When grocery shopping or eating out, we don’t often give much thought to buying an item encased in a plastic clamshell and doubly wrapped in cellophane, then loaded into plastic bags. It’s the same with getting takeout in a non-recyclable plastic container with utensils we toss out later. But it could be something to stop doing and participating in today, June 8, World Ocean’s Day.

With thousands of causes bombarding us daily to do this or change, that — why should we care?

Because, plastic pollution is a number one source of what’s killing the ocean. It doesn’t take a genius to make the connection between human consumption and environmental destruction. Whether it’s the recent story of the overwhelming plastic debris that regularly washes up on Hawaii’s beaches or the 13 sperm whales that were found dead, washed up on shore, their stomachs full of plastic, it’s time to be a little more conscientious in choices when it comes to buying or using or being given plastic.

The Surfrider Foundation is a grassroots nonprofit environmental organization with 85 national chapters that work to protect and preserve the world's oceans, waves and beaches. Melissa Gates, Northeast Regional Manager, said, "One of the best ways to reduce our plastic footprint in the ocean is to change our every day consumer behavior, such as bringing your own shopping bags to the grocery store or refusing plastic straws when you go out to eat. When grocery shopping, refuse to buy items that are overly packaged. These little changes really goes a long way. Not only does it remove the market demand, but also it sets an example to others, as we continue to work to make that paradigm shift."

All that throwaway plastic ends up as litter on beaches, streets and sidewalks, and then through storm drains or creeks flowing into the ocean. Plastics, such as Styrofoam or water bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate, never break down and never goes away. It doesn’t biodegrade, it photodegrades, which means it is broken down by the action of light into smaller and smaller fragments over time

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, billions of pounds of plastic currently swirls in large convergences, making up about 40 percent of the world’s ocean surfaces. If that doesn’t make you sick, this will:

All those photodegraded tiny bits of plastic are mistaken as a food source by marine animals, such as fish we catch, and eat.

“All of the broken down bits can be ingested by marine life with devastating results,” said Gates. “Not only is it creating this toxic soup that all marine life is swimming around in, but of course, when you eat seafood, you are also eating those toxic chemicals.”

Surfrider Foundation’s Maine chapter organizes periodical campaigns to do beach clean ups—but it’s not simply to beautify the beaches, it comes with the mission to study the debris they pick up and to analyze where it’s coming from.

“First, we catalogue the debris to trace it back to the source of pollution,” Gates said. “Then, we use the data to help inform regulatory decisions that would stop the source of pollution in certain areas.” Asked what are the biggest sources of trash and debris the Maine volunteers have collected on beaches over the last few years, she said, “Cigarette butts are very prevalent on beaches. A lot of people don’t think of it as plastic pollution, but filters often contain little bits of plastic. Plastic grocery bags, abandoned fishing gear and expanded polystyrene, like Styrofoam coolers, food packaging and cups that have broken apart, are also big sources of marine debris.”

Just like Earth Day, which started in 1970, has galvanized more than a billion people worldwide to make small differences to protect the earth, World Oceans Day is inspiring people to take part in creating a healthy ocean.

Gates and fellow Surfrider Foundation member and Friendship lobsterman, Richard Nelson, will be participating in a panel following the film screening of Ocean Frontiers, an award-winning film about ocean stewardship. The screening will take place on Thursday, June 16 at the Belfast Free Library. The Maine chapter’s next public event is on Saturday, June 18, which is International Surfing Day in Ogunquit.

FMI: More details. To find out when other campaigns and beach cleanups will be happening in Maine, visit their Facebook page or sign up on their email list.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

LINCOLNVILLE — Since the age of 6, Wesley Henderson, of Lincolnville, has been working hard to be a dancer. At that young age, he had his sights set on big goals. He started out in ballet, but gravitated more to hip hop when he began training at Studio Red in Rockland. At 8, he was starting to lose interest in what they were learning at his age range, so he began taking teen level classes as well. “So, that’s when I started getting a little more forward in my dancing career,” he said.

Today, at 12, it might seem cute that he used the word “career,” but in fact, this kid has fast tracked into a legitimate professional career as he prepares to travel to Los Angeles this July to participate in the prestigious Hollywood Summer Tour. After performing in a regional competition in Portland with his Studio Red dance troupe, Wesley was awarded one of five $500 scholarships to the Tour, beating out hundreds of dancers with more than 550 dancing competitions.

This week-long invitation-only dance workshop includes multiple dance classes in all genres of dance with some of the biggest names in the commercial dance world, including some who have appeared on the hit show So You Think You Can Dance.

And while the scholarship win was good, there was one other thing holding him back: $500 wasn’t going to get his mother and him to California for a week, so Wesley set his mind on a new goal — to raise $4,500 (which doesn’t include airfare) to stay for a week.

“In my family, I’m always the one to want to do something even if it is a super hard thing to do. I knew it was a lot of money,” he said. So, the family started a GoFundMe page, along with several in-person fundraisers he has done locally around town. His last few fundraisers have raised more than $200 and his GoFundMe page has already crept to nearly $3,000 in a month.

“I’ve never been on a plane before, and I’ve never been so excited in my life,” he said.

Stay tuned as Penobscot Bay Pilot tracks his progress.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — Sam Richman, the former chef of Salt Water Farm, decided on an innovative route when the Rockport restaurant closed unexpectedly in 2015. He began operating a series of pop-up Mexican dinners under the name Salty Soup Kitchen. Working with restaurant colleagues and friends in several locations, the dinners proved to be a success all through the winter of 2016. And he might have continued that route had he’d not been tipped off that the owners of Sunfire Grill on were retiring after 14 years, leaving the Main Street space open.

Richman took over the location and is now working on opening his first restaurant called Sammy’s Deluxe. However, don’t expect to find Mexican fare on the menu.

“The Mexican Nights we did were sort of a side project, but now I’m returning to what I think I do best, which is getting the freshest ingredients locally and treating them simply,” he said.

Richman describes the menu he’s currently working on as more of "high-brow/low-brow Main-New England-Americana.”

He added: “I’ll go down to the farmer’s market or local fish market and whatever’s the brightest, shiniest ingredient will end up on the menu. I just want to treat the ingredients well, let them shine and not make very fussy food with it.”

He’d worked as a chef in a number of restaurants in New York City and has experimented with a number of supper clubs, but this is his first venture as a restaurateur. 

“I’ve learned a lot working in other people’s restaurants, but it’s nice to be able to be able to stretch out a little bit and work on some of my own ideas,” he said.

In addition to highlighting the freshest produce possible, the menu will include classics taken seriously. Offerings might include comfort food such as a cheeseburger made with the best ingredients or a corn dog he perfected while working at Salt Water Farm.

Having grown up in New Hampshire, he said his foray into New York City was a good one, but the lifestyle was too busy for him.

“I just wanted to get back to New England,” he said. “Maine had a more vibrant food scene going on, not to mention the quality of restaurants that exist here. I think this area supports a really good restaurant culture with some of the greatest ingredients in the world.”

Richman plays Led Zeppelin over the restaurant speakers as he works to transform the restaurant’s interior. Tables and chairs are stacked to the side and the Mexican memorabilia is shuffled aside to be put away. He is not going for a modernist look with Sammy’s Deluxe, but instead, plans to keep the decor simple and rustic.

“I want people to feel like they can come for really well-shopped for, well-cooked food without having to be in a fancy restaurant,” he said. “I’m a cook, not a designer, so you’re not going to be coming here for the really cool space, you’ll come for the good food.”

As for the fans of the Mexican food he made with the Salty Soup Kitchen, he said: “I definitely have a love affair with Mexican food, so it might make an appearance as a special night. We’ll see.”

Richman said he plans on opening as soon as he gets through his city council hearing, which may be mid-to-late June.

For more information visit Sammy’s Deluxe on Facebook.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Here’s your official start to June with a weekend packed with art openings, storytelling and a slavish dedication to America’s most beloved fat injector: the Donut.

Jam-packed Art Walk Openings

Friday, June 3—Rockland

Rockland’s First Friday art walk has so much going on, we’re going to break it up into three parts. New openings include Carver Hill Gallery’s show “FEMMetonymy” from 5-8 p.m. in which the artists use clothing as a vehicle to “challenge convention, tell a story, express an opinion and elicit an emotional response.” Jonathan Frost Gallery hosts an opening for “Leo Brooks and Jonathan Frost: Works on Paper” from 5-8 p.m. with Steve Lindsay accompanying with jazz piano. The Landing Gallery will hold an opening for two shows: “Postcards from Home” with new oil paintings by Sarah Faragher and “Passages: Time & the Sea” with ceramic boats by David Riley Peterson from 5-8 p.m. And CRAFT Gallery will open “In Bloom,” featuring watercolors by Susa Van Campen and rugs by Sara Hotchkiss. Finally, art hounds, don’t forget, you can check out the new Art Loft in the back of the Thorndike Building. There will be a table for people who want to “give art a try.”

Hole History Show

Friday, June 3—Rockland

Rockland artists have been working for months to elevate and celebrate Maine’s ties to the Donut Hole in a two-venue art opening happening at Asymmetrick Arts (405 Main Street) and Win Wilder Hall (328 Main Street) titled “Hole History: Origins of the American-Style Donut.” Curated by artist Alexis Iammarino, this show features more than 60 contributions from artists, writers, videographers and culinary historians and continues until June 25. The reception kicks off 5-8 p.m at both places with of course, coffee and donuts to celebrate National Donut Day. Look for more of the background story in our forthcoming summer issue of The WAVE.

Free roof deck and hotel art tour

Friday, June 3—Rockland

250 Main, Rockland’s newest boutique hotel is finally completed and this might be the closest locals will get to seeing what went into its architecture, design and thought process with a grand opening starting at 4:30 p.m. followed by a complimentary wine and beer reception and room tours of the five-story building. The jewels of this unique hotel include room 405 with an attached balcony and the roof deck with stunning views of Rockland’s harbor. Check out our latest Cheap Dates story on it.

National Doughnut Day & National Trails Day

Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4—Midcoast

If you want six-pack abs AND you want donuts, you are not alone. (And you know what’s going to win out anyway.) Local donut havens such as Willow Bake Shoppe in Rockland are celebrating National Donut Day. Lucky for your pathetic abs, tomorrow also happens to be National Trails Day. In Maine, there are several hikes planned and the closest one to the Midcoast is the Grand Opening of School Nature Trail in Tenants Harbor, meeting at the Jackson Memorial Library at 10 a.m. The public is invited to celebrate with refreshments and hike the path through woods.

Killer Road Trip: Moth Story Telling in Portland

Saturday, June 4—Portland

If you’ve ever listened to The Moth Radio Hour on NPR, likely you’ve heard a dang good yarn from an everyday storyteller who made you laugh, cry or think about it long after the story was done.  Each Moth Mainstage features simple, old-fashioned storytelling, by five wildly divergent raconteurs who develop and shape their stories with The
Moth’s directors. The hottest ticket this weekend is a live Moth storytelling event in Portland at the State Theatre. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the stories stat at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $30-$45, depending on seats.  FMI: MOTH Stories

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — It might not be obvious from the street view, but 250 Main, Rockland’s newest boutique hotel, has the look and feel of a gallery on every floor, with art from a variety of local Maine artists, including Eric Hopkins, Sam Cady and Janice Kasper, hanging on the walls.

And on Friday, June 3, anyone who is out and about for the city’s monthly Art Walk might want to pop in for the hotel’s grand opening, which kicks off at 4:30 p.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony with Mayor Louise MacLellan-Ruef and Rockland Maine Street Inc. Executive Director Gordon Page Sr.

This is the public’s opportunity to enjoy complimentary cheese and crackers, wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks in the spacious lobby while getting personalized tours from the staff inside some of the hotel’s signature balcony rooms. Simultaneously, the hotel’s curator will be giving a tour of all of the artworks in the building. It will also be one of the few opportunities locals not staying in the hotel will get to view the stunning roof deck overlooking The Pearl and Rockland Harbor.

“People can walk around, see who the artists are and what galleries they are from,” said Hotel Manager Taylor Corson. “Every art piece in the hotel is for sale.” 

In a group tour Corson led last week she said she recalled that, “one woman in the group stopped and looked at a piece on the wall and said, ‘Oh my gosh I painted that! I had no idea it was here.’ It was the coolest thing.”

The architecture of the hotel is not hotel-like at all. From the reddish cement stairwell floors with famous quotes from authors on the risers to the expansive lobby that doubles as a lounge area, there’s a lot to take in. There are no long hallways on the upper floors and there is plenty of glass and light.

The hotel was designed by architect Scott Tease of Scattergood Designs in Portland, while the individual look of the rooms was designed by James J. Wall of Thirlwal Building Design. Cabot Lyman of Lymon Mores Boatbuilding built the five story, 26-room hotel with many of the interior finishes produced at his boatyard in Thomaston.

People will also get a chance to glimpse the rooms themselves, including the jewel of the hotel, Room 405, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls and a secluded deck with white couches.

“It’s pretty amazing with a gorgeous view,” said Corson.

Bonus for the Cheap Daters: anyone who attends can enter a drawing for a free night at the hotel. To find out more visit: 250mainhotel.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

The good news is locals will tell you we didn't get the brutal beating we endured the previous winter. The even better news is how Camden and Rockport have begun to transform with a slew of new restaurants

Here's our annual listing of the new businesses and changes that occurred over the winter in Camden, Lincolnville and Rockport — what's open, what's closed, what's new and what's happening.

Restaurant news

Cappy’s Chowder House...Sea Dog Brewing Co.

Back in February, the rumors were swirling about Cappy's Chowder House closing after 37 years and what would take its place. PenBayPilot broke the news that The Sea Dog Brewing Co. (once a Camden fixture in the 1990s) was returning and had signed a lease to take over the Cappy's location. Renovations have been taking place all spring with plans for an outdoor deck. They are set to open June 15.

Camden House of Pizza

The Camden House of Pizza is under new ownership. Midcoast residents John and Mary McCluskey, who have lived in Hope for the past 20 years, have purchased this established business.  They are now accepting credit cards and offering slices for those with smaller appetites.  See our recent story here.

Rhumb Line

Restaurant patrons who are used to the views from The Waterfront, Peter Ott's on the Harbor and Camden Deli will notice something different across the inner harbor this summer — people at picnic tables and a bar looking right back at them on the dock at Wayfarer Marine. Rhumb Line opened with chef Scott Yakovenko at the helm in late May and it has already become a local hot spot. Can't beat that U-shaped zinc-topped bar with views of the Camden Hills and the boats bobbing on the brine. See our recent story here.

Tap & Vine

Another new place that sprung up with harborside seating is at 9 Bayview Landing. This June, Tap & Vine, a pop-up beer and wine bar began offering a selection of draft beer and wines on tap.

The Vintage Room

And just to be a little different, 16 Bay View Street's new 22-room hotel completed last summer quietly opened The Vintage Room, with a lobby bar and small plates menu.

