tentatively scheduled between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Visit their Facebook page for more information and their grand opening.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—Signs that Camden has renewed its vigor over the winter are showing up in new businesses and restaurant openings. It’s always interesting to see what’s open, what’s closed, what’s new, and what’s happening. Here is your Camden area rundown for the summer. 

Restaurants

The biggest news this season is the rebuild of the Lyman-Morse complex of boatyard buildings after a devastating fire. Lyman-Morse anticipates opening its new two-story restaurant – Salt Wharf by June, as covered in a recent PenBay Pilot story by Lynda Clancy. Adjacent to this restaurant will be Blue Barren Distillery’s new waterfront distillery and restaurant when it opens this spring. Co-owners Andrew Stewart and Jeremy Howard are excited to open the tasting room and store as well as the restaurant, which will feature an indoor dining area and bar as well as extended outdoor seating for the summer. Look for this story in our spring/summer issue of The Wave.

Business Moves

Laugh Loud Smile Big, a gourmet cupcake shop has moved into 38 Main Street (at the corner of Main Street and Tannery Lane) with a planned spring opening. Owner Vicki Murray has worked on installing a full kitchen and has big plans for the store’s bay windows. “It’s a whole new ballgame,” she said in a recent PenBay Pilot story.

Symmetree Base Camp, a new outdoor clothing store, opened at 20 Bay View Street in November. Cynthia Trone, the owner of the environmentally-conscious store, has modeled it after her son’s Oregon-based Symmetree store.  Trone has put her own signature on the Camden-based store with one corner of the store dedicated to meditation books and pillows and the back of the store converted to a meditation studio, which Trone will be co-facilitating, and opening to the public. See more of this PenBay Pilot story.

Liberty Graphics, a t-shirt printer whose designs center around the natural world and rural themes, has expanded to a new Camden location. Designing and printing since the 1970s, Liberty Graphics recently moved into the storefront at 13 Mechanic Street and plans to open in the spring.

Rockport News

Rockport Harbor Hotel, a new hotel being built in Rockport, has continued construction despite the ongoing court actions brought by Rockport residents against the hotel plans and construction. With a three-month construction pause, the Rockport Code Enforcement Officer issued a permit on April 1 to 20 Central Street LLC, the company that is in the process of building a 20-room hotel in Rockport Village. See more of this PenBay Pilot story and 10 related stories.

The Rockport Planning Board is considering a proposal to turn a side entrance of lower Union Hall in Rockport Village into Freya’s Ice Cream shop. If that is approved, a 790 square-foot space that now exists within Union Hall, which is under the ownership of 24 Central Street LLC, will be leased for the food-service business. See that story here.

Devi Maine, a new Nail Spa/Art Studio/Crystal Shop recently opened in Rockport at 823 Commercial Street.

Quinn Bunting, the 23-year-old owner of Painted Monarch, a relaxed atmosphere hair salon, opened her salon in the fall of 2021. Specializing in lived-in color, balayage, and blondes with an emphasis on healthy hair, read more of Quinn’s story on PenBay Pilot.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST—Much like last year, Belfast had a very low business turnover in 2022, which speaks to a strong economy.  Penobscot Bay Pilot has the rundown on everything that has opened and changed while you were gone.

New Restaurants

The hottest thing in restaurant news this year was the opening of two new restaurants in Searsport. In November of 2021, Rio’s Spiked Café, a European-style tapas bar and eatery opened at 357 W. Main St. featuring Romanian- and Scottish-inspired cuisine, a nod to the heritage of its owners, Oana and Russell Manton. Read PenBay Pilot’s story on Rio’s Spiked Café here.

And in February 2022, Kirk Linder and Charlie Zorich, the owners of The Hichborn opened up a fun, funky, taco gastro pub on 25 East Main Street in Searsport, called Hey Sailor featuring “ TACOS+. ART. BOOZE.” One thing has been certain from the second the doors opened at Hey Sailor, the place is usually full within five minutes—it’s become that popular with the locals of Searsport. Read PenBay Pilot’s story here.

Must Be Nice, the lobster shack run by lobsterman Sadie Samuels, won the bid to be the Belfast City Park’s new concession stand anticipating a first of June opening.  The menu includes regular lobster and crabmeat rolls, mini rolls, grilled cheese with a choice of lobster or crabmeat, hamburgers, and popsicles. 

In March, the vacant space from the former “Neighborhood” restaurant at 132 High Street, turned into Fon’s Kitchen, a Thai restaurant named after co-owner’s Sarunya Rock’s childhood nickname, which means “falling rain.” Said her husband and co-owner, Dan Rock: “She’s a great cook and I call her a ‘curry genius.’ She makes her own dumplings from scratch using as many local ingredients as possible from local businesses. I’ve yet to have any dumplings in this state as good as hers.”Read PenBay Pilot’s story here.

Meanwhile In Belfast, (no that’s not a preamble, it’s a former pizza restaurant) has closed permanently. In its place at 2 Cross Street, is Wicked Maine Pops, a new food and beverage shop opening on May 5 under the company umbrella of Northwoods Gourmet Girl LLC.

A Caribbean restaurant, Jamaican Grille, that we somehow missed last summer, is re-opening their jerk shop at 37 Front Street, along the Harborwalk behind Front Street Grille.

In Lincolnville, the former Youngtown Inn has been taken over Michael and Karrie Nowak and their new restaurant, Aster & Rose, targeting a late May opening. And just down the road at Lincolnville Beach, there are early signs that the Lincolnville Beach Store will be re-opening once again after being closed for the pandemic.

Another Dunkin Donuts franchise has finally taken over the vacant space that used to house Wendy’s fast food restaurant at 22 Belmont Avenue. The franchise is drive-through and mobile order only.

Business Moves

Over the decades, The Grasshopper Shop, a family-run clothing and gift shop had locations in Belfast, Camden, Bangor, Ellsworth, Searsport, Stonington, and Bar Harbor. The original shop got its start in Belfast nearly 30 years ago, and is returning to its roots on 105 High Street in Belfast this summer.

Short Shots

The Colonial Theatre, which had been closed to the public during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, re-opened after a 15-month intermission last June. For those who weren’t aware, The Colonial,  a locally-owned three-screen cinema is back with a force, screening classic, cult, and new films in-person once again. See that story on PenBay Pilot.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

It’s a weekend for being outside! Don’t forget that the First Friday Art Walk happens in Rockland tomorrow from 5 to 7 p.m. And if you’re still trying to think of a unique gift for Mom, browse some of the fun events collected in our Spotlight.

Walk a labyrinth in Belfast

Saturday, May 7—Belfast

Did you know that Belfast has a 30-foot diameter, ADA-accessible paved labyrinth on the Belfast Common? Well, I’m not going to talk in circles, but Saturday happens to be World Labyrinth Day. Every year on the first Saturday in May, thousands of people around the world participate in this moving meditation for world peace and celebration and to “walk as one.” To celebrate, people are invited to walk Belfast’s labyrinth at 1 p.m. Maine-based labyrinth designer and researcher Yadina Clark will be on hand to talk about the local event. FMI: Facebook

CMCA Free Reception

Saturday, May 7—Rockland

Center for Maine Contemporary Art will be hosting a free closing reception from 3 to 5 p.m. offering a last look at their spring exhibitions. The event includes in-person gallery talks from Nicola López and Young Sun Han as well as artists Paolo Arao, Grace DeGennaro, Jeff Kellar, and Will Sears who will be speaking about Walk The Line, a diverse range of works by eight Maine and Maine-connected artists who share a central use of linear or geometric forms in their compositions. Refreshments and a live music performance by Robin Lane will be located in the courtyard. FMI: Facebook

Fun Stuff for Mother’s Day

Saturday, May 7 & Sunday, May 8—Statewide

If you want to shake things up and go do something fun with Mom this weekend, here are a few events.

Saturday

There’s going to be a Mother’s Day Maker’s Market in Surry featuring women-owned businesses and makers who’ll have a variety of locally produced art, cards, jewelry, textile crafts, and more. Goes from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. FMI: Facebook

The Not So Empty Nest in Bangor is also hosting a Mother’s Day Market along with Downtown Charcuterie, which will have personalized charcuterie boards and boxes. The event goes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and features fresh flowers to create a special bundle, bud vases, and fresh plants. Pick a pot, pick a plant and use our plant bar to create a special gift. FMI: Facebook

Sunday

The Cardinal Cove Mini Golf Center is opening for the season allowing moms to play for free from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. FMI: Facebook

Cover Me Art in Belfast is offering a Mother’s Day wooden flower arrangement class and you can bring your own drinks and snacks starting at 2 p.m. FMI: Facebook

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

UNION—After three years of successfully running the Sterlingtown Public House in Union, owners Jillian Lary and Brian Fickett decided to open a new business this winter under the Sterlingtown name. In early February, the couple opened the Sterlingtown Bakehouse across the street from the restaurant at 30 Burkett Road.

“We decided it was time the town needed some coffee and some baked goods,” said Fickett.

The couple polled the town beforehand to find out what the community wanted.

