ROCKLAND— Book spine poetry started off as a lark, a meme in the 1990s, after artist Nina Katchadourian took photographs of stacked book titles that, when read top to bottom, created short sentences and stories.

In April, the Rockland Public Library put out a contest for book spine poetry.

“Book spine poetry has been around for a long time, but we wanted to offer a contest for the month of April, which is Poetry Month with something that was alternative to the traditional poetry contest,” said Librarian Jessica Blanchard. 

Approximately 30 people submitted photographs of poems they created from stacking the titles of books in a certain order.

“We had people use their own books, books from the library, even books from the inter-loan library, because certain people had titles in mind that they needed to complete their poem and didn’t have a certain word to go with it, said Blanchard. “From the children who submitted, we had a few kids who submitted spine poetry from our after-school program as well as a few students from RSU 13 and homeschooled students.”

Clare Zall won Rockland Public Library’s “Best Overall” category of book spine poetry with her politically-themed entry which reads:

My American Heritage

Stars & Stripes Forever

A Nation of Immigrants

The Audacity of Hope

Dog Days at The White House

Vanishing Americana

“I have a lot of books on American History,” said Zoll. “Scanning my bookshelves, the poem came together quickly. On the poem’s subject matter, she explained, “I grew up 20 miles from D.C. and patriotism was as natural as breathing, even during the Nixon scandal. When I moved to Maine as a young bride, I was happy to find Mainers had great civic pride. Small towns, granges, celebrations keyed to local history. I met young leaders like Chellie Pingree and Jeff Evangelos who had a strong desire to serve the people. Patriotism unites people. Together, we can do more than we can do individually.”

Delving more deeply into the political context, she said: “The last elections I worked to register young voters. Their jaded views surprised me: most had to be convinced that the power of one vote was essential to a healthy America. Some did not know they were eligible to vote, some did not know they could vote with no party affiliation, some even seemed wary of voting. It's deeply disturbing to hear someone say they only see negativity and division in America today. President Obama said America is a work in progress. I agree with that statement. We're a very young country when you think about it, and there's a lot of work to be done. In 2019, I see Nationalism, not patriotism. A patriot is proud of his country for what it does and what it stands for, while a nationalist is proud of his or her country no matter what it does.”

Others who won categories include Best Love Poem: Kalen Darney; Best Nature Poem: Betsy Headley; Best Haiku: Eileen Fitzgerald; Most Humorous: Phyllis Merriam; Best Nature: Rosabelle Humiston and Abby Goode; Most Humorous: Jessa Blackman; Best Kid Haiku & Best Overall: Jared Blackman.

For more examples, check out #bookspinepoetry on Twitter or read this Scholastic article on how “Found Poetry” spurs creativity.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — The jazz-inspired trio The Extension Chords, representing Camden Hills Regional High School, is the only Midcoast band competing in the Maine Academy of Modern Music’s annual rock off dubbed the MAMM Slam to be held at the Empire in Portland on Saturday, May 11.

Myles Kelley (keyboard), Katherine Bowen (electric bass) and Owen Markowitz (drums) make up the ensemble.

The band name came out of a musician’s worst fear: Right before their first public gig, they forgot the extension cords in order to plug in their instruments.

“It was eventually resolved,” said Myles, “but that provided the band name.”

Here’s a video of that exact moment after they got their electrical issues fixed.

All three met and began playing together at the Midcoast Music Academy. Owen, 15, is a sophomore and Myles and Katherine, are both 16 and juniors at CHRHS.They were only a handful of students through MMA playing jazz and naturally, the school put them all together. For the last two years, they’ve been working on original songs and standards. And, they just like to hang out together.

To get a sense of their style, listen to their Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/theextensionchords 

If you want to hear some complicated and sophisticated arrangements, listen to Freedom Jazz Dance. For a little sweet nostalgia, check out their cover of My Funny Valentine. And for a fantastic keyboard cover of Stevie Wonder’s classic hit, listen to You Are The Sunshine of My Life.

It’s no surprise that all three students began their musical careers early, in elementary school. Given such talent at such a young age, their choice of musical style begs the question: why jazz? Why not rock or hip hop?

“I think jazz is coming up more, like more of a popular form,” said Owen.

“In jazz, you have to learn a lot of the basics, that you’d find in other genres, like rock,” said Myles. “It’s not easy, but it makes for a better transition when playing other styles.”

The kids point to Anderson Paak as one of their musical inspirations for jazz being played in a modern way. In the NPR Tiny Desk video embedded in this story (warning: some explicit language), it’s evident what they find exciting about his music. Paak plays drums in some funky, hip hop jazzy dragged beat while effortlessly rapping and singing.

“You can tell this is exactly where our inspiration comes from,” said Myles.

“And a lot of hip hop is also our influence,” said Owen.

As the only Camden band to register for the MAMM Slam, The Extension Chords guaranteed a spot to compete among nearly a dozen bands. In fact, they may be Camden Hills Regional High School only teen band that participates in professional gigs.

All three know this is one of the biggest tests of their music careers this coming weekend that on top of the fact that it’s a heavy testing week at school for them. They only have a few minutes to play their set have to bring their A game. As an instrumental band, they are fairly that they won’t be nervous once they get on stage. (Although Katherine admitted she and Myles do have a little work to do when it comes to stage presence.)

The winners of the MAMM Slam will not only take home a $1,000 cash prize, but will receive a slew of opportunities to boost their career.

No matter what happens, The Extension Chords already have gigs lined up afterward, and plan to play in an upcoming performance at the new "Jazz In June" Festival slated to be held in Camden this summer.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

HOPE — It might come as a bit of a shock to people accustomed to expecting the Hope Library will always stay open, but soon, unless the Board of Directors finds more volunteers to fill the chronic shortage of staff and Board of Directors, it’s a very real possibility that the doors might be permanently closed.

Sydney Hall, a Board member and coordinator of staff, said many people naturally presume that the library is a town entity, just like Camden or Rockport libraries.

“Even though we are a nonprofit and the grant money we do get is for new books and updating equipment, there are no funds to hire staff,” said Hall. “Volunteers are doing everything they can, but even when scheduled to work, things come up and they can’t always be there. Some of us have been volunteering at the library for the past 15 years and truthfully, some of us are burned out,” she said.

Though retired, Hall easily clocks in eight hours each week between organization and staffing the library.

Books have been available in that town office space for about 25 years when the library was more of the model of a Little Free Library on the honor system.

In 2012, the town office expanded the space; and with a grant, the library added new furniture and computer equipment. Today, the library is open whenever the town office is open and even if a librarian isn’t there, patrons can still  check out books on the honor system, something Hall said, “by and large works like a dream.”

The population of the town of Hope is approximately 1,500 and of those citizens, approximately 500 people hold a Hope Library card.

Books are not its only valuable resource.

Without more people power, Hall said, "Our community will lose access to the books we now have, the download library for eBooks and audio books, high speed internet (WiFi) available in the library, access to the Digital Maine Library, including thousands of magazines, newspapers, and reference books including Ancestry.com, and the Learning Express, an online resource for students of all ages, all of which comes through our affiliation with the Maine State Library.”

In addition, the library space, equipped with audio-visual equipment, is used for monthly speakers on educational topics.

“The purpose of the library is to be a community center and that refers to our ability to offer free WiFi as well as access to books and other materials,” said Hall. “We like to think we can provide a place that is physically closer to our citizens in Hope. If we can’t, Hope will become just a suburb of the coastal cities.”

On April 30, the library held a social in the hopes of attracting more interested people.

Hall said about nine people showed up, mostly residents of Hope and mostly retirees.

Two people signed up as volunteers, and three people expressed interest, but the hours that the library could be technically open didn’t mesh up with their available volunteer hours. The library is still reaching out to the community for more, both as staff as members of the board of directors. The current library’s hours are tied to the town office’s hours, but if more volunteers express a willingness to work when the town office is closed, the board of directors will consider that option in their next meeting.

To see the library’s current hours, background information and resources, visit: Hope Library

For interested volunteers: email hope@hope.lib.me.us or call 207-763-3553.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—With the human population pretty much on target to destroy the natural world and wipe out a million species by the next century with its waste, over-consumption and alteration of 75% of the globe’s land and 66% of its marine environments, it’s time to listen to what the kids have to say.

Toren Lee, nine, a student Camden Rockport Elementary School, wrote a persuasive essay for school titled “The Environment Has Feelings, Too.”

Proposing an incremental change in the way the school uses plastic cutlery, Lee and his fellow students, are mini activists in the school’s after-school program, ChangeMakers, which is taking donations of silverware to replace the cafeteria’s plastic cutlery.

Toren said it bothered him to see all of the plastic straws, and single-use plastic dumped into the trash each day.

“I just feel like it’s bad for the environment, and it’s going hurt a lot of sea animals,” Toren said, admitting he was bothered by a recent news article earlier this spring about a whale found dead in the Philippines with 88 pounds of plastic in its stomach.

He’s right to be alarmed.

A report written by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a UN committee with 145 experts from 50 countries, illustrates that more than a third of all marine mammals are at risk of extinction due in part, to the massive amount of plastics that end up in the ocean.

“Of all of the plastic in the world, only nine percent is recycled,12 percent is incinerated, and the rest of it is either thrown away in landfills, or the ocean,” said Toren, firing off an impressive amount of retained statistics.

ChangeMakers estimated that 600 pieces of plastic utensils are used at their school for lunch each day, costing the school about $1,000 per year.

Meanwhile, Toren, who comes from a sewing family, created a canvas pack that can carry cutlery from to and from home.

“I tried to figure out a way to stop using plastic utensils, so we made these utensil bags,” he said.

While he came up with the concept, his father sewed them, adding a logo to the pack to personalize it. He has made several for sale, as well.

While Toren and his classmates have no control over adult consumption, such as shopping with plastic bags, they do have control over a simple thing: that with which they choose to eat their lunch.

Toren said he did the math at ChangeMakers and it will take about $1,500 to upgrade the school’s kitchen to clean all the silverware as well as procure enough, adding that the donation page, started by educator Katie Urey, was getting closer to their goal.

“We’re going to do posters and then make an iMovie about it,” he said.

The money will also be used to put a large magnet in the cafeteria’s trash bin, so that accidentally thrown out utensils can be saved.

Meanwhile, Toren isn’t just jumping on some environmental bandwagon; he’s truly disciplined to make these incremental changes himself and every day, remembers to bring his silverware home and often washes it himself before returning it to the pack for the next day.

To make this daily change is easy enough for anybody—and it doesn’t have to be the “good” silverware from home. Places like GoodWill sell used silverware and Job Lots in Belfast and Rockland have bins of new cutlery one can buy by the piece.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—Directly across from Uncle Willy’s Candy Shoppe, at the corner of Bayview and Frye streets, in Camden, a longtime vacant space is currently being renovated to open as a home decor, furniture and artisan shop, to open in late May.

Funky Farmhouse is the collaboration between long-time friends, Andy Young, the owner of the building, and Sue Gerard, a shop owner from Waterville.

Gerard, who used to own a similar refurbished furniture shop in Waterville, had dreams of coming back to the Midcoast to open a new store here.

“This space has been sitting empty for the last seven or eight years,” said Young, who bought the building a year and a half ago. “The people who previously owned it originally envisioned the space to be a live music venue with a drop-floor ‘dance pit’ in the middle of the room with a small stage, but they eventually realized they didn’t want to go in that direction.”

The friends have formed a new business partnership, calling the shop Funky Farmhouse.

“It’s an eclectic store with a number of upcycled furniture that sometimes is described as “farmhouse chic,” said Young.

“But it’s more than that,” said Gerard. “I want people to know that there is going to be a variety of things to shop here. Country, farm-house, modern and original works.”

“We will be working with a number of local artisan and crafts vendors, who will be showcasing their artwork, such as photography, artwork, coastal scenes with dried flowers, and we’re currently looking for vendors who do stained glass, blown glass and ceramics,” added Young.

Young, a carpenter, and who owns Bald Rock Property Management, did all of the renovations to the interior, and even has repurposed a number of shop fixtures, such as the beadboard front counter and a pair of floor-to-ceiling shelving units from items that have long sat in his barn.

And Young and Gerard aren’t only running the store, they are also contributing some of their own handmade items to the inventory.

“I’m taking some of my carpentry skills and repurposing furniture, such as doors, cabinets, windows and shutters and creating new pieces from them,” said Young. “I’ve been called a pack-rat for many years.”

“I’m pretty much doing the same thing as Andy, as well,” said Gerard. “I’ll give an old piece of furniture new life. We really want this place not just be a shop for tourists, but for locals looking for something in their price range as well. I have a soft spot for local single moms who want to find nice things for their homes at an affordable price.”

They plan to open the shop year-round, starting in late May.

Funky Farmhouse is open to new vendors. They can be found at Funky Farmhouse Decor

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

WARREN—With the monster success of Maine Brew Bus tours in Portland and Boston, it was only a matter of time that all-inclusive minivan tours to Midcoast breweries, distilleries and wineries would materialize.

Larry and Rose Bull, of Warren, have envisioned a new service for locals and tourists to capitalize on the Maine Wine, Beer and Spirit Trails by doing all of the driving.

Bull On The Run Tours, a play on their last name, is set to start operating in May 12, Mother’s Day, with a 12-passenger mini van Wednesday to Sunday hitting popular spots in Knox, Lincoln and Waldo counties.

Planning to rendezvous at the Rock Harbor Tasting Room at 5 Payne Avenue in Rockland, the white van with the logo an will leave from Rockland as its starting point for each tour.

“Two of the days we’ll do winery tours; two of the days will be brewery tours and then we’ll have a wild card day, that might encompass both, plus distilleries,” said Bull. “If enough people want to do a special trip, we can customize to what they want as well.”

Bull, a retired U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer, has been in law enforcement and the military for the last 30 years. His wife, Rose, born and raised in Waldoboro, has worked for 36 years for Hannaford Supermarkets.  Combining their skill sets with business and customer service, the couple began thinking of what they wanted to do when they retired.

“Rose and I knew each other 20 years ago when I first lived in Maine,” said Bull. “When I left in 1988, there was one winery and one brewery here.  I left the military and came back and she and I reconnected again. We both have an interest in the area’s wineries and breweries here and having seen a lot of wineries and breweries on the west coast where I spent time in California, we thought the time was right to start an all-inclusive tours.”

Currently in the process of finishing up getting their insurance and licenses, the Bulls are looking forward to the new venture.

“We’ll go south part of the week and north the next part,” he said. “People who haven’t visited this area before might find it a little intimidating to try and locate some of these out of the way rural places on their own, so we’ll provide an easy way to see everything without having to worry about driving. And, if a group of people wanting to take a tour are all located at one place, such as a hotel, or Airbnb, we’ll even drive to you and pick you up.”

Bull estimates that each trip will take about four to five hours with bathroom breaks along the way and will be around $60 per person.

For more info: Bull On The Run Tours

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

THOMASTON—Dozens of service industry professionals got their first look at the new Thomaston location for Threshers Brewing Co’s second Midcoast tasting room on Monday, April 29 from 5 to 8 p.m.

Carpenters and brewers Ethan Evangelos and Scott Bendtson were greeting many of the bartenders and restaurant servers partaking in the sneak preview for an “Industry Professional Night.” With their children by their side, they debuted a roomy, spacious tasting room with a bar and plenty of tables; enough space for future bands to play and enough space to dance. The former Billy’s Tavern got an updated look with newly painted red walls to match the decor at their Searsmont tasting room. Along with Threshers’ usual brew offerings, they are also selling ciders, wines and spiked selzer water here, along with a couple of non-alcoholic options.

Initially when carpenters and brewers Ethan Evangelos and Scott Bendtson envisioned opening in May, they’d also be able to offer cans and growlers of their beer, but due to some licensing issues, that option is not yet on the table. Plans for a small deli-style kitchen are also still on hold until they can get this tasting room off the ground.

Their official Soft Opening at the new location kicks off Saturday, May 4 from 3 to 11 p.m. In the future they will also offer guest taps of other Maine craft beers. Mug club sign ups will start at a first-come first-serve basis.

For more information and to stay up to date on their progress visit their Facebook page or website.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

WALDOBORO—A new mobile food truck is set to open in Waldoboro this spring. Opposite Moody’s Diner at the corner of Rt. 1 and Washington Road, Ollie’s, a bright red mobile kitchen, is set to open April 22.

