CAMDEN-ROCKPORT — We did this series last year, listing all of the new businesses and changes that occurred over the winter in Camden-Lincolnville-Rockport and people seemed to love it. it’s always interesting to see what's open, what's closed, what's new and what's happening. So, here is your rundown for the summer. 

Andy’s Brew Pub in Lincolnville opens

Craft brew lovers in the Midcoast have been eagerly anticipating the opening of Andy’s Brew Pub since earlier this winter, when brewers Ben Hazen and his father, Andrew Hazen, announced their intent to open a physical location for their Lincolnville brewing business, combining it with the Lobster Pound, owned by Dick McLaughlin.

Over the winter the Hazens, McLaughlin and their other investors, Sean Duffelmeyer and Jim Tyler, worked steadily to remodel the left side of The Lobster Pound into an airy 75-seat brew pub with ocean views from every seat. Jim Tyler constructed the 25-foot polished pine bar and backing for the beer taps. On May 1 and 2, Andy’s Brew Pub had its soft opening, which Penobscot Bay Pilot was only too happy to cover in our story, Community fills Lincolnville Beach bar at Andy’s soft opening. Once they receive the federal and state brewing licenses, their brewing equipment will be set up in a special brewing area. As they gear up to remodel the gift shop (which soon will include bottled Andrew’s Brewing Co beer) look for their grand opening happening soon and be sure to stop in.

Owl & Turtle Bookshop has new owners and a new café

Ricky and Selena Sheaves, the new owners who took over Nancy Borland’s Owl & Turtle Bookshop (now on Bay View Street) took a few months to decide what they were going to do with the bookshop after moving here from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Keeping the traditional sections of the bookshop such as the marine and Maine sections intact, they decided to remodel the children’s area upstairs and add a comfortable café with free WiFi and seating for 12 customers.

Over the winter, Ricky has done most of the interior work himself and the café had its soft opening in late April. There aren’t too many places in Camden that require a real barista, but Owl & Turtle Café now has a beautiful commercial coffeemaker, which offers various types of coffees, lattes and espressos. All the coffee beans and teas are locally produced as well as the baked goods. Still to come, they're clearing out a space for a "Laptop Ledge" upstairs, which will essentially be a WiFi bar with 8-10 stools, providing each seating area with connectivity to the individual's laptop.

Peter Ott’s Restaurant moves to the Camden Harbor

In February, owner-chef Peter Masin-Peters announced the restaurant, which had stood at 16 Bayview Street for 40 years would close on March 29, and reopen in mid-April at its new waterfront location on Bay View Landing, now named Peter Ott’s on the water. The transformation of the restaurant’s interior has been incredible. Gone are the ubiquitous varnished look of the floors and walls and 1970s-throwback stained glass windows. New lighting, tables, decorations and built-in benches are now in its place.

As writer Chris Wolf said in his story, Peter Ott’s reopens on the Camden waterfront, “The rustic and finished floors might stir memories of an 1800s farm in parts of the restaurant with lots of natural light, but if you sit in front of the fireplace in the main dining area, you're transported into rich surroundings as you sink into a comfortable seat with plush pillows.” One change that has generated some chatter is that Peter Ott’s no longer offers its famed salad bar, but, the food, as always, is local and fresh. Reaction to the new restaurant location and menu has been overwhelmingly positive and it’s sure to be a hit with the locals year-round as well as the tourists. For now the restaurant is only open in the evenings and for brunch, but soon, they will be opening for lunch as well.

Fox on the Run, new food truck hits Rockport Harbor

Just recently Penobscot Bay Pilot encountered this bright fire engine red food truck and got a better look inside after talking to Lauren Jellison, the new owner. Calling it Fox on the Run (based after one of her favorite songs), Jellison, assisted by her partner, Kevin Allen, plans to offer healthy, fresh well-crafted food for affordable prices. In our story, New Midcoast food truck hits the street this spring, we get more into Jellison’s culinary background and Fox on the Run’s Asian and Hispanic menu with unique offerings like sugar free snow cones and bahn mi sandwiches. The current schedule has the food truck up in downtown Belfast harbor throughout May, offering breakfast and lunches in Belfast, before they move to the Rockport Harbor for the summer. Their latest Facebook announcement said their hours have changed from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. to accommodate the after-work crowd.

Lincolnville Community Library opens

It took a year and a half after nearly 200 people gathered in Lincolnville Center to grab a long rope and help pull the town’s former one-room schoolhouse across Main Street in order to start work on making it the new town library and in February, the job was finally done. As we covered in our story, Lincolnville Community Library opens February 1, it took a large team of skilled volunteers and professional contractors to renovate the building and turn it into the new Lincolnville Community Library. Since then, they’ve been thriving with all kinds of programming, ranging from talks from artists and authors to presentations on local history, feng shui, coin-making, gardening, sailing trips and more. The library operates part-time from Tuesday to Saturday, but they’ve fulfilled a great need in the community. Said one patron, “Kudos to all of you for finally getting a library for the town.” For more information and to keep up with the library’s daily progress, visit their Facebook page.

Schooner news 

Hard times befell two local schooners this winter and spring.  In December, the Nathaniel Bowditch was seized by U.S. Marshals following the filing of a civil foreclosure lawsuit in Portland U.S. District Court against owners Owen and Cathie Dorr of Rockland. In February, a public auction was held to sell the schooner, but since nobody made a minimum bid, ownership of the boat remains with the holder of the mortgage, attorney Thomas Federle.

The fate of the Timberwind is still unsure after the bank placed a lien on the schooner, a longtime fixture at Rockport’s Marine Park wharf. It was towed out of Rockport Harbor and tied up in Lermond Cove in Rockland while the legal paperwork to seize the boat works its way through court.

On an up note, Capt. Jack Moore and his first mate, wife Barbara sold their schooner, Surprise in May passing the daysailing business onto another couple, Ramiro and Nicole de Acevedo Ramos of Camden.

Other stuff you might have missed

It was a long, hard winter for many and we noticed one restaurant, 57 Bay View Restaurant, is now up for sale.

Stone Coast CrossFit marked its two-year anniversary with the opening of a new wellness facility across from Hoboken Gardens in Rockport, opening in April, boasting 4,200 square feet of open space, 840 square feet of indoor turf, showers and a first class coaching staff.

If we've missed any new businesses that would be interesting to folks coming back to Maine, shoot us an email with the subject line "Add to Camden story" and we'll add it into the list!

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

WALDOBORO—Grab your ratty bathrobe and work on your candlepin bowling skills, because this Sunday, the Narrows Tavern is hosting its first annual “Big Lebowski” event after the cult movie, The Big Lebowski, a 1998 comedy-crime film written by the Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel.

This hits all the bullet points for a Cheap Date—it’s social, it’s free and it’s madcap. Madcap I tells ya!

So grab a buddy or a babe and head down to The Narrows Tavern at 5:30 p.m. where everyone will be chillaxing with some Caucasians (that’s Jeff Lebowski’s term for a White Russian). Then at 6 p.m. the whole crew will saunter over to All Play to get a few round of bowling in before heading back to The Narrows Tavern to watch the movie together. Expect to see lots of costumes from the movie and to get yourself in character, here are some of the best lines from The Big Lebowski that didn’t contain swear words:

• Oh, you know, strikes and gutters, ups and downs.

• Well, sir, it's this rug I had. It really tied the room together.

• Look, let me explain something to you. I'm not Mr. Lebowski. You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. That, or His Dudeness... Duder... or El Duderino, if, you know, you're not into the whole brevity thing.

• This is a very complicated case, Maude. You know, a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you's. And, uh, lotta strands to keep in my head, man. Lotta strands in old Duder's head. Luckily I'm adhering to a pretty strict, uh, drug regimen to keep my mind limber.

• Careful, man, there's a beverage here!

Have fun and we’ll try to get some photos for a gallery next week!

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

This one came to us courtesy of Jackie Watts’ family. Does anybody remember what this was? Where it is? And any memories that go with it?

Did you guess last week’s Throwback Thursday? We can’t fool you people. We got a lot of correct answers on that one, which is, of course, the Crosby High School in Belfast which functioned until 1965 when a new high school had been constructed and continued as a middle school before closing altogether.

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com

Take a gander at what this building is...and was. Where is it? Hint: It was featured as the high school in the 1957 movie, Peyton Place.

Last Week’s Answer:

Did you guess last week’s Throwback Thursday photo? Many people guessed correctly on our Facebook page and comments section that the row of buildings was known as Bayside. More from Penobscot Marine Museum: “Bottom of Ruggles Park, looking at cottages on Park Row. Behind cottage with tower is a glimpse of the Auditorium in Auditorium Park. Cottage...[on] left...[is] former Fred Walls’ cottage." --Bayside Historical Preservation Society, 2009/2010

Photo courtesy of Penobscot Marine Museum. Visit: penobscotmarinemuseum.org

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — He may be serious about his food, but it doesn’t take long for Tom Pham to crack a joke. Within two seconds of meeting him, in fact.

“Are you Tom?” I ask.

“No, he doesn’t live here,” he says, behind the service window.

Pham just opened his first entrepreneurial venture, a food truck called Pho Sizzle, which he named as a comic variation on the slang phrase Fo’ Shizzle. (Pho is the Vietnamese word for a traditional bone-based soup and Sizzle is self-explanatory.)  His business got the final clearances to set up in Rockland last week and the food truck now sits tucked in a corner of Buoy Park in Rockland, just over a bit from the Black Pearl.

Last year, Pham left his corporate job in Tampa, Florida, and decided to do a 180 on his life by moving up to Monroe and farm for a living.

“I’d been to Maine to a couple of times and liked it. People are a little more laid back here,” he said. “I sort of always had the food truck idea in the back of my mind because I looked around and saw that there weren’t a lot of places that served authentic Asian food.”

The bright yellow food truck is actually a trailer and this past winter he bought it brand new from a man in Turner. He then worked with PDQ Prints Done Quickly to come up with the vinyl lettering, logo decal and even the red stripes, which he said represents the Vietnamese flag.

“Not today’s Communist regime,” he said, “The stripes represent the Communist Resistance flag.”

I spoke to him after his third day open as he was still trying to work out the kinks. Word had already spread via social media that he was open for business and he got slammed. With just himself cooking and an assistant, his friend Cole Fisher, he realizes with the summer population increasing, he’ll need to get another assistant sell out front while he works on getting out orders. “

This is my first real food venture on my own,” he said.