Atlantica Restaurant

Fans of Atlantica Restaurant will be sad to know they finally closed this past fall, (which is where Tap & Vine is now located).

Spoon

Spoon, a frozen yogurt shop that opened in 2013 at 44 Bayview Street, said goodbye to its patrons September 2015.

Seabright....Fireside

Fireside, a new restaurant featuring wood-fired cuisine, opened June 2 on Camden's Public Landing where Seabright used to be. Managed by Benjamin Curtis of Lincolnville, Fireside's menu will center around Italian and Mediterranean-influenced cuisine, along with local craft brews and a full bar.

Shepherd’s Pie, Salt Water Farm...18 Central Street, Nina June

Two neighboring Rockport village restaurants went away this winter and being replaced with two new restaurants. Shepherd's Pie closed for what looked like the season in March, until Penobscot Bay Pilot learned that they were closed for good. A new tenant, a raw bar and grill called 18 Central Street, will take it over. And when Salt Water Farm also closed, it was announced in early June that New York City chef Sarah Jenkins from Manhattan is taking over the space for her new Mediterranean restaurant, Nina June.

Business news

Knox Mill, Penobscot Bay Pilot, Maine Women’s Fund

Last spring we reported on the Knox Mill's conversion of office spaces on the top floors, rumored to become senior housing, but over the winter, the new ownership of the mill complex property announced it saw opportunity in creating apartment complexes for all ages. This spring, the offices of Penobscot Bay Pilot and Maine Women’s Fund, among others such as Outward Bound and the clock repair shop, all moved out during the major reconstruction. Now the PenBayPilot.com offices are located in the the former HAV building at 87 Elm St. in Suite 215.

Shepherd Block

On the heels of that story, we learned that Marianne and Stuart Smith, of Camden, had entered a purchase and sales agreement for the Shepherd Block in Rockport Village, and for the two vacant lots on either side of that historic brick building. The deal is expected to close in late July. The Smiths plan to keep the building intact. See that story here.

Salty Dog

The Salty Dog, located at 123 Elm St in Camden, a full service pet grooming salon just announced its opening in early June. Family owned and operated, with more than 25 years of grooming experience and four years of veterinary medicine, the salon offers botanical baths, top notch clips for all breeds, “pawdicures,” and therapeutic skin treatments.

Leonard’s

In February, Leonard’s a clothing, jewelry and accessory store moved from Route 1 in Rockport to 23 Elm Street in Camden.

East Coast Yacht Sale/True Course Yachting

And finally, a new yachting supply store headed up by East Coast Yacht Sales and True Course Yachting on 44 Bay View Street took over the Spoon location on Camden’s Bay View Street.

If we've missed any business updates, comings and goings, expansions and the like, shoot us an email with the subject line "Add to Rockport/Camden story" and we'll give it a look.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Every spring the Monopoly board of Rockland switches up a little, gaining and losing a few businesses along the way. This was a big year for restaurants, hotels and art galleries as we watch this once rough and tumble town continue to evolve into a hot spot. Here's what happened over the fall and winter— what's open, what's closed, what's new.

Restaurant news

Brown Bag...Home Kitchen Cafe, Home Sweet Home, Close to Home

This past fall, it was a bit of a shock to learn that local favorite lunch spot The Brown Bag was going out of business after 28 years, but luckily, Home Kitchen Café owners James Hatch and Susan Schiro took over the space, planning to expand their restaurant's popular brand with three separate businesses under one roof. Moving their ice cream parlor from behind Home Kitchen Café into the left side of the Main Street building and leaving the right side a bakery and calling it Home Sweet Home, they turned the middle section into a burrito and sandwich shop called Close To Home with "made to-order homemade subs similar to a North End Boston Italian style." Read our story about it here.

Comida Restaurant...Broken Egg

Despite a still active website and Facebook page, Comida Restaurant, the Latin-infused restaurant, which had moved from Camden to Rockland in 2015, experimented with a new business model of sharing space with food truck 'Wich Please, before announcing its permanent closure over the winter. Broken Egg, a gourmet breakfast and brunch spot took its place, just recently opening for the summer season. See our recent story here.

The Oyster Bar...The Pearl

The Oyster Bar at the Pearl quietly closed over the winter, making room for a longtime fixture of the food scene, Larry Reed, to take over as the new owner. Now what the locals are calling The "New" Pearl, this iconic restaurant on the pier has reopened with a new primarily seafood menu, new staff and new energy. See our recent story.

Sunfire Mexican Grill... Sammy’s Deluxe

And just before the summer season, Sunfire Mexican Grill announced on Facebook that after 14 years in the business, they are retiring and offering the business up for sale. At this writing, Sam Richman, who previously has hosted pop-up Mexican dinners as salty Soup Kitchen, has announced he has taken over the space and will be calling his new restaurant Sammy's Deluxe, described as "high-brow/low-brow, thoughtful, not fussy, delicious, proud, seasonal food—the best of Maine, New England, and Americana."

Business news

Hops & Chops

Hops & Chops, a full-service butcher shop and beer/wine shop at 77 Park Street opened in mid-May in the location formerly owned by Blackboard Deli. With an emphasis on selling Maine craft brews and wine, owner Dale Dare also plans to offer homemade prepared meals to go, which is sure to be a hit with tourists and locals alike. See our story here.

Gelato Rosse, Ice Blossoms

Coming up in early June, two more small businesses dedicated to icy treats will be opening. Gelato Rose (497 Main St.) owned by Annie Higbee and her daughter Cecile Bizet Burbank will open Rockland's second gelato shop. They will share space with Robert Arena who will be opening an Italian ice shop called Ice Blossoms.

Thorndike Creamery...Curator

Rockland lost one of its best pizza places when Thorndike Creamery decided to close their doors in December after being in business for eight years. See that story here. In its place, Benjamin Dorr and Emily Seymour opened Curator in mid-May, a consignment and thrift store for men, which is something the Midcoast has needed for a very long time.

The Reading Corner...Loyal Biscuit

Another blow to the literary community took place when The Reading Corner, an independent bookstore and a fixture on Maine Street since 1975, closed permanently in January, citing the huge changes in the past 10 years in publishing and bookselling. By April, Rockland residents Heidi V. Neal and Joel C. Neal, owners of Loyal Biscuit Co., purchased the building, expanded The Loyal Biscuit, a dog and cat pet supply boutique into that space.

Lodging news

250 Main

After a lengthy construction period over last summer and this winter, the boutique hotel called 250 Main built by Lyman Morse, opened in May. Positioned directly across the harbor, the five floors with a rooftop space built for events, will have prime views of the Maine Lobster Festival, the Maine Boats and Harbor Show and the Blues Festival. See our story here.

Navigator Inn...Rockland Harbor Hotel

Another hotel on track to be completed by Memorial Day is the Rockland Harbor Hotel, formerly the Navigator Inn. Locals who frequented "the Gator" probably won't be happy about losing their favorite watering hole, but tourists will most likely dig its hip and cool facelift.

Art Scene news

Center for Maine Contemporary Art

Center for Maine Contemporary Art is still steadily working to wrap up the finishing touches on its $2.5 million project — an 8,600-square-foot art center with a 2,200-square-foot, glass-enclosed courtyard on Winter Street. The grand opening is set for June 26. See more here.

Dowling Walsh Art Gallery

Dowling Walsh art gallery announced over the winter a proposal to expand their business and build a five-story $3 million building also on Winter Street in the back of their parking lot. They thought the timing would be ideal as Winter Street still remains under construction with the new CMCA complex that is currently being built.

The Art Loft

Art Loft, a new business started by two former Maine Media Workshop grads, Kathryn Matlack and Paula Apro, located in the back of the Thorndike Building, opened just in time for the season's first Art Walk. Offering drop-in art and marketing drop-in classes and workshops, the dup aims to make art more accessible to the average person. See our story here.

If we've missed any business updates, comings and goings, expansions and the like, shoot us an email with the subject line "Add to Rockland story" and we'll give it a look.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

If you're wondering why Camden and Rockland get the Snow Birds moniker and Belfast gets the Snow Bats, it's because years ago, Belfast's champion, Mike Hurley, made up a bunch of bumper stickers celebrating the left-leaning citizens he affectionately called Moon Bats. So, if you've been away this winter, Penobscot Bay Pilot has an update on everything that opened, closed and changed while you were gone.

Restaurant news

Nautilus Seafood and Grill

Over the winter, Nautilus Seafood and Grill, formerly in the location of 95 Searsport Ave. (over the bridge) in East Belfast, moved into the downtown waterfront Belfast location that was formerly the Weathervane Restaurant. They opened in January and thanks to the "location and loyalty" of their steadfast customers, they seem to be thriving. See our story here.

Taco Bell

In November, anyone going through the Wendy's fast food restaurant at 22 Belmont Ave. in Belfast found an empty window with dismantled signs. Right now, Taco Bell is in the process of renovating the space and they hope to be open by the fall.

Arata

The Gothic Restaurant at 108 Main St. has been undergoing changes too, with chef Matthew Kenney announcing that The Gothic, which re-opened Memorial Day Weekend, will now be operating as Arata, a high end, plant-based cuisine concept of Kenney's, and executed by Chef Scott Winegard, director of culinary operations. In a press release, Kenney said that Arata will be a place "to test new ideas, experiment and continuously innovate within the category."

Business news

Kids Unplugged

A new low-tech, high-energy play space owned and operated by Belfast parent and graphic designer Lee Parent, Kids Unplugged just opened in May. The 2,000-square-foot space in the Belfast Reny's Plaza has big plans for activating kids' imaginations. See our recent story here.

sweetFrog

Right next to Kids Unplugged, a frozen yogurt shop, sweetFrog, had a grand re-opening in March. The Belfast location is the fourth sweetFrog store operating in Maine.

Fiddlehead Artisan Supply, Chocolate Drop Candy Shop, Harbor Artisans, The Cool Spot

Fiddlehead Artisan Supply, a sewing, quilting and crafts store that opened in May 2011 on High Street, also moved in March around the corner to 64 Main St., replacing the Chocolate Drop Candy Shop and Harbor Artisans. However, sweet tooths will rejoice when they learn that the Chocolate Drop Candy Shop didn't go away for good; it just reopened at 35 Main St. in the space vacated by The Cool Spot ice cream shop. As for the Belfast Harbor Artisans, they are still actively looking for storefront space.

Bagel Café

What goes out must come in and with Fiddlehead Artisan's former location at 159 High Street available, Camden's Bagel Café owners have decided to expand there. They are currently working on renovations for a new Bagel Café and plan to open this month, in June.

Belfast Bicycles...Sidecountry Sports

Speaking of switcheroos, after 12 years, Belfast Bicycles has closed its doors at 161 Main St., prompting Sidecountry Sports of Rockland to also expand its business and open a second location there. They just opened this month, offering seasonal ski and bicycle sales, rentals and service.

United Farmers Market

And finally, Paul Naron has purchased the former Mathews Brothers building at Miller, Spring and Cross streets and is in the process of establishing the United Farmers Market in the building. He is now making renovations, and it appears that his goal is to be open this fall.

If we've missed any business updates, comings and goings, expansions and the like, shoot us an email with the subject line "Add to Moon Bat story" and we'll give it a look.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BANGOR — Range 15, a new zombie movie, is coming to Bangor this month. The indie flick, which raised more than $1 million in an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, is kicking off its East Coast premiere June 15, while the West Coast premiere simultaneously takes place in Los Angeles.

David Snider, a Maine resident from just outside of Ellsworth, is not only part of the cast, but has also taken on the dual role of poster artist and local promoter.

He is an Army National Guard veteran and up until 2009, he’d been an art editor of a comic book company. He started a collaboration with fellow military veteran and writer, Nick Palmisciano, to create a comic book about veterans. While the book never panned out, Palmisciano had another project cooking — a zombie comedy with combat veterans reflecting the real, non-Hollywood-filtered attitude, language, camaraderie and humor they all shared.

As their Indiegogo page states: “Last fall of 2015, we dreamed up the the movie's concept while sitting in a bar and drinking an inappropriate amount of alcohol. We decided to join forces and make the greatest movie ever. Then we sobered up and realized we didn’t really know how to make a movie. Then we got drunk again and realized that God hates a coward.”

If that doesn’t tip off the movie’s politically incorrect tone, here’s the rest of the movie’s origin story.

Knowing we needed a director good enough to make our vision a reality and crazy enough to read our script and not call the authorities, we broke into Ross Patterson’s house in the middle of the night and flashbanged his bedroom.  When the smoke cleared, he was sitting in his smoking jacket wearing an eye patch, pipe in hand.  “I’ll make your movie,” he said.  “But first, you’ll have to dance for me.” We promised we’d never talk about what happened next.

The movie’s premise goes like this: Five military buddies wake up in the drunk tank only to find out that while they were passed out in their cell, the zombie apocalypse kicked off. Armed with only billy clubs and their military experience, they break out of jail and fight their way to their old base. Along the way they pick up a whole lot of weapons, a couple of damsels in distress, and accidentally, the cure.

“The guys [who made this movie] got tired of seeing war movies that couldn't even get the uniforms or weapons right, let alone portray combat vets the way they really are — rude, crude, funny and completely politically incorrect,” said publicist Patricia Rumsey.

Snider agrees.

“Even with George Romero’s Day of The Dead, the military is always portrayed as these soulless, humorless robots,” he said. “But that’s not who we are. We’re funny, we rag on each other and that’s the biggest thing I think people forget is that we’re human beings, too.”

The movie’s title, Range 15, is a mashup homage to Ranger Up and Article 15, the two largest military lifestyle brands in the world.

Palmisciano is the CEO of Ranger Up, as well as one of the movie’s writers.  With his influence, both organizations donated $250,000 to the movie if the producers could raise $325,000 on their own.

Due to the overwhelming support of mostly veteran’s communities and military organizations, the donations crushed their original goal, topping more than $1.1 million.

“I don’t think we ever imagined we’d raise that much money,” said Snider. “Almost all of the funding came from an on-the-ground word of mouth campaign, with most of the cast and producers doing the promoting of the movie.”

The additional funding allowed the producers to add more effects and higher star power, such as cameos by well-known actors Danny Trejo, Keith David and William Shatner. Range 15 also features Medal of Honor recipient Leroy Petry, former Army Green Beret and UFC MMA fighter Tim Kennedy, and retired U.S. Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, who authored Lone Survivor about his eyewitness account of Operation Redwing and the “lost heroes of Seal Team 10” in a battle against Taliban fighters in 2005. 

Range 15 is a fictional area, and the majority of the movie was shot in Los Angeles.

Snider not only has three roles in the movie (and dies horribly at least twice) and did the artwork for one of the Indiegogo posters, but he also is promoting the June showing of Range 15 at Bangor Mall Cinemas 10. There will be a Portland screening on the same night, as well. Snider anticipates the first showing might be sold out and hopes they’ll add a second showing.

To get advance tickets visit tugg.com/titles/range-15 and click the drop down box to Bangor.