Owners Vickey and Ralph Jones, who formerly owned Ollie’s Place, a small grocery store and restaurant in Jefferson, had to put the business on hold in 2015 to care for Ralph’s ailing mother. After taking a couple of years after that to travel, the couple decided to move to Waldoboro and open the mobile food truck in the parking lot of where they live.

“A lot of our former customers kept asking us, when are you going to open again?” said Vickey. ‘We looked for another place in Jefferson, but couldn’t find a physical location. The house where we rent is already commercial, so we asked our landlady if we could put a food truck in the parking lot and she said it was okay. It’s just 20 feet to work; it’s perfect.”

The mobile food truck was previously a strawberry shortcake trailer that used to operate at the Windsor Fair. The couple renovated the outside and revamped their old menu at Ollie’s Place. Once again, Ollie’s—named after their border collie—will be back in business.

The menu, prepared from scratch inside the mobile kitchen, will include subs, wraps, burgers, Reuben sandwiches with Morse’s sauerkraut, lobster and crabmeat rolls, pan-fried haddock sandwiches and quesadillas. They will also carry Gifford’s ice cream.

“On the property is a greenhouse, which is all cleared out,” said Vickey. “We put six picnic tables inside, so people can sit down and get out of the weather if it’s a rainy day. It will be filled with beautiful hanging plants and the sides will be rolled up so people can enjoy the outdoors. we’ll also have some outside seating also.”

Their hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST— The addition of Perennial Cider Bar & Farm Kitchen is exactly what Belfast needs right now.

The grand opening at 84 Main Street (formerly the yarn shop) took place in a cozy basement space dominated by a copper-topped bar. Chef-owner Khristopher Hogg took turns serving the dozens of curious apple lovers who came to see what a cider bar is all about.

With plenty of seating at the bar, several surrounding two tops and a nook that can seat up to six people, this small place can pack them in and still feel lively and comfortable.

On the liquid side of the menu, Perennial offers traditional and heritage hard ciders from Maine, New England and beyond. Each cider they’ve chosen is distinct and they offer upwards to 25 different ciders, from the bottle, can and on tap. See who they source from here.

Cider by the glass (8 oz pour) ranges from $6 to $9 and cider on tap (8 oz and 12 oz pours) range from $4.5 to $7.

Along with several ways to enjoy a flight of cider tastings, there are also ice ciders (served neat on ice) for $5 and cider apertifs, along with a non-alcoholic kombucha and a cider vinegar shot.

Most people are not cider connoisseurs and that problem is solved with The Pommelier’s Choice on the menu (a riff on Sommelier), allowing the taster to be interviewed on one’s beer, wine and spirit preferences, before the knowledgeable bartender determines the customer’s palate and picks the best flavor combinations in the form of a three-glass flight (three ounces each) for $9.

A flight of Rocky Ground Dahlia, Cornish Common Fruit and Whaleback Traditional Dry from Lincolnville, for example, ranged wildly in flavor. Whereas the Rocky Ground was more of an earthy, honeyed flavor reminiscent of adult apple juice, the Cornish, Common Fruit, with its ripe strawberry and oak, was effervescent, bright and sweet. Then, the Whaleback knocked it out of the park with hazy tartness and an overall harmony that made the third sip feel like the last act in a third-act play.

Though Perennial does not make its own cider (yet) Hogg is a cider enthusiast himself and wanted to create a space for others to appreciate this burgeoning scene. Over the past decade he’s managed farm-to-table kitchens in Boston, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington state where he started Perennial as a traveling supper club. The food side of the menu, as website describes, was inspired “in the tradition of the tavernas, tapas bars, farmhouses, and street corners” with the best available local ingredients. Small plates such as coppa (cured pork shoulder, fir-infused honey and chamomile mayo) run you $4.5 to $6, along with snacks such as deviled eggs, charcuterie boards, small comfort foods and a cold-frame salad.

This cider bar fits in perfectly with Belfast’s character and is sure to be a local’s favorite, along with a hot spot for visitors this summer.

Open Wednesday to Saturday, happy hour is 4 to 6 p.m. Dinner and full cider program goes from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Check their calendar regularly for upcoming tastings, talks, and other events.

Photos by Kay Stephens, who can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Bar Harbor artist Alexandrea Farquhar has put together an exhibit at Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in Rockland from the bodies of roadkill.

Her exhibit, Post-Morphean Dreamwork, is composed of the images that she wrote down in a dream journal over several years, then constructed, using ethically-sourced taxidermy, discarded materials, plaster casting, and clay sculpture. 

Farquhar, a senior at College of the Atlantic, and where she studies natural history and museum exhibit prep, said: “I first encountered non-traditional taxidermy when I was a kid. I really liked the way it looked, yet at the same time, it kind of unsettled me. I think with this medium, there’s a lot to explore in the terms of the way we look at art.”

In one of her pieces, a fox seems to rival John Mayer’s “guitar face,” lying on its side with the neck and head of an old guitar extruding from its body.

“I usually have the animals donated to me or I find them myself,” she said.

At school, she works on her pieces at the Prep Lab, which has all of the tools she needs to work on her taxidermy. In the case of the fox, which had been donated to the College, she said, “the fox was already here in the freezer at the College of The Atlantic, and I got permission to use it.”

The old-school method of taxidermy requires her to strip the skin off the animal, tan it, and then remold it around a handmade form.

“All of the pieces in the exhibition come from dream images that I’d had that I’d written down,” she said. “With this fox, I had a dream that I was walking through an art gallery, actually. II saw this fox and this old six-string guitar neck coming out of it in a glass case and it really stuck in my mind.”

Many people have different reactions to taxidermy as art. Some people she’s said almost seem afraid of the exhibit and tentatively approach each art piece. Some wholly embrace the exhibit with curiosity. And some people, Farquhar completely understands, are unsettled by it, as well.

“I’ve always really loved animals and have always had pets,” she said. “And seeing a dead animal being presented in an artificial way can be unsettling. So, it took some courage for me to try and present the animals in such a way that I could make them into a reflection of myself. I still struggle with that quite a bit.”

One piece hanging on the far wall, features a plaster cast of two arms cradling a tiny fawn in mid-air. This piece is very personal to Farquhar.

“I made those casts of my own hands,” she said. “The fawn came to me when my professor hit her with his truck one fall by accident. He brought her to me. She was quite small and there was a good chance she might not have made it through the winter.”

Where the fox is comical, the fawn is tender, and surprisingly emotional.

“Given the terrible circumstances around her death, and that she was so small, I made this piece to convey a sense of protectiveness,” she said.

Mainly the public reaction to Farquhar’s artwork has been positive, but she admitted that isn’t for everyone.

“Some people are more open to taxidermy as art than others,” she said. “In some ways children are better equipped to handle this exhibit than certain adults. It all depends on your background.”

Post-Morphean Dreamwork is open to the public until April 30. To see more pieces on display visit: https://mainecoastislands.org/programs-art/

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST— One portrait that recently hung in the Waterfall Arts’ Young Artists Gallery Takeover last month is a scream. No, not as in funny, but as a literal scream, a portrayal of a man’s mouth in silhouette, and from that mouth dozens of words fly out. They all give a window into the level of pressure teens still feel when it comes to fitting in.

Ayla Fitzjurls, named after the the prehistoric heroine of Clan of the Cave Bear, is the artist behind three collages that underscore this pressure.

The collage, entitled “Falling: A Note To Anyone,” incorporates a collage of cut-out-of-magazine words to lay the foundation of impossible expectations, often self-imposed at this age.

The collage is part of her 12th grade art project this semester at Belfast Area High School.

“We had the choice to do whatever we wanted, as long as it was a series,” said Ayla. “The collage at Waterfall Arts was actually second in the series. My theme was ‘falling.’ My first piece was about falling from society, being bullied, and being an outcast. The Waterfall Arts piece was about mentally falling, depression and loneliness. And the third sculpture, a 3-D mobile, shows physical feeling of falling.”

As a child, Ayla was encouraged by art teacher Linda Stec, at Starrett Childrens’ Center across from Waterfall Arts. 

“As Linda also worked at Waterfall Arts at the time, she allowed me to take some of her classes for free,” said Ayla. “She really started my interest in the arts and showed how to do ceramics and sculpture— things that really opened up my world.”

One of her first projects through Waterfall Arts was to make a cardboard dress, part of C.B.A.R.F. (Cardboard Boxes Are Really Fun): a community art party.

As Ayla grew up, she gravitated more toward ceramics and sculpture. More on that in a bit, but back to the first collage, which depicts a man in the maw of what looks like a jagged cave or a mouth, and all around him are faces, mostly Photoshopped to perfection.

“I I chose to cut out more faces of women, because I definitely think there is more drama between them and more bullying with women,” said Ayla. “The lone figure below is reacting by walking into the thick of all of these faces. In our school, I notice guys are more apt to be by themselves, while girls are usually in a group. Originally I didn’t intend for these black jagged lines being a mouth, but then I put it together and it actually fit.”

As for the second collage featured in Waterfall Arts gallery, Ayla said: “I spent a month on this piece finding all of the words to put in it. I wanted it to be a letter to anyone viewing it. Most of the words at the top are sort of negative, but at the bottom of the collage, the meaning turns uncertain, with one phrase ’we know you’re out there’.’”

Ayla, who admitted she’d hasn’t experienced bullying herself, has an empathetic connection for anyone who has, having witnessed it and its after-effects in some of her friends and classmates.

“I feel like these standards of beauty that you see in these faces, all cut out from Vogue, all contribute to depression in the everyday person, the self-hatred,” she said. “You worry about how you look, how people view you. When you’re depressed, you feel like everything is crashing in on you.

“Everyone knows bullying exists in every school, but they just put it on the back burner. In doing an art piece like this will hopefully bring the issue to light to whoever is looking at it.”

With her interest in ceramics, Ayla has been accepted into the Maine College of Art next fall.

“I hope to get my bachelor’s of fine arts and open my own business to hold classes and an after-school program for kids to come in and work in clay,” she said. “I want to do for kids what Linda did for me.”

The Waterfall Arts 2019 Young Artists Gallery show is now over, but you can see what other teens displayed in our most recent story 

Hail To The Rad Kids is an ongoing feature highlighting creative and talented teens in the Midcoast.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST—Creativity is free, but the technology to produce it is not. Thanks to a grant by William W. Treat Foundation secured by the Belfast Free Library, the third floor conference room is the Library’s newest Makerspace.

What is a Makerspace? According to the definition, it is “a place in which people with shared interests, especially in computing or technology, can gather to work on projects while sharing ideas, equipment, and knowledge.”

The grant funded a variety of new equipment for the Makerspace, including a computer cart housing 10 PC (Dell) laptops, a Macbook, a high-resolution scanner, and a multi- format color printer; and a 55-inch Bluetooth accessible wall-mounted monitor; electronic sewing machines; a camcorder with tripod and external microphones; and studio lights and green screen background. Adobe Cloud software is available, and all computers are equipped with Microsoft Office Suite.

The conference room doubles as the Makerspace with all of the equipment locked up behind utility closets.

“All of the Dell laptops have been loaded with software to interact with the high-quality printer and scanner and the Macbook comes with Adobe Creative Cloud so people can use Photoshop or Illustrator, or InDesign, any of the Adobe Suite products,” said Erica Rubin Irish, Youth Services Librarian. “Anyone can use the equipment, regardless if he or she holds a library card; there just needs to be an orientation.”

For creative people, this Makerspace opens up a world of possibility. The library plans to offer this equipment to the public, but also plans on scheduling Makerspace programming. With the laptops connected to the wall-mounted monitor, educators can lead group trainings; artists and writers can now do more multimedia presentations for the public. People can teach themselves online to sew. And with the studio lights, video camera, green screen and editing software, budding filmmakers can make their own in-house films.

The Library’s first event was a button-making for teens. This program combined high-tech and low-tech:  searching designs online and printing with the new color printer, then using an old-fashioned hand-operated button maker to create custom buttons (badges).

The second program featured Maine State Library’s Gizmo Garden hands-on science program for kids. Participants created clay pots and wired circuitry boards that made the pots self-watering. 

“While there is that technology focus, we also want to do more events where people are making things with their hands,” said Sharon Pietryka, the Reference and Special Collections Librarian.

“We also just got a machine that can burn VHS tapes to DVD,” said Rubin Irish. “That is something that is hard to find to be able to transfer home movies to DVD.”

The librarians are excited about the vast opportunities to now use the equipment in a variety of ways.

“In the future, we’re planning on running a vlog-making (video blog) workshop for teens,” said Rubin Irish

Coming up, the Library plans a “Family Memory Book” making class on Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30 p.m. with a follow up class (TBD) where participants will be able to use the Makerspace and access an online program to complete their Memory Book. For more information visit: https://belfastlibrary.org/library-programs/

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—If you want to take a walk on the wild side, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art’s large-scale, immersive installation, “Hubris Atë Nemesis” by artists Wade Kavanaugh, of Bethel, and Stephen B. Nguyen, of Portland, is something to behold.

The exhibit fully takes up the space of CMCA’s main gallery and treats the viewer to a sensory experience akin to walking through a fun house. There is an illusion of movement all around as one walks the pathway over the undulating boardwalk.

Kavanaugh said of its inspiration: “Our current idea came from a visit to the [Winslow] Homer studio, partly from the sea, but more from the landforms along the water’s edge.”

Asked how they did it, CMCA’s Executive Director Suzette McAvoy, said, “The artists had a design in mind and in our Art Lab you can see the wooden model they made in their studio in Rumford, where they literally used fettuccine to get an idea of layout.”

It took the artists and a team of volunteers and CMCA staff a little more than three weeks to create using 260 4 x 8 sheets of luan plywood, 250 2 x 4s and 200 2 x 6s. 

“Most of it was cut here,” she said. “We had a table saw set up in the loading dock, and the artists, our staff and volunteers cut the plywood into strips, before realizing they were going to need more. Then we then ordered another 30 or so sheets on top of that,” said McAvoy. “First, they laid down the wooden pathway which they had constructed off site in their studio, then they built the 2 x 4 framework, over which they layered the strips."

The artists only do large-scale installation work and this is the first time they worked exclusively with wood, all their previous installations were made from paper. 

The title of the installation, “Hubris Atë Nemesis,” refers to the narrative arc of Greek tragedies, in which Hubris, characterized as an arrogant confidence, transforms to Atë, a ruinous folly or madness, then ultimately to Nemesis, a force of retribution that resets the natural order.  

Kavanaugh and Nguyen were selected as the first recipients of the highly competitive Ellis-Beauregard Fellowship Award from a pool of more than 200 applicants and received a stipend of $25,000 in recognition of their achievements.

Though our photos and video give a glimpse into the installation, it must be seen in person to experience. “Incredible art exhibit,” said Penobscot Bay Pilot writer Sarah Thompson, who was among dozens of people invited to a special business reception to view the artwork on April 2.

“The moment I stepped on/into it, until five minutes after I stepped off, I felt like I was in a real boat. I never had art affect me so physically.”

For more information on this installation and on concurrent exhibits on display visit: cmcanow.org

ROCKLAND—If you need a mental break in your day, pop into the Good Tern in Rockland for the month of April. Coinciding with National Poetry Month, the Good Tern Café Gallery features its annual mail-in exhibition of poetry and art. Many arrive in the form of handmade postcards.  Past years’ entries were received from as far away as the UK and Australia. Check out a few of the poems in a virtual gallery.

Photos by Kay Stephens

CAMDEN—A casual and comfortable clothing retailer with a fun name marks the second clothing shop opening on Bayview Street in Camden this spring. FatFace, a U.K. company, is set to open their second Maine store on Saturday, March 30. With 14 locations in the U.S., the Camden store is their 15th store to open in New England.

With more than 200 stores in the U.K., it’s a bit of surprise to learn that the founders weren’t initially business types—far from it. In fact, it’s safe to say they were a couple of ski bums. Here’s the story: Two guys, Tim Slade and Jules Leaver graduated college in 1988. Not interested in getting “real” jobs, they took an extended vacation in skiing in the French Alps. Inevitably, they ran out of money, but still not wanting to go into the ‘real world,’ they decided instead to print up a bunch of t-shirts and sweatshirts and sell them out of the back of their beat up camper van.

“This is my favorite story,” said Marketing Manager, Spenser Guay. “They had both just finished college in the U.K. Back in those days, you were expected to get an office job, but instead they went on this extended skiing trip to their favorite ski run, La Face. And after finding this surprise success in selling these graphic tees out of their van, they decided to combine the British slang word ‘Fat’ which means ‘cool’ with their favorite mountain.”

