I have written previously about the age-old divide in this little town. In early days it was Ducktrap against Canaan — those deeded land on the coast due to merit or connections, versus the plucky settlers inland. In living memory, this became The Beach vs. The Center. Like everything else, that which divides us in the 21st century is a bit more complicated.

But I am not discussing that in this column.

No, I am selfishly thinking of my own neighborhood this week, The Beach. Lincolnville Beach, formally French Beach, formally a patch of saltmarsh where the Native Wabanaki people came to feast on shellfish in the summer (there used to be a shell midden just up from Lincolnville Beach, before the ever-encroaching tides washed it away.)

Driving up Atlantic Highway from my Camden office the other day, I come across several businesses as I approach the Beach. Motels and Inns, of course, catering to our summer visitors. The Lincolnville Health Center, a boon to locals who don’t have to travel to Belfast or Rockport for their medical care. 

And just before you descend into the Beach proper, on the left and right, are Green Tree Coffee Roasters and Dot’s Market.

Dot’s. Should you hanker for a ham and cheese croissant in the early morning, a baguette sandwich midday, or a pre-made entree for suppah, Dot’s has you covered. They also have an amazing selection of wines, artisan cheese, and various exotic pantry items. As a working parent, more than one dinner has been saved by a quick stop at Dot’s on the way home.

Green Tree Coffee Roasters. After years of sucking down terrible coffee by the gallon, my middle-aged self realizes that my body just doesn’t tolerate that level of caffeine. My wife, on the other hand… Therefore, there is always a couple pounds of Green Tree Coffee over the microwave, so I can make the morning pot for my wife, and now, my daughter, so they can get going. Green Tree also offers everything a hot-beverage aficionado could want – teas of every variety, imported drinking chocolate, and all the high end coffee making accoutrements you could hope for in a small town on the coast.

Heading down to the Beach proper, I notice McLaughlin’s Lobster Shack is opening April 7. Ah, Rick McLaughlin’s Lobster Shack. My first real job, with a W-2 and everything. I spent at least five years breading clams, cooking chowder, torturing lobsters in full view of the tourist children…. Rick, if you read this, I want a fried shrimp roll with tartar sauce on opening day, with onion rings. Seriously, there are no better onion rings on the Midcoast. A hidden gem. You’re welcome.

The Beach Store is back in business!

I remember the store from my early childhood, when it was owned by my parents’ friends Duncan Vass and John Trowbridge. It has passed through various hands over the last 40-plus years, but Matt Hohman seems like a fantastic steward. I can testify to the incredible quality of his pizza, a necessity for a beach front convenience store.

The Beach Store is flanked by Maine Artisans and Dwight Wass’s Fine Arts and Antiques, to browse after filling your belly with pizza and/or fried clams.

The Lobster Pound remains closed for the season, but us locals look forward to opening day. A coastal institution since 1926, the Lobster Pound is the place to enjoy a steamed lobster if you are a tourist, but those in the know seem to have rediscovered it as the place for a beverage and live music on a Friday night. 

And just across the Pound where Frohock Brook enters Penobscot Bay, stands the Whales Tooth Pub. The stately 1777 building has held a restaurant for my living memory. The Fine Kettle of Fish, anyone? But the Whale’s Tooth Pub has been around since 1994, and changed hands in 2021. There is no where in town cozier then sitting by their open fireplace, with a plate of wings in front of you.

Heading out of the Beach toward Ducktrao and the Downeast wilds beyond, you will find  Windsor Chairmakers and Mike’s Align and Repair.  Windsor Chairmakers, owned by locals Mike and Jana Timchak, craft unbelievably fine furniture. I cannot recommend enough a tour of the showrooms. There you can view their products in their natural setting, an old farmhouse on the coast.

Finally Mike’s. Mikey has refused my request to interview him, because that is the kind of guy he is, but there is no better garage man around. In a world where we are expected to take our cars back to the dealership, I will always trust my vehicles to Mike and his guys. And the lady who actually runs the place (Vicki, I think) is awesome, and makes the whole experience worth it.

Ukraine to the Midcoast

While buying more coffee at Greentree in the process of writing this story, I had the opportunity to meet Maks Isakov, who has been roasting his own coffee on their premises. Maks first came to Midcoast Maine as a high school exchange student from Ukraine. He was busy with a coffee shop in Vinnystya when the Russian invasion began.

Maks has a wife and two young boys, and they made the incredibly difficult decision to leave their homeland. Thanks to Maks’ connections to Midcoast Maine, they were able to find their way here, where he has restarted his coffee business. Maks coffee, Kavka, can be found at www.kavkamaine.com. With each pound sold, a dollar is donated to Ukranian humanitarian efforts.

Maks delivers coffee locally, and hopes to open his own shop in the future. We live in a small corner of the world, but cannot ignore the bigger issues. We are all together on a small island hurtling through the cosmos.

Your Town Needs You

It can seem like there is little we can do to impact the larger issues that surround us. But as a resident of a small town on the coast of Maine, there are ways you can get involved- run for a town office! The Select Board, School Board, and Budget Committee have open positions. Swing by the town office and collect your nomination papers. You will then need to collect 25 signatures from townsfolk, and submit this no later than April 14th at 4:30p.m., to qualify to get on the June 13th ballot. 

And should you not want to go through that process, there are plenty of other boards and committees that always need fresh faces and fresh ideas. Contact the Town Office to learn more.

Many years ago, I unwittingly got enough write-ins to earn a spot on the Budget Committee, accepted the election results, and I have never regretted it. A way to truly understand, “how the sausage is made”, where our hard-earned tax dollars go. If you love this town, maybe you can serve it in some capacity.

Condolences

Sympathy to the loved ones of Arlene Dorothea Watts Leach. I am not sure if I ever met Arlene, but I certainly knew her extended family. Her husband Carlo I remember well as one of my Boy Scout leaders, doing his duty as a loving uncle for his nephews’ Scout Troop. 

And to the family of Robert Alton Brawn. What a wonderful obituary, remembering all those who cared for him through the years. 

Okay, Lincolnville, behave yourselves. It is getting to the time of year when my mom used to get her reports that such-and-such bird had returned for the Spring. Let me know about your signs of Spring at ceobrien246@gmail.com