To watch the film’s trailer, click here. (Note: Rated R, NSFW, language, violence, adult content)

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

 It’s a great weekend to be a Mainer in every sense. Summer is starting, festivals are happening, pigs are being roasted in your honor and you’re getting a lot of free things thrown your way. Oh! And three day weekend. Bonus!

Steampunk Alice’s Quest for Queen

Friday, May 27 & Saturday, May 28—Camden

The Rockport Dance Conservatory’s spring performance is putting an alternative spin on an old tale. After the students perform several composition pieces, they’ll give a steampunk interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, titled “Alice’s Quest for Queen” Both shows start at 6:30 p.m., at Camden Opera House.  $15 adults/$10 seniors & students/free under 5. Tickets can be purchased at Midcoast Rec Center in Rockport. FMI: 557-5421

Wish You Were Here

Saturday, May 28—Searsport

This is the best time to be living in Maine. Everybody’s jealous of us and rightfully so. The Penobscot Marine Museum opens for the season celebrating a hundred years of unique Maine images used in postcards with its "Wish You Were Here: Communicating Maine" theme.  Bonus: if you happen to live in Lincolnville or Isleboro, you get to go for free for a week starting May 29, as part of the museum’s desire to give back to the communities. Check out other “free weeks” for residents of Waldo county on their website. For all others adults are $12 and kids are $8. Check the website for specific hours FMI: Penobscot Marine Museum

Public Pig Roast

Saturday, May 28—Rockport

Maine Street Meats is inviting the public to pig out with a special public pig roast done in a Caja China style (where the whole pig is roasted in a steel box and covered in embers) out in front of the State of Maine Cheese building in Rockport. Big Daddy Farms of Whitefield is supplying the pig, which will be served in sandwiches, along with charred spring onions on a house-made sesame semolina roll,  with arugula, house-made aioli and pickled chili peppers. Top that off with s’mores served on house-made graham crackers with chocolate ganache and marshmallows! Yum! The festivities start at noon; sandwiches sell for $12 and s’mores for $3.50 and when the pig is gone...it’s gone.

Damariscotta’s Fun Festival

Saturday May 28 & Sunday, May 29—Damariscotta

We tried to send you to Machias for a fish festival on April Fool’s Day, but this is no joke. Damariscotta hosts an annual festival dedicated to their return of the alewives. So they are dedicating an entire weekend to music, food and fun. You can find all of the bands here and the day’s events and activities here. Go for the oysters, lobster and crab rolls, homemade donuts and smoked alewives. And beer tent! A great day trip for the whole fam. There is no entry charge.

Killer Road Trip: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens-FREE

Saturday, May 28 through Monday, May 30—Boothbay

It seriously pays to have a 207 area code this weekend.  Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is offering their annual Maine Days all Memorial Day weekend, offering free admission to all Maine residents. just make sure to bring your ID. To search for what’s in bloom during a specific time period, please visit FloraFind, their online database of what is planted at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — Most people know Lee Parent as a graphic designer as well as a mother to two daughters. For someone who works so heavily with technology, it might be surprising to some that her new entrepreneurial venture, a play center called Kids Unplugged, is entirely free of technology.

The 2,000-square-foot space in the Reny’s Plaza of Belfast has been undergoing a soft opening this month— all designed to encourage children to use their imagination and to help parents engage in hands-on play with their children.

“As a mom, it is so important to me that my children know how to access and explore the power of their imagination,” she said. “When I was a kid we didn't have cell phones, laptops, computers or mobile apps to do the thinking or entertaining for us. We had the great outdoors as our playground and most often, cardboard boxes/duct tape was my personal form of entertainment.”

Parent also has corresponding books and products on her website that go with Kids Unplugged’s center, which outlines steps for parents on how to actively engage in play, along with guided stories, and toys and crafts that inspire imaginative thinking.

“When I was growing up, books were always my friends,” she said. “And I was really afraid that my girls wouldn’t get that as they grew up.”

Last year, she volunteered to run a gymnastics class at the YMCA in Camden when a friend suggested she open her own play center.

“About 50 people signed up for that one class and it made me realize how many parents just need something like this full time,” she said.

The play center, which has been the site of the annual Cinderella Project for the last several years, is currently being outfitted with a wall-to-wall foam block spring floor.  When it is finished, it will be a multi-purpose room for gymnastics, a play space with a rock wall and indoor jungle gym equipment.

“We will be able to pull in area instructors to do dance classes, martial arts, kids parkour classes and any other physical activities that engage and ignite kids,” she said. “I see this as a facility for the community to offer a number of different classes.”

Parent is also open to renting out the space to instructors would just need a space for their own classes. “Then they can have their name and their brand on the wall.”

This model of shared space for rotating instructors has always been part of the community adult education classes in the Midcoast, but also, most recently in the way artists collaborate as well, as evidenced by the recent opening of the The Art Loft in Rockland as well as the various collaborative artist-makers spaces in Rockland.

Parent plans to host a grand opening May 27, from 3:30 to 8 p.m., as an open house with food and an invitation for kids to come play.

For more information visit: www.kidsunplugged.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

WARREN — All winter, the bottom floor of the three-story wooden building next to the St. George River in Warren has been transforming. For 20 years, it had been Wink’s Whimseys, an antique store.  Partners Ann Gonzalez and Fanny Faye Davis left their jobs and condo in Seattle, Wash., last year and moved to Maine, hoping to find more affordable land and a country house. Gonzalez, who’d grown up in New England, said she always had a desire to come back so, sight unseen, they bought a house in Warren and moved cross-country to Maine.

In their first week here, the moving truck still hadn’t arrived, so they took a walk down to Wink’s Whimseys to look for a table. While there, they had a conversation with the owners, Clayton and Joan Winchenbach, who were looking to sell the space. And without much ado, Gonzalez and Davis bought the space, and spent the winter transforming the dusty old antique store into the St. George River Café.

“You’ve got this beautiful river in town and a library, but there was no place to sit and eat and gather together with people, so we decided to open the café,” said Gonzalez.

Renovations are almost complete with a newly stained and polyurethaned dark floor and a sign being made. All of the mismatched tables and chairs inside have been donated by the community— a fitting twist, given that they bought their first table in that building.

Both Gonzalez and Davis have some restaurant experience behind the grill and front of the house. The café offers breakfast, lunch and dinner specials, and Davis’ baking is already getting repeat customers and rave reviews.

“We’re probably going to be offering music and open mics as we get going,” said Gonzalez. They are going full bore seven days a week, with a tentative schedule of 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week, and 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m on the weekends. The café also offers free WiFi, which makes it a perfect place for people to work and socialize.

The under-the-radar soft opening this month also fits with Warren’s pace in general, and slow and deliberate they plan on having a grand opening May 28. Stay tuned to their Facebook page for more details.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

This is an exciting weekend for music nerds and winos, as well as literary nerds and theater nerds. Here at Five Things, we are a nerd cheerleader for anything in the arts. Looking like we’re crashing into the mid-70s too; Spring is about to turn to summer!

All Roads Music Festival

Friday, May 20 & Saturday, May 21—Belfast

For the second annual indie music event hosted by Launchpad, this is looking like a killer lineup with Spose and Rustic Overtones playing the American Legion Hall Saturday night followed by an after party at Three Tides. Said Launchpad founder Meg Shorette: “While we will always have a few repeat artists, the wealth of Maine music talent continues to grow and evolve each year giving us endless options for this Maine music focused event. Like most festivals, you're likely to recognize the names at the top of each venues schedule, but don't miss the early part of the day. Bands like Wait, Goldenoak, Leveret and Jon King are really starting to stand out in this scene.” For ticket prices and more info: See our recent story here.

Richard Russo at Owl & Turtle Bookshop

Saturday, May 21—Camden

Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo will be at the O & T to sign books and chat with the public at 1 p.m. A sequel to the 1993 novel, Nobody’s Fool, locals might recall a very Peyton Place-esque Camden story that ends up as a scene in the book.

Community Park Celebration

Saturday, May 21—Waldoboro

It’s like Waldoboro is the middle child of Midcoast communities. It never gets any attention, except for this weekend! Join the Community Celebration at River Park off Jefferson Street behind the American Legion Hall (where you can park) at 2 p.m. Medomak Valley Land Trust will be hosting live music and refreshments. While there, check out the new St. George River Café. They have WiFi and yummy baked goods.

Unity College (Adult-themed) One-Acts

Saturday, May 21—Unity

For an environmental college, Unity always surprises me with their events. They don’t shy away from edgy and each of the five short plays in their Evening of One Acts includes four comedies and a drama. For example: Airport Hell, is a one act described as: Think of your worst airport experience.  Then multiply it by 100 and add a few circles of Hell. Eurydice might want to think twice about flying the friendly skies. Not for the kiddies, the show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15. See more one act descriptions here.

Killer Road Trip: Cellardoor Winery opens new tasting room

Saturday, May 21 & Sunday, May 22—Portland

Cellardoor Winery’s been busy this winter. This weekend they are doing the grand opening of their new 5,000 square foot facility in Portland at Thompson's Point on a finger of land overlooking Portland's Fore River. They plan to use it for tasting flights and by the glass (both $8), dinners, and other events. There will be other gourmet goodies on hand. Note: this weekend marks their soft opening, but the facility will be closed the rest of the week to finish up renovations and reopen the next weekend for the season.   Hours both days: 11a.m.-close

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — For awhile in Belfast, it looked like The Day The Music Died, when the annual Free Range Music Festival had to shut down in 2014. Out of the ashes, thanks to Launchpad, a Bangor-based incubator for artists and musicians, The All Roads Music Festival rose to take its place last year.

An annual festival held in May in Belfast, it’s a celebration of local and indie music talent, gathering some of Maine’s finest emerging musicians under one banner and held in multiple venues throughout downtown Belfast.

The 2016 event, slated for Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21, is already coming out of the gate with a bang with headliners Rustic Overtones and hip hop artist Spose, two of the hottest acts on the Maine music scene. More than 20 music artists will perform in 2016. The festival features performances in a variety of genres including indie rock, folk, pop, bluegrass and indie folk, as well as performers from related contemporary genres, such as alternative country, punk and hip-hop. The festival also includes discussion panels, curated showcases and the Maine Songwriters Circle.

Launchpad founder Meg Shorette said, “While we will always have a few repeat artists, the wealth of Maine music talent continues to grow and evolve each year giving us endless options for this Maine music focused event.  Like most festivals, you're likely to recognize the names at the top of each venues schedule but  don't miss the early part of the day. Bands like Wait, Goldenoak, Leveret and Jon King are really starting to stand out in this scene.”

The event takes place at various venues throughout the city, including the Belfast Free Library, the American Legion Hall, Waterfall Arts and more. A full listing of venues will be posted with the full schedule, which can be found here.

Beyond the music, the festival aims to offer insights into the music business with panels such as “The Life of the Deal,” in which agents can help artists negotiate contracts, advances and performances. A cornerstone of this year’s festival will introduce Rustic Overtones as their first-ever All Roads Legacy Artist as a testament to what the group has achieved since its formation. Since 1993 the group has set the standard for indie musicians working in Maine, attracting audiences in-state and beyond with their unique sound and enthralling personality.The audience will enjoy a retrospective Q&A event, looking back at the journey the band has taken over the past 26 years, exploring their formation, success and creative methodology.

In addition, Launchpad’s mission is aligned with the All Roads plan to introduce the public to relatively under-the-radar musicians and singer-songwriters they might not ever have gotten exposed to, including the younger musicians of the Maine Academy of Modern Music, which showcases 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the First Church.

Other not-to-miss elements of this event include the opening party on Friday, May 20, from 7 to 10 p.m at Waterfall Arts with Wylde Lyfe and Fenimore, as well as a closing party with Jon King held after Rustic Overtones’ act at Three Tides in Belfast.

Tickets are $20 in advance/$25 at the door, with VIP passes $30 in advance/$35 at the door. They can be found here.

 Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

 A strange lineup to be sure, but this weekend has beer fests, mind reading, dinner theater and a celebration of spring! Make the most of it.

Lip Synch Contest and Sam Adams promo

Friday, May 13—Rockland

Rock Harbor Brewing Co. is switching things up this weekend and hosting a lip synch contest with beer specials and Sam Adams promos from 8 to 10:30 p.m. The winner will receive two Sea Dog tickets.

Mentalism Show

Saturday May 14—Rockport

We covered Nat Lawson, a teen mentalist before in our “Hail To The Rad Kids” series and this guy is seriously gaining some traction! Check out his latest video in the sidebar on the Chris Wolf show as he reads the mind of a caller. He’ll be performing  his stage show, Perceptions at Union Hall in Rockport at 7 p.m. Experience mind reading, hypnotic influence, and other inexplicable feats of the mind, live. Tickets are $10 if purchased in advance, or $13 if purchased at the door. Tickets also available at Zoot.

The Maine Dish at Traci’s Diner

Friday, May 13 & Saturday, May 14—Belfast

If you go to Traci’s Diner, expect a great home-cooked meal along with a show, about a diner. Very meta. Belfast Maskers and Traci's Diner team up for an evening of dinner and comedy with their play "The Maine Dish" at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. See our recent story here.  Dinner is at 7 p.m., followed by a performance of the sitcom pilot. The show continues May 20 & 21. $40. Reservations required: 536-9123, info@belfastmaskers.com.

Killer Road Trip: Black Fly Brewfest

Saturday, May 14—Houlton

This is a heck of a road trip, but The Maine Brewers' Guild has partnered with Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce and The Thirsty Dawg to bring you northern Maine's premier beer festival. Up to 30 breweries will be participating, bringing more than 100 world class Maine beers. More than a dozen wines as well as ciders and other tasty beverages will be available as well. The event will be held at John A Millar Civic Center 95 Randall Avenue in Houlton. The event runs from 12 p.m. (for VIP tickets) starting at 1:30 p.m. for general ticket holders and runs until 5 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance ($45 at the door).  There are also a limited amount of VIP tickets for $55 ($65 at the door) Designated Driver tickets are $10 at the door and include soda and water. FMI: Black Fly Brewfest tickets and info

Killer Road Trip: Spring Celebration in Portland

Sunday May 15—Portland

Crossing fingers it doesn’t rain because this is a nice, sweet community celebration of spring. The Tahntay spring parade and celebration brings out the costumes and the “thank god winter’s over” pasty faces. At 11 p.m. at the Eastern Promenade, there’ll be a potluck picnic, followed by a 1 p.m. parade and 2 p.m. celebration. FMI: Tahntay celebration. FMI: Tahntay

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — Over the last few months, a space on the working waterfront side of Camden’s harbor, at Lyman-Morse at Wayfarer Marine, has been quietly undergoing major renovations for Chef Scott Yakovenko’s latest restaurant, Rhumb Line, set to open May 18. 