“It was either coffee or a car wash,” said Lary.

“We wanted to fill the gaps with what this town needed,” added Fickett.

With the restaurant’s kitchen at full capacity, the bakery operations needed its own space to grow and flourish. A former candy store across the street was just the right fit.

Lary and Fickett have their hands full as the bakery opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 2 p.m. They only have an hour's break before the restaurant opens at 3 p.m. and stays open until 8 p.m.

“We have a little girl who is going to turn three, so sleeping is not really a thing we do around here,” said Fickett. “It is without a doubt, a full day. However, we do have an all-star team, including our head baker Abby Peabody, who gets there by 4:30 a.m.”

Peabody was one of Sterlingtown Public House’s veteran servers and she made all of the restaurant’s baked goods and desserts. Now, she spends her days making cupcakes, cookies, croissants, bread, brownies, and scones and custom orders while continuing to serve at the Public House a few nights a week.

The Bakehouse uses Rock City Roasters from Rockland as their primary source of coffee and espresso.

“We’re widening our range and will start working with a bunch of purveyors, locally,” said Fickett. “Just like our beers at the Public House—we will never pour anything through these taps that wasn’t made in Maine. The plan is to do that with the Bakehouse, too, and just keep a rotating lineup of smaller Maine roasteries.”

More than just a bakery

The retail side of the bakery sells books, beers, wine, and cider and offers the community a place to grab breakfast and lunch.

“We have a grab-and-go case with pre-packaged sides, sandwiches, and salads,”  said Fickett. “We have spice blends and ingredients we use in the restaurant. We’re also going to have a consistent list of different hot sandwiches to give people other options for lunch. The Sterlingtown name is kind of known for food so we’re going to stick to that and keep it rolling.”

For more information visit: https://www.sterlingtownbakehouse.com/

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

It’s going to be a beautiful weekend before we plunge into more rain next week, so this is the weekend to participate in numerous Earth Day clean-ups happening all around the state. It also happens to also be the weekend where two Gen X icons are honored: Prince and Hunter S. Thompson. Read all about it!

A Tribute to Prince

Saturday, April 23—Waterville

Let it be known that Dean Ford is THE lewk and sound of the late, great Prince Rogers Nelson and will be performing at The Waterville Opera House on Saturday night at 8 p.m. In 2011, Dean Ford and his fellow musicians put on the first of many sold-out tributes to the Purple One in Portland, Maine. His career has followed this trajectory into “Dean Ford and The Beautiful Ones” show, performing all the hits you know and love, including the “Purple Rain” album in its entirety. Tickets: General Admission $18 pre-sale; $23 day of the show and can be purchased here.

Killer Road Trip: Bangor

Friday, April 22 through Sunday, April 24—Bangor

It’s an alternative art weekend in Bangor with Pecha Kucha kicking off Friday night at The Bangor Arts Exchange. Come to experience creatives, architects, artists, musicians, performers, idea activists, and designers showcase their work in a  high-energy format with 20 slides and 20 seconds of commentary per slide. Doors open at 5 p.m. Admission: $7 for adults and $5 for students. FMI: Bangor Pecha Kucha Night.

Then settle in for a weekend of pure geek fun for adults and kids April 22 through 24, 2022 at the Bangor Comic & Toy Con at The Bangor Mall. Check out the variety of guests and artists from many hit shows and movies who will be present for photo ops and autographs. There will be guest panels, a haunted house, a cosplay contest, and a gaming lounge. Here’s the daily schedule. Tickets are $20-$30 for adults and kids under 10 are free. FMI: Bangor Comic & Toy Con

An evening dedicated to Hunter S. Thompson

Sunday, April 24—Searsmont

In 2004, Hunter Thompson called author Eva Morris one evening at three am. For five years he’d been following her “Blond Updates from the Open Road” series of road trip writing adventures and wanted to hire her to interview him, while paying her $2,000. A year later this interview became his last when he committed suicide the following February in 2005. Featured in PenBay Pilot, Morris recently finished a novel, Adventures of RoadBabe from which an “Ode to Hunter S. Thompson” is excerpted. She’ll be talking about excerpts from his final interview at Threshers Brewing Co. in Searsmont at 7 p.m. Grab a brew and hear the stories. Free to the public.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—From Summer 2017 until March 2020, the youth center of The Landing Place was filled with 30 to 40 teenagers from surrounding communities on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  The kids who walked through the doors of the drop-in center were considered high-risk in that they might not have enough food that day or perhaps needed some clothes or bathroom supplies.

Some struggled in an unstable housing situation while others had personal conflicts or family issues weighing heavily on them. Kids who didn’t have regular access to the kind of resources and supplies that could help them get ahead on a day-to-day basis went to The Landing Place.

When the drop-in center doors had to close due to the state’s restrictions on indoor capacity at the start of the pandemic in 2020, it cut off a lifeline for those teens. And the doors have still not been able to fully open to having them all come back in.

Due to the isolation and uncertainty, the long stretches of time out of school, and other factors, the fallout from the COVID-19 virus has caused a “mental health state of emergency” for children and adolescents, according to a statement from three organizations that represent child health-practitioners.

Mental health emergency visits amongst kids and teens have spiked during the pandemic. 

Today, the living room is empty. Boxes of clothes and food take up the space where the kids used to hang around.

The nook with couches and a beanbag chair have been replaced with a Free Store of donated clothes and supplies. But, while the circumstances have drastically changed, The Landing Place’s mission to connect and serve these kids has not wavered. The drop-in center is still open by appointment or if someone happens to stop by while the staff is on-site.

“If a kid just wants to stop in, say hello, grab a bite to eat, and grab some clothes, or bathroom products, they still can,” said Joseph Hufnagel, Director of The Landing Place. “Because of COVID, there’s a limit to how much indoor programming we can do, so we can only do small groups inside.”

“Socks are the number one thing I need when I come here,” said Timmy, 15. “I usually just browse through the clothes to see if there’s anything I like, sometimes underwear, body wash, and toothpaste.”

“The girls also need socks, underwear, bras, coats,” said Kim Bernard, the Maker’s Space coordinator. “And they like special beauty things like face masks and conditioner, nice soaps, and body wash.”

The Free Store

Inside the building, the staff has created an area of new and used clothing, jackets, hats, mittens, gloves, boots, as well as backpacks filled with school supplies—all free to any teen who needs it.

“We get in-kind donations from both organizations and people who just want to donate,” said Peter Cook, Youth Center Co-Coordinator. “Normally I send a text with each family after I drop items off. It’s like Instacart but free; I just ask if there’s anything else they need.”

“We work collaboratively in the community with a number of school groups and youth-focused agencies,” said Hufnagel. “Whenever there is surplus, everyone is kind of sharing and helping each other out.”

The way it works is that kids, teens, and families can simply pick out what they need. There are no forms, no paperwork requirements.

“It’s very informal. People just email me or text me what they need,” said Hufnagel. “And if they can’t come to The Landing Place, then The Landing Place comes to them weekly, as part of their Doorstep Deliveries in a van filled with comfort food, heat-and-serve suppers, hygiene products, art supplies, and seasonal clothing.”

“The Landing Place teardrop trailer, built by the kids, is another lifeline,” said Cook. “It’s a trailer with a coat rack and storage bins and we fill that with the Free Store items and drive that to schools.”

Every once in awhile, the Free Store is open to the community on a specific day. Stay connected through their Facebook page for the next day.

The Landing Place hopes as CDC restrictions continue to ease, they will be able to open the drop-in center doors once again to more youth in the near future. They will still continue to deliver items out to the community if and when restrictions ease.

The Landing Place has many more functions such as helping teens earn gift cards for community service,  a Maker’s Space, free therapy, mental health support, case management, and a transitional living program for youth at the risk of homelessness. 

Find out more at The Landing Place.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKPORT—Lobsterman Sadie Samuels, whom Penobscot Bay Pilot interviewed multiple times over the years, is the subject of filmmaker Greg Kohs’ seven-minute film The Captain, playing at The Waldo Theatre in Waldoboro April 13.

The documentary is part of more than 20 films that will be screening at the Mountainfilm On Tour festival, which started in Telluride, Colorado, and is on a national tour.

At 30 years old, Samuels is the youngest and only female lobster boat captain in Rockport Harbor.  In 2018, she readied her boat Must Be Nice to be put into the water in Rockport, where her dad fished as well on the Mimosa.

“The wisest thing I've ever heard is: the more I fish, the less I know,” she said in Chris Wolf’s story in 2018. “Every year is totally different, but this year the ocean is cold, so I'm hoping it will be a little more normal.”

A year later, Samuels expanded her one-woman business by opening a lobster shack under her boat’s name: Must Be Nice Lobster Co, located on the Belfast Harbor.

“We don’t know for sure what the future of lobster fishing is going to look like, so, I’ve been expanding a bit,” she said in a 2019 follow-up PenBay Pilot story.