He works with a simple menu that changes from day to day and is listed on the white board outside his service window. Pham constructs each soup to order with variations of noodles and meats and allows the customer to further customize the hot dish with a variety of additions such as cilantro, Thai basil, Sriracha, bean sprouts and lemongrass. For the last three days, the pork belly rice bowl has been flying out of the truck, although his egg rolls and spring rolls have been popular as well.

His signature dish that day was a Bun Bo Hue, a spicy type of bone-based soup made from ham hocks that he flavors with tender beef chunks.

I got to try the Bun Bo Hue dish and the layers of fresh flavors were incredible. The tang of the nuac mom, the traditional Vietnamese fish sauce, complimented the rich meaty broth redolent of ginger, garlic, chilis and lime juice. Then there was the Angus beef chunks that he simmers all day that fall apart in your mouth along with the thick rice noodles. It was truly an entire meal—not just a soup.  “

“It’s very flavorful, but I have to tone down for the northerners,” Pham said.

Everything he makes he tries to source locally and he gets some of the produce from local farms.

This is the food he grew up on. 

“It’s funny. I grew up in Vietnam, which is a real patriarchal society. My dad couldn’t even cook Ramen noodles. He came home one day — we had just been living in America for two years — and said, ‘Boys come to the living room.’ We thought we were in trouble. So we get to the living room and he sits us down and says, ‘If you want to live here, you’ve got to learn how to cook.’ So, we learned how to cook. I’ve been cooking this way, very healthy, all my life since I was 10.”

“How long did it take you to put this whole food truck venture together?” I asked.

“Two days,” he joked.

Actually it took two months. He worked with Pepsi Co. to install some Pepsi coolers and outfitted the trailer with a 1980s Vulcan six-top burner, a microwave, freezer, a three-bay sink, a hand sink and a fire suppression system. Inside the compact trailer, every available space is used. Woks and various cooking instruments hang on the walls while stock pots take up the burners on the stove where they simmer much of the day. Outside the trailer, he’s got a heavy duty grill set up, which he uses for some of the meats.

Better get it while you can. When the leaves start flying in the fall, Pho Sizzle will be doing the bi-coastal thing. “I’ll do this for six months and then pack up the trailer and go down to Florida. Go to the beach, play volleyball and sell food down there,” he said, grinning.

Is that the life or what? Fo’ shizzle.

Pho Sizzle is a cash-only establishment. Besides that, the only downside is that there aren’t many seating areas in Buoy Park, but the granite rocks nearby serve perfectly well as benches. It is open for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. and closed Mondays.

For more information, visit their Facebook page or email phosizzle@hotmail.com.

Read more about the area’s gourmet food trucks

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com. 

Summer’s coming up and we’re looking way back for this one. Picture lazy days with nothing to do but swim, have socials and enjoy the good Maine life. Where is this and does anyone have any memories of this place?

Photo courtesy of Penobscot Marine Museum. Visit: penobscotmarinemuseum.org

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — There’s no telling when a song will go viral, like “Gangham Style” and “the Harlem Shuffle” did in the last few years. In November 2013, singer-songwriter and seven-time Grammy winner Pharrell Williams sparked the world when his super catchy hit Happy” debuted in the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack album. Following that, just for fun, he created a video around his song called 24 Hours of Happy. Filmed in one take over the course of 24 hours, the video featured more than 400 people dancing all over Los Angeles, including Williams, locals, and celebrities, such as Steve Carell and Magic Johnson.

Because the video was well, so happy, and paid homage to so many LA landmarks, hotspots and people, other American cities like Detroit and Chicago and countries from Paris to Berlin to Singapore started to do their own dance video to the song.

This spring, the town of Belfast decided to get into the act. Belfast Councilor Mike Hurley explained why he came up with the idea to start the movement “Belfast Maine: We are Happy” and get as many people and locations in a video to Williams’ song.

“Williams filmed people of all nationalities, sizes, ages, colors, levels of fame,” he said. “And now 250 million people have seen that video. Almost immediately people all over the world and even small towns started to do their version of this song on video. So I saw this and said, we need to do this in Belfast.”

Starting in April, Our Town Belfast and local Belfast businesses chipped in as sponsors to provide videographer Ned Lightner with the funds to film footage of Belfast citizens dancing to the song in a variety of iconic Belfast locations and businesses. This past weekend, more than 100 people showed up to dance on the Belfast foot bridge (even though it was raining) and they’re still working on filming for another week or so in various spots. By they’re done, they will have filmed in about 80 locations.

“It’s been really intense,” said Hurley. “One minute we’re in Athena Health filming people dancing in their cubicles; the next minute we’re down at Three Tides and the brew master, the bartender and all the waiters are all dancing around the fire. The next minute we’re at Rollie’s, then at the YMCA and then the Belfast Co-op. Every one of these locations comes with very different emotions and capabilities.”

The goal is to have the video finished by Memorial Day.

“I’ve listened to this tune a million times and I’m still not sick of it,” said Hurley. “Every time we start playing that song, it’s really infectious and you just want to start dancing. But the real goal is to make a video that not only shows the people and locations of Belfast but that the background would be iconic. The dog park. The tug boats. The public landing. The big bridge. The walking bridge. The high school and things like that. It’s really a promotional tool for Belfast. ”

The crew is still looking for individuals who really like to dance.

“We’ve got enough crowd scenes,” Hurley said, we just want three or four people. “However, they are anticipating a final shoot on Main Street to wrap up filming. Keep posted to their Facebook page for future times, dates and locations. And stay tuned to Penobscot Bay Pilot as we bring you more footage and photos in the days to come.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Kicking around downtown Bangor this past Saturday, I started to pass by a little “pocket park” next to Central Street Farmhouse on Central Street. Tucked into this little strip of garden and land between the two buildings a surprising number of men wearing Baby Bjorns standing around kegs and grills, surrounded by home brewing equipment and accessories.

I was just kind of gawking about for a moment. Was this a private backyard barbeque? A block party?

“Come on in,” said one friendly guy. “Have a home brew.”

Like you have to ask me twice. Little did I know I’d just stumbled upon a “Big Brew” event for National Homebrew Day, open to the public to encourage people to appreciate the joys and ease of home brewing.

Zeth Lundy was one such Baby Bjorn wearer (complete with baby). As I started talking to him, it all made sense. He and his wife operate Central Street Farmhouse, the three-story building next door and owned this little grassy area. Their business just made Dispatch Magazine’s Best of Bangor list. It’s an urban homesteading supplies and education business that offers supplies and support for homebrewing, cheesemaking, cloth diapering, and natural parenting.

Lundy was hosting the event with a half dozen local homebrewers in tow, celebrating on a micro scale what people all around the world were doing this very day to commemorate National Homebrew Day on the first Saturday in May.

I’d not heard a word about this event in Midcoast, despite the fact that we have a big home-brewing community, as well as local homebrew supplies at Red Witch Brewing Supply in Rockport and the Belfast Co-op. Red Witch has made an announcement that they’re up for sale so I turned to Zafra Whitcomb, a homebrewer and Belfast Co-op employee I’d interviewed last year. In 2012, he beat more than 100 beer enthusiasts in the Maine Homebrewers Competition, a statewide contest run out of Bangor and last year we’d done a story on him titled: Looks like we have a ‘Winnah’!  For this year’s competition, he didn’t win, but came close with not just one, but two brews in the finalist category. (For those nerd out on specialty brew flavors, they were a Polish Grodziskie, a low-alcohol, smoked wheat beer and a Dusseldorf Alt, which is kind of a German ESB.)

Whitcomb, who does workshops on home brewing, says Belfast Co-op has kits he sometimes uses when teaching groups how easy it is to brew at home.

“You don’t need a lot of equipment,” he said. “As long as you have a reasonably decent soup pot, you can start with that. A small investment in a couple of buckets and an air lock is all you really need. Everything else is just sort of an enhancement. But you can start off very inexpensively and make a beer that you like.”

Whitcomb personally patronizes Richmond Home Brew Supply (Richmond), Central Street Farmhouse (Bangor) and Maine Brewing Supply (Portland).

“These places I recommend highly because they’ve got the most experienced people working for them,” he said. “For people just starting out in homebrewing, it can be intimidating and it’s good to have clear directions and be relaxed about how simple it can be. If you want to explore new techniques and new directions, it’s really helpful to have someone who you can talk to in person, who has the ingredients right there.”

For more information about National Homebrewing Day and other related events visit their website homebrewersassociation.org.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

A relatively new Facebook group that started in the Midcoast, called Restaurant Reviews for Midcoast Maine, recently posed the question: "What now-closed Midcoast eatery do you miss the most?"

It was a question worth pursuing a little bit more. Depending on the answers, it was interesting to see who had the longest roots in the community. Several people listed Peggy's Kitchen and Yorkie's Diner as their favorite bygone restaurant as well as the Salad Patch, Doug’s Seafood, Rockport Corner Shop, the Sail Loft, Pat’s Pizza and the lunch counter at J.J. Newberry's.

A little trip down the culinary memory lane revealed that Yorkie's Diner, which was located on Chestnut Street in Camden, started the way many successful Midcoast restaurants start, as a small side business, according to Penobscot Marine Museum. Erskine York ran a hotdog stand on Elm Street before opening the restaurant. Later, he published a cookbook of recipes from the diner. In 1958, he sold the restaurant and went back to running a hot dog stand.

Under the comment about Yorkie’s Diner, Patrick Rowling said, "My wife has the pumpkin bread recipe from Yorkie's … I just ate a piece this morning!"

That particular Facebook thread prompted a lot of posts that got people thinking back to the 1990s and 2000s.  Bill Batty Jr. posted that three of his favorite restaurants, Ingraham's on Richards Hill, Amalfi on Main (the first incarnation of Amalfi) and Marcel's Restaurant at the Samoset were where he and his beloved used to frequent.

Unless a restaurant had a historic following like Yorkie's or had a digital profile before it closed, like Amalfi and Marcel's, Facebook threads like these are the only way to preserve the collective memory of a favorite long-gone restaurant, acting much like a community Wikipedia. For example, anyone who remembers Ingraham's on Richards Hill in Rockport will not be able to find a shred of detail about the place online anymore. If they even had a Yelp or Urban Spoon review profiles, they’re either closed or dead links now. Trying to find photos of the place is even harder. So, it's up to us to remember Ingraham’s cozy library bar and its warren of small rooms in the white farmhouse with tables decorated with mismatched floral napkins, glasses and plates.  Everybody raved over the shrimp lollipops appetizer and house specialty, filet mignon topped with gorgonzola sauce.