A whole new kitchen had to be built and the interior of the snug space was completely retrofitted by Chris Biggart and Fred Boursier, who fashioned the walls with reclaimed barn boards from Youngtown Inn. In addition, they hand-crafted all of the tables, chairs, bar and bar stools. The modern industrial look is a signature aesthetic in Yakovenko’s other popular Thomaston restaurant, The Slipway.

“It’s an industrial clam shack,” he said.

He has borrowed a tremendous amount of outdoor space onto the wharf with a U-shaped zinc bar backed by an outdoor raw bar that hugs the building. In inclement weather, a giant tent surrounds the outdoor bar area, but on sunny days, even more space will be available on the wharf with picnic tables. Boursier built the bar and craftsman Andy White built the beer tap and will be constructing an enclosure to shut the bar up like a box when closed for the evening.

As the only restaurant on that side of the wharf, all of the seating has an unfettered view of Camden, providing a fresh perspective for diners so used to seeing the harbor from the opposite side.

The menu, Yakovenko, said will be “seafood; fresh boat-to-table,” similar to The Slipway, which he’ll also be running this summer. 

“But the menu won’t be the same,” he emphasized, noting they intend to introduce new dishes, such as grilled razor clams and paella. On their first day, a spectacular raw bar will be on display.

“We’ll have a lot of local Maine beers on tap,” he added.

The name is fitting with the area’s boatbuilding culture. A rhumb line is a curve on the surface of a sphere that cuts all meridians at the same angle and applies to the course of a ship in navigation.

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the opening.

“My neighbors are really happy around here to have it open soon,” he said.

Boaters can come right up to the restaurant, (but can’t tie up), but a shuttle and launch service is available. Parking will be well marked at the end of Sea Street on the left hand side and people can walk down the paved hill. Keep going until you reach the wharf and you can’t miss it.

The bar opens at 4 p.m. and food is served from 5-9 p.m.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — Anyone who has been a patron of Belfast’s local hangout Traci’s Diner knows they have their own colorful cast of characters. And now the diner is about to become the subject of a play with a whole new set of characters.

The Belfast Maskers and Traci's Diner are teaming up for an evening of dinner and comedy.  The Maine Dish was written by local screenwriter, Eddie Adelman, who set the fictional diner in Midcoast Maine with some very quirky and sketchy characters.

Director Erica Rubin Irish said, “Two mid-westerners, a young man named Tyler (played by Scott Anthony Smith) and a young woman named Shane (played by Makaila Redden) each think they’ve won this diner in an essay contest and arrive, unbeknownst to one another, at the same time. Shane is sweet and innocent and Tyler is a questionable character. The show introduces a whole bunch of interesting characters who have their own story. And you’ll recognize some Maine lingo and comedy in there as well.”

It made sense, then, to stage the play in a real diner. The layout of Traci’s is ideal, with the kitchen and counter area naturally raised as a stage and the lowered restaurant area for the audience. Dinner with a choice of prime rib or a vegetarian teriyaki stir fry will be served at 7 p.m., followed by the Maskers' performance of the sitcom pilot, The Maine Dish.

The pilot, originally written in 2004, was a top 10 finalist on the Bravo Network's reality series, "Situation: Comedy," where Adelman appeared as one of screenwriters pitching the series to a panel of industry judges. It was pitched as "Cheers meets Northern Exposure." The show was eventually optioned by NBC.

The play runs 45 minutes. The dates of the dinner/performance are May 13, 14, 20, 21. Due to the venue, seating is very limited. Tickets are $40 per person and include both the dinner and show. For reservations call 207-536-9123.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — Downtown Rockland has no shortage of galleries, but what about fostering more budding artists? Founded by Kathryn Matlack of Camden and Paula Apro of Rockland, two former Maine Media Workshop film students, The Art Loft aims to be a creative center amongst the creative artistic economy.

In their experience, most people never even attempt to express their creativity, either because they don’t feel like they are artists, or because the opportunity never presents itself. Matlack and Apro wanted to find a highly motivating and low-cost way of making art accessible to everyone, no matter their ability, age or income.

“We came at it from two different directions,” said Matlack. “I was volunteering with Restorative Justice and I mentored this guy who was an unbelievable artist. I couldn’t believe how good he was and in his world, art was what kept him going. So, I thought if he could be transformed with this, giving people the space for art could be useful for other groups.”

“I was coming to it from another slant,” said Apro, who also runs a digital media/photography business. “I needed a classroom to do some of my own workshops and then realized, we could use the space for not just mine, but for a whole host of other artist drop-in workshops. The more Kathryn and my visions gelled together, the more it became The Art Loft.”

The brightly lit, open 800-foot space features functional, moveable tables on casters. The legs of the tables, handcrafted by Matlack’s husband, double as storage spaces for large canvases. All around the room are shelves of art supplies for a variety of their upcoming drop-in classes and workshops such as: fiber arts, creative paper arts, photography, oil painting and kinetic sculpture. And not just limited to traditional arts, they also will offer artist business classes such as Wordpress websites and blogging for artists, and photography for business or Instagram. Their workshops are longer duration and they’ll also offer paint nights and special events. Since the versatile tables can be moved out of the way to accommodate other classes that would require more room for movement, Matlack and Apro are open to future class ideas involving physicality as well.

Essentially, they are similar to a continuing education model with their drop-in classes, but with more of a social get-together vibe.

“I love continuing ed courses,” said Apro. “I’d sign up for everything, but because I traveled a lot, I’d miss half the classes and yet, I’d already paid for the materials, so I had all of this stuff just sitting there unused.”

She wanted to remove that barrier with their model. Unlike continuing education classes, most of Art Loft’s class prices include the art materials in order to make it more affordable.

“Our whole philosophy is to take the intimidation out of art,” said Apro. “Walk in; try it and exercise your creative muscles.”

The Art Loft, situated in the back on the first floor of the Thorndike Building on Main Street, held its grand opening May 6 to kick off Rockland’s first Art Walk of the season. To learn more visit: artloftrockland.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Behind the Slides, our ongoing feature, is where we meet up with an artist who presented at a PechaKucha event and find out the deeper story beneath the images they chose to portray.

Noah Bly is a blacksmith artist who also works as an auto mechanic with his father. He began his blacksmith career by taking classes at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle. After six years, he still considers himself an apprentice and takes as many classes he can in metalwork and joinery. He makes his own tools and particularly loves blades, axes and swords.

Note: The slides appear in the right column. Click on the photos to match them with the actual slide notes (in italics). Beneath the slide notes will be the deeper story.

Shop

This is the shop I built after four years of clowning around with a crude setup. The shop was built with a few things in mind. Garden shed to the right, woodshed to the left. The stone section is the metal shop. The stone was gathered from the property.

The shop is 30-by-24-feet and was the first time I built a shed. I forged the hinges on the front and all of the hardware for all of the windows.

Techniques

I chose to include this slide because it shows techniques that are independent to blacksmithing. I've noticed a lot of people think metal can only be bolted or welded. Not so. I thought people might learn a little something from this one.

I initially made this slide for Pecha Kucha just to show people how the techniques work, thinking I’d have time to explain them all, but I only had 20 seconds. The technique I probably use the most is the the slitting and drifting technique, which makes a hole in something without losing any material. As you’ll see from the gates below, it was all put together with the slitting and drifting technique.

Blades and Axes

I initially got into blacksmithing with an interest in edged weapons. I soon found that I enjoyed making anything out of metal. Whether it be some cooking implements for mother or a chandelier for a customer.

I use the sword a lot to clear out all the bushes down by the driveway. A buddy of mine was driving by last fall and said he saw me, said it looked like a lot of fun.

Wood rack

This is a relatively basic frame but joining metal with traditional techniques. Makes it more unique. People often say blacksmithing is a dying art, and it is to a degree, because it takes a lot longer to forge a mortise and tenon then to weld something.

Today, there are so many cheaper ways to do build stuff, but can’t duplicate the aesthetics of the traditional joining and the shape of the metal.

Gates against stone

These were made with a lot of traditional techniques I had been practicing on smaller projects. It was very difficult to include them all in something where they all had to work together and come out square and not twisted. Blacksmithing is not machining; when closing up a mortise and tenon, chances are pretty good it won't be perfect. It's knowing how to correct it that’s tricky.

These gates go in front of our wood stove. I put them there to keep the kids away from it. But, now that those gates are there, they see it as a jungle gym.

Railings

These were the most time-consuming railings I’ve done. I included these because they’re so far from anything I imagined myself doing 10 years ago when I first started making crude throwing knives from old car parts.

These took about 100 hours to make. If I were to say something to my younger self 10 years ago, I’d say, keep going, you’ll be able to work up the skills to this level.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BAR HARBOR — Sarah Keeley, of Bar Harbor, probably got the best Mother’s Day gift a Pearl Jam fan could ever have this past weekend, when her 10-year-old son, Noah, was invited by front man Eddie Vedder to play guitar for the band’s song Sad.

According to a WSCH6 story, Keeley sent a video of her son playing that very song to the band prior to traveling to Quebec City to see them play. Vedder recognized Noah in the front row with his sign that said “1st Show: ‘Sad’ Makes Me Happy.” Soon, Vedder leaned down and asked Noah to come play that song with them.

Of the lead photo, Keeley wrote on her Facebook page: “People keep sending me these amazing photos...it is like the waves of beauty and joy from the other night just keep crashing over and over....”

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

The ladies at the 2 Elm Street branch of Camden National Bank get into the spirit of Kentucky Derby Day with their best flamboyant hats and a table of goodies, such as mini eclairs, brownies and chips on Friday afternoon, May 6. (L to R: Wendi Ashey, Jessica Humphrey, Jody Landrith, Tamra Hooper, Regina Whitney, Amy Pierce)

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for 3-year-old thoroughbreds. The race distance is one and one-quarter miles long, and it is run on the dirt racetrack at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Colts and geldings in the race carry 126 pounds (57 kg), and fillies in the race carry 121 pounds (55 kg).

Churchill Downs, the world's most legendary racetrack, has conducted thoroughbred racing and presented America's greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875.

The race this year takes place May 7, with festivities beginning at 4 p.m.

It’s a highbrow art, film and literature kind of weekend punctuated by big hats and mint juleps as well as wine and chocolates for moms. Don’t forget Mother’s Day!

First Friday Art Walk

Friday, May 6 — Rockland

The Art Walk season has begun. And this ridge of cold May weather is lifting today bringing us some sunshine finally with temps in the upper 50s to 60s — a perfect night to check out the newest artists. The EAT sign is back up on the Farnsworth Art Museum as well. Check out the “What You See...” group show with artist reception at Carver Hill Gallery (338 Main St.) featuring digital media, photography and collage among the 23 other participating galleries. FMI: Carver Hill Gallery. Another new kid on the scene is Art Loft, with their grand opening 5 to 9 p.m. in Suite 9 of the Thorndike building at 385 Main St. Many pieces of art will be on display in their gallery. FMI: Art Loft. For all of the other galleries: Check out a map and more info here

Rockland Short Films

Friday, May 6 — Rockland

The Farnsworth always brings thought-provoking and often funny material whenever they host The Rockland Shorts at the Strand Theatre. These bite-sized international short film series always leave you with new perspectives and new people to chat with at the after-party at FOG Bar and Café. This year’s theme is political, but not in the way that’s annoying. See the line up of Rockland Short films here. The screening takes place at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for members and $10 for nonmembers and will be for sale at theater’s box office directly prior to the screening.

Belfast Bound Book Festival

Saturday, May 8 — Belfast

The Book Festival is back in Belfast, baby! (And yes, the alliteration was necessary). A range of bibliocentric events will include signings, book talks, a poetry reading, workshops, an art show and activities for children as well. Look for events throughout Belfast; Waterfall Arts, the Belfast Free Library, Left BankBooks, Front Street Pub, Old Professor’s Bookshop, The Green Store, the Chamber of Commerce Visitor’s Center, the Belfast Co-op, downtown parks and sidewalks, and others. Click here for a schedule of events.

Killer Road Trip: Kentucky Derby Day in Portland

Saturday, May 7 — Portland

WCH6 has compiled a list of all of the Kentucky Derby parties happening this weekend and all of them are in Portland. Wear your best fancy hat and get ready for southern fare and mint juleps! Speaking of, if you don’t make it to Portland Saturday, come to Camden and visit Francine Bistro, where veteran bartender Chip Dewing makes the best Maine-inspired mint julep around. See our recent story here.

Tastings for Moms in Union

Sunday, May 8 — Union

It’s time for mom to get her wine on. Savage Oakes Vineyard and Winery and Sweetgrass Farms Winery & Distillery are hosting their annual celebrations for mothers (and anyone else who just wants to be part of it) with tastings, treats and music from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Savage Oakes will be offering crepes and pairings with Safe Harbor Confections chocolates, while Sweetgrass will host Dean’s Sweets chocolates and Copper Tail Farm candies. Moms can even get a free portrait by Kristen Flynn Photography. Always a fun day!

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — Whether it’s a carefully framed photograph professionally taken in the late 19th century or a casual selfie snapped by an amateur, there are clues inside each family’s box of snapshots that tell more of the story than what initially meets the eye.

Retired Beloit College photography professor and Swanville resident Michael Simon recently guest curated an exhibit for Penobscot Marine Museum titled “The Evolution of the Photographic Snapshot.” With the help of two Penobscot Marine Museum employees who run the photography collection, Kevin Johnson and Matt Wheeler, Simon assembled a series of snapshot photographs ranging from 1890 to 1970s in order to provide the larger context to the smallest of details.

Ever since Eastman Kodak Company introduced the first snapshot camera in 1888, snapshots have become “extensions to memory, storing images we’d rather not forget,” said Simon.

He equates every snapshot is like a game of Scrabble.

“With the game, you take individual letters, which form words and sentences and ultimately concepts,” he explained. “With photos, you see pieces initially, for example, a person in the photograph, what he or she is wearing, perhaps a car in the background or a buggy and your mind fills in the backstory.” Simon selected five snapshots in this exhibit hosted by the Belfast Public Library to explain what particular elements in each one make up the larger story.

Courting In A Carriage

Out of all of the photos in this exhibit, this is the only one Simon has any personal connection to. The well-dressed gentleman and his lady, in a white dress, sitting in a buggy, happen to be his wife’s grandfather and grandmother. “They courted around 1900,” he said. What you’re seeing in this photo by their formal dress and stiff posture is the way people of a certain class interacted in that time.

“He was a rather successful farmer in north central Illinois,” said Simon. “The carriage shows us he was well to do; not everyone had a carriage in those days. As they sat there, not touching and looking at the photographer, they did not know what the years ahead of them would bring. But, it is tempting to surmise that they looked out of the frame with optimism and hope, as any young courting couple on a date would.”

The Wicked Witch of The West

Though the woman in this photograph may look like the famous character from The Wizard of Oz, it’s evident to the experienced photographer’s eye that she is, in fact, a widow in 1900 garb. That in itself, provides the first intrigue. Standing in front of a stately house indicates the house is hers; and another piece to this puzzle is that the large house suggests she comes from wealth, yet the dirt curved driveway in those days did not indicate poverty as it would to us today.