It’s no surprise that at such a young age and with such an enthusiastic outlook, Samuels would be an inspiration to the creative types in Maine. Not only did Belfast painter Susan Tobey White depict Samuels in her “Lobstering Women of Maine” series (which was all about the women who haul traps, bait bags, stern, and lobster fish off their own boats), but she was also featured in author Ali Farrell’s book Pretty Rugged: True stories from women of the sea.

Pretty soon, she began to catch the attention of Boston.com and other news outlets.

Last year, the crew of Good Morning America came to Rockport to shoot a segment on her for their “Rise and Shine” series, as chronicled in this Penobscot Bay story by Lynda Clancy.

And this week, Kohs’ short documentary will give an up-close and personal look at her journey as a lobsterman.

While she gets a kick out of the attention, she’s still up at four a.m. every day during the lobster season, hard at work, before bringing her catch back to the lobster shack to sell.

The show kicks off at the Lincoln Theatre on Tuesday April 12 at 6:30 p.m. and at the Waldo Theatre on Wednesday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets for Mountainfilm on Tour in Damariscotta are available at the Lincoln Theatre website. Tickets for Mountainfilm on Tour in Waldoboro are available at the Waldo Theatre website. Tickets will also be available on the day of the event at the theaters. The cost for each show is $15 per adult and $5 per child/student. Beverages from Oxbow Brewery and Tin Top Cider will be available for sale. See the complete playlist at www.mountainfilm.org/tour/schedule

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—“If they can’t come to us, we’ll go to them” is the unofficial motto of The Landing Place, the youth program of the Knox County Homeless Coalition and a low-barrier drop-in center for at-risk and unaccompanied youth

When the drop-in center opened in 2017, as reported by Penobscot Bay Pilot, it was the only multi-purpose drop-in center and residential program for at-risk youth in the Midcoast. 

The Landing Place continually works to ensure youth have hot meals, a place to live, educational and art opportunities, and gives them the skills and tools to thrive as adults.

When COVID-19 shut down communities in the spring of 2020, the enforced social distancing seriously impacted the 30-40 youth who hung out at The Landing Place every day.

Without the means to go by, grab a meal, get a clean pair of socks, and have the much-needed social interaction, Director Joseph Hufnagel knew they needed to find a way to socially connect with the teens in a different way.

The teardrop camper that sits in the parking lot behind The Landing Space, nicknamed “TLP Mobile”, was the idea and design of local artist Kim Bernard. It was built by Bernard and the teens, who have made The Landing Place their “third place.”

“The youth helped me put it together, hammering nails, assembling with screws, and painting it,” said Bernard. “All of the youth that were involved put their signatures on the inside.”

Inside and surrounding the camper are donated jackets, hats, mittens, boots, socks, underwear, microwavable and nonperishable food, toiletries, and even art kits—all free for any kid who simply needs it.

As part of their outreach program, The TLP mobile is taken out once or twice a week for Mobile Unit Endeavors to local schools in the RSU 13 (Rockland), MSAD 40 (Waldoboro), and Five Towns CSD (Rockport) school districts. 

In addition, throughout the winter, the TLP Outreach team has been orchestrating weekly Doorstep Deliveries to various neighborhoods located within the greater Rockland area on a weekly basis. 

Stocked with supplies and snacks, and art and activities from their Free Store, the deliveries serve as a way to keep the kids connected and engaged, while ensuring they have what they need each week.

“If we go out to the community and bring a 14-year-old some supplies and find out that he’s got two younger siblings also at risk, we make sure we find a way to get those younger kids the resources they need, as well,” said Hufnagel.

Generous funding has made it possible for the construction of the TLP mobile as well as the art supplies that are given out.

With Bernard’s guidance, The Landing Place hosts Maker’s Space Classes, twice a week for middle school and high school students as well as a Community-Minded Jobs program that offers local youth the opportunity to earn community service hours by doing things to help others in the community.

For more information about the TLP Mobile Unit visit: The Landing Place

Stay tuned for Part II of this series: What at-risk teens need in a pandemic.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

After a brief hiatus, we’re back to tell you about the hidden pockets of talent that will grace the Midcoast this weekend. And with the weather finally getting the hint and creeping up to near 50 this weekend, a road trip might be in order to catch some superior reggae bands and spring skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain.

Sugarloaf Mountain Reggae Fest

Thursday, April 7 through Sunday, April 10—Carrabassett Valley

It’s Maine’s version of Spring Fest, but instead of 20-somethings drunk-arguing on the beach, the Annual Sugarloaf Reggae festival hosted by Baxter Outdoors, will feature four days of indoor and outdoor entertainment all day and night with shuttles running throughout, so you don’t have to drive. Plus, there’s still good skiing if that is your thing. They promise “good vibes only!” Click here for tickets and the band line up.

Stand-up Comedy in Belfast

Saturday, April 9—Belfast

Leave the kiddies at home for this one—The Colonial Theatre is hosting three seasoned comedians, Johnny ‘Friggin’ Ater, Tuck Tucker, and Mark Turcotte. “All three Maine comics have toured nationally and are equal parts smart and funny—with plenty of comedic bite leftover.” To see a little bit of Tuck Tucker’s act on The Bob Marley show check out this clip. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $20 which can be purchased here. 

Coffee House Singers

Saturday, April 9—Camden

Zoot Coffee is hosting four talented singer-songwriters to croon while you sip your latte: Alice Limoges, Louisa Stancioff, Bella Barnes, and Caeley McVerry at Zoot will be performing from 5 to 8 p.m. There’s a $10-15 donation and masks are optional. To learn more about their backgrounds and music styles visit this Facebook event page.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BANGOR—Growing up spending summers in Willimantic, Maine in Piscataquis County with his grandparents, Chris Packard heard a lot of stories from his grandfather—things you don’t normally hear. “He told me stories about these weird, mythological creatures that lumberjacks had seen,” said Packard. “I always thought he was making it up until I picked up a book on Maine folklore a decade ago and read about some of these creatures that he’d been telling me about. And I realized they’d been in existence for hundreds of years. These legends came from a continuous oral tradition that had been passed down through the centuries and I got a little obsessed with collecting those stories, sort of reliving my childhood.”

Packard’s collected stories, titled Mythical Creatures of Maine: Fantastic Beasts from Legend and Folklore, published by Down East Books has been out for a year.

Meticulously researched, the book contains 40 individual stories, with more than 100 academic references. “I mined anthropological records, old newspapers, books, and personal conversations with people who had recollections of these old stories.,” he said. “As someone once said to me, ‘They are literally the spirits of Maine.’ ”

A high school biology teacher, Packard found himself intrigued by tales that couldn’t be verified by science. A naturalist and avid outdoorsman, he found a connection to Nature with legends. “I think these stories we tell are compelling and are important culturally and important to how we relate to Nature,” he said. “I got really intrigued by the commonality of these stories and how they offered other dimensions to the world.”

The Creatures

Among Packard’s collected tales, a number of them originate from America’s “First People.”

“The Wabanaki have many traditional tales about giants like Glooskap, a warrior against evil who is kind and benevolent and possesses magical powers,” said Packard. “They have other tales about the terrible and fearsome Chenoo (or ‘kiawakq’) who has magical powers, but also a heart of ice and an insatiable hunger for human flesh. There are also tales about Pamola, a powerful and dangerous winged creature that inhabits the top of Mount Katahdin and must not be disrespected.”

Although some of the creatures are light-hearted and fantastical, he said some of the lumberjack and Maine Guide stories revolved around deadly entities—scary monsters, which he goes more in-depth about in his blog.

“The one people in the Midcoast often her about is The Sidehill Gouger, a creature adapted to hill county such as the Camden Hills,” he said. “It’s a creature of the forest with uneven legs, and keep their backs level on sloping paths. You catch them by scaring them and they fall over on their uneven sides. It’s almost like a Snipe Hunt, but with scarier elements.”

Midcoast residents can find copies of his book in locally-owned bookstores such as Left Bank Books in Belfast.

To learn more about Chris Packard and his upcoming speaking events visit: christopherpackard.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST—Belfast will soon have a new Thai restaurant named Fon’s Kitchen at 132 High Street, opening March 31.

Fon, which means falling rain in the Thai language, just so happens to be co-owner, Sarunya Rock’s nickname.

Sarunya, who grew up in Bangkok, felt she needed a change and moved to the U.S. 

“I found an opportunity to come to the states, working in hospitality for a year, so I applied without knowing where I end up,” she said. “I didn’t even know Maine when I showed up. I got a job at Natalie’s Restaurant at the Camden Harbour Inn and began my life here.”

Her family was a big influence on her cooking.

“When I was in middle school, my parents had a good-size Thai restaurant on our property—not too fancy, but a place where people would show up early in the morning and enjoy all day,” she said. “My mother was the manager, but sometimes she had to cook when the chef did not show up. I was helping mostly in the front, running food, busing tables, helping prep in the kitchen, doing dishes, and whatever else needed to be done.”

Sarunya said she loves the restaurant industry and always had an eye on opening her own restaurant.

“After Natalie’s, I worked at the Waterfront Restaurant as a server for almost seven years,” she said. “When I found the restaurant space in Belfast had become available, I was very interested. There were several people looking at the space, but I believe everything came together at the perfect time in my life to make this work out for us.”