Dan Bookham threw out another perennial favorite in the Facebook thread: Fitzpatrick's Deli in Camden, remembering a room “steam-filled and smelling of coffee with that perfect mix of regulars either holding court or seeming conspiratorial at their usual tables.” He posted, “That to me is a mark of a good breakfast joint (if not a gourmet experience). Kielbasa on the breakfast menu was a stroke of deranged genius, also."

Just writing this story opened a floodgate of other favorite now-closed restaurants whose time came before and ended without a digital profile. Remember Hannibal’s in Union? Guido’s Pizzaria in Rockport? Zaddik’s Restaurant in Camden? 90 Main Diner in Belfast? Or the first incarnation of the Waterfront in Belfast?

And for the Gen-Xers, who can forget the Sea Dog in Camden? For a period of time in the 1990s and early 2000s, it was the place to go to hang out with people your own age.

We spoke with a few folks who were connected to those restaurants to get a sense of what people miss the most about them.

Mike Hurley used to run the Belfast Cafe in the 1970s, which later become 93 Main.

“At the time, Belfast was a very tough, bare-knuckles working class type of place,” he said. “We were really the first foodie bar-cafe in Belfast with an extremely active night life and bar scene. It turned out that there were thousands of people who had just moved here during the back-to-the-land movement, as well as the locals who were just dying for this type of bar and restaurant.”

Sessa Salas, daughter of Gary Salas, the original owner of Zaddik’s Pizza, eventually took over the family business with her husband, Richard Worner, until the pressures of raising young children had to take precedence and Zaddik’s officially closed in 2009.

“My dad strove to have a place where families could take their kids to an affordable restaurant with good food, something that really filled a niche in Camden at the time,” she said. “A lot of people who would come in who were in their early 20s and they’d have memories they’d share with me about their birthday dinners at Zaddik’s when they were young kids or their first dates, or getting together with friends or family.”

Another daughter of a pizza maker who also worked in the family business is Michele DiGirolamo, whose father, Guido DiGirolamo, was a beloved member of the Midcoast community before he passed away. Guido’s Pizzeria, the original restaurant, started on Pascal Avenue in Rockport from 1979 to 1986 (where Rayr Wine shop is now) and then moved to Route 90 (where The Study Hall is located) until 1995.

“I still have people come up to me and reminisce about the location in Rockport because it was such a community hub,” said DiGirolamo. “They talked about Guido and how he’d share recipes and sit down with them and pour them wine. They really miss the man a lot, but also, the pizza. He had really good pizza at that time when everything was pre-packaged. We made our own dough, which was kind of a big deal. Hey, you know, we were Philadelphia Italians, we knew what to do!”

This story may open floodgates of other long-ago missed restaurants and maybe I’ll get chastised for not including them all. But, that’s what Facebook is for. Tell us about what now-closed Midcoast eatery you miss the most and raise a toast to their long-gone memories.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Got a fairly easy one for you, but I blanked out the sign so not to give it totally away. What is this and do you have any memories of this building?

Answer: Yep, if you guessed the old Rockport library, you were correct.

As always, check back on the answers to other Throwback Thursday photos, by typing in Throwback Thursday in the search bar.

Photo courtesy Facebook upload by Tim Sullivan

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com

Three Maine entrepreneurs are relying on friends and strangers to support a dream they’ve been working on for a long time, and they’re using Kickstarter to do it. Kickstarter, for the uninitiated, is a crowdfunding website that allows the public to monetarily support independent creative projects — everything from films, games and music to art, design and technology.

In just five years since Kickstarter launched, more than $1 million dollars from people all over the world have been pledged to more than 60,000 Kickstarter projects. The big question is why? Why do people pledge donations for someone else’s creative project?

The short and simple answer is people enjoy supporting artistic creation and want to be a part of that creative process. When friends and fans (and even strangers) connect with the creator, they want to see them succeed. And if they are rewarded with a simple token or even just verbal appreciation, that’s all the pay-off they need.

New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco are the top three Kickstarter cities in America when it comes to total funds raised, according to data compiled by ThingsWeStart.com. At first glance, it’s rare to find a Maine project on Kickstarter. Those that exist have mostly come out of Portland in the last few years. Even fewer are campaigns launched elsewhere in the state. That’s why it’s significant to note that three Maine projects currently on Kickstarter have been launched in Presque Isle, on the island of North Haven and right here in the Midcoast, in Owls Head.

Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing. If at the project’s end date (usually a month) it fails to secure 100 percent of its monetary goal, the whole project is deemed “unsuccessful” and all of the pledged money reverts back to the backers. Worse, the “unsuccessful” project stays live on Kickstarter forever.

With that in mind, making the decision to launch a Kickstarter project should come with a lot of preparation, dedication and just a little sense of unease, if one is taking the project seriously.

“Anyone who thinks that all you have to do is just make a video and post it on Kickstarter will be disappointed,” said Pam Maus, founder of Next Step RUN!, one of the Kickstarter projects listed below. “I do something every day to ensure that I reach—and hopefully exceed—my goal.”

We checked in with the three Maine projects currently running to find out what sets them apart, starting with the campaign ending the soonest.

Emma’s Maine: Pure Maine Maple Syrup Production-Presque Isle

Kickstarter Stats: 73 percent funded • $14,520 pledged ($20,000 goal) • Campaign ends May 4

What’s it about? Scott Arndt and his family hand make Maine maple syrup each year under the label, Emma's Maine. This project is attempting to expand its production of pure Maine maple syrup while lowering its carbon output. The project seeks support for technological upgrades to their commercial syrup equipment, which essentially will solidify this family’s long-term economic survival.

Q: You have an impressive number of backers with about 73 percent of your $20,000 goal funded. Where has the majority of your support come from?

A: Our backers are a combination of friends, family, co-workers and the crowd. While many people we know personally have made pledges, we also get a surprising number of people that find our project, watch the video, look at our rewards and decide it's worthwhile to support us.

Q: Is the entire amount you're asking for the new maple syrup equipment?

A: Mostly. The way Kickstarter works is that we provide rewards for different levels of support. A portion of the money pledged is used for fulfilling those rewards (product, packaging and shipping for example). All the rest of the money, after the rewards are fulfilled, will go directly toward the purchase of needed equipment.

Q: Your project ends in a matter of days. Do you think you'll make it? What will happen if you don't?

A: Our project is approaching the deadline fast and we're not fully funded yet, but we're very optimistic that we will reach our goal. We're completely dedicated to spending most of the next few days doing our best to inspire support. We continue to get pledges every day and we see new people sharing our project through social media every day. If we don't make it, we'll regroup and keep moving forward. We're committed to making this project a reality.

Q: Here's your chance to tell Mainers why your project matters and the most compelling reason people should back your project.

It's a three-way tie:

1. Emma is an amazing young lady—happy, loving, perseverant, hilarious—and this project will help to secure a meaningful future for her and her peers.

2. We believe that perhaps the most important thing our generation can do right now is reduce carbon consumption and emissions in every aspect of our lives.

3. Your investment comes with the "sweetest" rewards ever.

• Watch the video and find out more.

Fox i Printworks/Maine Island Letterpress-North Haven

Kickstarter Stats: 95 percent funded • $4,761 pledged ($5,000 goal) • Campaign ends May 22

What’s it about? FOX i Printworks is a screen-printing, soon-to-be letterpress collaboration between Claire Donnelly, Sam Hallowell and Angela Cochran on North Haven. This project needs funding for supplies and technological upgrades, so they can run a sustainable letterpress shop on the island.

Q: You’re very close to your goal with it 95 percent funded. Where has the majority of your support come from?

A: The majority of our pledges so far have come from our extremely supportive family, friends and neighbors. We feel really lucky to live in such an encouraging and supportive community, one that extends well beyond the shores of North Haven.

Q: What are the funds needed for specifically? Tell us how that works.

A: We purchased the press this past winter, but it wasn't in operable condition. The $5,000 that we're asking for will specifically go toward the cost of getting the motor rebuilt, getting new rollers and the overall maintenance that the press needs to become operational. Contributions will also fund all the supplies for this project, e.g. ink, paper and photopolymer plates—and help to build an inventory of cards and posters for the summer.

Q: Your project ends in less than a month but you've got lots of time. Do you think you'll make it? What will happen if you don't?

A: We hope we make it! We have been really careful about growing this business in a thoughtful and sustainable way, so if we don't reach our goal we will just take things slower until we get into our peak summer months. Either way, it's been a huge learning experience, a lot of fun and a great way to spread the word about our business.

Q: Here's your chance to tell Mainers why your project matters and the most compelling reason people should back your project.

A: The islands of Maine are an important part of what makes this state so unique and beautiful. Supporting the economic growth of a small island business will help to sustain these communities. One of the primary goals of our business, and of bringing this letterpress to North Haven, is to continue to help develop a thriving local economy, and to be a part of a movement of young entrepreneurs that are committed to sustaining the year-round community of North Haven into the future.

• Watch the video and find out more.

 Next Step RUN!-Owls Head

Kickstarter Stats: 19 percent funded • $3,770 pledged ($20,000 goal) • Campaign ends May 23

What’s it about? Pam Maus is a Midcoast filmmaker who is filming a documentary featuring the challenges four women across the country face running for elective office during the 2014 mid-term elections. The documentary seeks to show the integrity that the candidates display as they run for elective office, regardless of whether they win or lose.

Q: You just started your campaign with about 20 percent of your $20,000 goal funded. Where has the majority of your support come from so far?

A: It has been exciting to see the funds come in. Most of the funds so far have come from close friends—people I knew would support the project, but didn't know how much their gift would be. They have all been much larger than I expected. Other gifts have come from people who saw the project on Kickstarter and a few gifts have come from friends of friends.

In all cases, while the financial donations are wonderful, what I was unprepared for has been how much their votes of confidence mean to me. All projects have those moments when you question why you are doing it, and then a gift—of any size—comes in and my spirits are immediately lifted.

Q: What are the funds needed for specifically? Tell us how that works.

The biggest single reason for the fundraising is to provide my location filmmakers with scholarships. Paying them, even a modest amount, provides me the security of keeping them on the project from now through the shooting schedule of election day Nov. 4, 2014.

Q: Your project ends in less than a month but you've got lots of time. Do you think you'll make it? What will happen if you don't?

There is no way that this project will be unsuccessful, but what that does mean is that every day I spend time reaching out to people to ask them to make a donation. It also means getting back to people with a second or third ask, which they really do appreciate being reminded. I also have a relationship with the Rutgers Center for Women and Politics and they are getting the word out through their national network of partner organizations.

Q: Here's your chance to tell Mainers why your project matters and the most compelling reason people should back your project.