“Times change and nearly every snapshot talks about values. You’ll see this in every family snapshot. Possessions such as houses and vehicles are important, which is why people took photographs of them,” said Simon.

Two Women, One Man and a Model A

The three people in this photo, are at first a mystery. Then the clues start rolling in. They are dressed in 1920s attire with the Model A in the background. The woman in glasses and the man in the center are holding hands, so they are likely husband and wife. Notice the casual way they hold hands, comparatively to 20 years earlier, when it might have been unseemly to show affection in that way while courting in a buggy.

“The way they stand is not nearly as formal as the courting photo,” he said. “And of course, the interaction between all three begs more questions. Who is the girl on the right? Is she a sister-in-law? She has a certain ‘It’ factor in her expression and stance that shows she is more self-confident than the other two. The way she holds herself indicates she thinks of herself as an individual, while the other two just melt into the background.”

Life Imitates Art

This photo is from the 1940s and there are many tell-tale signs to glean from it that show how different society was from just 20 years earlier. “They are likely mother and daughter,” said Simon. “The style of their clothes and the way the girl gives a teasing look, the innocent exposure of a knee suggests that this snapshot is from the era when images from cinema and magazines held more sway over public consciousness than from the television screen.”

Girl With Cracker

This photo, is perhaps, the most compelling of the entire series, for both its technical qualities and its content. “In 1963, the Eastman Kodak Company introduced the Instamatic, an easy-load, inexpensive plastic camera for which color or black-and-white film came pre-loaded in a cartridge,” said Simon. “The camera’s optics also allowed the photographer to get much closer to the subject than earlier equipment had allowed. The content is very much like all the others. People took photos of their friends and family.”

But the way the flash cube illuminates her, Simon said, “She looks like an angel. It’s easy to tell by her haircut, clothes and that Ritz cracker, that the photographer found the little girl adorable.”

The Belfast Public Library has taken this exhibit down, but all of the photos and their comments can still be viewed by visiting the Penobscot Marine Museum at The Evolution of the Photographic Snapshot. 

Reach Kay Stephens at news@penbaypilot.com.

Since 1938, the classically southern mint julep has been the official cocktail at Churchill Downs, the site of the Kentucky Derby, but its roots go back to the 19th century when doctors prescribed spearmint and bourbon for folks with tricky stomach issues.

This Saturday, May 7, the Yankee tribute to the classic mint julep can be found at Francine Bistro in Camden. Veteran bartender Chip Dewing pays homage to the cocktail from the traditional spearmint, right down to the pewter cup it’s served in.

On a chilly day in May in Maine, it’s not immediately obvious why this very simple cocktail needs a certain glass, but one has to imagine the drink’s origins on a hot, sweltering summer afternoon as southern neighbors all getting together.

“Pewter and sterling silver cups were traditionally used because metal acts as a conductor and what happens when the outside of the glass frosts up due to the crushed ice is the interior of the glass gets colder,” said Dewing. “In Kentucky and Louisiana on those hot summer days, sitting outside, they needed a drink that would be very refreshing and hold up on its own.”

The end result is not for the delicate flowers of this world. The strong, bold flavor of bourbon dominates the first sip as the hint of maple burbles up. The cocktail begins to change its chemistry once the crushed ice melts and the spearmint on the bottom releases its oils. By the time you’re half into it, the flavors balance out and mellow, becoming a little more friendly toward the bottom.  Hard-ass until you get to know it, then cuddly as a teddy bear. Sound like anyone you know?

To make the Francine Bistro mint julep on your own you’ll need:

• Crushed ice (roll block ice in a clean towel and smash with a mallet)
• Spearmint
• 1-1/2 tsp. Maine maple syrup
•  1/2 ounce on the first pour of Maker’s Mark Straight Bourbon, then 2 ounces after the crushed ice
• A splash of tap water

Tear up spearmint leaves and place in the bottom of the metal cup. Add maple syrup, add a splash of bourbon, and muddle. Fill cup with crushed ice. Add rest of Maker’s Mark and a splash of water. Add a straw and stir up the bottom. Garnish with spearmint. “When you sip it through the straw, you’ll get the fragrance of the mint on the bottom,” Dewing said.

Make one yourself or head on over to Francine Bistro and watch Chip whip one up from scratch!

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST —On the hallway gallery wall of Waterfall Arts in Belfast, where student work hung a month ago, one striking photograph stood out. An older man stares, his gaze transfixed. Tayler Nickerson took that photo of her father. It is a pensive photo and her camera lens captures something elusive in his stare.  Asked what was going on in his mind when she took that photo, she said: “He was just watching a golf tournament. That’s the look he gets when he’s watching it.”

So much for Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.

“The assignment was to use tilt shift, where you focus on one part of the photo, in this case, his eyes, and it shifts the focus to make the rest of the photo blurry,” she said.

Using her father and friends, as well as herself as subjects, she became interested in pursuing photography last year when the Belfast High School offered a photography class. This year, due to a shortage of students signing up, however, the class was no longer offered.

It didn’t matter. Tayler used her camera to explore more techniques on her own. She realized she was really drawn to taking landscape photos. While riding in the car with her mother in Frankfort one day, the vivid green grass and trees by a river caught her eye, so she asked her mother to stop the car. Retrieving her camera, she laid down in the grass and aimed her lens at a particular spot.

“I like taking photos from the perspective of the ground, because people don’t usually see things from that view, so I probably looked weird,” she said. “I angled it, took it and when I edited it, I really enhanced the green, because that’s the way I saw it.”

Another landscape photo taken in Frankfort bumps up the blue of the river. Composition wise, this one was taken while the car was moving.

“I noticed how the intense the blue of river pulled in the green from the trees,” she said.

Unlike the other one, she didn’t have to enhance this photo.

Playing around with technique is one of her favorite ways to explore. As part of another previous assignment she set up a shot outdoors at midnight with her friends to do a “light painting.”

“How it works is we stood there with glow sticks and set the timer on the camera. I extended the exposure of the camera and we looked kind of crazy just flinging the lights around, but you can’t see what you’re drawing until afterwards.”

Like her photos, she has a loose plan of what she wants to accomplish—but is open to other possibilities to see how it all turns out.

“After I graduate, I’m taking a gap year,” she said. “I’m thinking of getting a couple of jobs and then taking some more photography classes through Waterfall Arts. And then I’m hoping after that year, I’ll be going to Maine College of Art.”

And that’s what they call “the bigger picture.”

Hail To The Rad Kids is an ongoing series highlighting Midcoast teens with artistic talent.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — A grandfather went out one day fishing on a river in Virginia with his two grandsons. It was a cold day with 30-40 degree Fahrenheit weather. The boat capsized and the Coast Guard was called.

Mario Vittone, a leading expert on immersion hypothermia, drowning, sea survival and safety at sea, was one of the Coast Guard crew who arrived at the scene. “I knew before we even took off they were all dead,” he said. “And that one really bothered me. Here was a guy who’d had all of the right credentials. He was a master chief, he was a safety expert; he’d gotten awards for it. How could this happen? This incident just showed me with all the gains we’ve made in technology to make boating safe, the last great gain we need to make is to change the way people think when they’re on the water.”

The Allen Agency, which has roots in Maine’s working waterfront, is sponsoring Vittone, who lives in Florida, to come to Maine Thursday, May 5, at 7 p.m. and speak at The Strand Theater in Rockland. His presentation is titled: "You Love the Ocean – It Doesn't Love You Back: Thrilling stories and exciting tales designed to make your life on the water safe and survivable." It is a fundraiser for scholarships at Maine Maritime Academy.

“If you fall off a boat and they can’t find you immediately, there’s a 40 percent chance you’re never going to be seen again, alive or dead,” he said. “I came home from a lot of searches for people we’ve never found. And I started to know the difference between people who survived and people who didn’t and it was simply misunderstandings of the hazards. I realized I could save more lives, not by looking for the people in the water, but by doing presentations to tell people what to look for.”

Based in Florida, Vittone was a lifeguard from a young age. He joined the Coast Guard in 1991. He graduated from helicopter rescue swimmer school in 1994 and began his career as helicopter rescue swimmer, until his retirement in 2013. He is now the CEO of VLinc Corporation, where he oversees the development of maritime safety and security training products, helping mariners come home safely from their work at sea. 

“I learned a lot about people who would and would not call the Coast Guard,” he said, giving one example. “Usually maydays start with something that isn’t a mayday, such as the boat takes on a bit of water. You’re trying to figure out where it comes from and you are trying to handle it, you’ve got the tools and you’re trying to see where the leak is coming from. And then it gets a little worse, but you think you’ve got it handled because you’ve been focusing on the problem. And then over the course of a few hours, you realize, you have to make that call. But, you could have made that call four hours ago. Primarily, those calls don’t happen soon enough.”

The title of his presentation is both blunt and accurate. “The ocean doesn’t care what you do for a living, what kind of boat you’re on, whether you’ve been sailing for one year or many,” he said. His experience is not just limited to rescuing leisure boaters. In a no-nonsense column he wrote for the maritime website gCaptain called Trying Hard to Die, he recounts the story of a Long Island lobsterman who did all the wrong things, yet miraculously survived 12 hours in the Atlantic without a life jacket after accidentally falling overboard. Vittone said the most important thing one can change while on the water is their behavior and respect the dangers that are inherent.

The event is sponsored by Allen Insurance and Financial, Ocean Navigator magazine, Professional Mariner magazine, Maine Boats Homes & Harbors magazine and The Strand Theatre. Tickets can be purchased at The Strand.

For more information about Mario Vittone’s work and writing visit: http://mariovittone.com/

You can feel it in the air. In all the new shops and restaurants opening in the Midcoast. This weekend kicks off the beginning of the summer slide, when everything begins to wake up and there are more things to do, try and see than you have time for. It’s springtime folks, time to shake it off and have some fun.

Killer Road Trip: Purple Rain in Waterville

Friday, April 30—Waterville

The Railroad Square Theater, like hundreds of independent movie theaters across the country, is honoring the late and great Prince with a one-night showing of the original 1984 movie Purple Rain. (Ugh, my heart hurts just watching that trailer again). Celebrate the sound and vision of Prince’s inevitable triumph over the 1980s, a purple spectacle gritty and electric that is at once a perfect encapsulation of the late singer in the minds of his fans and merely one of his insatiable mood swings. The show starts at 9 p.m. Buy tickets.

A giant game of Taboo

Saturday, April 30—Rockland

Hail to the Word Nerds! As part of the literary fun n’ games hello hello bookstore in Rockland is putting on in honor of Indie Bookstore Day (see our story here), they will be hosting a game of Taboo in (details) Taboo is a word, guessing, and party game where partners guess the word on the player's card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card. The free event starts at 5:30 p.m. It’ll be in Rock City cafe. When you register, you’ll get a name tag, be put on a team and get a little handful of treats for participating. Two teams will be put together (randomly) after all of the participants line up. They’ll do a brief rundown of the rules, and play for about 20-25 minutes until the band has to set up for their show. Rock City will be mixing up Edna St. Vincent Millay's favorite drink as a special.

Primo Cubano Dance Party

Saturday, April 30—Rockland

Primo Cubano,a recurring Midcoast fave, plays traditional Cuban dance music dating back to the turn of the 20th Century.The Rockport Opera House is hosting them to benefit Ashwood Waldorf School and there will be plenty of dancing, good eats and fab drinks (cash bar) provided by 40 Paper. A salsa lesson and demo starts at 7:30 p.m., live music starts 8 p.m. Cost: $20 advance; $25 at door.  Advance tickets at the school, Zoot Coffee and Belfast Dance Studio.

The Blast Addicts at The Mill

Saturday, April 30—Belfast

This Bangor-based hard rock and power pop group is taking over the Mill in Belfast to do a show. This is not a sit on the sidelines and watch as your eyelids start to get heavy type of show. Starts at 9 p.m. Listen to their sound here.

Killer Road Trip: Maine Bike Swap

Sunday, May 1—Portland

‘Tis the season to start thinking about biking again. In the annual Great Maine Bike Swap event you can choose from hundreds of bikes in all price ranges and of all types including road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrids and children’s bikes! You can also sell or donate the unused bikes you have around the house and garage. Area bike shops will be on site selling bike parts, accessories, helmets, and more! Held at the USM – Sullivan Recreation and Fitness Complex 10 a.m.-1 p.m. FMI: maineswap.com/event-details

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — You know what they say: you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs. For Heather Symmt, a Camden resident, this is something to keep in mind as she prepares to open her first restaurant, Broken Egg at 421 Main St., formerly the site of Comida Restaurant on May 18.

An accountant by trade with a passion and degree in baking and pastries, Symmt looked around for two years, before landing the what she saw as the perfect spot for her breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant.

“I looked at a number of places, but once I saw this place it was the perfect fit,” she said.

Having snagged Chris Clark, the former chef of The Hartstone Inn to run the kitchen, while she manages the front of the house, Symmt is confident their skills will mesh well.

“It’s going to be your basic breakfast and lunch staples with an added flair,” she said.

The menu is still being built, but will include perennial favorites such as eggs Benedict with house-made speck and hollandaise, as well as inspired offerings such as carrot cake pancakes with toasted hazelnuts and maple mascarpone.

“We’re trying to appeal to all crowds,” said Clark. “We’ll definitely do seasonal stuff and add brunch specials to push the scale a little bit more.”

Clark said they will source as locally as possible. “We’re talking with a couple of smaller farms now,” he said. Their coffee will come from Bold Coast Coffee based in East Machias.

“Chris made a steak and eggs the other day that was phenomenal,” she said. “And we’ll have beignets. We’re also going to offer flatbreads. We’re testing out the menu right now with a flatbread that had arugula, candied bacon and Brie.”

Currently, the kitchen is being reconfigured and the restaurant space repainted gray and neutral colors with retro Mason jar lighting. Downstairs, where the group seating was located, Symmt ripped out all of the carpeting and added more lighting to brighten the windowless room.

“I’m hoping this will continue to be a communal room for larger parties,” she said.

As a mother of a toddler herself, she knows how hard it is to bring children into a small restaurant space, so she’s dedicating an area by the stairway for children’s tables and games. “If a parent can have a place for the child to go and play while he or she is eating, that would be ideal.”

Stay tuned to Broken Egg’s progress and opening day on Facebook.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Nearly a decade years ago, the headlines were dire for independent bookstores. These days, according to national stories, it’s evident that 2016 is the turnaround year and the indie bookstore is thriving more than ever despite mega retailers like Amazon controlling about 64 percent of print book sales. As author Ann Patchett said in a Wall Street Journal article, “I credit the customers, who seem to be collectively waking up to the fact that they are in charge of what businesses fail and succeed based on where they spend their money.”

Locally, the same bookstores in the Midcoast that started years ago — sometimes decades ago — are still thriving. Only one long-term bookstore, the Reading Corner closed in Rockland in 2014.