Her husband, Dan Rock, has been renovating the space for the last three months with a new pale green color scheme, different lighting, and artworks.

The menu is “all Sarunya” said Dan.

“She’s a great cook and I call her a ‘curry genius.’ She makes her own dumplings from scratch using as many local ingredients as possible from local businesses. I’ve yet to have any dumplings in this state as good as hers.”

“Well, I think my husband might be a little biased,” Sarunya said. “As a food lover, when I came to Maine, I realized I would never be able to find the street food I enjoyed so much back home in Thailand. I started watching YouTube and learned how to cook the food I was missing. Dumplings are one of my favorite Thai appetizers that I enjoy making and eating. The secret to making a good dumpling is to ground your own meat. We normally get our pork shoulder from local sources, grind and marinate the meat with Thai seasonings and herbs overnight. I can’t wait for people to come in and try the dumplings for themselves, and see if my husband is biased, or completely correct!”

Fon’s Kitchen’s menu is simple with appetizers, main dishes, sides, and desserts. It features Thai staples such as Pad Thai, Drunken Noodle, Pad Kra Pow, and two kinds of curries.

“I think the stir-fried Sukiyaki will be a popular dish,” she said. “My version is a Thai take on a traditional Japanese dish. Basically, Sukiyaki is a stir-fried bean thread noodle, with a choice of protein and mixed vegetables with Sukiyaki sauce (red bean curd). The Thai version is cooked and served a bit differently than the traditional Japanese way and I think people will love it.”

Sarunya’s dream is to make her restaurant as comfortable as her family’s space in Bangkok.

“All you need is consistency, good food, good drinks, good service, and a calm inviting atmosphere,” she said. “But, the most important part is, you need to enjoy what you doing, then everyone else will enjoy it, too!”

To see Fon’s Kitchen’s menu and updates on their opening visit their Facebook page

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

It’s been two years since we’ve been able to bring this feature back. Sláinte and make sure you have a designated driver or a smart plan!

Wednesday, March 16

Liberator Brewing Co. in Rockland is hosting its third St. Patrick’s Day celebration from 3 to 8 p.m. serving O’Leary’s Cow Chocolate Stout, Highland Lager, and an Irish Red Ale. No cover and drink specials.

Thursday, March 17

Belfast

• Maine Celtic Celebration is partnering with Belfast restaurants to put on an Ale Trail. Front Street Pub, Rollies’ Bar and Grill and Nautilus will all have food and drink specials with a passport you can get stamped at each place. Starts at 3 p.m. Raffle tickets will be for sale throughout the locations. Enter to win 2 tickets to see the Celtic Woman concert in Portland on March 29, 2022

• Three Tides and Marshall Wharf Brewing will be getting into the St. Patrick's Day mood starting at 2 p.m. with musical guests, The Oystermen (previously known as Old Grey Goose). They’ll have a classic boiled dinner along with Sexy Chaos (one of their beers) cupcakes with whiskey ganache filling and Bailey's frosting.

• St. Patrick’s Day Paint and Sip by Cover ME In Art at 134 Church Street. Take your own drink and snacks. All materials will be included to create a St. Patrick’s Day painting. $25 per person. Purchase tickets in advance of the event here. Please do not attend if you are experiencing any Covid -19 symptoms.

Boothbay Harbor

• Brady’s is back from winter break and will be re-opening March 17 for St. Patrick’s Day as O’Brady’s! The bar will open at 9 a.m. At 11:30 a.m. they will be serving up some traditional Irish food and $5 Guinness specials.

Liberty

•Lake St. George Brewing Co. will be serving up some Irish culinary classics with its on-site food truck, Pinnacle Grill as well as $5 for Danny’s Oatmeal Stout from 3 to 8 p.m.

Rockland

• Rock Harbor Brewing Co. will be serving brunch all day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with St. Patrick’s Day food and drink specials all weekend long.

• The Grey Owl will be having Irish drink specials and giveaways in their bar downstairs for those wearing green from 4 to 11 p.m.

Washington

• Rosey Gerry, “The Rose”, will be performing a St. Patrick’s Day set at the Blueberry Fields Pub from 5 to 7 p.m. with guest appearance “Miss Lise Becu.” “So grab your Shillelagh and a friend and boogie on over, love to see ya!” said Gerry, in a news release. FMI: Penobscot Bay Pilot

Note: If your establishment isn’t listed here it’s because either we were unable to find any details of your event posted online or it was restaurant seating only, not a public party. We will be adding more details and more listings as they become available. Please check back! To contact us with more details, email  news@penbaypilot.com

SEARSPORT—‘Hey Sailor’ is serving a definite vibe, which, simply put, is “TACOS+. ART. BOOZE.”

The newly opened bar and restaurant on 25 East Main Street is the latest venture of the owners of The Hichborn in Stockton Springs.

Kirk Linder and Charlie Zorich opened Hey Sailor in late February after purchasing the building in 2019. However, the pandemic waylaid their plans for quite awhile. Early in 2020, they ripped everything down to the studs and slowly built out a kitchen, then began the work to recreate the space into their vision of the kind of hangout they both like to go to on a day off.

“We wanted something that is completely different from The Hichborn,” said Zorich. “Not everyone wants to commit to a three-hour meal. There are a lot of food-savvy people around who like to try different things and that’s what we were going for.”

By three p.m. on a drizzly Thursday afternoon, a half dozen people stood outside on the sidewalk, waiting for the doors to open. Within minutes, the entire place was full, which just shows how well received this newest hang-out is in the sleepy town of Searsport.

Inside, the retro hues of teal and orange dominate the decor, a welcome pop of color on a grey, March day.

“The building here has one foot in the past, but also one foot in the future,” said Zorich. “The space has 1960s mod facade that drove the interior design. Both of us have a love for mid-century modern and 1970s modern, so we went for a 1970s mod look.” 

Though Gen Xers themselves, Zorich said the restaurant is attracting all kinds of clientele from Gen Z to Boomers. 

As seasoned professionals in the industry, the Hey Sailor crew will be expanding when The Hichborn re-opens this summer. Eric Walczek, the former chef de cuisine from Portland’s Street & Co. will be taking over as head chef at Hey Sailor and Zorich will return as the chef for The Hichborn during high season.

TACOS+

The menu is divided into innovative bar snacks, tacos, salads, and desserts.

“We do west coast style tacos and some of our customers from California and those who come from the west have said that they love the bold flavors,” said Zorich. “The bar snacks side of the menu is driven by global street food and some of it is influenced by one of our chefs, Nattapat Niamnud whose nickname is ‘Ninja. ’ Ninja, who is Thai, is infusing some Thai flavors into the menu, as well.”

With oyster mushroom empanadas and Pulpo Enamorado, which is an octopus salad with avocado, radish, scallion, Fresno chilis, and saltines—these aren’t your typical bar snacks.

“I think we might have the best calamari on the coast, but the LAABB (crispy rice paper, chili flake, fish sauce, and mint) is very popular too,” he said.

ART

The restaurant also aims to be a working gallery, debuting their neighbor, Frederick Kuhn’s artworks at their opening. Kuhn’s saturated complementary colors fit right in with the decor.

“The artwork will change every couple of months,” said Linder. “We’ll have quarterly shows with a summer and a fall show already lined up with local artists. I’m working with another gentleman who will help operate the gallery and we’ll start putting out a call for artists to submit work. We’re working on an artist in residency grant to bring artists in from all over the world. We’re also working on a mural program in the restaurant, which will change every couple of years.”

BOOZE

The theme of the cocktail menu is arranged around bodies of water, which reflects the restaurant’s name.

“The town of Searsport built sailing ships here for many years and we’re honoring the seafaring history of the town, so the cocktails are inspired by ports of call around the world,” said Zorich.

Each region on the menu has a sweet, savory, and classic style. So, for example, for New England, they offer a Searsport Switchel (local rum, ginger, apple cider vinegar), a Blueberry Brownie (blueberry rum, almond, brown sugar, chocolate) and Under The Apple Tree  (bourbon, apple, cider, cinnamon, egg white). That’s in addition to local craft brews on tap and in the bottle/can as well as a select wine menu.

It’s a sign of the times that a hip little place is opening in one of the quieter Midcoast towns. For more information visit their website: Hey Sailor.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Maine Restaurant Week continues into this weekend, so take a road trip this weekend to try out different cuisine around the state. Also, Belfast’s got it going on this weekend! With another bomb cyclone coming in this weekend, everything listed here is inside.

Music at Marshall Wharf Brewing Co.