A: Next Step RUN! is the story of four women in four states running for elective office at the local level with the goal of encouraging more women to run for elective office by showing them how to manage the barriers that keep women from running. Despite the fact that women make up more than 50 percent of the United States population, only 25 percent of state legislatures are represented by women and only 18 percent in the U.S. Congress.

The four women selected for this project are in their early political careers with ages varying from their 20s to their 50s. They represent ethnic diversity. They are single, newly married, with young children and with grown children. They are Democrats and Republicans running in urban and rural areas in Arkansas, Maine, Michigan, Oklahoma. But regardless of their differences, they have one thing in common—a commitment to bringing integrity to the legislative process, starting with how they run for elective office.

The project will be available to participants at little or no charge in the spring of 2015.

• Watch the video and find out more

There you have it. Three unique campaigns with strong ties to the Maine community and all strong candidates for Midcoast’s creative economy. We wish them all success.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — 435 Main Street, the four-story brick building in the heart of downtown Rockland, is being renovated into a multi-use market this summer called Main Street Markets. But that’s not the only fascinating element of this building. It once hosted a mysterious speakeasy on its top floor.

Developer Rick Rockwell has grand plans for the building, aiming to salvage every beam, every brick and every architectural element he can as he works to get the building ready for tenants on the top floor and and a market and retail space on the bottom floors. Rockwell, who grew up in Port Clyde, will offer a consignment space for locally produced food, beer and wine. The cafe will offer salads, juices, shakes and smoothies while other sections of the market will be a one-stop shop for locally harvested seafood, produce and meats. He even has plans for a beer and wine section with a brew pub in the works.

Rockwell was gracious enough to show me the speakeasy that once occupied the attic space of the building back in the early 1900s, during the roaring times of Prohibition.

In 1851, Maine became the first state to ban the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, only allowing an exception for "medicinal, mechanical and manufacturing purposes." Other states followed Maine’s lead and in 1919, the 18th Amendment passed, starting a national Prohibition, which officially became law by January 16, 1920.

It wasn’t surprising then, that in the years leading up to the 18th Amendment, that covert gatherings in small towns such as Rockland would take place in speakeasys, which were nightclubs that sold liquor illegally. In the seafaring towns of Maine, bootleggers and smugglers could get the illegal liquor via Rum Row, a line three miles off the tip of Maine that ran down to the coast of Florida.

According to Rockwell, attics and basements used to be the perfect hiding spots for speakeasys and the cavernous attic room of 435 Main Street was used for exactly that purpose. Currently, all four floors of the building are in the process of renovation. As I walked up the stairs to the third floor, the walls began to tell their own story. Scrawling signatures on the plaster walls testified the presence of the partygoers in that era.

G.G. Rogers wrote “Big Night” on Aug. 25, 1917 and one can only imagine what the big night was. A birthday? Engagement? A grand old hooch-filled evening?

Fallen plaster from ceilings revealed wooden slats in most of the rooms and hallways on the third floor. Finally, we had reached the attic stairs.  The spooky stairwell leading up was swimming with dust motes. On both sides of the walls leading up to the door, more signatures — hundreds of them — filled every available space. This was the graffiti of the 1920s, daring to let others know that they existed and yes, they were drinking illegally.

Once we reached the top — just like the movies — there was the door to the speakeasy with the little “knock knock” panel. You could almost hear the music inside and expect to see a burly fellow with a cigar clamped in his teeth squint one eye at you as he opened the panel.

Inside the large, rubble-filled attic, time stood still. Only two small sky lights let in diffuse light. The arched ceiling looked like ribs of a dead whale. Everything had fallen into total disrepair. That’s what happens when a speakeasy goes unused for nearly 100 years.

A few remnants of humanity still existed up there — a broken chair, an old water closet with pull chain and an industrial sink. The knob and tube wiring snaking the walls might have gone unused. Even though the speakeasy had electricity, the kerosene marks on the walls told a different story. Keep the lights as low and you won’t get caught.

This building used to the the Wise & Kimball Block owned by Iddo K. Kimball, which sold stoves and hardware on the first floor in 1853. But nothing I researched could tell me what became of this speakeasy and whether it was eventually busted or abandoned after Prohibition ended. 

Many remember the building as the high-end kitchen accessories, the Store, before Sara Foltz sold it to Rockwell. According to Rockwell, she discovered hundreds of old “medicinal” bottles from Boston and Long Island stored in the building and has kept a large cache of them. The few remaining bottles Rockwell possesses have their own nudge-and-wink labels like Beef, Iron and Wine a “Nutritive Tonic”with 20 percent alcohol that “restores the natural vigor that goes with good health.” Another bottle labeled P&S Tonic, for physicians and surgeons claiming to be “an approved formula especially indicated in run down and weakened conditions.” A full tablespoon was recommended three times daily.

A few doors down on Main Street, the Thorndike building basement, another reputed speakeasy in Rockland, is also being renovated at the same time this spring. All I could see peeking in from the street side door was a big empty basement room, gutted to the studs. If there was ever any writing on the walls or remnants of its illicit history, it’s all gone now.  Several attempts to reach the owners directly were unsuccessful, but I discovered through the Rockland Historical Society that in 1854 the Thorndike Hotel was built by William Thorndike, who happened to be a mariner, a merchant and an owner of stables.

He opened the hotel in 1855, with a a livery stable attached and charged only $1 a day for a room. According to Ann Morris’ historical booklet A Walk Along Main Street, the Thorndike Hotel was considered “a first class hotel...patronized by the large number of steamboat travelers and the public generally.”

It’s interesting to note that only a few short years after Maine banned the manufacture and sale of liquor, this particular hotel became popular. Was it because there was a secret basement entrance to the speakeasy? That’s what local rumors have long suggested. In 1937 (not long after Prohibition ended), the Thorndike Hotel was taken over by the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard. The basement room was officially recognized as the Rainbow Room and became a favorite saloon for many in the area.

According to local historian Gil Merriam, when he was a boy working at the Strand Theater, everyone referred to The Rainbow Room as “The Passion Pit.”

People always say “if these walls could talk.” I imagine if they did, the sound would be of hundreds of people shouting their own names and the dates that they could be found carousing in back rooms that only a select few knew about. “I was here!” they’d say. And that’s all we’ll ever know before the carpenters come in and wipe away the past.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

We got a ton of responses to last week’s TBT. Check back to the original photo to see the correct guess.

This week, we’re zipping backwards in time as usual. So what is this building and where is it? Let’s just say this: in 2012 it was converted to apartment buildings. Big enough of a hint?

Answer: We got one correct guess in the comments below. This is Union School, Searsport, Maine. First consolidated school in Searsport, built of local brick on Mt. Ephraim Road nesr center of town. 2012- now an apartment house.

Photo courtesy of Penobscot Marine Museum. Visit: penobscotmarinemuseum.org

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST — I really think that the best bars are the tiniest, the ones you can only squeeze five or six people around. Delvino’s Grill and Pasta House on Main Street in Belfast has one of the coziest tiny bars, perfect for the craft cocktail lover. Bartender Shawna Aitken demonstrated for us how Delvino’s signature drink the Belfast Orchard is deconstructed.

Citrusy, flowery, spring-like, this cocktail, despite its name, doesn’t have any apples in it. Rather, it’s redolent of blood oranges, due to the Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur, which is made exclusively on the island of Sicily. And it’s a gluten free cocktail because all the wheat is filtered out of the organic vodka when it is distilled.

It’s very simple. To make this at home, all you need is:

·1½ ounce Armenian Harvest or any top-shelf organic vodka

·1½ Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur

·1 teaspoon of peach purée

·1 whole orange cut into sections and squeezed with a juicer

Shake ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice; strain into a martini glass and garnish with an edible orchid.

As Aitken says: “It’s the blood orange that really makes this drink. You can’t just use Triple Sec to get the same flavor. Solerno should be in everybody’s home bar.”

Perhaps they should call this the Belfast Grove instead?

To stay on top of Delvino’s Grill & Pasta House cocktail and other recipes visit: For more of our "What's in that cocktail" series featuring original drinks made by local Midcoast bartenders, check out our Pinterest site.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

BELFAST—A few Belfast citizens lugged bunches of bare tree branches into the Belfast Boat House while other crafty folks sat around tables transforming colored tissue paper and streamers into exotic paper flowers on Tuesday afternoon, April 22. This informal gathering was meant to encourage the public to come and make natural creative decorations out of sticks and flowers that they could then carry for the Waldo Earth Day Celebration parade later on.

David Smith, a Belfast resident and retired school teacher, encouraged people to come into the Boat House and grab a tree branch.

“I had this idea for the Harbor Walk parade. I remember Earth Day, which started in 1970 and it’s not really celebrated that much. But, we have the new Harbor Walk in Belfast so we thought, ‘Let’s see if we can get kids and adults to come in and just have an Earth Day parade.’”

He pointed out his friend, Heidi, who was busy making tiny flowers at the far table.

“She’d done these branches in the Earth Day in Boston years ago,” he said. “She had the idea of decorating the branches. It’s just going to make a colorful, beautiful parade.”

See photos of the parade here.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

I think it was the Bee Gee’s Staying Alive that first graced my record player. Fond memories there.

April 19 happens to be World Record Store Day, which began in 2007 as a way to celebrate independent record stores and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1,000 independently owned record stores in the U.S. and thousands of similar stores internationally. There are Record Store Day participating stores on every continent except Antarctica.

This is a day for the people who make up the world of the record store—the staff, the customers, and the artists—to come together and celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role these independently owned stores play in their communities.

Locally, we used to have one or two independent record stores in Rockland and Camden until they moved on. Do you remember the Camden record store Wild Rufus? Originally started by Matt Brown in 1979, it changed hands with Byron Greatorex and then later, by Nathaniel Bernier, who went with the times and made the store digital. Well, Byron is back and better than ever with a small grassroots shop of his own in the back of Merchant's Cooperative (the antique store next to Camden House of Pizza). The tiny independent record shop is called Spirit of Sound Records and he specializes in rare and unusual vinyl. He's a jazz aficionado as well, so you can find some rare jazz there.

“Records have held up over the test of time,” said Greatorex. “You have beautiful sound quality along with something you can hold in your hand and some neat artwork. A lot of young people who do digital downloads are very interested in vinyl for those reasons. There’s a renaissance happening with vinyl being put out by the new bands right now, so it’s an ongoing venture I’d say. It never really has gone away. In the mid-1990s, it looked like it would fade out when the digital stuff came in, but it really never gave up.”

And if we’re going to celebrate the record, we can’t bypass the cassette or the Walkman.