Avid book reader MaryLou Shuster, of South Portland, visits the Midcoast once a year for the sole purpose of hitting every independent bookstore from Belfast all the way down to Rockland. As a literary specialist, she primarily hunts for children’s books.

“Indie bookstores often have local authors whom you won’t find in major bookstores like Books-A-Million,” she said. “I’ll often find new books I haven’t seen because they’re only locally marketed. Independent bookstore staff are also way more knowledgeable about books. They really know their readers.”

Shuster always asks for the teacher discount, which saves her about 10-20 percent on each book.

“I’ve gotten some wonderful books this way that I wouldn’t have ordinarily discovered.”

As it happens, April 30 is national Indie Bookstore Day, a day to celebrate local bookstores. The inaugural push last year was around this time with 420 bookstores participating in 48 states and they’re hoping that 2016 is even bigger.

Hello hello books in Rockland is pulling out all the stops with a Buy-One-Get-One-Free used sale books; a Blind Date With a BookFundraiser; literary election buttons; temporary tattoos; drink specials in collaboration with Rock City Coffee, freebies for kids and adults throughout the day, and a giant game of Taboo at 5:30 p.m.

“This is the first time we’re participating in this fantastic event.” said Lacy Simons, the store’s owner. “We’re especially excited because we’ll be celebrating our five-year anniversary in just a few months, so this feels like a good way to kick off those celebrations.”

Nancy Hauswald, publicist for Left Bank Books in Belfast said, “Although we don't have any specific plans to celebrate the big day, we'll certainly have some flyers, posters and in-store notes about the celebration.”

Hauswald like most indie booksellers, credits the loyal following of small town communities for the bookshop’s continued success.

“Every day when we unlock the door to our shop, we give a silent thanks for being able to spend our day surrounded by books and people who love books as much as we do,” she said. “It's the personal interchanges with our devoted clientele that continually remind us of how lucky we are to live and work with people who recognize the importance of shopping locally—and not on-line with the ‘Big A.’ That people who go out of their way to come to our bookshop makes us giddy with happiness. Christopher Morley said it best in Parnassus on Wheels: ‘When you sell a man a book you don't sell just 12 ounces of paper and ink and glue—you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night—there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.”

Nanette Gionfriddo, owner of Beyond the Sea Books in Lincolnville, is also thrilled to see how much the little stores have such a following. "Our bookshop grew from one shelf in our gift shop, nurtured by the unbridled enthusiasm of our book-loving customers for our irresistible selection of great reads—new and second hand."

Support your indie bookshop on April 30 by patronizing Left Bank Books, Bellabooks, and Old Professor’s Bookshop in Belfast, Barnswallow Books in Rockport Village, Beyond the Sea Bookshop in Lincolnville, Owl & Turtle Bookshop, Stone Soup Books, and Sherman’s Books in Camden and and hello hello books in Rockland.

For more information on Independent Bookshop Day visit: indiebookstoreday.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

What should we call food truck connoisseurs—truckies? Well, truckies will be interested to know one Belfast food truck is pulling up their wheels and handing them over to someone else, while another dormant food truck in Rockland will be rolling in this spring.

Belfast’s Good ‘N’ You, a Mexican-themed food truck run by Sarah Waldron and Seth Whited since 2012, has decided not to re-open this summer. (See our original story on them here.) On their Facebook page they announced, “Running this truck and feeding all you good folks has been an immensely rewarding experience, and we'd like to extend our sincerest thanks to all of our great fans and supporters over the last four years. You truly make the struggle worthwhile.”

The truck will get a new look and a permanent location at 39 Main St. in Belfast, with the business Wags Wagon serving up sandwiches and salads using local and fresh ingredients. The truck plans to open May 12. Anna Wagner, along with her cousin, Henry Wagner, both have a passion to cook.

“I had heard through the grape vine that Seth and Sarah were not running their food truck, Good N You, and I decided to jump on it,” said Anna Wagner. “I moved to Belfast about a year ago and have been looking for a way to be part of the community. We are planning to sell sandwiches and salads at the food truck, with a menu heavy on locally sourced meats and cheeses.”

As for the retired Pho Sizzle food truck in Rockland run by Tom Pham (see our latest story here) the word is, a new Mexican-themed eatery, headed up by Mike Perrin, will open at 3 Buoy Park in mid-May.

Called Rocko’s Tacos, the newly painted food truck will feature Tex-Mex and tacos. A former cook for Time Out Pub and Waterworks Restaurant, this is Perrin’s first food truck venture.

“A typical offering would be a blackened haddock taco with tequila lime sauce,” he said. “I’ll try my hardest to make most of it locally sourced.”

Get the skinny on all of the food trucks in the area with our guide: Gourmet Food Trucks in the Midcoast

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

We’ve got a theme going here on this week’s Five Things. If it has an electronic beat, and a human voice is involved, it’s happening this weekend in the Midcoast. Enough of my prattling, check it out.

Take the Quantum Leap

Friday, April 22—Thomaston

Jason Dean and Mike Whitehead’s “electronic web of sound” is comprised of synths and drum machine as well as live instruments that will lead you to an ambient electronic experience that might even make you move your booty. Vicky Andres and Max McFarland also play. The show starts at 7 p.m. at The Highlands Coffee House.

The Messenger

Saturday, April 23—Rockland

It’s Earth Day, and you know what that means? (Turning in your beer cans at the redemption center is a start). It means it’s time to wake up to the impact we humans have on this planet. The Messenger, an an award-winning documentary screened at the Strand Theatre, is one way to do that. Moving from the northern reaches of the Boreal Forest to the base of Mount Ararat in Turkey to the streets of New York,  brings us face-to-face with a remarkable variety of human-made perils that have devastated thrushes, warblers, orioles, tanagers, grosbeaks and many other airborne music-makers. On one level, The Messenger is an engaging, visually stunning, emotional journey, one that mixes its elegiac message with hopeful notes and unique glances into the influence of songbirds on our own expressions of the soul. On another level, The Messenger is the artful story about the mass depletion of songbirds on multiple continents, and about those who are working to turn the tide.  The one-time show screens at 3 p.m. Cost: $8.50; $7.50 younger than 12, senior citizens.

The Ballad of Milli Vanilli is back!

Saturday, April 23—Rockland

The Rock Coast Rollers derby girls have your back for their fourth annual Ballad of Milli Vanilli Contest (named after the infamous 1980s musical duo who got caught lip-synching their entire album). This is not karaoke (actual singing), but rather lip-syncing (pretend singing) as party goers fake-sing their hearts out to cheesy songs for the crowd’s entertainment — complete with over-the-top costumes. The fun happens at Trackside Station. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. $8 cover at the door.

“Audio Hash” Sonic Art Event

Saturday, April 23—Rockland

Sound artists Meghan Vigeant, Nate Davis, Ariel Hall, Sean Reed will give the audience a one-of-a-kind show that starts off sort of like an audio PechaKucha, then turns into a multi-layered story with experimental mixes and sound art. See more of the story here. The show takes place at The Steel House in Rockland. The show starts at 7 p.m. $5 suggested at the door.

Killer Road Trip: One Giant Mud Puddle

Sunday, April 24—Gorham

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than getting a little dirty. (I know where your mind went.) The Into the Mud Challenge is a race unlike any other here in Maine, featuring hundreds of costumed racers slipping and sliding through 2.5 miles of mud pits to traverse and challenging obstacles to conquer with an emphasis on getting dirty and having a muddy good time. The event goes from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and is definitely a spectator sport! FMI: intothemudchallenge.com

 Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — It’s not often a night of entertainment around the Midcoast is limited to only one of your five senses, but that’s what four audio artists are doing on Saturday evening, April 23, at The Steel House in Rockland.

“We’re calling the event ‘Audio Hash’ because it’s a mix of experimental audio work that we’re all pulling together,” said Meghan Vigeant, one of the artists involved. Vigeant is a personal historian, writer and audio producer who helps people save their stories as books and audio, mostly for their families. She is the founder of Stories To Tell.

Each of the other artists has background in sound as well. Sean Reed is a Camden-based composer with a background in both instrumental and electroacoustic avant-garde music as well as live-interactive multimedia works and installations. Ariel Hall is a multidisciplinary artist working mainly in performance and installation, and Nathan Davis is a composer, artist and computer programmer.

The audience can expect an eclectic warm-up as each artist demonstrates a PechaKucha-like presentation of their own unique soundscapes.

“We’ll talk about each one and how they came to be,” said Vigeant. “Then after the intermission, we’ll do a collaborative piece called ‘Hash and her Synonym.’ We all come from such different audio backgrounds. My work is very narrative and the others experiment more with technology, so we came up with the idea of playing with sound. Basically, I wrote a story and recorded myself reading it. Then, each artist took the original story and added his or her layers to that recording, building upon the addition of each previous artist’s work.”

Vigeant will have her 1942 stand up RCA radio for people to explore as well. Prepare to laugh and wonder at the weirdness; mix with the sounds, ideas and people. The presentation will be followed with a reception of nibbles and sound installation. The event starts at 7 p.m. There’s a $5 suggested donation. For more information visit: The Steel House

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

I’m out in San Diego this week gathering ideas for the summer issue of The Wave and soaking up the California culture, but I’m hearing back home it’s going to be a gorgeous weekend in the 60s—perfect for a road trip. Spring is rolling on up and good times are ahead!

The relative from hell: Krisha

Friday, April 15—Waterville

I’m seeing big interest and buzz in this particular film out in California. You ever have that one relative who might be out of a bad relationship or rehab or is just bat-s*** crazy and you’re thinking it’s just a matter of time before all hell breaks loose? Well, you’ll have fun with Krisha. When Krisha shows up at her sister’s Texas home on Thanksgiving morning, her close and extended family greet her with a mixture of warmth and wariness. Almost immediately, a palpable unease permeates the air, one which only grows in force as Krisha gets to work cooking the turkey and trying to make up for lost time by catching up with her various relatives, chief among them her nephew, Trey. As Krisha’s attempts at reconciliation become increasingly rebuffed, tension and suspicion reach their peak, with long-buried secrets and deep-seated resentments coming to the fore as everyone becomes immersed in an emotionally charged familial reckoning. The film plays at the Railroad Square Cinema daily and has matinees. For more info and tickets visit: Railroad Square Cinema

Ladies Night at Trackside

Saturday, April 16—Rockland

It’s Ladies Night and the feeling’s right at Trackside, with free manicure giveaways every half hour until midnight. It’ll be top 40/county/hip hop music for dancing (totally random). No cover and the music starts at 9 p.m.

The Odd Couple Takes A Twist

Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16—Unity

Unger and Madison are it again. Florence Unger and Olive Madison, that is, in Neil Simon’s hilarious contemporary comic classic; the female version of The Odd Couple. Instead of the poker party that begins the original version, Madison has invited the girls over for an evening of Trivial Pursuit. The Pidgeon sisters have been replaced by the two Constanzuela brothers, but the hilarity remains the same. Performed at Unity College Center for Performing Arts, Friday’s shows are at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday’s show is at 7 p.m. Tickets are FREE. FMI: Odd Couple

Killer Road Trip: Reggae Fest at Sugarloaf

Saturday, April 16—Carrabassett Valley

Looks like Saturday is the best day to drive out to Sugarloaf and experience the with an afternoon full of partying and live Reggae on our outdoor stage starting at noon, with music from Royal Hammer, New Kingston, Gorilla Finger Dub, Kiwi, Dub Kartel, Ballyhoo! and the Cliftones. Check out the full schedule here and ticket prices: ReggaeFest

Killer Road Trip: Graham Nash visits for Record Store Day

Saturday, April 16—Scarborough

It’s that time again — Record Store Day for people who love their vinyl. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Graham Nash, of reknowned Crosby, Stills and Nash, will be at the Scarborough Bull Moose store at 1 p.m. to meet with fans and sign copies of his new album, This Path Tonight. The event is free and open to the public, but it may be a good idea to arrive early: Click here for more information. And here’s a list of other indie record stores around Maine.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND—Artist Annie Bailey was one of the artists featured in The Farnsworth Art Museum’s [Collective] annual BASH on April 1. The sold-out event revolved around a circus theme and her contribution was in the form of an old storytelling art form — the crankie, which is a sequential scroll painting that moves through a box to depict a story, much like a silent movie.

“I’ve been quite fascinated with the Royal Tar for several years and I thought the crankie would be a great platform to share this local tale,” said Bailey, who spent much of her life working on and playing on boats, both in Penobscot Bay and across the globe.

For those not familiar with the story of the Royal Tar, it was a steamer heading from St. John to Portland with 85 passengers and a menagerie of circus animals, a wax museum and a brass band aboard when it sank in 1836 between Vinalhaven and Isle au Haut. (More can be found out about that disastrous shipwreck here).

With her background in hand drawn animation, Bailey made the crankie out of a roll of vellum, which she painted with scenes using india ink. The resulting piece is 35 feet long. The box surrounding the crankie she found in her attic. The turning dowels the paper was attached to were made from curtain rods she found at the dump. She credits Patty King at the Rockland Library who helped her do extensive research and her father, Steve Bailey, who helped  build the box.

Watch the accompanying video and follow along as Bailey describes each scene unfolding.

“The steamship you see at the beginning has paddlewheels and it’s got square-rigged sails in addition to its steam engine,” she said. “The menagerie you see going up the ramp was a very common form of entertainment in 1836 — the moving circus,” she said. “These are the animals boarding the Royal Tar in St. John, New Brunswick. They’d just done a big show, and they were headed back to Boston.  The Royal Tar was just a transport vessel for all of these people and animals heading back home.” 

In the next scene are figures waving goodbye.

“I had to edit some of these scenes in the video so you don’t see all of them, but the next thing you see is the animals in cages below decks,” she said. “The cages are stacked upon each other with this cacophony of noise odor and movement.There would have been a lot of rocking back and forth and I wanted to show how scared the animals would have been all crammed together.”

The next scene depicts the movement of the Royal Tar making its way through the ocean. “I was showing time passing and the significant part of that is the mackerel sky, which are the clouds you usually see before a storm in Penobscot Bay,” she said. “The smoke behind the steamship actually turns into a map of the Maine coastline and that map depicts the place where the Royal Tar sank. You can see it right between North Haven and Vinalhaven.”

The next image is below decks in the boiler room. “They had an elephant aboard and he was tied down on the deck above and because he weighed so much,” she explained. “The crew had to shim large pieces of wood above the boiler to stabilize the deck. The chief engineer in charge of keeping the boilers running had been up all night the night before dealing with some issue and left his second engineer in charge. The second engineer, for some reason, didn’t notice that the water level had emptied in the boilers and a fire started. The large pieces of wood caught fire quickly. That’s what you see in that image.”

The next image is looking down on the deck of the Royal Tar as the fire starts spreading and you see people running and the elephant trumpeting in fear.