Friday, March 11—Belfast

Muskeag, a Belfast band with homegrown alt-country, alt-rock original music, is returning to Marshall Wharf Brewing Co. at 6 p.m. Check them out on Soundcloud. They’re going to be part of the upcoming All Roads Music Festival in Belfast in May. And why you’re in Belfast, check out some of the remaining ice sculptures from the Ice Festival.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Friday, March 11 through Sunday, March 13 —Belfast

The Belfast Maskers are putting on a stage adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel, which “explores the brutality of life in a mental institution with humor, candor, and unforgettable characters.” One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Dale Wasserman and directed by Meg Nickerson will be playing at the Basil Burwell Community Theater on March 11 and 12 at 7 p.m. with a Sunday, March 13 matinee showing at 2 p.m.  Parental discretion encouraged; not recommended for kids under 13. Tickets are $15 for adults; $12 for teens and seniors. The show will continue next weekend as well. FMI: Belfast Maskers

Comedy at Colonial Theatre

Saturday, March 12—Belfast

Get up there to the Colonial Theatre to check out headliner Ian Stuart, who has opened for comedians Dave Attell and Demetri Martin. As the founder of the Maine Comedy Festival  he and fellow comic and James Therberge, co-creator of the Welcome to Maine series, as well as comic Paul Hunt will be putting on a full evening of “...Maine schtick from the sticks.” The show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased through EventBrite.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

SEARSPORT—What do you get when you combine an illustrated children’s book with a simple walk around a neighborhood?

StoryWalk, a  literacy project created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont, and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle and Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg Hubbard Library, is a way to encourage families to get outside and be active while boosting childrens’ literacy.

Carver Memorial Library and local businesses have parterned to present a winter-themed StoryWalk based on the book The Mitten a Ukranian folktale by Jan Brett. In this book, a boy loses a white mitten in the snow and one by one, certain animals crawl in.

Sue McClintock, Library Director at Carver Memorial Library, said the book had been chosen before Russia invaded Ukraine, but that the timing of promoting the contributions of a Ukrainian writer right now couldn’t be any more appropriate.

The book was taken apart and each page is displayed on downtown Searsport business windows, including Splendiferous Sweet Shop, Coastal Cafe and Bakery, Hey Sailor, Strandz Hair Studio, Bog Hill Woodworking, Penobscot Marine Museum, Trove, Artisan Boutique, The Aquarian Gift Shop, and Pay It Forward for Kids.

“One of the reasons we started doing it is because of the pandemic,” said Sue McClintock, Library Director at Carver Memorial Library. “We wanted people to be able to read stories, engage with them, and connect with their families over stories outside.”

The StoryWalk covers a loop of four blocks downtown and will be available until March 15.

“We have done StoryWalks before in partnership with Sears Island for the past couple of years,” said McClintock. “We thought that it would be a good time to offer one downtown in the winter when things are really quiet, and businesses are slow. The businesses are all really excited about it and we’ve gotten a lot of good feedback about it.”

Carver Memorial Library plans on offering more StoryWalks this summer on Sears Island.

To learn more about Carver Memorial Library, visit carverlibrary.org.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

The kids are all right this weekend. Even though Weekend Spotlight is for adults, primarily, there are a couple of teen-centered events that will appeal to all ages. And here’s a great way to support the chefs, servers, and local purveyors for Maine Restaurant Week.

Young Artists’ Gallery Takeover

Friday, March 4—Belfast

Camden Snow Bowl’s Snowboarding Slalom

Saturday, March 5—Camden

Camden Snow Bowl is hosting a fun spectator sport for teen snowboarders in its first CS/BS Banked Slalom.  This free snowboard-only event showcases teens 16 and under as they race down the course. Prizes will be awarded to the top finishers from sponsors Bataleon, Ride, and Sidecountry Sports. Race time goes from 12 to 2 p.m. and 3 to 4 p.m. is designated for the prizes. For more info, visit the Facebook event page.

Maine Restaurant Week

Tuesday, March 1 through Saturday, March 12 —statewide

Maine Restaurant Week is upon us, celebrating local and independent restaurants throughout the state. Most of the participating restaurants are around the Portland area, but a few in the Midcoast are participating including, the Hartstone Inn, and The Sea Dog (Camden), 40 Paper and Nina June (Rockport), and The Block Saloon(Thomaston). The 2022 MRW participating restaurants will present special offers and some will have three-course menus as in years past, but not everyone will. In addition, chefs, bakers, baristas, and chocolatiers are serving special coffee-centric creations during MRW, including Atlantic Baking Co. in Rockland. FMI: The list of participating restaurants.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST—Mia Fay, a junior at Belfast Community Outreach Program in Education (BCOPE) in Belfast, is headed for big things this spring, representing Maine at the National 4-H Youth Summit on Agri-Science.

The 17-year-old got connected to nature as a child when she and her family lived in Florida.

“I’ve always been drawn to the outdoors and had an interest in how animals interacted with the landscape,” she said. “We used to live near this little retention pond and I’d just sit there and watch the ducks and look at all of the life in the pond.”

When she was 11, her family moved to a wooded property in Belfast, furthering her interest in the outdoors.

“We have a little garden on our land and would grow a lot of leafy greens and potatoes,” she said.

In middle school, she took a garden class and it fired something up in her. “I learned so much from that class and was really excited about it,” she said. “They had a huge vegetable garden and a large stream where we would do research.”

On her own, she began reading up on pre-evolutionary life on Earth and how plants evolved. “I was just blown away by how beautiful and complex Nature is,” she said.

BCOPE is the right fit

However, somewhere between her natural wonder in middle school and the challenges of public high school, Mia admits she lost herself and lost her fire.

“I was disregarding my interests in the natural world; I was lost in being a teenager and lost my incentive being in high school,” she said.

That’s when her guidance counselor suggested moving her into BCOPE, an alternative program for Belfast Area High School, specifically geared to students who don’t necessarily thrive in a traditional setting of high school and who might be at risk for being behind in academic credits.

“I love it here,” she said. “Coming here they helped me with these opportunities to participate outside of school has changed my life. They immediately saw my interest in agriculture when I came here and this school has just enhanced that.”

The school encouraged her to be a participant in the first pilot of the Maine 4-H Agricultural Ambassador Program, which she successfully completed. As part of the program, they encouraged Mia and the other students to apply to the Agri-Science Summit, and based on her essay, she was accepted.

The Maine 4-H Foundation pays for the majority of the trip.

She and five other students around the state will be flying with a chaperone to Washington DC in March to participate in a three-day agricultural summit, taking part in workshops on agricultural sustainability and food security.  “I’m going to absorb it all,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to meeting other kids.”

When she comes back she has to write an action plan for her community and BCOPE. “I have a lot of ideas,” she said. “I want to go into this summit with the knowledge that fungi are going to be a big part of the world’s solutions to agricultural challenges, such as pest control.”

Mushrooms as super fungi

“I’m really interested in fungi’s place in bio-defense,” she said. She credits mycologist Paul Stamets, as a source of inspiration. He has been working with the Bioshield Biodefense Program examining the effects of turkey tail mushrooms on the human immune system, particularly on women with breast cancer suffering from impaired immune systems. 

Her interest in the topic is not surprising given her entire high school experience so far has been impacted by the Covid-19 virus. 

“Covid definitely sparked in my interest in bio-defense,” she said. It’s a topic mostly reserved for scientific journals citing the main defense strategy of fungi is chemical defense, but it’s a topic she’s fully absorbed in.

Paying close attention to the world we live in and exploring how plants and fungi play a part in “Survival of the fittest” is a special talent, indeed, and the first time we’ve profiled a student with that interest. Good luck at the Summit, Mia!

Hail To The Rad Kids is an ongoing feature highlighting teens in the Midcoast with special talent. 

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST—The streets of downtown Belfast were alive on Saturday with hundreds of people walking around to take photos of ice sculptures, watch live ice carving demonstrations, and have a chill sip of something at multiple ice bars throughout the downtown. State of Maine Ice Carving ChampionshipThe weekend event was organized as a cabin fever reliever while following COVID-19 guidelines.

The event continues on Sunday, February 27. Here is a schedule of events. 

Enjoy our gallery.

Photos by Kay Stephens

Better hunker down Friday night because it looks like we’re going to get hit with a dumpload of snow (fourth weekend in a row) but the rest of the weekend looks clear and that’s great news for the multiple winterfests happening around the state.

Belfast Ice Festival

Friday, February 25 through Sunday, February 27—Belfast

Killer Road Trip: Bath’s Winterfest

Friday, February 25 through Sunday, February 27—Bath

Again, just focusing on Saturday and Sunday, Bath is going all out all day and all night with a free family ice rink, winter disc golf, Shetland Yard farm ponies, kids’ winter gauntlet, a downtown Scavenger Hunt, Kennebec Estuary Land Trust Education Station, fire sculpture, a drinking chocolate station, comedy nights, beer gardens, snow sculpture contest, Maine’s first ship cannon blast and bean supper with a maritime cocktail contest, Sunday brunch day, and more. Check the website for the daily schedule.

Strand on The Air

Sunday, February 27—On Radio

This is for all of the introverts who never wanted to leave their houses during the pandemic anyway—The Strand Theatre is putting on its radio Variety Show “CabinFever Edition” on Sunday at 5 p.m. 

House Manager Liz McLeod, announcer Dan Bookham, musical director Brittany Parker, and the Strand Family Players will put on a radio show for an  hour, joined by special musical guests GoldenOak.