For more information about World Record Store Day visit: recordstoreday.com

Welcome to our ongoing feature Behind the Slides, where we meet up with an artist who recently presented at a local PechaKucha night and find out the deeper story beneath the images he or she chose to portray.

Artist Greta Van Campen was one of the presenters at PechaKucha Night, held at Watts Hall on April 11. She is a painter from Thomaston with a contemporary hard-edged style.

Note: Van Campen's PechaKucha 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.

Kickstarter

In the fall of 2010, I left my teaching job in Chicago and moved back to Maine. I wanted to focus more on my art, but wasn't really sure how to do that. A friend of mine told me about people raising money through Kickstarter. I decided to try it and called my project "Greta Paints America." I wanted to visit all 50 states and paint along the way.

Kickstarter is an online venue for creative projects. You can pitch any idea and set a goal for the amount of money you need to raise in order for it to happen. If you don't receive enough donations to reach your chosen goal amount, then all the money goes back to the donors and you don't get anything. I set my goal at $8,000 and ended up raising $10,941 with 86 backers.

Leaving Dallas

In March of 2011, I left Maine, taking a southern route out to New Mexico. This is one of the first more finished paintings I did after my trip began. It's called "Leaving Dallas" and is oil over acrylic.

After receiving the money through Kickstarter, the first thing I did was buy a used car and come up with a basic itinerary. I knew that I would have Maine as a home base, as well as San Francisco, Chicago and St. Louis, where I had good friends and family. Most of my destinations were based on where I knew people or where some of my backers told me I should go to paint. It was March, so the first thing I wanted to do was go somewhere warmer and the southwest was really calling my name. I visited a few people along the way out to Tesuque, N.M., where a friend had helped me to set up a one-month rental at a glassblowing studio. From there, I explored the rest of the region with shorter 1-3 day trips. It was a good way to see a lot and also have time in the studio.

Adding Up

When the costs of being on the road started adding up, I did a series of small paintings, showing exactly what I was spending money on and then selling them for that same amount. So, for example, Groceries: $16.49, Gas: $40, McDonald's Shamrock Shake: $2.08.

I knew that my goal of $8,000 wasn't enough to get me all around the country, but that it would be enough to get started. Once on the road, I came up with other ways to keep the project going. I traded paintings with the wife of a car mechanic who did work on my Saab in Santa Fe, and when I sold the series of small-cost-offsetting paintings online, most people were very kind and gave me more than I was asking for them. After New Mexico, I moved my home base to San Francisco for a while and held a show out there, selling more work from the road and also giving away little sketches as party favors, which helped spread the word. In October 2011, Dowling Walsh Gallery took a chance on a new emerging artist and gave me a show, which really helped to fund the remainder of my travels.

Riding the Rails

That fall, I took the train from San Francisco up to Washington and across the country to New York City. I would set up with my watercolors and gouache at my seat or in the observation car and paint out the window. With Kickstarter, you give rewards back to your supporters, so most of these paintings were sent to individuals who had donated to the project.

Traveling across the country by train was a great experience. My train pass allowed for two weeks of travel and eight different legs, so I would be on the train for a day or two, stop for a night, and then get back on the next day. I loved watching out the window, seeing landscapes that can't be seen any other way. The long rides were really long and the train was often very late, but I wasn't in a rush and I enjoyed giving up control for that portion of my trip. We ended up going through Glacier National Park overnight, so I didn't get to see much of what I thought would be one of the more beautiful parts of the country, but the sun came up just as we were coming out of the mountains and it was still breathtaking.

Alaska

The last state I visited was Alaska.  I was there for the summer solstice, so the days were long and it never got totally dark.  This is a painting I did after going on a glacier tour in Whittier. 

I also spent some time as an artist in residence at the Wrangell Mountains Center in McCarthy, Alaska.  McCarthy is a small town with a very tight community (some are year-round residents) located at the end of a 60-mile dirt road in the Wrangell St. Elias National Park.  The park is 13.2 million acres.  After my residency, I visited a fellow Mainer who now runs his own small commercial fishing operation out of Homer. We celebrated the end of my travels and completion of visiting all 50 states on the Fourth of July in 2012. 

All 50 States

Here is the actual map of my travels. Each leg is highlighted in a different color and the yellow at the top is the train route. It took me a year and four months to see all 50 states.

Each leg of travel lasted from one to three months, and I'd return home between big trips to rest up and get organized for the next leg. While I loved being on the road, it was always nice to come back home at the end of a long adventure. The route highlighted in green was my travel after the train trip. I ended up getting a puppy from Craigslist in Kentucky and she became my travel companion for the last long drive (highlighted in blue) from Maine, out to the mountains in Wyoming and Montana and back.

Living The Dream

And these are most of the paintings I made in that time. I have all of my supporters to thank as well as my friend, Nick Westervelt, who said to me back in 2010, "Greta, if you could do anything, just for yourself, what would you do?"

I completed hundreds of paintings over the course of my project, saw amazing sites, met incredibly wonderful people and really was able to kickstart my career as an artist. The question my friend asked is an important one for us all to consider from time to time.

Van Campen’s work is at Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, where she has a solo show opening May 2. For more information about Greta's work visit gretavancampen.com.  For more information about PechaKucha visit them on Facebook.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKPORT — Dave Grohl, drummer and lead singer of the Foo Fighters, would be proud of these kids. As he once famously ranted about reality shows like American Idol and The Voice.

“They think, ‘Oh, OK, that’s how you become a musician, you stand in line for eight f****** hours with 800 people at a convention center and… then you sing your heart out for someone and then they tell you it’s not f****** good enough.’ Can you imagine?” he implored. “It’s destroying the next generation of musicians! Musicians should go to a yard sale and buy an old f******* drum set and get in their garage and just suck. And get their friends to come in and they’ll suck, too. And then they’ll f****** start playing and they’ll have the best time they’ve ever had in their lives.”

CAMDEN — Now here’s a very clever idea. Amy Hand, children’s librarian at Camden Public Library, posted a “spine poem” on Facebook this past week. According to an article from Amanda Nelson of Book Riot, the concept of book spine poetry originated in 1993, by Nina Katchadourian, who began collecting interesting titles and arranging them in clusters so the spines could be read like a sentence.

Maria Popova of Brain Pickings adapted the spine sentences into poetry and the idea quickly spread around.

Given that it is National Poetry Month and National Librarian Week, we asked local libraries to submit their own versions of spine poetry. It’s very simple: stack some book titles together to make a poem and snap a photo. We hope the following librarian spine poems inspire our readers at home to create one and send it to us. We’ll add to the gallery of the ones we collected from librarians, below.

Camden Public Library

Morning, Noon and Night
Stormy Weather
Rain
Snow
Signs of Spring
10 Turkeys In The Road
Snow Day!
Spring
Liberty!

Belfast Free Library

April Is the Cruelest Month (wishing for summer's return)

hummingbirds
Signs and Wonders
Close My Eyes
fall on your knees
broken for you
A friend of the family
Exile
Come again no more
Tex and Molly in the Afterlife

Vose Library, Union

This Is How To Dance “is a poem about the magical joys of dancing with another person, and the ways that dancing celebrates life and transforms your inner world. The books are drawn from many areas of Vose Library's collection.”

We first
Sparkle and spin
Alone together
A ring of endless light
Force & motion
Making things float and sink
After
Radiant days
Blue shoes and happiness
Touch and go
This is how
To dance.
This song will save your life.

Rockland Public Library

“I've been intrigued by the book spine poetry since I read about it a few years ago--what a fun way to create!”

Why I read
Everything Under the Sun
Forgot to Remember
Plot & structure
Writing on the Wall

Jackson Memorial Library

Close your eyes
Just a dream
Something magic
Sweet, sweet memory

Reader Submission: Susan Bates

Necessary places
We took to the woods
An Unexpected Forest
She’s not there
Rivers of memory
More than you know

Reader challenge: Send us a spine poem with one of your favorite Maine author’s books as part of the title!

Submissions can be sent to Kay Stephens at news@penbaypilot.com

This one’s a stumper (for me) and I’m very interested in learning what this building used to be and where it was located in the Midcoast. Any ideas?

Answer: Our readers tell us this was Baldwin's Dry Cleaners at one time.  It was also a garage, Doug Hall’s Music Store and Europa in the 1990s. Now it is The Allen Agency.

As always, check back on the answers to other Throwback Thursday photos, by typing in Throwback Thursday in the search bar.

Photo courtesy Barry Sprague

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKPORT — What does the fox say? It says: “I’m hungry.” The Midcoast just gained a new gourmet food truck with the launch of Fox on the Run, owned by Lauren Jellison and assisted by her partner, Kevin Allen.

The bright red truck with the sprinting fox logo will be easy to find once Jellison finds the ideal spot. She’s kicking off her soft launch in May in downtown Belfast, then moving to Rockport Marine Harbor for the summer. On weekend nights, she’s working on securing a late night position in the Rockland bar district.

“We’re looking to be available after the restaurants are closed, because there’s really no place to get food from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.,” she said

Jellison said she plans to offer healthy, fresh and well-crafted food made from locally sourced ingredients.  “A lot of the flavors I enjoy eating and cooking are inspired by Asian and Hispanic flavors,” Jellison said. The menu will include salads, soups, chili, flank steak and fish tacos, pork ribs, bahn mi sandwiches, noodle bowls, curry dishes, breakfast sandwiches, and even mango and espresso sugar-free snow cones. “Healthy stuff that we can grab and go,” she said.

Jellison purchased the truck from a man from Warren who formerly used it for selling sandwiches on the side of the Route 90. She had it repainted red with the new name and logo. Inside, she took out the electric stove and replaced it with propane. The interior has a 50-gallon water tank with a sink, a prep station with steaming tables and two refrigerators.

“We always liked the song ‘Fox On The Run,’ from the band Sweet, and we just thought the name fit the food truck concept pretty well,” said Allen.

“This is a new venture for me,” said Jellison. “I’ve been working in Maine restaurants for years and always wanted to do my own thing. It just really fell into place once we found the truck.”

Both Allen and Jellison are originally from Maine. Jellison has a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Maine for studio art, as well as an associate’s culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University. She started working in the food industry when she was 19 and has worked at Primo Restaurant, Flatbread Pizza and Francine Bistro.

While preparing for the launch she’s been spending her time crafting recipes and experimenting with flavors, something Allen has enjoyed. “I’ve gained 10 pounds since we got the truck,” he said, laughing.

”I’m excited to get up first thing in the morning, drink coffee and fire up the smoker,” Jellison said. “For me, I’m used to that schedule of being in restaurants, working late and being a zombie all day. This allows me to re-arrange my schedule.”