Fast forward 30 years later and the two ski bums have made themselves quite the impressive brand. “I like to describe FatFace as a corporation that has 244 stores that still operates like it’s just the first store they started in 1992,” said Guay.

One of the company’s tagline’s is  “Embrace life outside the 9 to 5” and Guay described the clothing store’s style as “on-trend, outdoor casual and classic.” There is clothing for men, women and children, as well as accessories.

“Back when they [the founders] had no money, they wanted value for every dollar they got, so they insist on each clothing piece being a quality product,” he said.

The company also insists on responsible and sustainable sourcing and gets their products from more than 150 trusted and well integrated sourcing partners from over 10 countries globally.

The store is set to open Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 10 a.m and will have a smattering of light refreshments to welcome people in.

For more information and to see the clothing styles visit: fatface.com/en

Even though we’re technically at the start of Spring, the age-old season of renewal, it hasn’t quite actually felt like it. Many of us are still in grouchy hibernation mode, overly saturated with politics and the news feed, feeling the twin crunch of tax and bathing suit season.

But hang tight, April is ushering in five unique events around the state that will act like a brain stimulant. So rip off that Band-aid of Winter and and give your life the pop of color it needs right now.

Two “Art and Word” Ekphrastic Events

April 2 & April 12 — Belfast & Portland

April kicks off the start of National Poetry Month and at least two ekphrastic exhibits are taking place around the state. Ek-what? Ekphrastic refers to a verbal description of a visual work of art. Belfast artist Marjorie Arnett asked 27 poets to write poems interpreting one of her paintings, “Delicate Balance” above. There will be an opening reception at the Belfast Free Library combining those poems to her painting on April 2 from 5 to 6 p.m. And if that suits your fancy, Portland is also hosting an ekphrastic exhibit called “ArtWord” on April 12 inspired by the art at Portland Museum of Art.  Authors of selected poems will read them at the museum at 5 p.m. in an auditorium program. FMI: ArtWord

Makers And Artists’ Conference

April 4 & 5 — Northport

This event is the perfect springboard for anyone creativity has felt dormant. As I’ve written about before, this is the only conference of its type, with nearly half of this conference’s participants drove more than an hour away to attend. It hits every aspect of an artist or marker’s career: Foundational, Transformational, and Inspirational – for those just starting a business, those looking to take their business to the next level, and those interested in tips for maintaining fulfillment, passion, and inspiration.Switching it up this year, the Conference will span two days with one-day passes as well as a bundle pass and kick off on a Thursday night with artist Robert Shetterly discussing artists who courageously address issues of social, environmental, and economic fairness in their work from 5 to 6 p.m. Having attended this conference, I can personally say the most valuable thing about it is learning about social media tips and tricks, opportunities for Maine artists and the ability to chat and connect with other artists in your genre. For the full schedule and speakers/cost, click here.

Moonlight Forest Enchanted Dance Party

April 6 — Portland

To get out a late winter rut, experts suggest changing your surroundings and this adult fairy tale dance party not only gives you an excuse to stay overnight in Portland, but this epic charity ball (supporting Wayside Food Programs) will be a portal into another dimension. Here’s what they are asking: “Please come dressed in your finest homage to the witchy woods, wild beasts, dainty woodland creatures, fanciful fairies, eclectic elves, old growth evergreens, gnarly oaks, mystical moss, mythic monsters, wise witches, stylish sorcerers, dazzling dragons and the like are highly encouraged.”  1  drink ticket provided with Rising Tide Brewery hosting. After that, enjoy a cash bar of beer and wine. $20/Advance, $25/Day of at the door. FMI: Mayo Street Arts

Air Play

April 11 —-Portland

Get ready to have your mind blown. Husband-and-wife team of Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone merge their circus and street theater performance art with the sculptural artistry of Daniel Wurtzel for Air Play, a surreal performance. The description reads: “Circus and science collide as fabrics dance in the wind, balloons have a mind of their own, confetti turns into the night sky, and an enormous canopy of hovering silk brings to life the very air we breathe” so you know this isn’t going to be our everyday Checkov play. Note: not for little kids. Fog and strobe lighting are used during the show. Latex balloons are used onstage and in the audience. Tickets vary and the show starts at 7 p.m. at the Merrill Auditorium FMI: Air Play

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Once known as “the tea of immortality,” Kombucha, a fermented brew thought to be invented by the Chinese more than 2,000 years ago, is experiencing a revival in Maine, and not just for the wellness crowd.

Last winter, a number of curious customers flocked to Lincolnville General Store to find out what Kombucha tastes like courtesy of a free tasting offered by Aqua ViTea, a Kombucha producer in Middlebury, Vermont. Aqua ViTea supplies Lincolnville General Store Kombucha on tap and in bottles as well as to a number of Maine stores.

Kombucha is made by introducing a SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) a globby, unappealing whitish mass, into the black or green tea that serves as the engine to starting the fermentation process. The SCOBY eats the sugars in the brew, producing a fizzy, tangy taste and after it is strained out, the second fermentation can begin with the addition of spices, fruits and herbs for more flavor.

Kombucha, known chiefly for being a rich source of probiotics, (and great for people with poor gut health) has also been found to contain antioxidants that combat free radicals and reactive molecules that damage cells, according to new studies published by Healthline.com. In addition, it has strong anti-bacterial properties that fight against infection-causing bacteria, making it a superhero of health drinks. 

As many home brewers know, once yeast eats sugars, the process produces a small amount of alcohol in kombucha—anywhere from 0.5 to 2 percent. (For reference, a Budweiser has 5 percent alcohol).

Prior to 2010 while kombucha was enjoying a renaissance, the fermented drink wasn’t on anyone’s radar for being over the legal level of alcohol, until, as this 2017 Forbes article attests, a Maine Department of Agriculture Consumer Protection Inspector Randy Trahan was taking a walk around Whole Foods in Portland one day in 2010, when he noticed that some of the kombucha bottles on the shelf were leaking.

Finding that suspicious, Trahan “submitted a few of the store's bottles for testing at the Food Sciences Lab at the University of Maine, where it was discovered that the bottles contained alcohol levels ranging from slightly over 0.5 percent to over 2.5 percent, which was well above the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's regulation that labeled non-alcoholic beverages must contain less than 0.5 percent ABV.”

After that analysis, Whole Foods had to remove all of its kombucha products from the shelves and on tap, prompting the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau  to update its guidelines announcing that it would regulate any kombucha products that contain 0.5 percent or more ABV.  While the entire industry of kombucha producers struggled to figure out a way to comply with the new guidelines by manufacturing the drink differently, others whose formulas crept above 0.5 percent, decided to re-brand it as alcoholic kombucha.

The same problem for Maine manufacturers presented an obstacle for Aqua ViTea’s founder, Jeff Weaber, when the Vermont Department of Liquor Control and the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau raided his fledgling brewery in 2008, determining that the alcohol content was too high in the probiotic elixir.

So, after spending millions in R&D to correct the problem, they chanced upon an ideal solution: distilling the alcohol out of the Kombucha and making their own vodka from it. Pairing up with Appalachian Gap, a distillery in Middlebury, Vermont, Weaber worked with the distillery to make Aqua Vodka, 88-proof and certified organic, from the alcohol by-product of Weaber's Kombucha. 

A win-win for everyone, but for those who prefer their kombucha under the legal limit, there are two places to try Aqua ViTea on tap: at Lincolnville General Store and the Belfast Co-op.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

One man’s trash is an archeologist’s dream, only it’s not called “trash”—it’s called “cultural material.”

Harbour Mitchell, an archeologist for the last 30 years, has worked for the University of Maine, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission in Augusta, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and professional archaeological contractors throughout the region.

On a visit to Merryspring Nature Center in early 2018, Mitchell asked to see a cellar hole located near the north meadow. The federal style farm house that once likely stood over the cellar, belonged to Asa Hosmer, who bought Lot 71 in 1803. 

On his way back from the cellar, what Mitchell didn’t expect was to stumble across another historic site. Only someone with a trained eye would have even noticed a strange, cellar sized depression in the meadow. Believing it to be a second, filled-in cellar, he got the blessing of Merryspring’s trustees and began an archaeological dig, which lasted through the summer months and into the fall of 2018.

With help from assistants, Mitchell uncovered over 1,000 pieces of pottery called “sherds,” dozens of nails, brick, shards of glass, table knives, glass and clay beads, and more from this very early “homestead.” What was not found were alcohol bottles or pipes, which Mitchell said was “highly unusual … for an 18th Century site.”

Piecing together the fragments of material culture with the history records of this area, Mitchell hypothesized that there was probably an occupation in Merryspring’s meadow as early as the Revolutionary War, and which may have included both the Continental Militia (independent soldiers) and Penobscot Native Americans.

Recall that until the Revolutionary War, Maine was still a province of Massachusetts, one of the 13 colonies. In August, 1779, in an effort to help free the colonies of English rule, more than 250 militia and 40 Penobscot warriors left Glen Cove (now “Rockport” today) to fight the British in Castine. The Continental forces were badly beaten, and retreated back through the forests, many on their way back to Boston. But, not everyone wanted to leave the beautiful, resource-rich areas of what we now know today was Maine. After the war, a number of, now United States citizens settled on Lot 71, which is what Merryspring Nature Center was called back then.

“There clearly is a long term occupation in [the] 1780s and ‘90s on that Merryspring property,” said Mitchell, who gave a speech of his findings to a packed house at Merryspring last month.

“The depression that we found was a cellar hole, which at one point probably sat underneath a small, one story home,” he said. “It could have been up on posts, which after 30 years, would have rotted away. The house could have been in good shape, but the bottom of it was disintegrating. Somebody bought the lot in the late 1790s and the homestead house was moved off the foundation. From the dig we surmised they used that earthen cellar as a place to dump stuff. It was a combination of all of the construction materials for the new house and has all of the ceramics that could have been available at that time.”

Included in the pottery sherds Mitchell recovered is China Glaze Pearlware, Chinese Exported porcelain, English Fazackerly delft and English Creamware to mention a few.

“This [is] imported pottery brought over by boat [and] used by one family for a year or two, then another family [lived there] for a year for two,” he said. “This was inexpensive, mass-produced pottery, sort of like the Wal-Mart pottery of that time period. It was used, broken and thrown away. Then, the cellar was filled up… and [the field] used for pasture in the early 1800s.”

The other materials he recovered in the field, clay and glass beads, suggested that, after the battle for Castine, a number of Penobscot warriors may have also retreated back to this same area. While it’s not known whether the families (now United States citizens) and Native Americans lived with one another after the war, it’s likely they knew one another and crossed paths occasionally.

As a result of the effort by Mitchell and a few dedicated volunteers, we now have a window into how “life might have been” in the very earliest days of Camden and Rockport.

To learn more about Merryspring Nature Center, and it’s flora, fauna and history, visit their Lending Library, or stroll the grounds at 30 Conway Rd., in Camden.

Article written with assistance from Harbour Mitchell.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—On a dreary, Friday afternoon where a nor’easter was spending the last of its energy across the Midcoast, the interior of the new Blue Barren Distillery, adjacent to the Lyman-Morse marina was cheery and bright with flowers, an array of hors d’oeuvres and tasting glasses. Gone from the industrial room were the large plastic totes of blueberry wine that previously dominated the space.  Co-owners Andrew Stewart of The Drouthy Bear and Jeremy Howard, a seventh generation blueberry farmer with Brodis Blueberries in Hope, were on hand all weekend to give guests a special preview of their 2019 Spring tasting of the distillery’s first product, Eau de Vie, a blueberry brandy crafted from the blueberries they both harvested from Hope.

Stewart and Howard gave an hour-long presentation on their journey of the new distillery, why they chose blueberries for their first product and how the brandy was distilled. “This year we had some factors that delayed the brandy,” said Howard. “We had to harvest the blueberries, but our equipment hadn’t arrived yet, so we turned it into wine. Next year, when we harvest the blueberries, they’ll go right into the fermenters, and the blueberry mash will go directly into the still.”

Each guest got to sample the clear fruit brandy, which surprisingly, had very little blueberry taste. Stewart and Howard could have opted to re-infuse blueberry color back into the Eau de Vie, but chose to keep it stripped down on its own merits. Guests then had the chance to make up cocktails on the sidebar with the brandy as the base as they learned more about the distilling process and their Vendome stainless steel and copper one-hundred-gallon pot still.

The tasting room is still undergoing renovations and Stewart and Howard plan on a May opening with tables outside. Anyone who wants to buy a bottle of Eau de Vie now while they still have it, visit their Facebook page.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—With Maine coming in second (after Vermont) as the state with the most cat-owning households, it makes sense that the 2019 Cat Video Festival should take place here. The first stop will be at the Strand Theatre, March 24, and after that, the Festival will host several screenings in Portland. Will Braden, curator of the Cat Video Festival, lives in Seattle, but travels all over the U.S. and Canada each year to screen the Festival. Braden has led a very curious career; let’s find out a little bit more about him.

Pilot: Do you have another job?

Braden: No, this is it. I’m technically the president and CEO. We’re a pretty small operation; we don’t have many employees. Before this, I went to film school and did a lot of video work for hire in Seattle. So, I’m in charge of putting together the reels of the Festival. I look at about 10,000 cat videos a year and whittle that down to the final reel and do the music. The final reel is almost 75 minutes long, about 115 videos.

Pilot: How did you get involved with it?

Braden: In 2012, there was another festival called the Internet Cat Video Festival; the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis started that. The first year it took place, I entered my own film called Henri [a web series of short films on the existential musings of the tuxedo cat Henri ] which won The Golden Kitty (People’s Choice) Award. It got all of this press attention and I became attached at the hip with the Festival. And in the third year, I took over curating the reel for them.  I did that for a couple of years and in 2015, they had their last show and moved on to different projects, so I started Cat Video Fest in 2016 to keep the tradition alive. Since 2012, one way or another cat videos have been my full-time profession.

Pilot: Do you own any cats yourself?

Braden: I have one cat, now. Her name is Nin, after Anais and she’s half Bengal and half who knows? She’s great, but mischievous, but loud and annoying.

Pilot: So, 10,000 hours of viewing cat videos?

Braden: No, no, no. 10,000 videos; if they were all an hour long, I don’t know if I could make it though it. But any time, I start to feel sorry for myself, I remember there are people who have to do roofing in July. Putting cat videos together is really more rewarding than challenging.

Pilot: What’s a ringer for a video?

Braden: It has to be edited down very tightly and has to have some kind of pay off at the end either the big laugh or the big ‘ohhhh.’ The thing that makes a video go viral is something that happens right at the end.

Pilot: This is pretty unscientific, but I’ve heard that watching cat videos alleviates stress.

Braden: I can’t imagine it wouldn’t. I’m the least stressed-out person and I watch more cat videos than anybody. Proof positive right there. But it’s true. So, many people come up to me after the Festival, lay a hand on my shoulder and say, ‘I needed that.’ They need 75 minutes of turning their brains off, joyously watching cat videos and laughing.

Pilot: is this a national or international festival?

Braden: It’s mostly national, with maybe six locations in Canada. So far, we’ve screened in about 100 venues with more to come. Although, this is stating to be the breakout year and we’re getting international invitations to come screen the Festival in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It’s funny, people think this Festival would only be in San Francisco, Brooklyn, Portland or some sort of hipster enclave. The fact that we’re selling out shows in Appleton, Wisconsin shows that there are cat lovers everywhere.

Pilot: Is it a surprise to you where your career has ended up?

Braden: I have a business card that says ‘I make cat videos.’ That was my dream to put it on my business card. I have to embrace the surreal, unusual and kind of silly nature of what I do, but at the same time I really love it. And you’d be surprised how many times I get interviewed and they ask, ‘So, was this always the plan?’ How on earth could that have been my plan? No, it’s all been serendipity, procrastination and luck.

The show starts at 3 p.m. FMI: Strand Theatre

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — Even Camden girls get the blues... denim blues that is. Barefoot in Denim, a new clothing and accessories boutique for women opened at 24 Bay View Street, in the former Theo B. Camisole space. Owner Jennel Johnson Pendleton, sporting a light blue denim shirt, has put her own stamp on the sunny shop.

“I do like the color blue,” she said.

Johnson Pendleton and her husband permanently moved to Camden five years ago. With a retail merchandising degree and her kids in school, she decided it was time to do something for herself.

She opened the shop on March 8 with little fanfare.

