Blueberry Wingding, Magwintegwak

Sun, 08/04/2024 - 8:00pm

Ed O’Brien

The winnowing crew at Blueberry Hannah’s. (Photo by Tracee O’Brien)

The view from the field. (Photo by Ed O’Brien)

A summer gathering of family and friends at Sleepy Hollow. (Photo by Ed O’Brien)

The winnowing crew at Blueberry Hannah’s. (Photo by Tracee O’Brien)

The view from the field. (Photo by Ed O’Brien)

A summer gathering of family and friends at Sleepy Hollow. (Photo by Ed O’Brien)

Welcome to August! The best time of year in this little place on the coast of Maine. The blackflies have subsided, and even when it is rainy, like this morning, it is still pleasant. Next winter’s wood is seasoning, and will need to be stacked into the woodshed soon, but not today. The garden is producing in abundance. Cucumbers and green beans are part of most meals, with the corn and tomatoes fast behind. Hopefully, we will not let the tomato sauce scorch this year, and will be able to put away some jars for a cold February night supper.

There is something magical about home canning — opening up a jar of dilly beans, or peaches, or raspberry jam in the bleak cold of winter, and tasting a little bit of summer.

Summer in Maine means visitors. It means family will come.

Ever since the Civil War, our young people have been getting the heck out of this little town. This small corner of the world. Sometimes, like me, they return, to raise their own children. Sometimes they find fortune elsewhere, but their hearts remember, and call them back. To the family farm. To the place on the lake. To to “cottage” that has been in the family since time immemorial.

It is Summer in Maine, a time when the ex-patriots return.

My dad grew up in the big city of Augusta, the youngest of five. By the time my brothers and I were born, we were the baby cousins, with many of our relatives already out in the world.

“Bud” they called him, and this place he purchased with his bride in Lincolnville became one of the main gathering places for his extended family. The other place was his big brother’s home in Augusta, my Uncle Curt’s place, with the finished basement complete with a large screen TV and an actual pinball machine, and Aunt Merilee’s ambrosia salad on the table for every family gathering.

And the family gathered. As we do. Summer childhood memories are filled with the arrival of aunts and uncles and cousins. Picnics at Ducktrap, coolers full of ‘Jersey hoagies and peaches brought up by Aunt Edwena and Uncle Ray. Listening, and only half understanding, the conversations between my dad and his siblings, talking about times long gone. I wish I’d had a recording device. Cribbage tournaments and cheap beer, lobsters and hot dogs.

When my bachelor uncle, my mom’s little brother, finally married my wonderful Aunt Lynn I, at last, had younger cousins. I was able to show David, Emily, and Kelly- kids growing up in metro D.C., this little place, as their father had introduced me to the wonders of the city.

Our former neighbors, Tom and Jan Shandera, came back recently to celebrate their 50th anniversary with Jan’s extended Hardy clan, a Lincolnville family that keeps getting drawn back home.

Jan and Tom had been lured away to the West Coast where their daughter is raising her own family. Said daughter, Karen, who spent a heck of a lot of time here at Sleepy Hollow in her girlhood, was able to once again show her girls and husband this place on the opposite shore of this nation of ours.

Another old friend returned home to visit her grandchild this week, and to gather with the extended family at the ancestral home. She relayed to me how the adults of her childhood were now “old”, not that, of course, we are old, as we both approach 50.

“My dad has a friggin goatee and it is weird” she writes.

We get older. And Lincolnville is still Lincolnville. And it is still home.

Blueberry Wingding

So this coming Saturday, August 10, from 7-10 a.m., is the Blueberry Wingding.

A long standing fundraiser for the Lincolnville, this community breakfast of blueberry pancakes, coffee, sausage or bacon, will be held at McLaughlin’s at the beach. Breakfast is $15 for adults, $10 for the kids. There will also be a bake sale and a raffle for gifts from local businesses. And likely, in the tradition of the Village Improvement Association of the past, there may be fancywork created by the ladies of Lincolnville available for purchase.

Thanks to Rick McLaughlin and crew for making the restaurant available for the community. Get down there, and enjoy breakfast served by a neighbor!

Magwintegwak

Lincolnville is full of artists and artisans. As Ma said the other day, “you can’t swing a cat in this town without hitting an artist.” (FYI: Don’t swing cats- they will remember, and they will take their revenge.)

The Farnsworth Museum in Rockland currently is exhibiting the baskets preserved by Penobscot activist and archivist Bob Anderson (1929-2020), of Lincolnville. The Shay and Anderson family operated the Indian Tent at Lincolnville Beach for nearly 70 years, selling traditional Wabanaki baskets and other crafts. The Penobscot people were here long before the Knights and Ulmers, and creating art when Lincolnville was Magwintegwak, or “choppy seas”, in the Penobscot language.

This year, the Farnsworth presented their Maine in America award to the Shay and Anderson family, with a duplicate award for the Lincolnville Historical Society, to be displayed in their Anderson exhibit.

Lincolnville’s Blueberry Queen

Something about writing this column, there is always so much you miss. I will see something that is relevant to Lincolnville, and forget all about it come Sunday morning.

That said, for the last couple weeks I have neglected to report that the Union Fair and Maine Wild Blueberry Festival named Lincolnville’s own Rosie Fishman as its 2024 Wild Blueberry Queen! I have known Rose since she was a little girl, and there are few better to take this illustrious mantel. Belated congratulations, Rose!

And that is what I have for you today. Ma has requested a gathering of her sons this afternoon, so I got to start prepping supper. I’m not sure any of us are adept at cribbage, but I am sure their will be stories that our children will not quite understand. Should you be gathering with family, good luck. If you must discuss politics and religion, be kind. As always, reach out to me at ceobrien246@gmail.com.

CALENDAR

Monday, August 5

Lincolnville Historical Society Museum open, 1-4 p.m., 33 Beach Road

Board of Assessors, Town Office, 6 p.m.

Tuesday,August 6

Library open 3-6 p.m. 208 Main Street

AA Meeting 12:15 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Wednesday, August 7

Lincolnville Historical Society Museum open, 1-4 p.m., 33 Beach Road

Library open 2-5 p.m.

Planning Board, 7 p.m.

Friday August 9