“You also see a  lifeboat in this image,” she said. “Because they’d over-packed the steamship with animals and people they removed a few of the lifeboats and left them ashore. So, in this one lifeboat leaving is the second engineer. The story is he saved himself and some crew but not any women, children or animals and he rowed off to Isle au Haut. When the captain saw him doing that, he was very angry and tried to set the jib and mainsail and sail toward them.”

The scene changes with the elephants and the destruction of the boat with smoke and fire as they are trying to raise the SOS distress flag. “There was a US Coast Guard vessel nearby, but it couldn’t rescue them because it had a cargo of gunpowder aboard and they couldn’t get too close,” she said. “But they were able to get one lifeboat back and forth to the vessel and retrieve a number of passengers.”

As the story goes, 32 passengers were rescued, but all of the menagerie animals supposedly perished. The scene goes to flat calm and cuts to vultures sitting on the elephant’s skeleton. “Behind them is Brimstone island, where the Royal Tar sank,” she said. “One of the stories I found in my research is that an elephant skeleton washed up on Brimstone island and those are the vultures surrounding its carcass. I also talked to someone who knows the family who claims a Bengal tiger managed to swim to shore and live on one of the islands until it was shot. One of the islanders still has its skin hanging on the wall.”

Thus scrolls out the saddest show on Earth as the crankie’s dowels stop turning.

For more info on Annie Bailey’s work visit: http://www.anniebaileyart.com/index.html

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — The woman in the painting is looking over her shoulder with an alarmed expression. Julia Alexander, 15, the artist, had a specific person in mind when she painted this.

“That’s Fantine from Les Misérables,” she explains. Fantine is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables. She is a young orphaned grisette in Paris who becomes pregnant by a rich student. After he abandons her, she is forced to look after their child, Cosette, on her own.

“I based this painting off of Celinde Schoenmaker, who played Fantine on the West End,” said Julia. “Fantine is looking back over her shoulder in this image. In the story of Les Mis, Fantine is a young, beautiful woman who has a child, but she finds herself in a bad place, and has no other option but to leave her young daughter with a horrid innkeeper and his wife. I imagine that this painting is of the moment Fantine is looking back over her shoulder at her daughter as she is walking away.”

Homeschooled in Etna, she took some private art lessons in elementary school, but is largely and self-taught. This is just one out of several paintings she’s done of Les Misérables. characters. “It’s was the first show that introduced me to musical theater,” she said.

The painting of the girl with the blue background is of Éponine from Les Mis.

“This is during the ‘On My Own’ scene, in which she is thinking about her unrequited love,” said Julia. “She is walking along the streets at night, shivering in the rain. In the painting, she has just realized that she loves him, but he will never love her.”

The blond man in the red jacket is Enjolras.

“He is the leader of a group of students revolting in the June Rebellion,” said Julia. “This moment is just after the Amis de l’ABC have finished constructing their barricade. Enjolras is still hopeful about the outcome of the rebellion.”

The painting that is split into two sections is of Valjean (top) and Javert (bottom).

“The reason I decided to paint this is because of the similarity in two of the lines these characters sing at the beginning and end of the musical. Valjean, the protagonist, sings, ‘Another story must begin.’ He knows that his life is basically at rock bottom and he needs to change. And that’s what he does. Javert echoes the same melody line just before he commits suicide at the end of the show. ‘There is no way to go on.’ The contrast between the characters in just those two lines really struck me, so I did what any artist would do — I created a painting!”

Talented on multiple levels, Julia is also into music and acting. She’s currently auditioning for some plays in Bangor, Belfast and in Brooks at at Marsh River Theater.

“I definitely would like to do more paintings of characters from musical theatre,” she said. “Right now, I have some ideas brewing in my head for paintings of characters from Hamilton (a new rap/hip hop musical about the founding fathers, mainly Alexander Hamilton). I'm really excited to get them on canvases.”

Julia Alexander’s Fantine piece originally appeared in a student show hanging in Waterfall Arts in Belfast.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

TENANTS HARBOR—When Scotland beachcomber Martin Gray went walking along one of his favorite beaches, Billiacru last week, about two miles from Stromness, the little fishing port where he grew up, he spied an orange plastic tag with the name C. Morris and the number #167 on it. An avid beachcomber since he was a teenager, he knew immediately what it was. 

“We find lobstering gear from all along the eastern seaboard of North America, from Labrador to Rhode Island,” he said. “Maine gear is probably the largest single cohort (followed by Newfoundland/Labrador and Massachusetts) and includes escape vents, trap tags, TopMe tags, buoys, Plante sticks and pot heads.”

The little piece of plastic, was in fact, a dislodged trap tag owned by Corey Morris, 35, a lobsterman from Tenants Harbor. It had traveled roughly 3,000 miles through the Gulf Stream/North Atlantic Drift that spins gear out across the Atlantic to Europe.

Excited to locate the owner of his find, Gray posted a photo of the tag on his Facebook page Orkney Beachcombing.

“In many ways, Facebook is an almighty pain in the backside full of bland truisms, peoples’ dinners and soppy kittens,” Gray said. “But, for finding connections, it is unsurpassed. I posted a photo on my Facebook page of a Massachusetts float found here yesterday. I had the owners name in seven minutes. I find that absolutely staggering!”

As for Morris, he was just working in his garage, repainting all of his buoys and getting his gear readied for the season when his Facebook notifications went crazy. Maine followers of Gray’s Facebook page notified Morris that Gray wanted to get in touch with him so he did.

What makes this find special is that this tag “C. Morris #167” was also his grandfather’s initials and original license number. Charles "Charlie" Morris was the 167th person in the state of Maine to be issued a lobster license. The year before Charlie passed away, he transferred his license number to his then-six-year-old grandson, Corey. If he hadn't done that, the license would have been considered a lost or retired license.

”I was already in an outboard with my dad at that age,” said Morris. “I couldn't even haul the trap then I was so little. I can remember going home in the evenings and hauling 10 traps with my dad. He's now held his lobster license for 29 years. Current regulations don't allow lobster fishermen to transfer tags to family members any more, so #167 will retire with Morris. "If I wanted to give my daughter mine, I couldn't,” he explained. “She'd have to go into the lottery and get a five or six digit number."

"I noticed in Martin's picture that the holes of the tag are intact, so it didn't look like the hog ring ripped off," said Morris. He declined to say how it could have come off but every lobsterman who has had his gear molested, and tags ripped out to keep the trap (which runs around $100 per trap) knows it's a distinct possibility that the tag was deliberately cut out and discarded into the ocean.

Gray has seen more trash float in on his beaches from the U.S. than he cares to, but when it comes to fishing gear, that’s different.

“The finds from Maine fishermen are special because I know that what reaches us from there isn't really litter,” he said. “Almost all of it was lost against the wishes of the fisherman, with very little casually thrown away. The escape vents float free but that is a conservation measure to render lost ghost pots nonlethal to marine life. A brilliant plan! We have nothing like it here. There's no such thing as ‘good litter,’ but escape vents come very close! I make clear distinctions between plastic in the sea that has been willfully dumped, lost by neglect or mismanagement and lost by accident. Maine pot gear is almost all lost by accident.”

Gray has been working the last five years to display the best of his beach finds into finds over the last few years into a museum.

“Finding Corey’s tag has been the highlight of my beachcombing winter,” Gray said. “It has a very special tale behind it and I can see it being a star exhibit one day.”

Related story: Maine’s treasures (and trash) wash up on Ireland’s shores

This weather is acting like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde this weekend, with Saturday looking “yutty” (as my toddler nephew used to say) and Sunday looking brighter and sunnier. It’s not spring yet! So, let’s bring you five things to occupy that part of your brain that needs to relax and have fun this weekend.

PechaKucha Time

Friday, April 8—Owls Head

Tonight’s PK event, in which hand-picked interesting presenters introduce 20 slides shown for 20 seconds each, is happening at the Owls Head Transportation Museum at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. if you want to get there early and check out the museum. Presenters include: Jason Bannister, artistic drector of the Midcoast Actors’ Studio; Noah Bly, blacksmith; David Foley, Holland and Foley Architecture; Pete Kalajian, astrophotographer, astronomer and artist; Pam Maus, director and producer of NextStepRun!; K.Min, artist; Mark Moskovitz, designer; Brett Willard, program director at Merryspring Nature Center; with emcee Kimberly Callas. $5 at the door.

Digisaurus at Rock City

Friday April 8—Rockland

Digisaurus is the brand new “future pop/rock” project from artist and producer, James Allison. Featuring some of Ohio’s best musicians and visual artists, Digisaurus is dedicated to the evolution of music and art through technology and collaboration. This is sure to be a cool and surreal music experience. The show goes from 7 to 9 p.m.

Nikki Hunt Band at Trackside

Saturday, April 8—Rockland

Trackside Station turns seven on Saturday and to celebrate, they’re bringing the Nikki Hunt Band to play. Here’s how they describe themselves: “Nikki has been performing most of her life. Singing, dancing, acting, modeling and hooping. Over 1,100 shows completes six-and-a-half years as a singer and hooper in a pop rock band.” So, Nikki is a fan of incomplete sentences, but she’s likely to spin up the energy with her hoops and vocals Saturday night. No cover charge. The show goes from 9 p.m to 1 a.m.

Beausoleil and Michael Doucet in concert

Saturday, April 9—Rockland

If you’re into Cajun, zydeco, New Orleans jazz, Tex-Mex, country, blues and more, check out the Grammy award-winning band at the Strand Theatre. Tickets are $25. FMI: Bausoleil

Killer Road Trip: Second annual Bangor Comic Con

Friday, April 8-Sunday, April 10—Bangor

Did anybody get my April Fool’s joke last week in the Killer Road Trip? Do you THINK I’d really send you all the way up to Machias to watch a film on salmon? No, but I would send you to Bangor for the second annual Comic and Toy Con. It was such a blast last year. (See my story on it here.) One of the doctors from Doctor Who will be there, as well as Nichelle Nichols from the original Star Trek TV series and Verne Troyer “Mini-Me”! It’s $25 per day and free for kids $12 and under. FMI: bangorcomictoycon.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — Like most teenagers, Alyson Peabody asked her parents if she could have the choice in painting her bedroom walls. Sure, they said. But, when they walked in later that night, they were stunned to see she’d painted a mural from Vincent van Gogh’s famous painting, the Starry Night, on one bedroom wall.

“They just stood there and said, ‘Oh. OK, not what we expected,’” she said.

However, given her level of talent, they were not unhappy. Later that night, she painted a rainy city on another wall and a woman in a dress that looks like a peacock on the third.

“When I look at them, I just imagine all of the other images that I want to paint someday when I live in my own house, or I think of all of the backdrops I want to paint as a set designer,” she said.

She submitted her first piece to Waterfall Arts Student Gallery of a woman sipping a cup of tea which she called “Tea-rrific.”

“I saw this photo on Pinterest of a woman looking over her teacup with sort of this sly smile. I really like working with faces. There was just something about hers that was very happy and I wanted to paint it.”

Scrolling through her portfolio, it’s obvious she’s drawn to subject’s eyes.

“I put a lot of attention to detail in those,” she said.

In one of her drawings, it’s obvious the subject is Audrey Hepburn.

“This was the first time I had worked with charcoal in a few years, so this drawing was mostly experimentation. I really enjoy drawing and painting faces (and I had just watched Roman Holiday) so Hepburn was the first person that I thought of drawing.”

The Belfast senior at BAHS is largely self-taught.

“I’ve only taken one arts class here and it was crafts,” she laughed. “I really like working with acrylics, but I also like oil pastels too; that’s a lot of fun.”

In her crafts class, she was assigned the project of making a plaster of Paris mold of her face and to make a mask out of it.

“I toyed with many different ideas before I settled on creating the Medusa-like one. I wanted to incorporate nature into the face while keeping a relatively realistic look to the mask's flesh, so I decided to have the flowers sprouting from the eye sockets like the face is overflowing with natural beauty.”

Peabody is naturally drawn to the creative arts and is into theater as well.

“I've been involved in more than 12 shows as an actress, and one show as a stage manager. I am currently involved in the BAHS production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where I will be portraying Willy Wonka/Candy Man, as well as help design set and props.”

Well, as they say, the eyes have it.

Alyson Peabody’s “Tea-riffic” painting originally appeared in a student show hanging at Waterfall Arts in Belfast.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

 We’re bashing in the new month of April this weekend with multiple costume dance parties and wild shows, both human and animal-inspired. Happy spring peeps!

Poets and Fools Dance Party

Friday, April 1—Belfast

If you didn’t get tickets to The Collective’s April 1 BASH in time, don’t hang up your costume yet. Luckily Waterfall Arts is hosting its annual ‘Poets and Fools,’ Waterfall Arts' legendary annual costume bash with a new line-up of eccentricities and entertainment. From 6 to 10 p.m., revelers of all ages will be dancing, goofing, parading, eating, drinking, playing, story telling, daring, and winning prizes. The night kicks off with an invocation by Ariel Greenberg-Bywater quickly followed by the Belfastian "Tonight Show" hosted by Waterfall Arts' own Bridget Matros and featuring ridiculous games with local mystery celebs. The Acetones provide background sound for all the foolery. Costumes will be judged, raffles drawn, and mad poetry dispensed before the live music coalesces into a dizzying dance party with high energy band. Tickets can be purchased at the door. 7 and under free, age 8-15 $5, everyone else $10.

Special Spring Open Mic at Rock City

Friday, April 1—Rockland

Midcoast Music Academy (MCMA) will get their chance in the spotlight at Rock City Cafe featuring a number of adult and teen musicians and singer songwriters. There’s no cover and it’s a great way to kick off your Friday evening before heading to the fabulous April Fools' Circus Collective Bash at the Farnsworth. The show goes from 6 to 8 p.m.

Grit & Grace

Friday, April 1 & Saturday, April 2 —Camden

Kinetic Energy Alive Dance Productions is kicking their spring show into a frenzy this weekend, demonstrating styles ranging from Jazz-Funk, inspired by some of the best in NYC, to contemporary, modern, hip hop, breakdancing and old school funk. See our story here. Both shows run 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be found here.

Killer Road Trip: A thrilling night of watching salmon swim

Friday, April 1—Machias

It’s a long drive up to Machias, but it’s totally worth it because the Maine Salmon Rivers organization is offering a free showing of “A Complicated Path,” a documentary on the decline of river herring in Maine and New England, at 6:30 p.m. at the Downeast Salmon Federation’s East Machias Aquatic Research Center (EMARC), 13 Willow St. in East Machias. Asked what it’s about, organizer Eleanor Pike said, “It’s about...fish.” This movie chronicles the decline of river herring, tapping into the knowledge of leaders in river herring research throughout New England. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the movie will start at 7 p.m. Costumes encouraged.