“My daughters put it out on social media, but we’ll likely have a grand opening in April with champagne and cupcakes,” she said.

A balance of comfort and style is the store’s aim.

“We’re trying to provide beautiful clothing at an affordable price, so we have four brands of jeans, all ranging from $68 to under $90,” she said. “We have dresses and tops, a lot of vegan leather as well as jewelry, purses and gifts.”

Johnson Pendleton said she opened the kind of boutique, she herself would like to shop in, rather than have to buy merchandise online. The shop’s clothing style and aesthetic is comparable to an American Eagle aesthetic.

“Soon, we’ll be adding more spring dresses for Easter and Spring Break,” she said. “After that, summer shorts and tops will be rolling in.”

For more information visit www.barefootindenim.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

NORTHPORT— Friends and former coworkers Stacy Schlensker and Nicole Pearse were catching up on each other’s lives over a drink last fall when they realized they both had the same dream: to open a food truck or a small restaurant in the Midcoast that provided fresh, affordable food to an under-served community. Their dream turned into the opening of The Stone Brick Oven Kitchen on Route 1 in Northport, just past Wentworth’s Grocery, on March 1.

“Before I got married at Point Lookout in Northport I spent a lot of time driving back and forth from Belfast to Northport and there really wasn’t anything that delivered around here,” said Schlensker. “So, I got Nicole and we both took a look at the place that used to be Pizza Permare and we knew it was what we wanted—a business with a delivery aspect. We’re both hard workers and put our savings together to invest in this business.”

The wood-fired pizza oven that formerly served Pizza Permare, has been the workhorse of their operation. The oven, built by former owner Bryant Hall, was made from a special firebrick called Le Panyol derived from quart-laden clay from a quarry in France.

The new The Stone Brick Oven Kitchen menu is simple and affordable with fresh-made pizzas and calzones starting at $11, a variety of salads at $10, and savory handheld pies at $6. In addition to their “build your own” menu, they offer all homemade mac and cheese bowls, chilis and soups, as well as from-scratch desserts such as mason jar cheesecakes for $5. The food is plentiful and good and most sit-in orders will requires a take-home box.

The women did some renovations to The Stone before opening, turning the humble interior into a cozy, sun-lit, welcoming space with several sections, including a new sit-down counter for those on the go. Local artist Marcia Hancock’s photographs grace the walls, as part of their commitment to the community and they said they’re open to more artists.

Both women are self-taught in making fresh pizza dough, having never having done it before. “When we got into the space January 1, we spent about a month of menu testing and that was the fun part,” said Schlensker. “We pride ourselves on fresh ingredients and once the summer gets going, we’ll be sourcing as much as we can locally.”

“We also want to give a shout out to our staff,” said Schlensker. “Everyone works really hard and really well together.”

The restaurant carries all Maine-made craft beers and wines in cans, ranging from $4-6. “We do also offer PBR and Bud Lite, because they are Maine staples,” added Pearse.

The public has been enthusiastic for the new restaurant’s opening. “We’ve been getting a lot of feedback about how the process are great, but the food is amazing,” said  Pearse. “A lot of people are just excited to have a restaurant they can pop in and grab something to take home or that delivers so close.”

The Stone Brick Oven Kitchen offers delivery within 10 miles for a nominal fee, free delivery within that range to businesses on Mondays and even a “free Wednesday delivery” for customers within range. “Just something to get people over Hump Day,” said Schlensker.

For more information, visit: TheStoneBrickOvenKitchen.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — The Oak Hill Cemetery is one of two public cemeteries in Camden, Maine, a fact that unto itself is nothing unusual. However, to pass by the Oak Hill north side of the cemetery on Hosmer Pond Road, there is one lone gravestone sitting in the middle of a snowy field, which is unusual.

The man it belongs to, Reginald Dean, was 83 when he passed away after a long illness in May 29, 2018.

“There are currently 62 lots mapped out with each lot holding eight individual grave spaces,” according to Bruce Libby, cemetery sexton. “The stone that you see just happens to be the first upright monument installed since the bylaws were revised in 2013 allowing uprights to be placed in the back section. The front section allows only flush markers of which there is also just one in place. There will be more installed in the spring.”

With help from Dean’s daughter, Rhondalee Dean-Royce, we were able to find out more about Reginald Dean.

Born November 19, 1934 in Milo, Maine, Dean didn’t have an easy life from the start.

“He was born in northern Maine and had a really hard upbringing,” said Dean-Royce. “He lived on a farm and had parents who couldn’t really take care of him. He only had his mom, who wasn’t ready to take care of him full-time so he grew up with his foster parents, Osmond and Leta Hammond, of Camden, whom I consider my grandparents.”

He worked as a master carpenter and cabinet maker.

“There are quite a few house that he built or renovated in Camden, Lincolnville, Rockport, and Rockland area,” said Dean-Royce. “He also built amazing furniture, including a lot of Shaker-style furniture.”

But like many young men his age, the war in Vietnam would take his life in a different direction. Dean served three tours during the Vietnam War in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of Captain. 

“He really worked hard in everything he did,” said his daughter.

“To me he was an amazing person,” said Dean-Royce. “My degree in college was in history, with a focus on Vietnam, so I got to know what he went through. I worked at Togus for while and worked with some of the veterans there. When I was 25, we still lived in Camden by the river and he spent a whole weekend with me and told me all about what happened in Vietnam. He said ‘Now, you’re going to understand what I tell you.’ It took him awhile to be able to talk about it.”

When Dean-Royce moved to Washington, D.C., in 1997, she encouraged her father to visit two years later and see the Vietnam Wall with her.

While down there, after visiting with other veterans, Dean admitted to her he wasn’t ready to see the Wall.

“But, the next day he went with me and it was extremely moving,” she said. “He took it really slowly. The first time you see this Wall, it’s overwhelming. So, as he was standing there, these two old guys came up to him and one of them says, ‘I think I know you.’ And my dad said, ‘OK,’ like he wasn’t sure. And the other guy said, ‘Captain Dean?’ It was one of the men who was in his original troop. Pretty impressive.”

As for his personal life, Dean married Thelma Iona Small on June 3, 1956 in Camden. They had a daughter, Rhondalee, and four sons, Michael, Christopher, Timothy and Jeffrey.

“After the war, he came home and worked a lot of different jobs,” said Dean-Royce. “He worked for the town of Camden, and other carpentry jobs. He also went back to school and got his bachelor’s degree in history and science. He ended up teaching for a little while in Belfast and also coaching their baseball team. He had fond memories of teaching and helping kids.”

Dean had a lifelong love of the outdoors and and as a skilled outdoorsman, he enjoyed traveling around the state to both sharp shooter and archery tournaments.

“We would spend our weekends traveling and camping all over Maine and New England,” said Dean-Royce. “He taught all my brothers and I how to hunt, fish, camp, canoe and explore the wilderness. We were always outside doing something.”

He was also, for a time, the caretaker of Curtis Island Light House.

“That was such a special time,” said Dean-Royce. “As a kid, I got to to Curtis Island many summers, while he took care of the mowing and the lighthouse.”

As for the lone monument in the front section, it’s what Dean wanted. 

“He picked out the black, shiny stone and he wanted to be in that particular place,” said Dean-Royce. “Three days before he passed away, we walked to that Oak Hill Cemetery and he told me, “I like this place. I don’t want to be in the back. I want to be in the front where I can watch everything.’

“I look back my life with my dad and think I was the luckiest person to have a dad like him,” she said. “He was my hero, and my calming voice and shoulder anytime I needed him. He provided us with unending love, strength and support. I miss him every day. I miss his smile. His hands. His face and his old Maine humor. My heart will always be broken, but I know what he did for us and the life we had and it makes me smile. He is one of the most honorable men I know. I don’t want his memory forgotten.”

To see Dean’s full memorial, click here. To look up the memorial on any gravestone, there is a worldwide database called Find a Grave.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — The Oak Hill Cemetery is one of two public cemeteries in Camden, Maine, a fact that unto itself is nothing unusual. However, to pass by the Oak Hill north side of the cemetery on Hosmer Pond Road, there is one lone gravestone sitting in the middle of a snowy field, which is unusual.

The man it belongs to, Reginald Dean, was 83 when he passed away after a long illness in May 29, 2018.

“There are currently 62 lots mapped out with each lot holding eight individual grave spaces,” according to Bruce Libby, cemetery sexton. “The stone that you see just happens to be the first upright monument installed since the bylaws were revised in 2013 allowing uprights to be placed in the back section. The front section allows only flush markers of which there is also just one in place. There will be more installed in the spring.”

With help from Dean’s daughter, Rhondalee Dean-Royce, we were able to find out more about Reginald Dean.

Born November 19, 1934 in Milo, Maine, Dean didn’t have an easy life from the start.

“He was born in northern Maine and had a really hard upbringing,” said Dean-Royce. “He lived on a farm and had parents who couldn’t really take care of him. He only had his mom, who wasn’t ready to take care of him full-time so he grew up with his foster parents, Osmond and Leta Hammond, of Camden, whom I consider my grandparents.”

He worked as a master carpenter and cabinet maker.

“There are quite a few house that he built or renovated in Camden, Lincolnville, Rockport, and Rockland area,” said Dean-Royce. “He also built amazing furniture, including a lot of Shaker-style furniture.”

But like many young men his age, the war in Vietnam would take his life in a different direction. Dean served three tours during the Vietnam War in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of Captain. 

“He really worked hard in everything he did,” said his daughter.

“To me he was an amazing person,” said Dean-Royce. “My degree in college was in history, with a focus on Vietnam, so I got to know what he went through. I worked at Togus for while and worked with some of the veterans there. When I was 25, we still lived in Camden by the river and he spent a whole weekend with me and told me all about what happened in Vietnam. He said ‘Now, you’re going to understand what I tell you.’ It took him awhile to be able to talk about it.”

When Dean-Royce moved to Washington, D.C., in 1997, she encouraged her father to visit two years later and see the Vietnam Wall with her.

While down there, after visiting with other veterans, Dean admitted to her he wasn’t ready to see the Wall.

“But, the next day he went with me and it was extremely moving,” she said. “He took it really slowly. The first time you see this Wall, it’s overwhelming. So, as he was standing there, these two old guys came up to him and one of them says, ‘I think I know you.’ And my dad said, ‘OK,’ like he wasn’t sure. And the other guy said, ‘Captain Dean?’ It was one of the men who was in his original troop. Pretty impressive.”

As for his personal life, Dean married Thelma Iona Small on June 3, 1956 in Camden. They had a daughter, Rhondalee, and four sons, Michael, Christopher, Timothy and Jeffrey.

“After the war, he came home and worked a lot of different jobs,” said Dean-Royce. “He worked for the town of Camden, and other carpentry jobs. He also went back to school and got his bachelor’s degree in history and science. He ended up teaching for a little while in Belfast and also coaching their baseball team. He had fond memories of teaching and helping kids.”

Dean had a lifelong love of the outdoors and and as a skilled outdoorsman, he enjoyed traveling around the state to both sharp shooter and archery tournaments.

“We would spend our weekends traveling and camping all over Maine and New England,” said Dean-Royce. “He taught all my brothers and I how to hunt, fish, camp, canoe and explore the wilderness. We were always outside doing something.”

He was also, for a time, the caretaker of Curtis Island Light House.

“That was such a special time,” said Dean-Royce. “As a kid, I got to to Curtis Island many summers, while he took care of the mowing and the lighthouse.”

As for the lone monument in the front section, it’s what Dean wanted. 

“He picked out the black, shiny stone and he wanted to be in that particular place,” said Dean-Royce. “Three days before he passed away, we walked to that Oak Hill Cemetery and he told me, “I like this place. I don’t want to be in the back. I want to be in the front where I can watch everything.’

“I look back my life with my dad and think I was the luckiest person to have a dad like him,” she said. “He was my hero, and my calming voice and shoulder anytime I needed him. He provided us with unending love, strength and support. I miss him every day. I miss his smile. His hands. His face and his old Maine humor. My heart will always be broken, but I know what he did for us and the life we had and it makes me smile. He is one of the most honorable men I know. I don’t want his memory forgotten.”

To see Dean’s full memorial, click here. To look up the memorial on any gravestone, there is a worldwide database called Find a Grave.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Sunday is Funday for St. Patrick’s Day this year and here is a list of all your neighborhood joints who’ll be celebrating #HolyDay. Just make use of Uber or a DD and enjoy responsibly!

Belfast

Rollie’s Bar and Grill

Don’t expect to be standing around in your green pajamas waiting for them to open at 6 a.m. this year: It’s not happening. Apparently there wasn’t enough of a breakfast crowd last year to warrant it this year. They’ll open at their usual time, 11 a.m., with drink and food specials.

Front Street Pub

You know who is opening for Irish breakfast? Bingo. Starting at 8 a.m. the first 50 people to arrive will get an extra surprise. Half-off all Irish Whiskeys. $3.50 Guinness from 8 to 10 a.m. Green beer. Swag give aways all day long.

Bowen’s Tavern

Well, well, looks like we’ve got another early riser this year. Breakfast starts at 7 a.m. with a Bloody Mary Bar until noon as well as $4 Guinness pints, $5 car bombs & $6 Jameson. Corned beef and cabbage starts at noon. The kitchen will be open until 9 p.m. and the bar until 10 p.m. The Onceover will be playing 5-8 p.m with no cover charge.

Lincolnville

The Whale’s Tooth Pub and Restaurant

Serving corned beef and cabbage all weekend, The Tooth is officially kicking off their annual St. Paddy’s Day party at 5 p.m. on Sunday with live music from “The Irish Twins” Mr. McBlake and Mr. FitzClement.

Camden-Rockport

The Drouthy Bear, the Midcoast’s only Irish/Scottish bar, plans on being open Sunday from 11a.m. to 5 p.m., but aren’t planning on going all out for a party this year, so just a regular day there!

Union

Pour Farm

The nanobrewery is getting into the green spirit all weekend with corned beef reuben sandwiches on Saturday and Blind Albert playing at 6 p.m. And then on Sunday, they’ll offer Johns River Oysters from noon to 4 p.m.

Warren

St. George River Café

The Gardenia Duet will play a selection of Irish and Celtic music to celebrate St Patrick's Day, at the St George River Café in Warren from 12.30 to 2.30 p.m. on Sunday. Multi-instrumentalist Cindy Millar (fiddle and mandolin) and Dick White (guitar)make up the duet. No charge.

Rockland

Ada’s Kitchen

They may be Italian, but love a good St. Patty’s throwdown as much as the next person. Starting at 5 p.m. Ada’s will be having Happy Hour  all night with pizzas and Irish twists on Italian classics.

Rock Harbor Pub & Brewery

Opening at 9 a.m. for drinks only, they are planning a special lunch menu with drink and food specials all day, plus music from Cranston Dean from noon to 3 p.m. and Rob Burnell trio from 5 to 8 p.m.

Trackside Station

Trackside is celebrating all weekend with an official party Saturday night featuring the Rock Hard Johnson band starting at 8:30 p.m. ($5 cover) and drink specials all Saturday and Sunday.

Myrtle Street Tavern

The Myrtle is opening at 5:30 p.m. with musician Riff Johnson kicking off their St. Paddy’s Day party with drink specials.

Time Out Pub

On Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Time Out Pub is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with Mad Sound ENT, a live DJ.

Liberator Brewing Co.

Rockland’s newest microbrewery is hosting their first St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday March 16, opening the taproom at noon with a new Red Sky Irish ale. Up In Smoke BBQ will be serving from 3 to 6 p.m. Tickets available at 207-594-8436.

Road trip to Portland for Irish breakfast

Around the state, there are are few well known authentically Irish pubs that will feel like you’re smack in the center of Dublin. Rí Rá Irish Pub, 72 Commercial St., Portland is kicking it off with a fundraising polar plunge at 5:30 a.m. and opening at 6 a.m. ( and free breakfast for the the brave plungers!) Bull Feeney's, 375 Fore St. is also openings its doors at 6 a.m. with a special breakfast menu and live music all day. Brian Boru Public House, 57 Center St. is another place to start your Holy Day at 6 a.m. with The Napper Tandies playing for you between 8 and 10 a.m.

Celebrating elsewhere

Geaghan’s Pub in Bangor is starting at 9 a.m. they’ll have a day of family, fun, and live music starting at noon. They’re “just a bit of the Emerald Isle in York County,” and Byrnes Irish Pub (in Bath) will also be starting the day off at 6 a., with kegs and eggs plus live music.

