“From the middle of Main Street I can see seven abandoned buildings.” Liz Hand made that memorable observation some 10 years ago, standing in front of her Main Street house. Lincolnville Center seemed to have fallen on hard times.

We’re a town with old, very old “housing stock”. Take a look at the big map of town at the Jackie Watts Open Air Museum on the Library grounds. All the 100-year-old houses (many are older) are indicated with a little red house icon and a street number. Main Street in the Center and Atlantic Highway at the Beach have the greatest concentration of these old places, but they’re scattered all over the countryside as well. I’ve never counted them; there’s a project for someone out visiting the Open Air Museum. Let me know.

For a long time the Center was all about losses. Oldtimers remembered the night Breezemere burned, the large hall that stood on the park named for it, where kids rollerskated, where the annual Fireman’s Ball was held. That was about ten years before my time.

The original Center Schoolhouse had gone through a series of downgrades from one-room school to carpentry shop to automotive paint shed to finally, equipment storage. When the Fire Department outgrew its station, they moved out of the Center to bigger and better digs down the road.

Dean and Eugley’s Garage, once the hub of the Center, likewise saw a slow decline until sometime in the late 90s (I’m guessing) it went out of business, fell to the town and was razed. The entrance to the Center became a gravel wasteland.

The Center General Store, an unwieldy wooden, three-story structure from the 19th century, finally became too much for its owner at the time and was shuttered for what everyone assumed would be forever. Who on earth would ever take that place on?

Take a stroll through the Center today and see what people have done with their homes and public spaces these past ten years or so. Start at Breezemere Park with its handsome Bicentennial Bandstand to the Veterans Memorial, the Boat Club, the pottery studio of Meghan Flynn and ANK Ceramics, the Library, the Open Air Museum where the big map of town is displayed, Petunia Pump with her newly shingled roof, the amazing resurrection of the General Store, and the United Christian Church’s Community Building transformation from rundown basketball court to handsome, light filled meeting room complete with kitchen and fancy bathroom.

The houses have kept pace. One added a barn and fenced pasture for horses, several have gardens, flowers, new paint jobs, fresh shingles, and just this past year or two, a couple of them have been brought back from abandonment, with foundation, roof, and interior rebuilds.

One of these, the long abandoned house my kids always called the Boo Radley place (a la To Kill a Mockingbird), is now the Center’s first Painted Lady! Jane and Jerry Bernier are restoring the handsome old place, complete with bright colors, landscaping and more to come. I’ll be losing a good neighbor when they move from their Ducktrap Road farm to the Center, but I’m excited to watch the transformation taking place on what was beginning to look like a ruin.

Another of these is the small red Cape one house down from Petunia Pump and across from the Painted Lady. Janis Kay and Tom Sadowski (husband and wife) brought it back from the brink with new everything, inside and out, yet the old bones of the place are still there. Best of all, we can all go inside and see it, for this is Janis’ new shop, the Red Cottage, bringing an unlikely business to the Center. “For the Home” it says on the sign, and that’s what’s inside.

Janis owned Surroundings in Camden; browsing through her Red Cottage the other day reminded me of her earlier shop. The house is deceptive; it looks quite small, but once inside there’s a surprising amount of space. Tom, who did most of the work himself, kept as much of the old interior as possible – old windows, sanded floors. It’s a shop now, but with heat and plumbing (a new bathroom), and a kitchen still to be finished, the Red Cottage could at some future time be a residence.

Everyone who’s visited says “you won’t believe how much she has in there!” Janis has a talent for display as fans of her old Surroundings know, putting together colors and textures, linens and pottery, lamps, plants, antique pieces, and even clothing. Two rooms downstairs, the bathroom, and a large second-floor room are all filled with color and light.

Janis is starting to put out Christmas things now. Stop by and see her; she’s open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 to 6.

School

Congratulations to the school’s co-ed soccer team on their sixth undefeated season! Read about it in the Lynx newsletter.

And check out fifth grader Zev Whitcomb’s new number system; it’s described in detail in the latest Lynx.

Children will be carving pumpkins after school Wednesday in Walsh Common. Thursday children in kindergarten through second grade will put on their costumes and walk in a Halloween parade through the school at 2:30.

Library

Everyone is invited to come this Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. and talk about their own favorite or recently read mystery, thriller, or horror book. No commitment necessary, just come for an evening of fun discussion. Talk about the books you have enjoyed and share your impressions and recommendations.

The watercolor journaling artists are meeting on this "extra” Wednesday, 4-6 p.m.  Julie Turkevich and the regulars welcome newcomers.  Bring your supplies and come be inspired.

Be sure to stop by the library when Trick or Treating in the Center Thursday evening, Halloween.  Library volunteers (Yes, Mrs. H will be there, too!) will be greeting visitors and handing out treats.

Family Music has been rescheduled to November 15th.

Trick or Treating

Lincolnville now has its own Pearl Street, Camden’s destination trick or treating spot, Main Street through the Center. Or trunk ‘n’ treating if you like, so folks who don’t live in the Center can be part of the fun and offer treats from the trunk of their car!

Even if you’re too old to dress up and go door to door for treats, the Center’s a fun place to be Halloween night with lots of lighted pumpkins, the ones carved at the school the day before, and all the excitement of children in costume with too much candy …. Don’t miss it!

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