Here’s a preview: “...Journalists of All Things Rescinded will take a look at the burgeoning new pandemic-inspired musical genre of “grumblecore,” featuring the radio debut of the hard-driving alternative band “Karen’s Spleen,” along with a nostalgic look at Town Meeting season as it used to be, and a preview of our coming travails with mud season.

Professor Dan Bookham will offer a poetic rumination on the unpredictability of late-winter weather, and down in Abysmal Point, Mrs. Grunden, Lilita, and the gang will gather round the kitchen table to drive off the winter blues with a hard-fought no-quarter-asked-and-none-given game of full-contact Monopoly.” FMI: https://www.wrfr.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

With school vacation right around the corner, the fun stuff is happening mostly out of town this weekend (with the exception of a vinyl jam in Rockland), so brace yourself for the pain at the pump and gas up for a good time around the state.

Killer Road Trip: Carnaval in Portland

Thursday, February 17 through Sunday, February 20—Portland

Killer Road Trip: Sunday River’s President’s Week

Friday, February 18 through Sunday, February 20—Newry

Sunday River has a bunch of family-friendly things to do this weekend, including a walk through 100,000 twinkling lights in the forest on a half-mile trail on all three evenings (Reservations required), twilight skiing, live music, fire dancers, fireworks and more. Click to see schedule.

Spin Some Vinyl Old School

Sunday, February 20—Rockland

It’s good to see Steel House get back into doing events again! They’re hosting an old-school vinyl jam where you can bring the record of your choice and play it in an “open jam” style from 2 to 4 p.m. According to the organizer, “Vinyl & Jam is a no-frills couple of hours for people to share some music on vinyl or instrument. Ideally, a song or two from an album will be chosen to listen to and there might be a musician or more to jam with. Some medium roast coffee, proper English tea, and toast will be available.” FMI: mspeno@yahoo.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

It’s going to be downright balmy at the start of the weekend so you know hard-core Mainers will be wearing T-shirts and waterproof boots on the ice at the U.S. National Toboggan Championships. It’s a triple threat weekend with Valentine’s Day and the Super Bowl as well, so get ready for a jam-packed weekend.

31st US National Toboggan Championships Returns

Friday, February 11 through Sunday, February 13—Camden

Where To Watch The Super Bowl

Sunday, February 13—Statewide

Super Bowl LVI is coming up Sunday between the National Football Conference champion Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference champion Cincinnati Bengals. The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. but there will be lots of pre-gaming going on.

Here’s a list of public Super Bowl parties happening locally.

Trackside Station, Rockland: Squad up for a pre-game party from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. FMI: Trackside

The Quarry Tavern, Tenants Harbor: They’ll have food specials, drinks, games, and prizes, starting at 6 p.m. Reservations recommended. FMI: The Quarry

Brady’s Restaurant, Boothbay: Murky Water Band will be belting out the tunes as we fill in our Pool Squares and talk football trash for the afternoon. Goes from 2 to 5 p.m. FMI: Brady’s

Valentine’s Day Happenings

Sunday, February 13—Rockland

What’s a good Valentine’s Day staycation in Midcoast? Let’s start with Rockland. Try a Valentine’s Day-themed chocolate bite at Bixby Chocolates. Or a 7/8-mile walk to Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse.  Perhaps a couples’ massage at  Rheal Day Spa, Skin Klinic, or  Synergy Massage. Then, later dinner, and live music at Mé Lon Togo, a West African cuisine restaurant we profiled a couple of years ago.  It has now moved to Rockland (10 Leland Street) and on Sunday, they are hosting A Valentine’s Day weekend lineup and special menu. Call for showtimes: 872-9146.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—Last Sunday, 12 teenage boys from Belmont, Mass., hopped off the bus with Athletic Director George Tahan and arrived at the Camden Snow Bowl with six toboggans, rarin’ to go.

But they weren’t there to practice for the U.S. National Toboggan Championships. The boys are ninth-grade students from Belmont Hill, a private school for boys grades 7-12 in Belmont, Massachusetts. As part of a science class called “Applied Physics and Design,” the students not only hand-built each toboggan, but also challenged themselves on the 400-foot chute to see whose toboggan could race the fastest.

“We’ve been doing this class for the last 10 years, coming up to Maine in the winter to test the toboggans out,” said science teacher Tyson Trautz, who grew up in Old Orchard Beach. 

“When I lived in Maine, I went with a couple of buddies to the National Toboggan Championships for several years in a row, so the impetus for the project stemmed from my experiences in Camden,” he said, noting that experience prompted him to design a class around toboggan making and racing.

The students learned the design process using the specifications that the Toboggan Championships use.

“We follow their rules on length, width, the thickness of wood, and curl diameter,” said Tahan. “We give all of those parameters to the boys and then they design a toboggan on CAD-based software called Fusion 360. After designing it virtually, they did a 3-D print as a scale model. Then, they full-scale built it over the course of a semester with the goal at the end of the semester to travel up to the Camden Snow Bowl and test the toboggans out.”

The trip takes about 10 hours round trip, starting at 6:30 a.m. While it’s a lot of fun, the boys are still working on physics problems.

“Before we go up, we give them a calculations sheet and put up all of the specs for the chute, so they have to calculate their potential energy, their kinetic energy, their momentum, and mass,” said Trautz. “They have to weigh themselves and weigh their toboggans, and then they have to predict their velocity final at the bottom of the chute.”

“We also judge them on the best design and craftsmanship,” said Tahan. “But, the prize all of the boys want to win is being the fastest.”

Each team of two students takes their toboggan to the top of the chute. That team races down the chute, competing against the other teams.

“As they go down we have a radar gun and clock their speeds,” said Tahan.

Bragging rights for the fastest speed this year goes to  Thomas Sheehan and Emerson Walker clocking in at 40 m.ph. down the chute.

What a fun way to do physics and to use experiential education in design, woodworking, science, and physical competition.

“It’s not only teaching them to use their hands to build something, which most kids don’t know how to do today, but it also teaches them problem-solving using design and physics,” said Tahan.

When the semester is done, each team decides who gets to take the toboggan home. If both boys want the toboggan, it’s a coin flip to determine the winner. If neither boys want it, the school auctions the toboggans off in a fund-raising event.

And a little memento of Belmont Hill will stay with the Snow Bowl. The school is planning on donating one of the student-built toboggans to the Camden Snow Bowl for rentals or for use, with the Belmont Hill school emblem and each boy’s name on the headstock of the toboggan.

Head out for the 31st U.S. National Toboggan Championships this year. For more information visit: Camden Snow Bowl.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

THOMASTON—One Midcoast man is on a mission to free up landfills from junked computers and to turn those parts into usable devices for people who can’t afford a new computer.

Gordon Knowlton, from Thomaston, has had a life-long interest in taking computers apart and putting them back together.

“I took one course in college for audio engineering, but I really got into repairing PCs after I bought a Gateway computer around 2003,” he said.  “It wasn’t cheap, around $1,800, and every time I had a new program installed, it cost an arm and a leg. So, when that computer died, I pretty much just bought the parts and started figuring out how to build computers myself.”

For the last 20 years, he has taught himself how to take apart and put together personal computers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Compaq.

When he briefly worked for a big box store’s electronic department, Knowlton also recognized the disparity between what repair services were worth and how unassuming customers were being overcharged.

“It cost them $80-90 for a diagnostics test only to be told the repair for something completely simple would be $200 and they’d leave, dejected, not able to pay for it,” he said.

Worse, he witnessed people so frustrated and flummoxed by what were simple repairs or upgrades that they chose to junk the computer and buy a new one.

Knowlton has set himself up as a one-person repair center with no charges for consultation fees and up-front rates. He specializes in reviving older model PCs and also offers software upgrades, virus removals, and data recovery among other services.

But he’s also a give-back kind of guy.

He recently put out a post on Midcoast Message Board asking the community if anyone had an old, unused computer collecting dust to donate. In turn, he’ll spend the time to fix it and donate it to kids or adults who can’t afford a new one.

“In just about every house there’s an old PC sitting in the back of a closet or an attic,” he said. “I hate to see those computers or parts go into the landfill. We already have too many computer parts and electronics ending up there every year. If there are parts that can be re-used, why not give it to somebody who could use it?”

He also doesn’t like to see the working class get price gouged.  It’s his pet peeve to see old computers donated to the thrift store industries for free, only to be repriced—in his estimation—a ridiculous amount of money back to the consumer. 

“The average person only uses a computer for going online and playing games, so it’s easy to build up a used computer using upcycled parts and get it running again,” he said. “They don’t need to spend $800 on a computer just to get online. Getting a computer shouldn’t cost that much money and be such a hassle.”

Knowlton has made it into the Pilot’s #Midcoast Entrepreneurs series for a reason—shining a light on the solo entrepreneurs whose talents benefit the communities in Maine in some way.

To learn more about his business or to donate an old PC, visit his Facebook page or contact him at midcoastpcguy@hotmail.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

I don’t know whether post-holiday fatigue was going on in the last couple of weeks in January but it was like tumbleweeds in the Midcoast. Then this weekend is like —shazam— let’s see how many crazy different things we can do and see this weekend! Here’s what’s going on.