Listings were pretty scanty in the Midcoast this year. If you’re a bar or restaurant doing something special, please contact Kay Stephens at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—This time of year we often need to turn to older photographs or paintings of what spring looked like to remind ourselves. Camden watercolorist Marcia Anderson is Camden Public Library’s “Artist of the month” and her light, airy landscapes are a nice escape from the reality of March in the Midcoast.

Some 33 watercolors of hers, painted over the span of 20 years, hang in the Camden Public Library gallery.  Marcia and family spent summers on Swan’s Island in the ‘70s and ‘80s, where she owned a studio and gallery at one point. It was a spot that inspired a number of her paintings. Her most popular print, “The Quaking Bog” shows the flush of spring growth with eye-pleasing pale greens and pinks. “Those were pitcher plants a friend dug up, which is a no-no,” she said, “but after he did, I had to paint them. They seem to be everybody’s favorite.”

Anderson received a Fine Arts degree from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. After, that she received a fellowship from the American/Scandanavian Foundation in NYC to study design with the Scandavian Seminars in Stockholm. Everywhere she has lived, she has found something compelling enough to paint, often right on the spot, en plein air.

“I’ve always drawn since I was a child,” she said. “Watercolor is a very comfortable medium; I’ve been working with it for so long.”

Her travels took her to other islands – Monhegan, Isle Au Haut, have inspired other paintings in the exhibit.

Anderson has exhibited on a small-scale, to nearly a half dozen galleries over the years. She’s in semi-retirement now, and doesn’t have the need to be as prolific as she once did.

“But, if I see something out on a walk, and I just feel it has to be painted, I’ll get out my watercolors,” she said.

Her prints are available at the library or at marciabanderson@gmail.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

WHITEFIELD—Very few can resist the offer to pick up a recently born lamb or goat and cuddle it. Fuzzy Udder Creamery, a farm in Whitefield run by Jessie Dowling, gave families and individuals a chance to do that on Sunday, May 10.

In recent weeks, almost 75 lambs and kids have been born to the 21 goats and 28 sheep on their farm.

Dowling, a farmer/cheesemaker, is originally from Arlington, Virginia, but went to high school in Maine. After interning and working for a number of Maine farms in her career, she was interested in making sustainable agriculture the focal point of her life and set out to learn animal husbandry, how to milk goats and sheep and how to make and market cheese.

Her love and respect for her animals is evident. As noted on their website, their sheep and goats are fed second cut hay grown in Clinton, Maine. They buy organic grain and Maine-grown oats and their herd is fed Maine seaweed and an array of minerals daily. Their farm’s mission states: “We are committed to humane, environmental, socially conscious practices and raise our animals with lots of love and affection.”

“For some of the children who’ve come in with their parents today, they’ve never seen a sheep or a goat this close, much less had the opportunity to pick up one of the babies and hold them, “ said Dowling. “I think it’s amazing for children to interact with farm animals for the first time. Baby animals are very approachable, so it gives children an opportunity to connect with them. It also teaches children how to properly hold a baby goat or lamb.”

For the record, the correct way is to pick up the animal is to wrap your arms around its body so that all four legs are hanging straight down. “They just need to feel supported so they feel safe,” she explained.

Dowling and her staff snuggle with their herd daily, but this is the second year in which they’ve invited the public to do so. “For the dairy animals, this is also important to have that human interaction,” she said. “We want them to be socialized and friendly.”

Prior to the farm opening its stalls to the public at noon, some of the baby goats had just been born within the hour. These, Dowling penned off with the mother, so that people could see them, but not touch them. “We have babies that are at least three days old and already, they are more socialized and are able to run around,” she said.

Happy babies make happy mothers. Dowling makes a variety of fresh, soft-ripened, and aged cheeses from sheep, goat, and cow’s milk as well as sheep’s milk yogurt. A variety of these products were set up for sale at the farm stand on the property. If you missed it, two other “Snuggle Sundays” are coming up: March 24 and April 28 from 12 to 5 p.m.

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

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — Kids who are too shy to practice their reading skills in front of adults seem to have no trouble when Nicky is around. Nicky, a nine-year-old Leonberger, an enormous shaggy dog and owned by Marje Stickler, is Belfast Free Library’s newest sensation. On select Mondays, Stickler has taken Nicky in to the Abbott Room, where she settles down on her pad with patience while young kids and tweens read to her.

Kids reading to dogs in libraries is a national library trend. In 2010, the University of California-Davis completed a study on reading to dog programs, which claimed that children who read to dogs improved their reading skills, after comparing their results on a comprehension test. In addition, children who read in front of dogs have an easier time because they’re not embarrassed when they make mistakes. 

On February 25, Stickler arrived with Nicky for their second time at the library.

“Leonbergers are working dogs and I had Nicky trained as to be therapy-certified,” explained Stickler, who raised Nicky from a puppy. “They’re called ‘Nana’ dogs because they love children.” (Nana refers to the nanny dog in Peter Pan.) “I’ve taken her to nursing homes and schools and the first time we tried the reading program was at the East Belfast School. The first graders would come down one or two at a time and read to her. Then, we started writing letters to the first graders in Nicky’s voice and the children really responded, writing her back with pictures they drew.” 

The first time that Nicky was scheduled to come to the library on February 11, Stickler said, “There were three 11-year-old girls who were just ecstatic to read to Nicky.”

On February 25, Nicky’s first reader was Dani Domenichelli, from Belfast. Dani is part of Girl Scout Troop 2050 and last year, their Take Action project was a presentation to Principal Whidmer about getting a therapy dog in to help readers at Captain Albert Stevens School in Belfast.

This was, however, her first opportunity to actually read to a therapy dog. Dani grabbed a book on dogs and began to read, punctuating the “woofs” in the narration with such gusto, that Nicky responded to each bark with raised ears.

“Dani receives extra reading support at school, but was enthusiastic about reading to Nicky the dog,” said her mother, Angela Domenichelli. “She was even willing to walk to the library in very cold temperatures on Monday to participate.”

The next two days in March Nicky is scheduled to come back in are March 11 and 25 from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. People are encouraged to set up a specific time with Erica Rubin Irish, the Youth Services Librarian if they would like one on one time with Nicky by calling 207-338-3884 ext. 24.

“If the March sessions get filled, we’ll consider bringing Nicky back again after that,” said Irish.

For more information visit: belfastlibrary.org/sample-page/kids

Photos by Kay Stephens

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKPORT—More than one hundred vendors were in the process of setting up in the conference rooms of the Samoset Resort on Thursday afternoon, March 28 for the 2019 Maine Fishermen’s Forum. Free to the public, the Trade Show vendors represented many facets of the fishing industry. Need a boat, fishing or marine gear, engines, electronics, bank loans, insurance, survival equipment, clothing, paint, bait some jewelry or arts and crafts? This is the place to go this weekend.

The Trade Show has a preview opening for the public from 3 pm to 5 pm on Thursday and then is open on Friday and Saturday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.

Check out our gallery of faces and gear. For more information visit: Maine Fishermen’s Forum

“All my life, I’ve always wanted to know why people fight and what is really going on inside our minds.” Thus, begins the a voice over in the trailer for THE RAFT, a one-hour 37-minute documentary film by Swedish director Marcus Lindeen. Easily the most compelling short documentary in CIFF’s Cabin Fever micro film fest taking place March 1 and 2, THE RAFT sounds on the outset like The Fyre Festival Meets a Woodstock orgy...on a floating barge.

“In 1973, five men and six women drifted across the Atlantic on a raft as part of a scientific experiment studying the sociology of violence, aggression and sexual attraction in human behavior. Although the project became known in the press as 'The Sex Raft', nobody expected what ultimately took place on that three month journey. Through extraordinary archive material and a reunion of the surviving members of the expedition on a full scale replica of the raft, this film tells the hidden story behind what has been described as 'one of the strangest group experiments of all time.”

With the reality show conflicts and the social experiment of Lifeboat Ethics thrown in for good measure, THE RAFT is but one of the many goodies in store for this weekend’s micro film fest held in Camden, which in many ways, feels like a special event just for locals. “We invite you to get outta the house and join us for a wee bit of the CIFF experience during the time we all need it most…the dead of winter” reads the tagline.

“This weekend is a little bit of an experiment, much like THE RAFT,” said Ben Fowlie, founder and director of the Camden International Film Festival. “Especially with FREE SOLO winning an Oscar, people have begun realize that Camden has really grown into this pre-eminent destination for documentaries. For the inaugural year for Cabin Fever, we thought we’d use this weekend as a starting point to get people out of their houses and into the theater to watch some great films to just get pumped and excited for the September festival.”

The three other films in the weekend line up include THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM, the story of documentarian John Chester and his wife Molly work to develop a sustainable farm on 200 acres outside of Los Angeles (Sponsored in part by Maine Farmland Trust); MEETING GORBECHEV, a profile on the former President of the Soviet Union  by legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog and Emmy Award winning Director, André Singer (Sponsored in part by the Camden Conference); and SKI BUM: THE WARREN MILLER STORY, a chronicle of the life and times of the legendary filmmaker who, through his annual ski films and national tours which began in the early 1950's, was a driving force in the development and promotion of the ski industry in America and throughout the world (Sponsored in part by Maine Sport Outfitters).

“We chose these four films to give a taste of the CIFF programming with THE RAFT being the most typical being international, archival-based, and playful. The other component is we wanted to screen films that had strong ties to community partners,” said Fowlie.

In addition, on Saturday, March 2, CIFF will be presenting DIRIGO DOCS, a selection of 12 short films spanning the past six years of CIFF's Dirigo Docs program. “This program will feature Maine from the perspective of land, the sea and its people—the iconic Maine spirit,” he said. “It’s been wonderful to see the quality of the fillmmakers over the years and to be able to tell the stories from this state, so this is an opportunity to bring some of the highlights back.”

Passes are $30 for the entire weekend or $10 per film. Check out the website for the schedule of all of the films and tickets: cabinfever.eventive.org/welcome

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — The closest most people will come to encountering a fisher is hearing that blood-curdling scream in the middle of the night as if someone is getting murdered. On Wednesday, Feb. 20, Coastal Mountain Land Trust gave the public a chance to see a recently deceased fisher up close.

“This fisher was found in Appleton by my next door neighbor near the Mill Pond this past Monday,” said Jackie Stratton, Stewardship Project Manager. “It was lying near a fallen branch that had a lot of cavities in it. Likely, it fell from a tree. It’s odd because they are excellent climbers. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to show the public what a fisher looks like because they are such elusive animals and most people have never seen one, let alone had the chance to touch one.”

Dozens of people, many with young children, arrived between 3 and 4 p.m.to examine at the frozen fisher. It was so intact, it almost looked taxidermied, the size of a small dog, with paws almost like a dog’s. Yet, its fur was surprisingly soft, like a cat’s. It had five paws pads, very sharp claws and a long tail.

“It’s been less scary for the kids to touch it than the adults,” said Stratton. “Some people think it looks like a dog; some think it looks like a cat. They’re sometimes even called fisher cats, even though they are members of the weasel family, not the feline family.” Here’s what they look like alive.

The fisher (Pekania pennanti) is a small, carnivorous mammal native to North America. According to Defenders of Wildlife, “Fishers prefer large areas of dense mature coniferous or mixed forest and are solitary animals. They are mainly nocturnal, but may be active during the day. They travel many miles along ridges in search of prey, seeking shelter in hollow trees, logs, rock crevices, and dens of other animals.”

The impromptu display also included a frozen wild turkey lying next to the fisher — an unfortunate result of roadkill. “We also found this turkey in Appleton last Saturday and it’s in great shape,” she said. “We see turkeys on the roadsides and woods all of the time, but you rarely get to see how beautiful and iridescent colors of its feathers are up close.” This turkey was male, as evidenced by the spurs on its feet and a scraggly beard.

“Like a lot of animals, turkeys like salt, so that’s why you’ll often see them congregated by road sides,” said Stratton.

Once show and tell ended, the fisher and turkey were slated to be put back into the woods where nature would dispose of them organically. “It might be eaten by the raven, hawk and bobcat, or even other fishers,” she said. The other option Stratton was considering was to tan the fisher’s hide and keep the skull for educational purposes. “As for the turkey, I’ll take some of its feathers and make some jewelry, but I’ll leave it out in the woods for other animals to consume. Then, I’ll put out a game camera to see what becomes of it,” she said.

For more information about Coastal Mountains Land Trust visit:coastalmountains.org/

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Everyone knows that feeling of dread: you’re tidying up and come across a library book that is way past due to the point of being ridiculous. Mentally, you calculate: Will the fines be somewhere along a small mortgage payment? Do you pretend you never found it and never go to your library again?

Luckily, a number of Midcoast libraries are finding innovative ways to assuage book borrowers’ guilt by going fine-free. The idea has been gaining traction in public libraries all over the country. A 2018 article in American Libraries Magazine “Imagine a Fine-Free Future” raised the debate of why fines should even exist.

A panel of librarians at the 2018 Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits in Denver argued that fines create a burden for low-income borrowers, as well as a barrier, preventing the very people who need these resources the most from using them.

Going fine-free has been the goal of a number of local libraries. In January, Carver Memorial Library in Searsport decided to extend their loan period from two weeks to a month and waive all current and past library fines.

“It’s still a little too early to tell number-wise if this is having an impact, but I can tell you anecdotally, we’re starting to see long overdue materials come back,” said Sue McClintock, library director.

After a month, the library will still charge for lost or damaged items. and borrowers with items more than 30 days overdue will be blocked from checking out anything else until the late items are returned.

“The public relations part has been super successful,” she added. “I’m getting a lot of positive feedback about going fine free and it’s inspiring people to put money into a ‘conscience jar,’ which sits on the counter for those with late books.” 

Children stand to benefit from these policies the most.

“The studies I’ve read have shown that fines disproportionately impact children,” said McClintock. “One of the arguments that most impressed me is that most children have little to no control over returning materials to the library. And, if a child has a lot of overdue fees, it’s not really teaching him or her responsibility. Most of the time that falls to the parent or guardian to return items on time. Maybe they are too busy, but then if parents start to feel embarrassed by the fines or thinks it’s too expensive to borrow items, then they stop using the library and the child misses out on all of the opportunities that a library can give.”

The first full week of March is national “Return Borrowed Books” week.

“We’re going to use that week to really push the concept of bringing your library books and materials back; nothing bad will happen,” said McClintock. “We’re a community resource for everybody.”

Throughout February, Belfast Free Library has announced it is waiving overdue fines for patrons who donate non-perishable food items.

“It’s an incentive for people to clear up their records, get fines forgiven and also raise food donations for the local food banks,” said Steve Norman, Library Director. “It’s a win-win. People are starting to come back in; they’re less reluctant to use the library again if they feel they can clear their fines and give something back.“

For more information visit: Carver Memorial Library and Belfast Free Library

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—This past November, Ada’s Kitchen Bar Manager, Stacy Campbell, was invited to Portland,Oregon, during Portland Cocktail Week, to learn the latest trends in Event Management and mixology.

“There were 20 purveyors of every kind of alcohol you could imagine, but at one point, I was offered a non-alcoholic Negroni,” she said. “I tried it and had to ask again, ‘is this non-alcoholic?’ It was awesome!”

(Side note: Ada’s Kitchen is sort of know for their Negronis, as our last PenBay Pilot story “What’s In That Cocktail” attests.) 

While bars have always offered a non-alcoholic choice of beverage, in Maine, the non-alcoholic craft cocktail, or mocktail, trend had to originate with Vena’s Fizz House in Portland, Maine, which debuted the botanical-infused mocktail when it opened in 2013.

After Campbell got a taste of the flavorful non-alcoholic spirits in Portland, Oregon, she began to imagine its possibilities at Ada’s Kitchen.

“First of all, I have a lot of friends in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), who would like to come out to a bar and be social, but have the option of ordering something that’s non-alcoholic and good, ” she said. “I put out a short survey on my Facebook page asking if people would be interested in mocktails and within a short period of time I had more than 100 comments saying yes.”

Apart from the typical seltzers and juices, Campbell knew, after what she’d tasted in Portland, they were going to need to up Ada’s game.

“The botanical non-alcoholic spirit in the Negroni I tasted in Portland is called Seedlip and it is different from anything out there,” she said. “It’s more complex and and you can smell and taste the natural flavors that come through the distilling process.”