She’s coordinating with Beth’s Farm Market, Jess’s Market and other local farmer’s markets to secure the produce, seafood and meats for the menu and has a friend who is raising two pigs for the business, so that in November, she can offer her own bacon, sausages and pork belly sandwiches.

The tentative schedule will offer breakfast and lunches in Belfast throughout May. “We’ll do breakfast sandwiches and Huevos rancheros to start and kind of test the waters there,” she said. When they move to Rockport, the hours will be Monday through Friday for lunches. Stay up-to-date on where Fox on the Run will be this spring and summer by visiting their Facebook page.

Related Stories:

• Wheels Up: Food trucks go gourmet from Rockland to Belfast

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — Spring fever is causing a lot of people to feel the need to get some serious ya-yas out because the ladies of the flat track, the Rock Coast Rollers, are holding their second annual Ballad Of Milli Vanilli Lip Syncing Contest on Saturday, April 19, at Trackside Station in Rockland.

Just to be clear, 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. “One of the hopes we had when we put on last year’s party was that we really wanted to get more than roller derby folks to show up,” said Rock Coast Rollers spokesperson Irene Yadao (derby name: Laser Wolf). “We really want to encourage that again this year. Last year was so much fun. I feel like people brought out their alter egos.”

Asked what was memorable about last year Yadao said, “A group of our girls did a whole choreographed song of the Spice Girls in costume. Just seeing people get up there and perform brings out a whole other side to themselves. I think a lot of people are tentative to perform karaoke, but now that they’ve seen how informal it is, we’ll get more people up on the stage.”

“We’re really involved with our community,” she added. “We’ve done a lot of things with Big Brothers & Big Sisters. This is just another facet of our community engagement and an opportunity for people of the community to get to know us.”

And face it, it’s a great way to blow off some serious steam.

Admission is $7; plus $2 per song. A portion of the proceeds will benefit community member Michelle Winchenbach, in support of her fight against breast cancer. Prizes will be given to the top five crowd favorites. For sign-up information, visit rockcoastrollers.org. Registration deadline is Wednesday, April 16.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — A significant victory came Thursday night for chocolate bar entrepreneur Kate McAleer, founder of Bixby & Co., as well as for the Midcoast. McAleer had been competing in Gorham Savings Bank’s annual LaunchPad contest, which helps fund the launch of a business idea that may not otherwise take flight. Out of 130 Maine entrepreneurs, her business ideas impressed a panel of judges the most and she walked away with a $30,000 check.

She was the only female-run business, the only Midcoast contestant and quite possibly the youngest entrepreneur to win the challenge.

We spoke with her about the competition and what’s next for Bixby & Co., which recently re-located its production space to the working waterfront district of Rockland.

Q: How did the competition work and what did you have to do?

A: There were a couple of stages. First, you had to submit an application, so that’s where the 130 applicants came from. Then, a panel of judges selected the top 12 applicants to be semi-finalists. Then, the semi-finalists had to get votes, which is where I was going around to all these places in the community trying to encourage people to vote online. There were more than 8,000 votes for the semi-finalists. Then, last night, the top five voted companies had to pitch [the business idea] to three judges and answer questions. Out of those five, the top pitcher won $30,000.

Q: What was it like to stand in front of the three judges last night to pitch them your business ideas?

A: It was scary and fun. There was was so much opportunity in front of me. I just worked extremely hard to prepare for it and wanted to give it my best—give it my all. We’re really preparing for a national launch and that was the crux of my pitch. I thought, this is a perfect moment for this potential growth we’re forecasting for the first quarter and I needed to tell these judges what the opportunity was in front of them with my company.

Q: What was your reaction and the reaction of the people around you last night when they announced the winner?

A: Some people screamed. I was a little in disbelief myself. On the PowerPoint presentation, they flashed my logo before they announced the winner and I thought, “Uh oh, is that a technical glitch?” I was just so thrilled when they announced I was the winner and handed me this huge check. All the hard work and challenges of the past two years building up to this moment, to tell my story and prepare for this tremendous growth is all amazing timing at a critical moment.

Q: From the LaunchPad contest statement, it looks as though you and your parents have been hand-packing these chocolate bars for so long. What does this award now mean for you?

A: With this money from Gorham Saving Bank, we’re going to invest in more capital equipment to expand our chocolate production capacity.

Bixby & Co is located at 1 Sea Street Place, in the historic working harbor district of Rockland, where they moved their production facility last month. The LaunchPad award will allow Bixby & Co. to purchase equipment for more efficient refrigeration and more efficient bar making methods as well as purchase melting tanks to ensure continuous flow of chocolate.

This is not only a boon to Bixby & Co., but also to the creative economy of Rockland, which continues to soar. In the future, look for a an expanded Bixby & Co., complete with tours and a tasting room. For more information visit: bixbyco.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — One of the upshots of living in a small town community like the Midcoast is that so many people know each other and are willing to help one another out.

Then, there are some teenagers who walk around our towns as if they belong to a shadowland. You don't see them. You don't really make eye contact with them. You don't know anything about them.

But, they're there and just like some of us, just trying to figure it out.

Nate Larlee, an instructor at Zenith Alternative Program, along with Jeff Brawn and Frannie Wheeler-Berta, conceived of this idea about two and half years ago to be a sounding board for teens who weren't getting support at home.

In 2012, Larlee was able to establish an informal program to provide a space to meet weekly and to help teens cope with serious issues and obstacles they were dealing with. As it's been well documented, drugs, binge drinking and depression are some of the biggest problems for teens in our community.

Some of teens who would come to this group meeting were worried about the way their own lives are starting to turn or worried about their friends who were drinking, smoking or doing drugs. Some of them were exhausted battling with their parents or stuck in dysfunctional relationships. Some had no place to live or were starting to turn down a dark path.

"There are teenagers out there who are contemplating changing something about their lives, but they don't know how to go about it," said Larlee. "A lot of these kids need a counselor, but the problem is, the first barrier they usually encounter is being asked if they have insurance to cover it or not. These kids just want to talk to somebody. They don't want to go through all that."

The informal group has now developed into a more structured program called Making Change. Larlee and other facilitators lead ongoing, weekly drop-in meetings for teens each Monday at the Chestnut Street Baptist Church.

These meetings are secular and don't adhere to any specific model (like AA). Rather, they allow a safe, open and confidential gathering space for teens to talk to trusted adults (and older peers) about the challenges in their lives. The group doesn't have a licensed counselor on hand. Larlee explained that it works better if he just provides an initial starting point to be able to listen to the kids. If they start to move towards wanting to making positive changes in their lives, he acts as a liaison connecting them to counselors, homeless outreach counselors, and substance abuse programs that can assist them with specific services. Occasionally, Juvenile Justice officers refer teens to attend the Monday meetings as a part of the conditions of their probation.

"What I try to do is open their awareness of the choices they are making in their lives and let them hear themselves talk. Then, we ask how those choices are affecting them," said Larlee

Some of the questions frequently posed to the group include:

·When did life start getting difficult?
·What is going well right now? What is not going well?
·Who are the people in your life that you can count on, no matter what?
·Who is counting on you?

Several of Larlee's Zenith students have joined the group and his role for them changes the moment they walk through the door. He's no longer their "teacher;" he's just genuinely interested in what's going on in their lives. "I think it is important for these teens to think about their life a little more reflectively,” he said. “They don't often talk to each other about the decisions they have made in a safe space like this.”

Some of the older group participants, now in their early 20s, have actually come back to sit in on the group and help some of the younger teens. Larlee's mantra is: "Watch out for one another."

''My hope for this program is that the teens who come regularly will refer their friends to the program when they are struggling with a difficult life situation," he said.

Each week, a cadre of local volunteers provide a hot meal for the meeting such as: lasagna, homemade pizza or shepherd's pie. For some teens, this is one of the biggest draws: To be able to come into an inviting, warm space with people they know and trust and just be able to enjoy a peaceful dinner.

"A lot of times after a chaotic weekend, they just want to come by and sit with kids they know and be able to just talk about what happened and process through it," said Larlee.

Making Change is soon on its way to becoming a 501(c)(3). Larlee is offering two informational sessions April 14 and April 28 at the Camden Opera House at 6 p.m. These sessions are for any adult or teen who want to know what Making Change is all about and if it's a good fit for certain teens ages 14-19.

Group meetings are every Monday 5 to 6 p.m. Drop in meeting time with Larlee are before from 4 to 5 p.m.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Okay Generation X (this in itself is a clue) try to guess where this photo was taken and the approximate year. Bonus if you can identify the windjammer in the photo too.

Answer: It's the gala launch party for Schooner HERITAGE, spring of 1983 at the North End Shipyard in Rockland (guessed correctly by “Megunticook”)

As always, check back on the answers to other Throwback Thursday photos, by typing in Throwback Thursday in the search bar. Your guesses have all been spot on!

Photo courtesy of Everett "Red" Boutilier via Penobscot Marine Museum www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com

UNION — Veteran Maine rock n’ rollers Rustic Overtones will team up with Spose, one of the most buzzed about hip-hop artists to come out of Maine Friday, April 18, at the Thompson Community Center in Union. Tickets to either of these shows would be substantially more, but this anticipated show is only going to be $12 in advance or $15 at the door.

That’s a complete gift to Mainers right there, and the reason it’s so cheap is because this is a musical celebration and fundraiser to honor the memory of 14-year-old Laken Harrington, a local boy who died unexpectedly on August 21, 2013.

Concert promoter Disc Frisk is bringing both of these ridiculously talented acts up to the Midcoast for one night. Here’s all you need to know.

Rustic Overtones is a seven-piece band hailing from Portland, ME where they have been pioneers in the New England scene for the past 20 years. Famous for putting on powerhouse live performances, their distinctive blend of rock, soul and funk has earned them unanimous critical acclaim and a legion of loyal supporters. The band has won numerous awards including 2013 New England Music Award Best Live Act/New England, 2012 New England Music Award Best Band/Maine, 2012 Portland Phoenix Best Male Vocal, 2010 Portland Phoenix Album of the Year, 2010 Portland Phoenix Best Live Act, 2010 Portland Phoenix Best Male Vocal, 2010 Portland Phoenix Album of the Decade, and 2009 Portland Phoenix Best Live Act.