Camden Winterfest Returns

Saturday, February 5—Camden

The Dude Abides

Saturday, February 5—Belfast

A Steam Train to a Sleigh Ride to a Farm

Saturday, February 5—Alna

This is one of those staycation winter wonderland activities that would be a blast to try with kids or your friends (big kids.) Board a steam train at this working railway at in Alna. You’ll be whisked away for about 20 minutes to get to the top of the mountain where a horse-drawn sleigh will be waiting to take you to SeaLyon Farmwhere you can warm up in front of a bonfire, with hot beverages and food from local vendors. The entire experience takes just over 2 hours. Trains depart Sheepscot station (97 Cross Road, Alna) promptly each hour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Note that the railroad cars are not heated. FMI: Tickets and Details

Roaring ‘20s  Gala & Burlesque

Saturday, February 5—Rockland

And now for something completely different. The Grey Owl is hosting Maine's own SPRQ burlesque troupe and music by MC SpaceWiz in The Grey Owl Bar & Grill lounge for two separate routines and the greatest hits from the 1920s starting at 8 p.m.  Costumes are encouraged but tickets ($10)  are limited. FMI: Tickets and Details

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST—Anyone who has ever cozied up to a blazing campfire with s’mores anticipating a story will surely enjoy Waterfall Arts’ latest offering: monthly Fireside Chats, “meant to ignite conversations, boost empathy, and offer a platform for shared stories.”

“We were trying to think of ways people could gather outside in a larger group as a way to [meet Covid-19 indoor restrictions] but we were also thinking of neutral ways to bring people together in today’s reality where everything seems so divisive,” said Amy Tingle, Program Director at Waterfall Arts. “We wanted to create a forum where people are communicating, but not directly around politics. Instead, we want to engage people to come together around storytelling. The idea of telling our own stories and getting to know each other leads to a deeper understanding of one another.”

The experiment started on December 16 with Stephanie Holman, a professional storyteller and children’s librarian from the Belfast Free Library as the first guest in the series.

Around 4:30 p.m., the staff set up multiple fire pits on the front lawn with hay bales and stumps for seating. There’s also a table with free hot coffee, cider, and individual s’more bags.

“It’s like when you used to camp in your back yard,” she said. Only, with a speaker system and a microphone,

About 20 people showed up with Holman talking about the library services for a few minutes before launching into her own story.  Holman then passed the mic to the first person whose hand was raised. It’s very casual — an open mic setting rather than a more formalized Moth radio hour type of storytelling.

“Some stories made us laugh really hard while other stories kind of brought a tear,” said Tingle. “Some of the stories stuck to the theme of libraries and books, but others were just random, which made them really funny.”

Unlike formal storytelling venues, the speaker isn’t constrained by time.

“I don’t have a gong or a time limit,” she joked.

On January 20, Waterfall Arts invited another storyteller, Ian Stewart, Executive Director at Coastal Mountains Land Trust, to kick off the event, with about 20 people in attendance.

The Fireside Chat on Tuesday, February 15 will begin a little later (5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) and will feature Belfast Flying Shoes. The stories will focus on dancing, singing, and the performance arts.

“Maybe someone will even sing something,” said Tingle.

March’s theme and beyond, will depend upon the community. Non-profits in Waldo County with a community focus are especially encouraged to propose a theme.

“I think once we saw the library wanted to host the first event, it shaped how the rest of the Fireside Chats would go, highlighting other organizations and what they do, then launching into stories,” said Tingle. 

For more information, please visit waterfallarts.org or call (207) 338-2222.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—It’s never a bad thing to have another independent bookstore open in the Midcoast and Arctic Tern Books is the newest bookstore to cement Rockland’s reputation as a thriving cultural scene.

Owner Allison Worden opened the boutique bookstore in November after planning it for about a year. The space at 432 Main Street, formerly Hall’s Antiques, had been sitting empty for a few years. Once she saw its dark wood floors and soaring ceilings, she knew it was meant to be.

“I walked in and immediately saw it all,” she said. “I just fell in love with the space.”

Her entire career has been spent in academic publishing, mostly managing scientific journals and books, but once she moved to Maine, launching a bookstore (an idea she’d been kicking around for a long time) became a reality.

“Books were my very first love in life,” she said. “Growing up in a very remote, small town in Australia, they were how I explored the world.”

Worden’s aesthetic, both within the store itself and how she selects the books, can be described as intuitive, intimate, and nurturing. It all stems from a very personal experience she’d had caring for her sister.

“In 2013, my only sister was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer,” she said. “I become her primary caregiver, and as I walked that journey with her and saw so many people suffering, it opened my eyes to the incredible amount of pain that people are experiencing. During that time, whenever I would go into a place that felt peaceful and restorative it was such a gift. While I was caring for my sister, I knew I wanted to do that someday for people—just provide that space where peace and something close to hope was available.”

With the towering bookshelves on the left side of the room and a cozy, central sitting area anchored by a large coffee table draped with books, Arctic Tern Books is the kind of space that makes you feel like drinking a cup of tea while sitting back and reading for an afternoon. In fact, the store’s tagline is: “Step inside and let the world fade away.”

The store’s name, Arctic Tern, refers to the migratory bird that travels from pole to pole every year. It was chosen as a metaphor for exploration.

“I’ve curated this store with the underlying belief that bookstores are a place for discovery,” said Worden. “You’ll see a lot of books in here about and written by people from other cultures, as well as books that teach and heal. Books have the power to take people wherever they want to go—whether it’s somewhere back in time, or into someone else’s life, or on a personal journey.”

Her shop’s vibe both in-house and online is simultaneously welcoming and expansive. Some of the curated collections online include: Beautiful Gifts for Bibliophiles, Tenacious Spirits, Escape into Imaginary Worlds,  Journeys of Spiritual Awakenings, and Healing from Traumas.

“Once we get past Covid, I’d like to host events for our community,” she said. “We have so much talent in the area that I look forward to championing our local authors, artists, and thinkers.”

To learn more visit her website: Arctic Tern Books

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

JACKSON—Last week, we did a story on the off-the-beaten-path Marsh River Cooperative in Brooks and its special space for local artisans and crafters. Kathleen Maseychik is one of those crafters whose tiny, handmade felt mice grace a dollhouse in the center of the store. Her creations, which she has been making for 53 years, are under the banner of her nano business, Mouse Hole Workshop. She credits the author Beatrix Potter and The Tale of Peter Rabbit for influencing her small animal creations.

“I still get people who come by my table at craft fairs and say, ‘My mother bought me one of your mice when I was a child 30 years ago,’ ” she said.

Maseychik started making her one-of-a-kind hand-sewn mice when her children were little and she wanted to make some money on the side.

“I did all sorts of crafts, but the mice were the only things that sold,” she said.

Later, when she and her husband moved to England so her husband could teach at university, she taught at a nursery school and continued to make mice for her students to play with.

With 60 different styles, she makes each one by hand, cutting patterns out of wool felt and stitching them up on a sewing machine. She sews their tiny outfits as well. The mice all have professions, hobbies, or specific roles, ranging from school teachers and doctors and nurses to golfer and backpackers to Irish pub hoppers. Seasonally, she offers Christmas mice, Valentine’s Day mice, and St. Patrick Day mice among others—but her best-sellers are bride and groom mice.

The school teacher is popular right now because of how valuable this profession has been during the pandemic, as well as her doctor and nurse mice, for the same reasons.

“I’ve been doing these for so long, I could make them in my sleep,” she said.

In the past, when it was her main income, Maseychik could turn out 12 mice in a day. And at one point in the 1980s, Neiman Marcus, a luxury department store, ordered 2,500 Scrooge mice for its Christmas catalog “which was a boon and a bane,” she said. She was under the gun to get them all in on a Christmas order, which she did, again, the very next year with a Santa Claus mouse.

“But now, I’ve slowed down a lot and I do it part-time. I sell them on Etsy and at craft fairs,” she said.

Custom orders still come in such as the football mouse from Texas A&M University, which prompts her to research the colors and costumes. Creating little outfits with different colors and patterns is still, one of her favorite things to make.

Check out her mice at the Marsh River Cooperative in person or visit her Etsy store online.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

On January 17, actress and legend Betty White would have been 100 years old.

While she was well known for her role on The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore show, White was also an animal rights advocate for her entire life, serving on the Los Angeles Zoo's board for more than 50 years as well as advocating for the ASPCA.

Upon her death, her fans created The Betty White Challenge—a call to donate to animal shelters or animal rights charities on her birthday.

PAWS Animal Adoption Center in Camden participated in The Betty White Challenge and one little guy, in particular, could use some love.

Charlie Brown is a 1-½-year-old mixed breed dog from PAWS that Diane Sturgeon, a volunteer with PAWS for the past 20 years, has been walking regularly on the weekends.

“I would guess he has some Catahoula Leopard Hound with those eyes,” she said.