Seedlip is a UK company that produces the distilled non-alcoholic spirits, based on herbal remedies published more than 300 hundred years ago by a physician named John French. The company, which produced its first batch using herbs and a copper still in 2015, became a international sensation, with iconic restaurants such as The Savoy, The Ritz and even Buckingham Palace vying for a bottle. Read more of their story here. 

A bottle of Seedlip is £27 or $35 and Campbell was able to purchase several for Ada’s Kitchen and have them shipped to Rockland.

“Then I got to work, putting together a number of recipes that work best with the flavor profiles,” she said.

The Garden Tonic is Ada’s best seller on the mocktail menu. Using Seedlip’s Garden 108, made from natural botanical distillates and extracts (peas, hay, Spearmint, Rosemary, Thyme, Lemon hops), the mocktail contains jalapeno, lemon and just a splash of Brooklyn-based Fever-Tree Tonic.

“When you open the bottle, it’s this incredibly bright, fresh, smell,” she said. After she mixed the non-alcoholic spirit with the other drink’s ingredients, the visual result was like a garden in a glass with fresh basil, a long strip of cucumber and an expertly peeled coil of lemon rind swirled throughout.

Given the complexity of the mocktail and its imported ingredients, it costs just slightly under what a cocktail would be priced (around $8-9), but then again, what you’re getting is the little black dress of mocktails, not just tonic from the gun and the plop of a lime wedge.

“Right now, I’m trying to create our own version of the non-alcoholic Negroni,”said Campbell.

The discovery of Seedlip has led her down the path of searching for other fizzy mixers and high-quality ingredients.

“I found a soda from Italy that tastes just like a Campari. And now I’m working on trying to find something that approximates a Vermouth to complement that.”

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

President’s Day is kicking off a week of staycation for many. Similar to a Weekend Spotlight, here is a rundown of creative, artistic, educational and athletic events for kids during Feb. vacation week. Some are nearby in the Midcoast and some are just a road trip away. We tried to find a range of events that was also easy on the wallet!

Monday, Feb. 18

Smallfoot Matinee—Waterville

An animated adventure for all ages, with original music and an all-star cast, Smallfoot turns the Bigfoot legend upside down when a bright young Yeti finds something he thought didn't exist -- a human. The 3-D kids’ film is held at The Grand, $1 admission.Starts at 1 p.m. FMI: The Grand

Tuesday, Feb. 19

Learn To Skate—Rockport

All week long, the Mid-Coast Rec Center is hosting on improving the fundamental and basic skills of skating. It is designed for Beginner and Intermediate skaters looking to gain more confidence with skating.
Register online at www.midcoastrec.orgor call (207)236-9400. Drop In- $10 Full Package: $25. FMI: Learn To Skate

Wednesday, Feb 20

Melted Snowman Craft —Rockland

The Coastal Children’s Museum is adding something special to the price of admission. Join them at 11a.m. for a fun craft making melted snowmen. Using glue, paper, and other fun craft supplies, kids can create a masterpiece to take home with them. Free for museum members. FMI: The Coastal Children’s Museum

Thursday, Feb 21

Imagination Station — Rockland

Owls Head Transportation Museum is hosting hair-raising, hands-on drop-in activities all about electricity and magnetism for ages 6-10. Goes from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. No reservations needed, $5 suggested donation. FMI: Imagination Station

Friday, Feb. 22

Riley Nights Talent Show — Rockport

Kid performers; kid audience. Riley’s monthly talent show for all kids, teens and young adults of the Midcoast community will also feature dancers from Studio Red. Starts at 6 p.m. ​There will be a suggested donation of $5 for audience members. FMI: Riley Nights

Saturday, Feb 23

Meet a sloth — Portland

The first annual Natural History Exhibition is coming to Portland at 8 Thompson Point for two days thanks to The Foundation for Animal Rescue and Education and Little Ray’s Nature Centers.  features !This fun and interactive, educational exhibit will feature more than 30 animal exhibits. (Prepare to meet a Sloth, Skunk, Armadillo, Porcupine, Snakes, Tarantulas, Tortoises, Bunnies, Ferrets, and much, more) The event which goes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. will also feature two highly interactive 30-minute educational programs that will rotate 15 minutes apart each day. Staff will be bringing out animals out for people to interact with in a family-friendly, hands-on environment. Tickets are $14 ($12 with a Facebook share) and kids under 3 are free. FMI: Wildlife Festival

Sunday, Feb. 24

Two-fer Tubing & Skating— Auburn and Rockland

Start your day at the Lost Valley Ski Area in Auburn is the place to go for some great tubing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (for an hour). 42" Height minimum to tube, one person per tube. FMI: Tubing Then don’t forget that his weekend marks the official opening of the Harbor Park Ice Rink from 1 to 5 p.m. Plan on bringing your skates and enjoying some goodies, hot chocolate and skating!

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Valentine’s Day is dodging the snowstorm this week, so there goes your excuse to stay in and make do with Netflix and bubbly. Instead, here’s a Cheap Dates road map. The idea is not to park your keister at one place all night; rather venture out on a whirlwind tour of the Midcoast and all it has to offer.

Start with a warm up and do some Creative Art Journaling for Adults at the Camden Public Library with “Miss Amy” from 4 to 5 p.m. Seriously, this is part of your adventure. Force your mate to get creative for one hour!

Then, pop on over to the Vintage Room in Camden for an Oyster & Wine Pairing from 5 to 7 p.m. This is kind of a one-shot deal. It’s $5 for an oyster on the half shell and a tasting of one of their new Greek wines. So do a slurp-and- sip and then move on to your next adventure.

A number of restaurants are doing something special for the big V Day and we can’t list them all, but one notable is El Ancla, which is hosting a restaurant takeover by the art-and-food pop-up, Maine Moonlight Dinners with a special Valentine's Day five-course menu featuring winter produce from local farms. Seatings are from 5 to 9 p.m. $75 pp and reservations required.

For those who don’t like their V Day to be mushy, Barstow Farms in Waldoboro is deciding to scratch the record back and bring you Thanksgiving instead of Valentine’s Day. From 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. they are quashing all the love hype. A turkey, mashed, squash, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, boiled onions, gravy and a yeast roll dinner is $18 per person and includes a dessert. Pre-orders encouraged.

A bit further down the coast, St. George River Cafe is in the mood for love with a Valentine’s Day music jam from 6 to 8 p.m. with no cover charge.

At 7 p.m. FOG Bar and Cafe is hosting the smooth and soulful music of The Whitehead Dean Group until 10:30 p.m. featuring Mike Whitehead on Trumpet/Flugelhorn, Jason Dean on drums, Glen DuBose on Bass and Mitch Markowitz on guitar. And, if you squeak in there just before 7, you’ll get to $2 off all house signature cocktails, wines by the glass and draft beer and cider.

And for a Killer Road Trip, the new Waterville Brewing Co. is hosting an Art Date Night ($40 pp) from 7 to 9 p.m. With supplies hosted by by Common Street Arts, this is a creative after-dinner date for you, your sweetie, and/or your friends! Make a flower arrangement with flowers from The Robin's Nest florist shop; decorate a vase with mosaic designs and sample Christopher Hastings Confections treats. Refreshments and beer will be served.

Lastly, if you are celebrating with all your girls and wearing black to commemorate all that is dark and unholy in your heart that day, there’s no better way to put those all-black outfits to use than a Midcoast Escape Room jewelry heist, as featured in my story: What to get your BFF for Galentine’s Day.

Whatever you do, know that we ♥ you at Penobscot Bay Pilot!

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Lacy Simons, owner of hello hello books in Rockland.

In mid-January, she got a call at the bookstore from a representative of Publishers Weekly, who told her that hello hello had been chosen as one of the five nominees on their shortlist for the 2019 PW Bookstore of the Year Awards.

“My first reaction was that I was just really stunned and then I honestly had to stop myself from crying a little,” she said. “ I can’t remember that last time I was so caught off guard. I’m a serious over-preparer and overthinker as a mother, a business owner, as woman in general, so to be truly surprised was a big deal. I had to pull it together.”

It just so happened Simons was traveling to attend the Winter Institute, the annual conference of the American Booksellers Association Conference (ABA, the trade association for independent booksellers in the U.S.)  in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on January 24 where the official announcement was made.

She serves on the ABA's invitation-only Bookseller Advisory Council and frequently gives talks and moderates panels about bookshops and small business practices. Simons was present when Publishers Weekly announced hello hello books as one of the nominees.

“I got to be surrounded by the people who truly understood the significance of this and it was especially extraordinary,” she said.

The PW Bookstore of the Year Award has been given every year for the past 26 years. Five bookstores were nominated this year, from a pool of more than two dozen nominees. Each winner was chosen by a carefully selected panel of five jurors, each with years of experience in the publishing industry. The decision was based on a long list of criteria including: buying, marketing, customer service; community involvement; management-employee relations, and merchandising and what makes the store unique.

The motto of hello hello books, which opened in August of 2011 in the space behind Rock City Cafe in downtown Rockland, is “small but powerful.”

“When they called me, they emphasized that they wanted to focus on newer and smaller stores this year, stores that are having an outsized impact on their communities,” said Simons.

“For me, it means an opportunity to talk about the larger picture of starting a small business in Maine and what it takes to keep it going year round. We’re all thinking of creative ways to improve the sales margins, and one of the benefits of being so small is that we’ve been able to evolve with our customers.

“On this micro level, we’re able to grow certain areas of interest on particular subjects of books, and as a result of that, cultivate this loyalty among our customers and have an impact on the reading culture of Rockland. And that’s what strengthens the ties to the community.”

Last November, Simons spoke on a panel discussing how challenging it was to not only start an independent bookstore, but to delegate aspects of it to her three employees. (See related story.)

For now, Simons is just getting back to work. Winners will receive a write-up in Publishers Weekly in May 2019 and will be honored at an awards ceremony in New York City.  This year’s winner will be named in late March and will be featured in the pre-BookExpo edition of Publishers Weekly magazine. The awards will be presented at BookExpo in New York City in June.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Inio Asano is a highly praised mangaka (manga author/illustrator). He is best known for his work depicting the trials of regular people coming of age. These manga, Goodnight PunPun, for example, are very raw and realistic.  

Goodnight PunPun follows the main character through elementary and high school. The story is quite dark and sometimes depressing. The artwork however, tries to convey a different tone. Asano purposely drew PunPun as a bird to attract readers who would normally be attracted to more simple, fluffy stories. Goodnight PunPun is anything but fluff. It is heavy on dialogue. The story is dark, but engrossing. Once started, it is difficult to put down. It is definitely a future manga classic that every otaku must read.

Asano’s most recent work, Dead Dead Demon’s De De De De Destruction, took me by surprise. The title fooled me into thinking there would be a lack of substance to the story. Asano fooled his readers yet again! The manga is beautifully illustrated with incredibly interesting characters and plot line. The story starts with two high school aged girls about to graduate. They are a little unsure of their future goals. Suddenly there is an invasion of a mysterious race of creatures in Japan, killing thousands of citizens. 

This is NOT a hero fights bad guys story (at least not yet).  The girls continue to float aimlessly through life, with impending doom surrounding them. There is a thin layer of “slice of life” to this manga. Underneath it is Asano’s typical dark and gritty storytelling. 

There are currently four volumes of Dead Dead Demon’s De De De De Destruction published in English. Now that I have read one, I cannot wait to binge the rest!

A Girl on the Shore is another title new to us in English. Yet another coming of age story, A Girl on the Shore is classic Asano. The cover shows the back of a very young looking girl splashed in color. She is holding a messenger bag and staring out at the horizon. The title and cover lead the reader to believe they are about to embark on an exciting adventure…. and they are. This adventure is a real Asano story. In A Girl on the Shore, Asano does not hold back the darkness. There is depression, suicide, dysfunctional families, and underage sex. The story is incredibly well written, gritty but not crude. 

There are other works by Asano, some out of print and harder to find, worth mentioning. Solanin, released in English in 2008 by Viz Media, is another of his popular coming of age manga. Older works, What a Wonderful World & Nijigahara Holograph are well worth a search on eBay.

CAMDEN— Celebrating everything outdoors this weekend is the 18th annual Banff Mountain Film Festival as it comes to Maine on its world tour in tandem with the U.S. National Toboggan Championships. Jeff Boggs, manager and buyer for Maine Sport Outfitters, which sponsors the event, has had a hand in this film fest for many years. Each day has its own curated line up of short films.

The World Tour Lineup feautres 36 short films. Each location has a curated set of films that will appeal most to that regional audience. In the past, the Tour has only been for two nights in Camden.

“Based on the fact that we’ve sold out on both weekend days each year, we decided to add a third day, Sunday, a matinee at 4 p.m.,” said Boggs.

The documentaries were chosen by the Banff Mountain Film Fest’s traveling host, Jamie Carpenter.

Friday night

“The opening film on Friday night is hilarious,” said Boggs of Rogue Elements: Corbet's Couloir. This short doc portrays the first-ever mountain bike descent of Corbet's Couloir, a world-famous in-bounds run at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Boggs also said don’t miss the feature film that night, Surviving The Outback, which features a guy named Mike, who survives alone in the remote outback of Australia for a whole month, trekking and sailing on a makeshift raft, with nothing but a time capsule of antique stuff from 1932.

Saturday Night

“The good thing about Saturday night’s line up is that there is a wide-range of films that will appeal to all ages,” said Boggs. He cited Far Out: Kai Jones, featuring the 11-year-old Kai Jones, who isn’t old enough to go to the movies alone or order a sandwich at the pub, but is following in his family’s ski tracks—right into back flips and tricks off of cliffs.

And then in For The Love of Mary, there’s a 97-year-old mountain runner named George Etzweiler, who is not not just running to the summit of Mt. Washington; Etzweiler carries something else special with him: the memory of his late wife of 68 years.

“The feature film is a really cool story about a mother-daughter team ski touring adventure in Alaska and the British Columbia,” he said about This Mountain Life: Coast Range Traverse.

Sunday Afternoon

“Sunday’s line up is a little more kid-focused and family-friendly, but I’m always careful not to promise there won’t be any swearing,” Boggs said, laughing. “I really liked Boy Nomad, about a boy growing up in Mongolia,” he said.

The 20-minute film features 9-year old Janibek, who lives with his family in Mongolia’s Altai Mountains and accompanys his father on the winter migration.

Join Maine Sport Outfitters when Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour takes the spirit of outdoor adventure to the Camden Hills Regional High School Strom Auditorium on Friday, February 8, at 7 p.m., Saturday, February 9, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 10, at 4 p.m.

Tickets are on sale. Adults: $12 ($10 when purchased in-store), Students: $5 (priced per show) Visit mainesportbanff.brownpapertickets.com/to purchase tickets online. 

Film selections for each night can be found here and video previews/descriptions for all of Banff Mountain Film Festival’s films can be found here.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Galentine’s Day, the made-up holiday from a 2010 Parks and Recreation episode, has actually become a real thing in the last decade to celebrate one’s girlfriends around Valentine’s Day.  We’ve got some locally made gifts and services to show your girlfriends you love them and a cool way to gather your friends together to make a woman’s life just a wee bit better.

Products

Handmade Clothespin Valentine’s Day Wreath

Simply Wreaths

The back story: Jacy Holloway, of Rockland, is a certified Usui reiki master and reflexologist. In her spare time, she likes to create. She saw the wreaths online and fell in love with the style so she learned how to make them herself through YouTube and Pinterest. Using clothespins, she makes a few different simple designs. Then, she spray paints the clothes pins and add different embellishments.

“I’m not the only one around who makes these; they’ve become quite popular, but I can do custom designs,” said Holloway. “This started out has a hobby, a little something on the side to make extra money but has turned into a way for me to also help give back too, which I love. I have sold some in fundraisers for Trekkers to help go towards my daughters' trips. I’ve also sold them at bake sales I did for Oceanside Little League a while back and at a church benefit for my daughter's private school during a craft fair fundraiser to help benefit Mid Coast Christian Academy. I love people’s reactions to them; it’s something sentimental to give to someone else.”

Price/where to find it:

$10  Simply Wreaths

Services

Jewel Heist

Midcoast Escape Room

The back story: Midcoast Escape Rooms, based in Damariscotta, have special rooms that you and your girlfriends have to “break” out of in one hour by solving clues and puzzles. For example, if you choose the Fine Art Museum of Damariscotta Room, you will walk into an exhibit of art and fine jewels from the personal collection of the royal family of Newcastle.