Killer Road Trip: Popovich Pet Theater

Sunday, April 3—Orono

This guy, Gregory Popovich is aces in my book. His  World Famous Popovich Pet Theater features 15 cats and 10 dogs were once strays, rescued from animal shelters. Now, they love to show off onstage by performing a variety of stunts and skits. Popovich and his Pets have been featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, and as a finalist on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Audiences will be delighted to see this extravaganza of European-style clowning, amazing juggling and balancing acts, and of course, extraordinarily talented performing pets! It’s a show that adults and kids (and pet lovers of all ages) will enjoy. The show is at the Collins Center for The Arts on the campus of the University of Maine in Orono. FMI: click here. Adults $22 / Children 12 and under $14.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — When The Blackboard Deli closed last year, many wondered what would take its place. Hops and Chops, at 77 Park Street in Rockland, is the full-service butcher shop and beer/wine shop that has moved in and plans to open in mid-May.

This is owner Dale Dare’s first entrepreneurial venture. A Rockland native, he plans to make this a family business that includes his wife, Elia, their son, Tyler, and his sister, Diana.

He was meat manager for Rockland’s Hannaford Supermarket for two years, and prior to that worked for a New Hampshire for Stop and Shop as a meat manager for nine years.

“I’ve been cutting meat since 1984,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do something like this. The concept came to me more than 25 years ago. I was working at French and Brawn at the time and I always wanted to do something like this on my own. It’s taken a long time to get here, but finally, I think, the time is right.”

Dare said his butcher shop will offer handcrafted steaks to order, as well as a variety of cuts in the meat case available, including USDA Choice and USDA Prime cuts of meat sourced from several suppliers.

He’s still working on researching local suppliers and will offer free-range and organic chicken products.

“I have butchered whole animals, having cut hanging beef in the past, but for the sake of ease, we are going to be using meats that have already been broken down and can be further handcrafted into a variety of cuts,” he said.

On the Hops side, Dare is excited to be able to stock up with Maine made craft brews.

“The craft beer scene has exploded in the last few years with maybe 70 breweries,” he said. “We’re going to try and get the majority of those in the shop and we’re working with distributors now. One of the things you’ll be able to do is build your own six pack from all of the varieties. In addition the shop plans to offer fine wines, many also sourced from Maine, as well.”

They’re currently renovating the former deli’s interior.

“We are using some of the kitchen equipment that was in the building such as the range, convection oven and flat top grill, but we have removed the double decker conveyor pizza oven, and we are adding three meat cases,” he said. “We really liked the color scheme of the building so we are keeping the colors, but we will be adding our own decor throughout. We want to keep it simple and let the products speak for themselves.”

Beyond the hops and chops, there will also be a section of the store dedicated to prepared meals to-go.

“We will have fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs, homemade meatloaf, homemade meatballs, as well as a line of our in-house made sausages,” he said. “We also will have a signature line of meat rubs as well as marinades that we will be using in our products and customer may also purchase them to use at home. People can just pop in and grab made-from-scratch dishes, take them home and reheat them.”

The grand opening has yet to be announced, but when they do, they plan to offer special pricing on a few items and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Stay tuned to their progress on Facebook.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

THOMASTON — It’s been a little over a month since we reported on a starved and emaciated stray cat who had a slim chance of survival, once he was brought in to Pope Memorial Humane Society of Knox County.

The staff named him Saint. When they got him off the street, he faced an uphill battle and the staff had to get each issue under control, starting with feeding him, cutting the mats out of his coat and ridding him of fleas. He was barely able to walk, falling down on his front paws. After he was given medication to combat an upper respiratory infection and he was stabilized, they did some him blood work and discovered he had one more issue: diabetes.

“The report came back that his sugars were really high, so we had to give him insulin,” said Joanna Boynton, assistant manager at the shelter. “He’s doing well and he’s getting around better. But right now we’re trying to adjust the dosage of insulin. And that usually takes awhile.”

At the time of our original story, Theresa Gargan, the shelter manager, predicted he’d be ready to adopt within a month, but his diabetes has prolonged that estimate.

“Right now, we don’t have a determined time frame to adopt him out,” said Boynton.  “Getting a handle on diabetes is a tricky process as insulin levels in cats are hard to stabilize.”

For the time being, he’s still putting on weight, which he needs. He is also growing a new coat of fur, which was filthy and matted when he arrived and had to be shaved down when they did their first medical examination under sedation.

“We gave him a nice bath at that time too,” said Boynton. Now, she said, his fur is growing back softer.

“He’s definitely much more aware of what’s going on,” she said. “He’s an older cat so he still has a little of that grumpy, leave-me-alone vibe. But, he’s definitely acting more like a cat now, not a zombie. When he first came to us he wasn’t aware of anything else but survival.”

When Saint’s story went viral, the shelter got dozens of calls to adopt him. “We had a lot of people showing interest in taking him home,” she said. “Someone who does would need to know how to treat a cat with special needs.”

This resource gives that information: felinediabetes.com

For more information: humanesocietyofknoxcounty.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — In recent years, the Midcoast has seen a number of events and conferences dedicated to uplifting those in the arts and creative economy and on April 1, Archipelago, retail side of the Island Institute, is bringing together artists and makers from around the state for a one-day event to offer networking, and practical tips and strategies to help people grow their small business. 

Archipelago is a natural incubator for this event since they showcase Pine Tree State artists and makers whose work reflects the beauty and endurance of Maine’s islands and coast. Since opening in 2000, Archipelago has advanced the careers of more than 800 Maine residents, while playing a pivotal role in Maine’s creative economy.

Artists and Makers Conference 2016 organizer Lisa Mossel Vietze said, “I’ve been lucky enough, for the last eight years, to work with many artists and makers and I kept hearing the need for more support on the business side of running a creative business. I love working with artists, directly helping them with pricing, packaging, branding, and thought that if the Institute could do a conference for artists like we do for island teachers and island energy issues, that would be great.”

In 2014, Archipelago held the first conference for invited island artists, capped at 20 people. The next year, they doubled that number at the next event.

“This year, I wanted to really grow it so it’s now a public event open to anyone making art in Maine,” said Mossel Vietze. “I see this conference as an opportunity for artists to learn about the business side of running creative business. It’s great that folks are making soap, earrings, paintings, but now what? Can you get your work in the right place to be seen by your customers? How do you figure out pricing? How do you use social media? Most artists I work with and know are doing several other jobs, so how do we support the artists in starting or growing their business? This is a conference put on by artists for artists, artists who may not understand or be that comfortable with the language of the business development programs that are available.”

The workshops will range from marketing and selling fine arts to social media and branding, with lots of opportunities to network with other artists and makers.

“I believe that the creative economy is a significant and growing piece of Maine’s economy so that by supporting artists, we can strengthen their income diversity and opportunities and therefore grow Maine’s economy as well,” said Mossel Vietze.

Artists and Makers Conference 2016 will be held Friday, April 1 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hutchinson Center at 80 Belmont Ave. (Route 3) in Belfast. General admission is $25. Tickets and the day-long itinerary can be found here.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — When former Camden Hills Regional High School student Thatcher Chamberlin was 17, he developed an open source online program that would let anyone make a raised relief map of the earth’s surface on a 3-D printer, allowing people to create a three-dimensional solid object of the map from a digital file. He did it on his own; it wasn’t part of any school project. 

“I wanted to make a model of Rockport Harbor,” he said. Nothing like this had previously existed, so Chamberlin took his data, turned it into a computer program and made his model on a milling machine. “After I created that program, I realized I could make a raised relief map of the whole world if I had the right data.”

Thinking his hobby might interest others, he assembled all of the data into a free website, calling it Terrain2STL that allows people to select parts of the Earth and download that particular part as a physical object. Imagine your favorite lake, mountain, or even your backyard in physical 3-D form.

It took Thatcher about five months to create that program—and it caught on. Schools began using his website for geography projects and local landmarks. Last year, he graduated from Camden Hills. Now, as a first year computer science student at M.I.T, he’s decided the earth isn’t enough. Thatcher decided to  go for the moon, specifically to create the open source computer program Moon2STL, using data taken from a topographical model of the lunar surface by the U.S. Geological Survey.

“This took about a month to create using a lot of the same code,” he said. 

Asked why someone would be interested in printing out the surface of the moon, he answered, “I’m not sure actually. I made it and then I realized, there’s not a huge amount of reason to do that. Perhaps, you could print the area of where the moon landings happened.”

After posting his moon website in Reddit’s 3D printing community, that particular creation caught the attention of the website Motherboard, which interviewed him for an article. Soon after, and to his surprise, Popular Mechanics magazine picked up his story.

“I just found out the story popped up,” he said. “Afterwards, I ran into a few people who’d seen it; it was kind of exciting.”

Right now, he’s working with a man who wants to fashion custom cocktail tables with 3-D printed topography carved out of wood below the glass surface. “So, picture looking at a range of mountains or the San Francisco Bay underneath the glass,” he said.

Since Thatcher has done all of this work for free and released it as open source, where people can crowdsource new design features, he has never had an eye on capitalizing on his invention.

“Right now, I don’t have enough time to develop it into something that’s really marketable, so I just had a little donation button on my website, maybe $5 if they feel like using it for their own projects.” He said he’s made a little money this way. “That’s just the way a lot of software is done these days.”

Pretty cool. Maybe Thatcher’s invention, and the Steel House in Rockland, will be ways for people to create a very unique piece of Maine for themselves.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

We’ve got sunny skies and a high-energy weekend on tap with a battle of the bands, a story slam, a party band, a drag show and free maple ice cream!

Bands Jam ‘70s Style in Trekkapalooza

Friday, March 25—Rockland

Break out the flare jeans, the 11th annual Trekkapalooza event is kicking off at The Strand Theatre. This year's "Battle of the Bands" competition will feature a '70s theme with five exciting and energetic acts. Each band will be playing at least one song from the 1970s. New to the event this year, two teams from Oceanside High School will compete in a  lip sync challenge, with the winner decided by popular audience vote. Don’t miss the Midcoast teen’s favorite band, Fading Dawn, (see our past article on these cool kids here.) The event starts at 7 p.m.; doors open at 6:30 p.m. All ages show. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. FMI: Trekkapalooza

Story Slam in Hope

Friday, March 25—Hope

Sweet Tree Arts is hosting their 4th annual Story Slam. Each story teller has five minutes to entertain and wow the crowd, followed by a 45-minute story by international teller Dovie Thomason. This is the adult show, from 7 to 9 p.m. For the kids’ show details, check the website. (See a review of last year’s show on PenBay Pilot.) Tickets: $15 online and $20 at the door. It’s always packed to the roof, so get there early.

The Shizzle plays The Myrtle

Saturday, March 26—Rockland

If you want a high-energy party band (that’s a bit off-color), that’s The Shizzle. Homegrown from Augusta, The Shizzle is central Maine's newest live music sensation; a themed dance/party band with costumes and DJ lighting. Myrtle Street Tavern hosts the show, which starts at 9 p.m.

Killer Road Trip: March Dragness!

Saturday, March 26—Bangor

Maine’s biggest drag show is back at the Hollywood Casino. This year's show will be hosted by the amazing Shaunna Rai. This year's theme is BILLBOARD HOT 100! All acts must perform a song that has been on the Billboard Hot 100 in any genre or era. Get ready for some heart stopping music, epic performances and thrilling costumes. This is an 18+ show, which will benefit several different charities. Online tickets have already been sold out but get there early as they’ll be selling more at the door. Door sales start at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. FMI: March Dragness

Maine Maple Sunday

Sunday, March 27—Camden

It’s spring, right? Please tell me it’s spring. The maple trees are ready. A sugaring-off is happening at the Cramer Museum on Route 1 on the Camden-Rockport line. There will be demonstrations of maple syrup making in their 1820s sugar house, free maple ice cream sundaes and free samples of open fire pit cooking by the famed chili and chowder extraordinaire, Maynard Stanley. Maple donuts and other maple treats will also be on sale. Goes from 1 to 4 p.m. Call 236-2257 for more info.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — It was a book that hit close to home for many Camden residents. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of Grace Metalious’ novel Peyton Place. Steeped in controversy, this story, set in New England, was the best-selling novel up to that time. The movie adaptation, released the following year and nominated for nine Academy Awards, was shot extensively in the Midcoast area.

And now that the film is getting a new look, writer, director and producer Willard Carroll is excited to be involved.

“The movie is currently being restored, digitally, by 20th Century Fox  and the Motion Picture Academy, and they’re actually doing a new 35-millimeter print when they re-show it in theaters, which is quite unusual,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to premiere that print this summer. There’s going to be a lot of interest in film festivals around it and we want to bring it to Maine first. The Blu ray will come out next year and I’ve been invited to do the audio commentary on that.”

In addition, Blu ray asked if Carroll would host a class discussing the novel’s transition to film. “I love talking about it, so I said sure,” he said.

Carroll said the film was the reason he and his partner moved to Maine after living in Los Angeles for 30 years.

“About 10 years ago, Camden was hosting the 50th anniversary of the movie being shot here and that was the first time I’d ever come to Maine,” he said. “I was here for about five minutes and decided I wanted to move here.”

In his spare time, Carroll went around to find all of the locations in the Midcoast where Peyton Place was originally shot and decided to make a short film titled On Location in Peyton Place. With the help of Camden historian Barbara Dyer, who’d already done extensive research on where the movie was shot, Carroll said, “She had about 99 percent of the locations already documented and I went out and found the remaining 1 percent of locations that hadn’t been found.”

All in all, for his film he shot 42 locations that appeared in the original film. “We shot it in early autumn so all of the fall colors were out,” he said. Carroll’s short film will also be part of the Blu ray edition being released this year.

On Tuesday, April 5, Carroll will host the first of a two-night class at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport. The first class will be a screening of Peyton Place with some introductory remarks and discussion.

“Assuming there are still people who haven’t seen the movie, I don’t want to give away spoilers,” he said.

The second night, on Tuesday, April 12, will feature a discussion of the considerable page-to-screen adaptation challenges presented by an “unfilmable” book and conclude with an overview of the Maine locations used in the movie. “The second class is more a dissection of the movie,” he said.

“When the book was first published in 1956, it was an instant success, but it was a very daring novel,” Carroll said. “The reason it was so controversial is because it was written by a woman and it was a very sexually explicit book. And the reason it was considered unfilmable was because of the censorship rules at the time. Still, it ended up for about a 10-year period to be the biggest selling novel of all time. The movie is a heavily sanitized version of the book, but it’s still an adult-oriented film. After faltering at the box office initially, the film became the second highest grossing film of 1957.”

Peyton Place’s other resounding theme revolves around the secrets that lie under the surface of a picture postcard town such as Camden.

“At the time, other books written by women about career women were all set in big cities, which had a different moral compass than small town America did,” said Carroll. “Peyton Place investigated this idealized notion of small town life and undercut the myths. The significance of the book is that it ripped the veil off aspects of society that were known, but rarely acknowledged, particularly in popular entertainment."

Asked if anything has changed since 1956 when it comes to small town life Carroll said, “The book is also about huge economic divisions and how that impacted the society. That has not changed and that will never change. It’s sort of a universal theme.”

The course, run by Five Town CSD, is $25, which covers both nights. More details can be found here.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com