Spose is a 27-year-old producer and emcee from Wells, Maine who was named Maine's "Best Hip-Hop Act" for both 2008 and 2009 at the WePushButtons Awards. He was also named "Best Hip-hop Act" in the Portland Phoenix's 2010 Best Music Poll. In 2009, he released a mix-tape with fellow emcee Cam Groves entitled "We Smoked It All." A track off that mix-tape, produced by Spose himself, "I'm Awesome," received regional radio play in New England and led to his first major label recording contract with Universal Republic Records. The single was released in March, 2009 nationally and would eventually go gold after selling over 500,000 digital copies in just a few months. Spose has performed with international acts such as Drake, J. Cole, B.o.B., Wiz Khalifa, Ke$ha, Weezer, Stone Temple Pilots, Cage the Elephant, Mike Posner, and Kardinal Offishal.

This all-ages event will take place on April 18, 2014 at Thompson Community Center in Union, ME, to raise funds for students who would like to play sports but cannot afford the associated expenses. Tickets can be bought in advance or at the door. The doors open 7:30 p.m. The show starts at 8 p.m. and goes to 10:30 p.m.

Tickets are going fast!

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Chloe Isis, 15, has been in this space before. You know that catchy tune "When I'm Gone" (The Cup Song) that is all over the radio? It was a 1930s folk song she and her friend Clio Berta first sang together using paper cups to simulate the percussion. That was before the film Pitch Perfect got wind of the song and made it radio-popular. Revisit our Penobscot Bay Pilot article on them and watch them perform the original song here.

Chloe's back, this time with her friend, Jamie Oshima, 16. What puts these two in the Rad Kids series is more than just about their music; it's that they’re driven to do something good with it.

On April 11 and 12, Jamie and Chloe are putting on their first live performance together. They also arranged for part of the proceeds to help other teens in the Midcoast.

"Since we've been playing for a couple of years and that's what we mostly do when we hang out, we thought it would be cool to share it and do a public performance," said Jamie.

Musically, they both have multiple talents. Both are singer-songwriters and have collaborated on original songs together. Chloe plays piano and stand up bass. Jamie also plays piano as well as guitar, drums, and bass. But that’s not all.

Chloe adds: "The list goes on forever."

“I also play ukelele, Irish flute, banjo and mandolin," he says. Prompted to explain how he knows so many instruments, Jamie is quiet about his accomplishments. His parents play most of these instruments as well and from the age of four, he was self-taught. He’s never taken a lesson.

We’re all sitting in the cafeteria of CHRHS, after school and getting to know them, I ask them to do something that is probably embarassing. I ask Chloe to describe Jamie’s personality for me.

"Well, I could go with very obvious stuff, like people think he's very talented; very kind,” she said. “But he's also pretty stubborn and we do a lot of anti-arguing."

I ask her to explain that word.

"That’s when I think he should take the solo in the song, but he doesn't want to. He wants me to. So, we sort of bicker about that."

Now Jamie has to describe Chloe: "She can be quite outgoing and friendly. And.... oh God," he trails off, squirming over this little exercise. “She's stubborn, too, just in the way she wants the other person to do something [musically] that she can do just fine."

The interesting thing to their upcoming show is that they consciously built a deeper level into the show by arranging for a portion of the ticket sales to benefit Making Change, a weekly group meeting for teens to share challenging life experiences, issues and influences and to move towards positive change individually and together. The program is headed up by Nate Larlee, an instructor at Zenith Alternative Education in Camden. See our sidebar for more information.

CAMDEN—It’s difficult to summarize an ongoing show (with another performance tonight) without revealing its surprises, but suffice it to say, Power Perfomance: Legacy Rising lives 100 percent up to its name.

BELFAST — Every year, teen girls in the Midcoast look forward to the one spring day when the door opens at the former Waltz Pharmacy building in Reny's Plaza in Belfast. When that happens, they will walk into a room filled with hundreds of free prom dresses, handbags, shoes and accessories to choose from — donated from all over the country. The Cinderella Project of Maine has been offering this volunteer-led free service since 2006, outfitting more than 1,000 girls who would not have been able to afford the gowns on their own.

This Saturday, April 4, the gowns will be given away to any girl in need with one stipulation—they must “pay it forward” and do a good deed for someone else.

One girl, Hayley Corson, 18, from Gardiner, was chosen by the Cinderella Project committee to receive a special package of prom-day preparation, including a donation to a charity of her choice in her name, as well as hair, makeup and other prom-related services. And best of all, the night before the giveaway this “Cinderella For A Day” is given first choice of all the Cinderella Project gowns available.

When she found out she won, Corson said, “It felt like the world was lifted off my shoulders. Now, I didn’t have the stress of saving my money or asking my dad for money to go out and buy prom stuff. It was pretty amazing.”

The Cinderella Project’s core values have always been about giving back to the community and they chose Corson for her positive contribution to her own community. In her winning essay, she offered a frank appraisal of her family’s circumstances and an impressive list of what she’s done to help others. Their questions, and her answers, follow.

Tell us your story. Why should we select you to be the Cinderella For a Day?

Last year for prom, I was really on my own to pick a dress and go out and try different ones on. I did my hair, and my makeup, hoping I looked great. It would be a dream to be Cinderella For A Day. Times like these are hard for me because I don't have the support I really want. With just my dad to drive us three kids around, it’s hard to do stuff. My dad does his best, but let’s get real, he doesn't have the time to go out and help me pick a pretty dress!

Tell us about a challenge you have faced or a struggle you have overcome. How has this impacted you?

Since I was a little girl, I have been taking care of my little brother and sister, because my dad was always working and it had to be done. I wouldn't change a thing though. They are my world and I love them and would take care of them for the rest of my life if I had to. From the start, it was never easy for my family and I, and it still is hard, but it made me who I am. It gave me the drive I need to always do my best and to make sure I am there for the people that need me.

Community service is a key component for the Cinderella Project and Cinderella For a Day. What do you do?

I have done a lot of things for community service and treasured and loved every minute of it. I raised money for the St. Baldrick's Children's Cancer Research Charity Foundation by recently shaving my head in front of the entire school. It was such an amazing and powerful experience. I have never felt such a community feeling given off from all of the high schoolers—it was as if we were all friends.  In the end, $1,500 was raised. It was the single most amazing thing I have ever been involved in. Another thing I have always enjoyed was working with students that have special needs. I would go in on days when I had study hall and help the teachers out. I would actually teach math and help with reading. Every year, our school requires us to go out in the community and help out in some way and it’s called "Day of Caring." This sounds great and dandy, but let’s be honest, nine out of ten kids fool around the entire time and leave the work to the kids, such as myself. I value hard work, and I loved “Day of Caring.” Yeah, it was a little tiring, but to see the results after a day’s hard work was totally worth it. This year, I also went and helped out at the Boys and Girls Club in Gardiner, raking leaves and picking up the kids’ playground. The year before, I helped restore the bike path at the Gardiner Middle School, and the year before that, my sophomore year, I cleaned gravestones. My freshman year, I went to the Veteran's Cemetery and raked all the leaves up. In middle school, I volunteered to help the kids with special needs in gym class.

Tonight, April 4, before the giveaway, the Cinderella Project of Maine is hosting a "peek night" for the public, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The peek night will be a chance to celebrate the Project’s donors, sponsors, volunteers and this year’s Cinderella For a Day winner, as well as a chance for the public to see the space and get to experience a little bit of the magic of the project. Corson will be picking out her gown and accessories tonight with the help of her teacher and her best friend. “It’s exciting to be able to pick up the dress tonight, but I just want to be 100 percent sure about it, because it is kind of stressful.”

On Saturday, April 5, the giveaway runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the program’s flagship location at Reny's Plaza in Belfast, with a second giveaway scheduled later in Gardiner.

Updated: check out the gallery of photos to see what prom gown Hayley chose.

To find out how to get involved with The Cinderella Project of Maine, visit: cinderellaprojectofmaine.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

For some this might be an easy one; others will have to really look closely at the architecture to guess where this is, what year it this, and what is in its place now? Anybody have any stories to go with this place?

As always, check back on the answers to other Throwback Thursday photos, by typing in Throwback Thursday in the search bar.

Photo courtesy Penobscot Marine Museum. Visit: penobscotmarinemuseum.org

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — With the winter we’ve had, sometimes you just need to let your freak face flag fly. That’s what happened Saturday night, when saucy party planners Hot Pink Flannel threw their fifth annual ‘Stache Bash honoring the art of the mustache. Whether your face was baby smooth or you were rocking the Salvador Dali, Trackside Station in Rockland was the place to be. Hundreds came out in 1980s costumes with painted, glued on and real mustaches to dance to the 1980s cover band, Destroy Them My Robots.

The black-lit environment illuminated decorations of hot pink paper mustaches everywhere throughout the establishment while silver paper mache mini robots lined the demi walls, as if looking down upon the crowd. At a pivotal moment, Robot Overlord Jared Paradee came out through the crowd in his epic robot costume while the band played Styx’s Mr. Roboto, naturally. It was uncertain, if, afterward, anyone fell into an obedient trance or was incinerated.

For more fun photos of the event, check out our gallery: 'Stache Bash brings out the mustachioed March 29.

To keep up with Hot Pink Flannel’s next party visit: Hot Pink Flannel on Facebook.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN — The way the Camden Opera House plans to celebrate its 120th anniversary is to bring back some of their most popular acts over the years, and they intend to kick off the lineup Saturday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m with "An Evening featuring Ellis Paul with special guest Chris Ross." Paul, who was raised in Maine, is one of the most respected artists in the folk/singer-songwriter genre, with a style heavily influenced by the folk stylings of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

Even before Ellis' song The World Ain't Slowin' Down came out as the title track to Jim Carrey's blockbuster film, Me, Myself and Irene, Paul had been impressing audiences and earning loyal fans around the world. His urban, literate, folk rock style has been credited with helping renew interest in the folk genre during the 1990s. It has also been said that he successfully bridged the gap between traditional and modern folk music.

This show will be a preview of Paul's new record, City of Silver Dreams, with songs from his entire 20+ year career, which was launched out of the Boston folk scene.

Opening for Paul will be Maine singer-songwriter Chris Ross, a native of Hancock and recent winner of the "Songwriter of the Year" award at the New England Music Awards. Known for his poetic songs and sharp humor, Ross’ wit matches his talent. His Facebook status reads:I try my damnedest to make you feel feelings. Occasionally even pleasant ones.”

He will head to Nashville in May to begin recording his third album, due to be released this summer.

“This concert is going to be an event pairing one of the most prestigious singer-songwriters in the last 25 years with one of the best up-and-coming artists in the same genre,” said Marc Ratner, managing partner of Mishara Music, a Camden-based record label and management company. “The interesting thing about the music business is that . . . shows like American Idol are basically like karaoke. The key to Ellis and Chris is that that they are both accomplished songwriters. You can have the best guitar player and the best singer on stage, but if they don’t have a good song lyrically, it doesn’t make any difference. That’s one of the magic things that will happen at the show — the audience will have an emotional connection to their music.”