“I think he’s got some lab in him, as well,” said Meghan Austin, PAWS’ Shelter Director and Transport Coordinator.

Charlie has been in a kennel for just over two months, which has left him very anxious.

“He’s a reluctant owner relinquish,” said Sturgeon, “which means someone who was in a certain living situation couldn’t keep him.”

“Kennel stress is really hard for these dogs,” said Austin. “This is really long time for a high-energy dog to be in a kennel. As much as they get to go out and have enrichment, it’s still not enough. They just need a home environment and the human interaction—more than we can give them.”

A pandemic, which has left people in a higher state of stress and anxiety according to a recent study, is something people can relate to in animals.

“Think about if you’ve been shut up in your house all of this time, how would you be feeling?” asked Sturgeon.

Once Sturgeon gets him out of his kennel and on a walk, Charlie’s anxiety completely drops.

“Once you get him out he’s a normal dog,” she said. “He likes to snorkel around but pays attention when you call him back. He loves to see people and say hi. If he sees other dogs, he might bark, but it’s more of an excitement for him. He loves rides in the car and he’s very treat-motivated, just hangs with you. But I have to say he has a discerning palate. If you give him a cookie, he’s like ‘Eh...I would prefer a woof stick. You can do better. I know you can.’”

“He does okay with other dogs but is a little food protective,” said Austin. “He would just need to be fed separately with other dogs in the house and toys would have to be picked up, as he does get possessive about them.”

When she puts Charlie back in the cage, Sturgeon said his anxiety ramps right back up.

“He starts running back and forth in his kennel and becomes anxious all over again, especially now because the kennels are full with another transport from Puerto Rico,” she said. “It’s just hard on the dogs when there is more chaos.”

“I feel bad every time I have to leave him,” she said. “He barks at me like ‘Hey, where are you going?”

She added: “I can’t believe he’s been there for so long. We’ve got to get him out of there.”

So far, Austin says PAWS has gotten a good amount of donations in with one 12-year-old girl in the community leading the pack.

“She comes in frequently and has raised us more than $500 so far,” said Austin. “She came in this morning with some more donations and played with the animals.”

To find out more about Charlie visit PAWS Animal Adoption Center and consider donating to the worthy local organizations above. That would make Betty so happy.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Well, hello, January! You’re looking at your treadmill over there in the corner, which serves as a better laundry rack than an exercise machine. Boredom over the same old workout routine is why many people lose motivation to stay fit, as a 2020 study revealed, finding that even elite athletes lose the momentum to exercise when faced with a repetitive workout.

Luckily, on the coast of Maine, we’re surrounded by a plethora of outdoor terrain, specialty gyms, and fitness spaces. Here are a few unique activities in the Midcoast to jolt you out of the Drone Zone.

The Great Outdoors

While the Omicron variant continues to trample through early 2022, many people are feeling antsy about working out in groups indoors. There are a few interesting ways to get the heart rate up while keeping plenty of open space and fresh air in between participants.

Ice Climbing—Camden

Equinox Guiding Service offers an “Intro To Ice Climbing” course (both full and half-day) in the Camden Hills State Park, Acadia National Park, and Grafton Notch as we reported on in a story several years ago.

“People have described ice climbing as this really extreme sport, but really, it’s actually almost meditative,” said Noah Kleiner, owner of Equinox Guiding Service.  A half-day course is $185 while for two people it’s $130/pp. FMI: Details

Benefits: Climbing features such as frozen waterfalls and rock slabs covered in ice help build strength in your forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and quads. Your cardiovascular system gets a workout as you develop great core strength.

Snow Tubing—Camden

Oh yes, it’s back! Midcoast residents who loved the old tubing hill at Camden Snow Bowl will be overjoyed to hear that a new snow tube hill has been engineered between the double lift and Kuller Trailhead. It’ll be opening up this weekend.

“For several years, people have been asking for the tubing hill to come back, and, especially during Covid, we had even more demand from the public,” said Holly Anderson, assistant manager of the Camden Snow Bowl.

This year, people will have to lug their tubes up by foot, but the plan next year is to install the former Mighty Mite handle tow to assist riders up the hill.  Tickets will be $10 per hour per person and include one snow tube. Cash or check at the tubing hill shed; credit cards in the lodge. Open Sat/Sun, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Benefits: Depending on how many times you walk up and down the hill, you can burn anywhere from 200-300 calories every 30 minutes.

Female Hiking Clubs —Statewide

The majority of outdoor hiking clubs in Maine that have popped up in recent years are designed for women who aren’t comfortable hiking alone or just want to make new friends as they join up and explore Maine’s backcountry in a group, from newbies to experienced hikers. Women Outdoor Lead is one such group PenBay Pilot covered last summer.

Born out of a collaboration between Women for Rural Healthy Living and Maine Outdoor School, OWL teaches outdoor and naturalist skills to girls and women to gain more confidence when spending time outdoors. There’s also a Maine chapter of Women Who Hike, which you have to join on Facebook, which is a great source for organized hikes or recommendations for hikes around the state.

Benefits: A study in the American Journal of Human Biology, showed that while winter hiking, women increased their muscle mass and burned more calories than they consumed.

It’s “New Year, New You” time this weekend with the Samoset Resort Glacier Ice Bar returning, a Winter Fest in Brunswick, and a couple of brain-tickling events to get you out of your rut. When people ask “What is there to DO in the wintertime around here?” Weekend Spotlight is your answer.

Glacier Ice Bar Returns

Friday, January 14 and Saturday, January 15—Rockport

Killer Road Trip: Winter Fest at Flight Deck Brewing

Saturday, January 15—Brunswick

Dance Like Everyone is Watching

Saturday, January 15—Rockport

The Rockport Opera House, with the assistance of Rockport Masonic Center, is hosting a dance night for the public featuring Creatures of Habit, a rock band from Midcoast Maine.

Social hour is from 6 to 7 p.m. with a cash bar and dancing, which goes from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets are  $15 in advance online or at the door. Masks required. The event supports the Community Warming Center at the Rockport Masonic Center in Rockport.

Killer Road Trip: Eurydice

Saturday, January 15—Orono

And now for something completely different. January is the time to make new goals. Instead of your usual Saturday thing, (which admit it, is a ripped-open bag of Doritos on the couch binge-watching Ted Lasso) get yourself in a fancy mood and head on up to Orono to the Collins Center for the Arts to watch “Eurydice,” the Metropolitan Opera Live HD production of the Greek myth of Orpheus, who attempts to harness the power of music to rescue his beloved Eurydice from the nefarious underworld.

Who says love is dead? Well, if you’re in the underworld, that might be a moot point. Read the whole story. The show starts at 1 p.m. Adult $25 | Senior (ages 65+) $20 | Student $10. FMI: Details

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BROOKS—As Marsh River Cooperative’s manager Matthew McKillop will tell you, “You’d be surprised to know there’s a lot going on in Brooks.”

A tiny town in Waldo County with a population of little more than 1,000 has a gem of a store anchoring the center of town. The Marsh River Co-op is a year-round agricultural cooperative and retail market for artisans with nearly 200 producer and consumer members.

The building, which used to be Paul and Audrey’s hardware store, became the focal point for local citizens who belonged to the Brooks farmer’s market, which operated behind the building. In 2014, when one of the founding members purchased the building, the idea of creating a year-round agricultural cooperative emerged. A small group of people from Brooks, including a good proportion of the farmer's market vendors, founded the store.

“The original idea was for the co-op to be staffed by all of the farmers,” said McKillop. “The producer members on the board [those who makes or grow products] are given priority to sell their wares in the store and steer the direction of what else we sell in the co-op.”

The store carries a diverse mix of local, organic items including fresh produce, fresh bread and snacks, frozen meats, dairy, bulk organic herbs and spices, and bulk repack flours, nuts, dried fruits, legumes, and pulses.

To truly know what’s important to a community is to spend some time in there. As Brooks and surrounding areas are primarily rural and agricultural, the store’s mission is to “...focus on promoting and selling food and other goods produced within a 10-mile radius of the Co-op, at an affordable price. This radius serves a low-income, low-access area population.”

What’s unique about this co-op is the entire back of the store is dedicated to crafters, artists, and makers who live within a 10-mile radius. Everything is sold on commission.

McKillop said that the co-op is staffed 100 percent by its producer and consumer members.

“We’re a farm co-op, so the availability of volunteers ebbs and flows with the season,” he said. “Once it hits summertime, many of our volunteers need to be working on their farms.”

In December, the cooperative sold nearly $38,000 of products and merchandise with more than 50 percent of the items sold produced in Maine. And while Marsh River doesn’t get the same kind of foot traffic that coastal food co-ops do, it relies primarily on the very local citizens it serves.

“It’s kind of fun to see how the co-op works come full circle where a farmer will come in, buy say organic layer pellets for chickens and two weeks later, he or she will come back in and sell us two dozen fresh eggs. And then walk out the door with a bag of grain.”

Learn which local producers and artists are part of the store here.

For more information on Marsh River Cooperative visit: marshrivercoop.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com