This collection includes some irreplaceable crown jewels that are worth millions of dollars. You and your gang of highly trained burglars bribe the security guard to let you in the museum where the collection is displayed, Only you forgot the one hidden alarm that seals the doors to the room! Can you crack the clues and codes to release you before the security guards or the police find you?

“We had a group from Rockland a couple of weeks ago come in all dressed up like jewel thieves , all in black with ski masks on and it was hilarious,” said Martha Manchester, co-owner. “Pick out the time and book the room and call us if you want any guidance. We have a bunch of tiaras for you if you manage to escape. 

Price/where to find it:

$20 per person. Midcoast Escape Rooms

Giving Back

Galentine’s Day Party

One Less Worry

The back story: Pink vodka cocktails, kale salads and maxi pads! Throw a party for your best gals (See GOOP article for cool ideas) and ask each of them to bring a comfort item for women in a “One Less Worry” basket, which you can then donate.

One Less Worry accepts pads (a variety of absorbencies), tampons (regular absorbency preferred), toilet paper, incontinence pads, toothpaste, bar soap, shampoo, and any essential grooming product that touches your heart. You may place them in the One Less Worry porch bin at 108 Beech Street in Rockland or see contact info below.

“Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to consider and express all kinds of love,” said Sharon Hobson, executive director. “Kindness and support for our sisters in uncomfortable or wobbly situations is particularly meaningful during this time. I like the idea of Galentines’s events as an opportunity to consider the women and girls who may need pads, tampons and basic grooming essentials as well as the comforting messages that they are being thought of with love.”

Where to find it:

One Less Worry Onelessworry.maine@gmail.com 206-593-6297

Don’t forget that Cinémathèque at The Camden Opera House is a new monthly film program celebrating the best of classic, foreign, and cult cinema. On February 11, they are screening GIRLFRIENDS takes place against the unmistakable backdrop of 1970’s New York City. Tickets are $8. FMI: GIRLFRIENDS

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN— The “quiet” side of the Camden harbor, the marina and boatyard owned by Lyman Morse at Wayfarer Marine, is about to bustle with more traffic this spring with the opening of Blue Barren Distillery, a small-batch craft distillery and tasting room that will sit right next to Rhumb Line.

Co-owners Andrew Stewart of The Drouthy Bear and Jeremy Howard, a seventh generation blueberry farmer, and part of of Brodis Blueberries in Hope, are behind the small operation.

Stewart, along with his wife, Shannon, owned the Hope General Store for nine years before moving to Camden and buying a house on Elm Street, converting the downstairs into The Drouthy Bear pub. The Stewarts still have deep connections to the Hope community, which is where their friendship with Howard was forged.

The Drouthy Bear is the only establishment in the Midcoast that focuses on rare Irish and Scottish whiskies, so opening a distillery wasn’t a far leap.

“My entire adult life in Scotland was spent working in restaurants and bars from the time I went to university,” said Stewart. “And I used to travel all around Scotland visiting the distilleries. So one day at the pub, where most good ideas start, Jeremy and I got talking about how the blueberry industry was having a real hard time on the market, with prices dropping from $1.75 per pound to 20 cents a pound. We were just thinking of ways to use blueberries in other products and thought we could make a brandy out of them.”

The small talk turned into a serious interest when two years ago, the duo traveled to Boston to tour Bully Boy Distillery in Boston, the first distillery in Boston opened since Prohibition.

That visit solidified their intent and from there, they began to educate themselves on the distilling process through books, the internet, multiple interviews with other distillers and even a course on distilling in Chicago.

The biggest pieces to fall into place involved finding the right location, getting a loan from The First, working through the endless hurdles of federal and state licensing and choosing the best still.

They eventually landed in a small dark blue building that abuts Lyman Morses marina, an industrial space, which used to be a machine shop. It took months of research to decide upon a small batch Vendome Copper & Brass Works still from a venerable company that has been making stills since 1900.

The stainless steel and copper one-hundred-gallon pot still dominates the corner of the room while four giant plastic vats called totes, containing the purple mash of fermented blueberries take up the other half.

On the day of my visit, Stewart was confined to the space for a period of 12-14 hours on the first stripping run. Multiple mason jars sat on top of the vats containing the clear alcohol in its various stages–the foreshots, the hearts and the tails of the stripping run. The point of this run is to strip as much alcohol from the mash as possible—the result of which is called “low wine.”

What’s left over is the leftover water, sediment and yeast and bits of blueberry stem and hull, which eventually they may use in secondary products such as soaps, hand creams and fertilizer.

“A blueberry brandy is going to be our first product,” said Stewart. “But, it will be a once-a-year small batch.”

Stewart and Howard initially envisioned it would only take a month or two to harvest the blueberries, ferment them and run through the boiler on their initial stripping run back in August. But, between paperwork and the delay of getting the still, it took so much time, they had to harvest the blueberries and have Oyster River in Warren ferment the product for them.  

“We’ve already learned a lot, so next year, we’ll be able to take the fresh blueberries after the harvest, mash them and directly distill the brandy that way,” said Stewart. “Every year, every batch of blueberry brandy will taste different based on a number of factors, such as the weather and harvest time, which affects sugar content. Even the various different blueberry clones that have developed naturally over thousands of years have completely different flavor profiles from each other. Our goal because it will be an annual product is that each batch have its own identity.”

As Stewart poured the clear alcohol into multiple glass jars, he has learned by sniffing the product to know at which phase of the stripping run it’s in.

“I’m learning as we go, but a master distiller will know just by smell after if it has had air or after its been in a barrel, they have enough experience to know how the flavor profile will change,” he said.

After the blueberry brandy, Stewart and Howard will move onto a Scottish-inspired gin styled after a Plymouth gin as well as rum with six new products by May or June.

“Everyone thinks of Scotland as the ‘whisky country,’ but there has been an explosion of gin over the last decade with more than 100 gin distilleries in Scotland, and a huge exploration of styles and flavors,” he said.

Blue Barren Distillery had hoped to debut their brandy, eau de vie, at the U.S. Toboggan National Championships February 8-10 with a vendor booth. However, due to labeling issues and delays caused by the government shutdown, the product is again delayed and they will be selling cocktails using other Maine distillers to support the growing craft distillery movement in Maine, as well generate income to launch their space. 

By May, they hope to renovate the machine room into a tasting room with a lab and include outdoor tables on the deck with an awning facing the ocean.

“Drew [Lyman] has been incredibly supportive and kind and really excited to have something for people who come in on the boats for also for the community at large,” said Stewart.

The opening will be a boon to Camden, which has never had a distillery before.

“Our goal this year is to stay local; not even try to distribute,” said Stewart. “We want people to enjoy it here first. The goal is for people to think of us as part of the community and something they are proud of.”

For updates stay tuned to their Facebook page.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKPORT— If we know one thing about 12-year-old Olivia Gelerman, we know she loves the literary art form of manga. As Penobscot Bay Pilot’s exclusive teen reviewer of the “Manga 101” series, she isn’t just into reading them, she’s now into drawing original characters for them. And recently, one of her illustrations, hung up at her parents’ coffee shop 47 West, got her noticed.

Approximately four months ago, a yoga instructor came into the shop and was so impressed by Olivia’s artwork, that she commissioned the middle schooler to draw an original illustration for a poster.

“She wanted a figure to go with the text of an upcoming yoga Nidra class, so we got together and went over a couple of ideas,” said Olivia. “I did a few basic drawings of the Yoga Nidra pose and she really liked them. We picked one to go with the poster and I got paid for it.”

Her love of the manga form extends to graphic arts.

“For three years, I’ve been studying how to draw manga,” she said. “I started off copying other art just for fun. And then I started drawing my own original characters.”

Olivia and her best friend, Hannah from Boston, have been working on a graphic novel with original characters for some time.

“I have the story in my head; I just haven’t written anything down yet,” she said.

She uses copic alcohol-based markers on Bristol board to create her illustrations and then sketches in with colored pencil to add more depth.

“They end up blending together very well on paper,” said Olivia. “They’re fairly easy to work with and unlike watercolor, which can bleed, I like being in control of where the color stays. Though they are expensive. Each marker ranges from $7 to $12 apiece.”

YouTube is the medium that fuels most all of her creative inspiration. Just as she’d relied on YouTube to help her discover the best manga authors, Olivia used the video platform’s tutorials to teach her how to draw with copic markers and to learn the fine points of manga illustration.

She’s already building a portfolio of her illustrations and done three commissions so far. But, that’s not all. Olivia is also interested in another alternative creative form — doll customizing, which requires repainting and converting children’s dolls such as the Monster High dolls into custom 3-D characters.

“You take an old doll, cut the head off, boil it in water, take a pair of pliers and pull the hair plugs out,” she explained. “Then, I redo the face (using vinyl spray?) and reroute yarn hair though the scalp holes. I’m working on how to sew clothes for it with a sewing machine. I still need more practice. I was thinking of making dolls of my characters, but just need to get a little better.”

Olivia, who is home-schooled divides her time between studies, and working part-time at the store where she does everything from making coffee to serving food to curating her section of the bookstore upstairs dedicated to manga and graphic novels. “I don’t get paid at the store, but I can order art supplies and books online,so that is part of my ‘payment’” she said.

For more guidance on what manga and graphic novels will appeal to teens and tweens and get them reading follow her “Manga 101” series in our Related Stories below.

Photos by Kay Stephens

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

MIDCOAST— Do you have a great idea to help your community but just need that leg up to find more support and collaboration? New England Grassroots Environment Fund, an organization dedicated to inspire, connect, and support community-based environmental projects throughout New England, is coming to Maine with a series of “pop-up offices.”

Based in N.H. with satellite offices in Vermont, the Grassroots Fund services all of New England. A number of free pop-up office events are coming to Maine this week with help from Tess Beem, their program manager, who is Maine-born and raised. Before her work with the Fund, Tess worked on the coast of Maine, helping to sustain Maine's year-round, island communities through the Island Institute.

“The whole concept of the pop-ups, which we’re piloting for the first time, is to hit the road and bring our programming to the communities, instead of continually asking folks to come to us for events and trainings,” said Beem.

For the Grassroots Fund, pop-up offices are a way to lower barriers to funding for groups that have traditionally had a hard time accessing resources.

Other pop-up events will be held in Ellsworth and Bangor, as well as in New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

“Given my connections to Maine, we decided it would beneficial to meet up with people who are doing some great work in this state,” she said.

Along with meeting their grantee and partner organizations from Maine, the Fund will be holding drop-in office hours at the local libraries to support current applications or dream up new ideas, as well as hosting social gatherings after at local restaurants.

On Wednesday, February 5, they’ll set up at the Rockland Public Library from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.with social networking to follow at Ada’s Kitchen from 5 to 7 p.m.

The next day, Thursday, February 6, on multiple stops, they’ll set up at the Belfast Free Library from 2 to 5:30 p.m. with social networking to follow at Three Tides from 6 to 7 p.m.

“The time in the library is more office-hour style, but afterwards, this will give participants a chance to connect with others and find out more about what members in their communities are doing,” she said.

Setting up each day like office hours, a Grassroots Fund staff member will be available for support and discussion of people’s work and ideas. Beem will be scheduling times to meet one-on-one and individuals can indicate what they are looking to get out of the time.

People are welcome to come to the Pop-up Office before and after their time slot, to engage with other groups or continue working on their own. Each person will come away with a better understanding of the different resources the Grassroots Fund offers and ways to participate.

This is ideal for people who have ideas and want to brainstorm the project with collaborators, who want help looking over a grant application or want to learn about upcoming trainings and events in 2019.

“This is also a great way for people who are interested in what we do to put a face to name rather than through email or a voicemail,” said Beem.

While it’s not so much a pop-up for entrepreneurs or micro-businesses looking for business help for their product or services, it is a good way to network with other like-minded individuals in social and environmental justice work.

To schedule a time to meet one-on-one with Tess, please use this link: https://calendly.com/tess-gf or connect directly with Tess at tess@grassrootsfund.org.

For more information visit their Facebook event or website. 

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

THOMASTON—Carpenters and brewers Ethan Evangelos and Scott Bendtson built the foundation of their Searsmont brewery  two years ago when they opened Thresher’s Brewing Co. in 2016. And now it’s time for a new story.

The duo had envisioned expanding, but were looking around for the ideal property. Turns out, while Evangelos was building a custom set of kitchen cabinets for the owner of 1 Starr Street in Thomaston (the blue building that formerly housed Billy’s Tavern), he and the owner got talking.

“We’ve always been looking around for another location for a tasting room and we worked out a deal with the owner to take over the building,” he said.

Set to open sometime in May, Thresher’s Brewing Co.’s second location will be a tasting room and restaurant.

However, they hit some snags beyond their control with the recent government shutdown.

“We’ll be able to do some barrel aging there and pour drafts off the taps, and are hoping with the government reopening services, we we’ll be able to have our license approved before the opening so we can sell cans and growlers as well,”  said Evangelos. “We're going to be opening with snacks to start, but eventually want to use the built-in kitchen for a sandwich deli and grow off that."

Evangelos and Bendtson have the advantage of using their carpentry skills to renovate the interior of the building, just as they did for their microbrewery out of the old sawmill in Searsmont.

“We’re not going to have to do a heck of a lot,” said Evangelos. “it’s pretty turnkey inside.”

For more information and to stay up to date on their progress visit their Facebook page or website.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—Glacier Ice Bar, now into its second weekend for January 24 to 26, is the definition of dog-friendly.

This year’s theme took inspiration from its premier sponsor Tito’s Vodka, to focus on and celebrate dogs.

Tito Beveridge, born and raised in San Antonio, moved to Austin when he got tired of working for a drilling company. With degrees in geology and geophysics, Tito still pursued the day job in 1992 while handmaking flavored vodka as gifts for friends. He then obtained the first legal permit to distill in Texas and created Tito’s Handmade Vodka, batch distilling a corn-based vodka using old-fashioned pot stills.

In the company’s video, stray dogs would come up to the distillery and employees would feed them, with many of the employees adopting them afterward. Since then, Tito’s side campaign “Vodka for Dog People” has paired up with 800  animal-related partnerships, events and campaigns every year.

And a couple from New Hampshire who submitted a photo of their dog “Teddy” won the competition to have his likeness carved in ice for this special weekend.

“We’ll be doing a St. Bernard mocktail, which is a warm drink with apple cider, where all of the proceeds for that will go to Pope Memorial,” said master carver and Samoset Resort Chef Tim Pierce. “We’re also going to try and do some fun stuff, including an old 1939 delivery truck, which we’ll be using as a beer bar, an extra element to this event.”

The event goes from 5 p.m. until closing and is free to the public.

If you don’t catch GLACIER this weekend, the ice crew is taking the Ice Bar on the road to Sagamore Resort in Lake George for next two weekends, and then back to Maine at Timber Kitchen and Bar in Bangor for the first two weekends in February.

Find out where else the ice is nice in our article: Cheap Dates: You be chillin’ at these ice bars in January-February

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

SORRENTO — On Monday Jan. 7,  Maine’s Animal Welfare agents removed more than 100 farm animals from a farmer’s property after the court found he violated an April  2018 deferred disposition agreement that followed cruelty to animal charges, according to Liam Hughes, Maine’s Director of Animal Welfare.

On January 3, the order was signed giving custody of all of the remaining animals to the state of Maine and on January 8, the Animal Welfare program agents obtained a search warrant to remove 75 chickens, 10 ducks, 15 rabbits, and five pigs, which were taken to various sheltering partners for treatment and evaluation.

Since the seizure, Peace Ridge Animal Sanctuary, in Brooks, has been caring for the animals and has addressed each one’s medical and physical needs.

“The animals are doing as well as can be expected given the squalid, bleak conditions they somehow survived,” said Executive Director Daniella Tessier. “We would very much appreciate any help the community can provide. We have a lot of spaying and neutering to do, and quite a few rabbits who will be giving birth as they are in the late stages of pregnancy. It's awful that they were being paired up to breed — no food, no water, yet being purposefully kept in breeding groups. One female rabbit gave birth to a litter of still born babies the day after arrival. We weren’t surprised. You can't have healthy babies if you are starving to death.”

The farmer is now subject to a court order forbidding him to own or possess any livestock permanently and will have to pay fines starting on February 1. The state’s Animal Welfare Program and local law enforcement are to monitor the property to ensure compliance.

Two years ago, on Dec. 28, 2017, according to a WABI story, the same farmer had 44 animals seized from his property, which were found to be living in unsafe conditions. It had been the second time in one month that the state officials had to raid the farm and seize abused animals, according to Bangor Daily News on Dec. 29, 2017

What to do if you suspect animal cruelty

According to the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute, animal cruelty, “can be intentional, such as kicking, burning, stabbing, beating, or shooting; or it can involve neglect, such as depriving an animal of water, shelter, food, and necessary medical treatment.”

If you suspect any cruelty, the burden of proof is not on you. Every state has laws against animal cruelty.

AWI states: “It is important to report a suspected crime, whether it is animal abuse, child abuse, or some other illegal act. Do not worry if you cannot “prove your case.” The job of law enforcement is to investigate suspicious activities.” Here is a tip sheet on how to proceed.

To report an animal cruelty or neglect complaint during business hours 8 am to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday:

Complaints received via email must contain the reporting party’s name and phone number; the name of the animal owner, (if known), a physical address, a description of the animals and the type of complaint.

207-287-3846

1-877-269-9200 (Toll Free)

animal.welfare@maine.gov

For an emergency outside of business hours:

Call the Bangor Barracks of the State Police, 207-973-3700, and they will contact an Animal Welfare Program representative.

Animal Control Officer Contacts

List of Animal Control Officers by Town

Photos courtesy Peace Ridge Animal Sanctuary

Kay Stephens can be reached at

ROCKLAND — It’s January, the time for resolutions and reassessments. For many, losing weight and getting fit are a priority.

Inspired by Let’s Move, a national health and wellness initiative spearheaded by former First Lady Michelle Obama, Rockland Public Library’s Deputy Director Patricia King decided to survey other libraries nationally to see if they were offering take-home fitness kits that could be checked out of the library.

“I also wanted to see which fitness kits were in circulation most,” she said. “I basically modeled our kits on what other libraries had, but at least one of ours is unique — the jump rope master kit.”

“With grants we received, we were able to create this ‘Check Out Movement and Healthy Living at Your Library’ series,” she said.

All six kits include T’ai Chi Beginners Workout, Zumba Gold, Jump Rope Mastery, Pilates Broadband, Foam Roller and Yoga for Beginners.

Each of the kits they created include an instructional DVD, the equipment for that exercise or routine, a cleaning kit and a tote bag to carry everything around. All can be checked out free with a library card for two weeks.

It gives library card-holders the chance to try out the routine and fitness equipment in the comfort and privacy of their own home.

It’s not only a clever idea, especially in the winter months, when obstacles to fitness may include snowstorms keeping people home, a gym being too cost prohibitive, too far away, or not a comfortable setting for some.

The other advantage to trying out a kit is the opportunity to try a fitness regimen or routine before committing to buying the equipment and/or another DVD.

“It’s a great way to introduce adults to fitness and try out different modalities,” said King. “This is a way to start to explore different levels of exercise and activity.”

Here are examples of three of the six kits that can be checked out in order of intensity:

Tai Chi Fitness Kit

Summary: A comprehensive introduction to this powerful, low-impact workout that harnesses chi to promote health and well being.

Targets: Martial Arts, T’ai Chi, Muscle Strength

Check out: Tai Chi Fitness Kit

Zumba Fitness Kit

Summary: Exciting dance-fitness workouts featuring upbeat Latin and world rhythms, and nutritional tips.

Targets: Aerobic Dancing

Check out: Zumba Fitness Kit

Jump Rope Mastery

Summary: 15x techniques and 'tricks' to jump rope, how to improve your cardio and burn fat.

Targets: Cardio, legs and core

Check out: Jump Rope Mastery

To reserve a kit online go to the Rockland Public Library Catalogue, type in fitness kit in the keyword field. You’ll see the status of each kit and when it is due back.

Photos courtesy Rockland Public Library

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

It is the dream of many artists in Maine, not only to find gallery success with their work, but to someday open a gallery of their own. Christina DeHoff, an artist who grew up in Camden, has had lightning strike twice in her career, once in Rockland, 20 years ago and most recently, in Hawaii, after opening her second gallery.

In 2002, as a reporter for Village Soup, I covered DeHoff in a story, Painting from the gut, in which she’d become one of Rockland’s youngest gallery owners at 357 Main Street at age 25.

“I’d been given the opportunity by Keith and Carolyn May, who owned Peter Ott’s restaurant in Camden, as well as the Main Street space, and given my friendship with Carolyn, they gave me the opportunity to open my first gallery,” said DeHoff by phone in Maui. 

DeHoff, who’d been painting from an early age, was just learning to find her niche.

“It was the most incredible opportunity and I’d never run a business before at 25-years-old, obviously,” she said. “So, I jumped in and tried to figure it all out.”

“In some ways, today I feel that it was 20 years premature running a gallery in the Midcoast,” she said. “Rockland was still a gritty place at the time, not this art and foodie capital that is now,” she said. “It was a very different time. About five years in, I remember someone telling me that Winter Street was going to be developed and we’d be in the perfect location and other galleries would be attracted to the area. But, it wasn’t where it is today, and I burnt out before I could see that transformation.”

DeHoff, in her travels, also saw the potential for collaboration among the several galleries.

“Everyone was doing their own thing and I proposed to all of the galleries that we emulate an ‘Art Night’ walk that other galleries in other cities were doing,” she said. “I made my case at the Farnsworth initially, and we launched a Wednesday night Art Walk, which later turned to Friday nights.”

DeHoff was still trying to find her way in the art world.

“I don’t do competition — it’s just not in me,” she said. “I do collaboration. If I had a client in my gallery who wanted a different kind of art and I knew where else they could find it, I’d send them to another gallery. I know that’s not ‘good business’ in that you’re not making money from that decision, but I come from a place of raising people up.”

After 10 years of running 357 Main, DeHoff also faced another challenge, an auto-immune illness which was to become a major focus in her life, to the point of having to move away from Maine. She and the Mays sold the gallery to Jake Dowling in 2007 and in the next two years, DeHoff began to travel to Hawaii and back to Maine.

“I enrolled in a dance workshop in Maui and made a full commitment to move there three years later,” she said.

Having been in Maui for the last 10 years, DeHoff has made a number of friendship and connections as a full-time artist.

“My niche is really specific,” she said. “I focus on the divine feminine and that’s not for everyone. Hawaii’s art scene is very different from Rockland’s. It’s a very big business world that doesn’t lend itself to slow creation.

“My work is not prolific and doesn’t appeal to mass audiences. For example, I was asked to paint the art that has more commercial appeal. I paint people well, so I was asked to paint portraits of Jesus.  Or turtles and palm trees or above/below waterline. I could have done that, but stuck with my own style. Some galleries here have a chain with one in Maui, one in Key West, one in Las Vegas, so the artists are widely represented and they offer a lot of reproductions. 

“ I’m talking about artists who treat their art as a business first. They have families to support, so they research what sells and they are successful financially at that. That’s wonderful, but it’s not the same audience that is drawn to my work. Basically it’s been 10 years of trying to figure out how to fit in here in an art market that was very new to me.”

Another lightning strike occurred when DeHoff’s landlords and friends, two chefs, had an extra space on the ground floor of their restaurant and they asked DeHoff to open her own gallery.

The opening for 105 Fine Art took place on December 15.

“I’ve always dreamed of having a gallery here; but could never conceptualize it, given how expensive things are,” she said. Given her collaborative nature, DeHoff knew this couldn’t be a gallery just for herself.

“How do you run a business at the same time you’re trying to find the time needed to make your own art?” she said.

105 Fine Art is a small, boutique gallery representing seven artists of varying genres, all of whom, DeHoff said, have the same independent streak as herself.

“After all of this time, what made my artwork kind of weird with not a lot of mass appeal, is now what makes it stand out,” she said. I have now found my audience.”

For more information visit: www.christinadehoff.com

As the government shutdown stretches into its fourth week, affecting some 800,000 federal workers and with no resolution in sight, Mainers are not untouched.

According to the most recent data, there are 15,344 federal employees in Maine, including postal workers. There are 758 active-duty military, with the majority (551) in the Coast Guard, the only agency not funded during the government shutdown.  

Households affected are mostly on the lower end of the middle-class spectrum, with average take-home pay of about $500 each week per employee, according to The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).

While politician debates rage on in Washington, D.C., and the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history continues, several local companies have stepped up to help federal employees.

Heidi Neal, owner of Loyal Biscuit Co. said her company doesn’t want people to worry about the inability to pay for dog and cat food or to change their diet due to lack of a paycheck.

“We know we have a lot of Coast Guard customers who are not getting paid and with all of our five locations around the state, we also work a lot with the Small Business Association, which is also affected by the shut down,” she said. “So, we want to be able to reach out and help them any way they can.”

The Coast Guard has a number of procedural requirements in order to receive donations (see attached document), so Neal was careful to work within their parameters.

“We didn’t want to get anyone in trouble, so we had to be pretty creative,” she said. “Our current customers will be able to get their dog or cat food on credit with zero interest, and once their back pay is reinstated, we’ll settle up, so at least their animals will have healthy food. For one-time customers, we’re also offering certain bags of dog and cat food at cost. that way we’re still following the rules but able to help any way we can.”

Ada’s Kitchen in Rockland published a Facebook post on Jan. 16 stating:  “Federal employees — we’re talking to you. If you have been affected by the government shut down we’re here to help you out. We can’t give you a paycheck, but we can make pizza. Come in with your family and show us your federal ID and will make you a pizza on us.”

Jenn Rockwell, co-owner of Ada’s said, “In the Midcoast, we depend on our federal work force everyday, and at Ada’s we appreciate and respect that contribution. As an extension of the community they serve, we feel the responsibility to support them during this moment of compromise. We can't get them their deserved and earned paychecks, but can help by feeding them. For the many federal employees affected the government shutdown, Ada’s is here for you. The pizzas are on us for you and your families. Show us your federal ID and we'll take care of the rest.”

As far as donations, a number of organizations are making sure families don’t go without.

The Maine Lobster Festival announced Jan.16 that they were donating Walmart gift cards for Maine Coast Guard families totaling $2,500. Celia Crie Knight, President of MLF said, “The Coast Guard does a ton of volunteering for the Festival, so our committee decided very early in the shut down that we needed to give  from a special fund.” Crie Knight also added that her family’s company, Knight Marine Service, also donated a $250 Walmart gift cards as well.

Food pantries such as AIO Food Pantry in Rockland and  H.O.M.E. in Orland, Maine, have made it known through public Facebook posts that they are open for families furloughed or affected by the shutdown, as well. There is also a Free Farmer’s Market on Feb. 5 in Rockland starting at 11 a.m. for any families who need it. No I.D. necessary.

Airbnb announced on Jan. 16 that they will also be offering a “Night on Us” initiative nationally, “giving all executive branch employees who use their home to host an Airbnb user for at least three nights anytime between Dec. 18 and March 18 an extra night of income.”

As for services, Maine Water pledged to work with its customers who are furloughed federal employees to maintain their water service until their paychecks start flowing again, according to a Jan. 15 company news release. See that story.

Hampton Inn and Suites, in Thomaston, has been the unofficial hub for Coast Guard donations. It has really taken the shutdown to heart with a banner of a Coast Guard vessel on their Facebook page that reads: “We stand up, when they shut down.”

Organizer Shelby Riley, an employee of Hampton Inn, sits on the Rockland board of the Coast Guard.

“The Coast Guard has done a lot for our community; they protect our waters,” she said. “They need help and we are trying to step up in any way we can. “We’re getting gift cards from Hannaford Supermarkets, Maritime Energy, Walmart, donations from individuals, food donations, and pet supply donations,” she said. “I’m very excited about how the community has stepped up; I think it’s fantastic.To expect these men and women to go to work and not get paid for protecting our waters and our communities, the children in our communities, it’s not right. I’m ecstatic to see how everyone in the community is helping them out at this time.”

“You can drop off donations here at the Hampton Inn and also at the Rockland Harbor Hotel, which is one of our sister properties,” said Riley. People can contact either Cynthia Powell at cynthiap114@gmail.com or Shelby Riley at Shelby.Riley@hilton.com. Updates can be found on Rockland's Coast Guard City Facebook page and the Rockland Coast Guard Committee page.

This story will be updated.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

As the partial federal government shutdown enters its third week, during which many pieces of public land remain open to visitors but with low or no staffing, horror stories have emerged all over the United States about people leaving trash strewn everywhere, vandalism, injuries and deaths still under investigation. The shutdown has not produced that kind of behavior in Maine, according to several administrators familiar with Acadia National Park and the Appalachian Trail. Administrators for the other federally-run parks were unavailable for comment.

The wilderness areas in Maine affected by the federal government shutdown include:

Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park at Schoodic Peninsula
Katahdin Wood and Waters Monument
Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission
St. Croix Island International Historic Site
Sections of the Appalachian Trail

While the shutdown continues, administrators for those areas refer all media inquiries to the National Parks Service website, where an emergency banner states: “Some national parks may remain accessible to visitors; however, access may change without notice. Some parks are closed completely. Some visitor services may be available when provided by concessioners or other entities. For most parks, there will be no National Park Service-provided visitor services, such as restrooms, trash collection, facilities, or road maintenance.”

As for local nonprofits who support the federal parks and forests, they are keeping a steward’s eye on the situation.

“Friends of Acadia is deeply troubled by the federal government shutdown and the challenges it poses for Acadia,” said David MacDonald, President, Friends of Acadia in a news release.

“The fact that it comes in the depths of winter means that impacts on visitors and local businesses are far less than the 2013 shutdown at the height of fall foliage season. The debilitating effect on the park itself, however, cannot be overstated. The park cannot just run itself. More than 75 full-time professionals who help care for Acadia have been furloughed, leaving important work in limbo. Acadia already operates on a razor-thin budget, and to lose core functions for even a few days is a set-back for all of the work necessary to prepare for the coming year and to operate and protect one of America’s busiest and most-beloved parks.”

The issues that other national parks and forests currently face, including excessive trash, human waste and trail destruction are not major issues in Maine according to Earl Brechlin, Communications Director for Friends of Acadia.

“A lot of people love Acadia and have great affection for it,” he said. “In winter, it’s mostly folks from Maine who’ve been here before. There haven’t been a ton of services in the winter, so they are used to it.”

The proximity to Bar Harbor is also a reason for the Park’s cleanliness.

“The fact is here in Maine, the park is so intertwined with the community, it’s not like it’s a 50-mile drive to get to a public bathroom,” said Brechlin.

The Appalachian Trail is closed, but accessible in Maine, as well as throughout the entire trail system. This means that visitors can still access all sections of the A.T., but all facilities and support that is managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) will be unavailable.

That includes restrooms, visitor centers and other buildings, concessions, information services, and other services.

“In Maine, we aren’t doing any work on the Appalachian Trail anyway this time of year,” said Claire Polfus, Maine Program Manager for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy within the New England regional office. “We manage it for three seasons, so those issues you’re seeing in the news at other national parks are not happening on the Appalachian Trail. The biggest issue is that the volunteers who keep the AT up and running year-round, are not allowed to work. So, for some background, the volunteers’ safety is covered by the national park system and because they are not covered during the shutdown, they are not allowed to work.”

Asked if she has witnessed any of the destruction that other national parks are experiencing due to lack of oversight, she said, “Certainly not in Maine.”

Tips on visiting federal parks and forests during the shutdown 

The NPCA recommends: “We don’t want to discourage people from visiting their public lands, but given current conditions, we recommend people consider waiting until parks are fully staffed and safe to visit. We urge those who do visit to make wise decisions, look out for their safety and the safety of others, practice leave-no-trace ethics, and use extreme caution to ensure their behaviors aren’t harming park resources.”

Friends of Acadia have issued a poster (see accompanying poster) on how to be best prepared while the shut down is still underway. That includes a consistent emphasis on safety. LINK TO THE STORY HERE AS WELL (Read How to keep your car ‘emergency prepared’ for winter.)

The Appalachian Trail website warns winter campers that damaged trees from recent storms may present camping hazards due to saturated soils.

“Campers need to be extremely vigilant about inspecting overnight sites for trees and limbs around and above them that could fall, even in completely still conditions. Be vigilant about your surroundings and stay safe.”

In addition, the AT site cautions: “Although trailhead areas are generally safe, vandalism or car-breaks can potentially occur at any remote trailhead. Never leave valuables visible in your vehicle.”

For more information and updates visit:

 Acadia National Park

Katahdin Woods & Waters

Appalachian Trail (Maine)

The Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission

St. Croix Island International Historic Site. 

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com