Ross’ song, Your America, is about an American veteran coming back to the U.S. and the difficulties he faces.

“It’s one of the most gripping songs you’ll hear,” said Ratner.  

An excerpt of “Your America” lyrics

You remember you were young, you were Clark Kent sittin’
On a cloud up high, and there weren’t no politician
Tell you who you could love or could lead you to bleed
Tell you when you should speak or what you should be
You remember you were young and your momma said listen
The world ain’t nothing if it ain’t worth wishin’
And we’re all real lucky to share this land
Cause it ain’t just home
It’s your America, man

“This show is just the first of what we’re calling the ‘Best of the Best’  of past shows,” said Kerry Hadley, director of the Camden Opera House. Upcoming shows include Iris Dement in August and a tentative plan for Richard Thompson in November.

After the April 5 show, guests are invited to mingle with the artists, and sample a free ice cream tasting and coffee.

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit Camden Opera House website. Tickets are also available at the Camden Town Office Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., or by calling 470-7066. Tickets will also be available at the door the night of the show.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Last week’s TT pic was all too easy, wasn’t it?  Okay, you can see what this building is, but what year is this, and what is in its place now? Anybody have any stories to go with this place?

As always, check back on the answers to other Throwback Thursday photos, by typing in Throwback Thursday in the search bar.

Photo courtesy Penobscot Marine Museum. Visit: penobscotmarinemuseum.org

Answer: This is Witham’s Lobster Pound. It was originally the stables for the mansion that is now Downeast Publishing. It was located across Route 1 from the drive-in. It was made into a restaurant. My aunt, May Bridges, and my father, P Willard Pease, bought it in 1946. The kitchen was on the right and dining room on the left. The stable floors and walls were highly varnished. The individual stalls were private dining areas. Hay bins hung in the corner of the stall ceilings; the hay having been stored on the second floor in the old days. The restaurant was famous for its shore dinners. My father sold out to his sister in 1948 and became Knox County Sheriff. My aunt operated it until her death in 1971. It is now a campground. -Skip Pease

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com

Midcoast self-professed “bar fly” Jessabelle Lemonade is 24 and knows if you want something done, you’ve got to do it yourself. She started an indie blog called The Lemonade Lowdown, which encapsulates all the Midcoast’s under-the-radar events, happy hours, musical acts and quirky happenings that don’t necessarily get press and began publishing a weekly list of them. Pretty soon, people were taking notice. Restaurants and bars were emailing her their upcoming events; musicians were contacting her personally and she was beginning to make a name for herself.

“I kind of go around town and look at flyers, see what’s happening and talk to people,” she said. “People are getting to know me. I had someone yell across the street to me the other day ‘Hey Lemonade!’”

She grew up in the area and has been aware of the changes that the three coastal Midcoast towns — Belfast, Camden-Rockport and Rockland — where most of her listed events occur — have undergone in the last decade or so.

“Rockland, for example, was never so much of a ‘thing’ as it is now,” she said. “Growing up, it was to be avoided when I was a kid.”

She said she also loves what kind of changes have come to Belfast and, although Camden-Rockport don’t have as much of the same young, indie vibe that their sister towns have fully developed in recent years, it has some cool pockets.

“I was following the satellite parties that 40 Paper did last year, so there are definitely some good changes happening,” she said. “The Smokestack does music and now Cappy’s is an actual blip on the radar in a way it never used to be. Now they have live music. I went last week and it was really fun.”

Jessabelle Lemonade is actually her writing pseudonym. In her day job, she works for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine. At night, she likes to write about the kind of scene that she, herself, enjoys frequenting, for example, Trivia Night at Rock Harbor Brewing Company in Rockland or the Free Range Music Festival in Belfast. She’s also on a women’s hockey team and is up for anything adventurous in the Midcoast.

Through Penobscot Bay Pilot, she has just launched a new weekly column called The underCURRENT, which models her blog’s format of listing the kinds of music, art, events, entertainment and things-to-do that don’t necessarily get mainstream media exposure. She compiles a weekly list of the best happy hour specials, game nights, trivia nights, open mics and other in-the-know events, which reveals a surprising amount of options. For anyone who complains in the winter “there’s nothing to do around here,” The underCURRENT will be the go-to guide.

And she’s just getting started. Asked what her column is going to look like once summer hits, she said, “It’s going to be off the charts.”

Stay tuned to The underCURRENT every Thursday by signing up to Penobscot Bay Pilot’s Morning Catch on the homepage, and you’ll receive daily emails at 9 a.m. (when you visit the home page, the Morning Catch field will be on the top right column.)

Reach Kay Stephens at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — If you are morning person and want some lively company with your coffee, WRFR’s latest radio show hosted by Penobscot Bay Pilot’s own Chris Wolf is the station to tune into every Monday and Friday morning from 7 to 8 a.m.

Wolffie, as many of us know him, has been a radio jockey since 1988, when he hosted morning shows in Key West, Ft. Myers and and Daytona Beach, Florida. Later, he worked as a news director for Coast 102.5. Like many freelance writers he rounded out his experiences with a variety of careers over the years and beyond being an arts and entertainment reporter for the Pilot, he recently returned to radio to host a weekly hour-long news show featuring state, local and community news from PenBayPilot.com.

“We were talking about a way to promote the local news stories of the Pilot and came up with this format,” said Wolf. “If you go to WRFR, there’s an icon you can just click to stream it live through your computer. So, it doesn’t matter where you are — you can hear the show online or you can listen to it on the radio. That way you can work away or be on your morning commute and just listen to what’s going on.”

The show has been around for about a month. His eclectic line up includes live commentary, taped interviews, informative guests, stories, market news, features, city and town public access news and music. It also includes a rundown of entertainment news pertinent to the day with features that impact the local community’s tastes.

“The show really took off when I had guests,” he said. “We have a great time.”

He tends to work some music in on the morning’s theme and recently interspersed an in-studio guest interview with dance music including the Watusi, the Twist, and the Curly Shuffle.

He’s currently open to any kind of guest on the show. “Anybody,” he said. “Doesn’t matter. Eight to 80; blind, crippled and crazy. As long as they are fun, and have some good stories to tell. We want to talk with people who have something to promote, business people who have some interesting aspect of their work to share, and of course, anyone who is affiliated with Penobscot Bay Pilot. We’re just looking for unusual, out-of-the-way stories and personality. We just want to have a lot of fun.”

Listeners can tune into Wolf’s show online and on the stations 99.3 FM in Camden and 93.3 FM in Rockland. For more information visit: WRFR.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

HOPE — Spring cleaning is more than just vacuuming up an entire sweater’s worth of cat hair under the bed (don’t ask me how I know this disgusting unit of measurement). For some it’s about the Digital Detox, the annual abandonment of Facebook for about a month, or the cell phone-free weekend.

Well, this upcoming Cheap Date has all the elements of a mental spring cleaning, popping with the cool factor of a story slam. Sweet Tree Arts in Hope will present its second annual “Story SLAM” on Friday, March 28, from 7 to 9 p.m. featuring Clare Muireann Murphy, internationally celebrated storyteller and five other local storytellers including Kali Bird Isis, Dave Miramant, Stephen Gleasner, Caitlin Schick, Andrew Stewart and Seth Silverton.

What’s a story slam? It’s like a poetry or spoken word slam similar to the American Idol format where people compete on stage with personal stories. Each of the featured five-minute stories is judged on how well it is told, how well it is constructed and how well the story explores,connects and/or reveals some truth about the theme; in this case: the theme of community.

Lindsay Pinchbeck, director of Sweet Tree Arts L3C, is originally from Scotland and years ago, made a documentary film about Irish and Scottish storytellers. Part of the project led her to Dublin-born performer Clare Murphy, who has lived in four different countries and has performed in more than 20.

“Storytelling has become such a hot art form now,” said Pinchbeck. “And Clare is an amazing spirit. She takes all the old tales of Celtic lore and brings fresh, new energy into them.”

Her repertoire of tales and shows includes myth, legend, folklore, fables, contemporary personal tales, and original stories. A physically dynamic performer, she uses her body and voice together to imbue life into her performances.

The other local storytellers will have a workshop with Murphy ahead of time and coached on their stories, so that they will be will have some extra tricks up their sleeves. Murphy will cap the evening off in a unique storytelling adult cabaret performance, which Pinchbeck describes as: “A mixture of eclectic stories with adult content."

You know that’s going to some wicked, saucy fun. Drinks will be provided by 40 Paper. (Sweet.)

Tickets are $10 per person.  For ticket information, visit sweettreearts.org or call 763-2770. For more information about Clare Murphy visit: claremurphy.org

If you miss her Friday night, you’ll still have a chance to see her Saturday night as she shares traditional tales of Ireland’s past in her show “On the Heels of the Hound” at 3 p.m. at the Rockport Opera House.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Not everybody has the guts and drive to make it in the sport of roller derby. Welcome to the fierce and fab ladies who live, work and play within our Midcoast community.

Skater Profile: Hedda Flame

Real name: Brionna Barton

Tell us about your derby name: It is hard to be original when so many names are taken. I was writing down words and liked the name Hedda, from Hedda Gabler, and so at one point it just came...Hedda Flame. It is fitting for many reasons.

Age: 29

Current town and hometown: Rockland and Mars Hill

Occupation: Aspiring entrepreneur and gardener/landscaper and occasional bartender/server.

How long have you been skating?: About one year 10 months—not much previous experience except for the roller rink in middle school.

Why derby?: I tried it because it sounded fun and now I'm completely hooked. It's more than fun—it has become a passion.

What's been the most challenging aspect of derby so far? What's your Achille's heel, so to speak?: Every aspect of derby has been challenging, but the hardest challenge for me is watching teammates come and go. Competitive roller derby has a level of commitment that just isn't possible for many people. People move, have babies, get injured, decide it isn't right, need a break, etc. and that change in dynamics is hard on the team. I find it extremely difficult to adjust to. It is inevitable, however, so I'm learning.

Most fun and rewarding part of derby: The actual playing in a bout is of course the MOST fun and rewarding, but the fans are pretty rad. There's nothing like a 10-year-old boy looking at you with excitement and saying, 'You're awesome!'

Other sports/hobbies/interests: Gardening, dancing, eating, cooking, karaoke, outdoor adventures, playing games (any game, I love all games).

Related stories:

• Roller derby skater profile: Roto Tilda

• Roller derby skater profile: Roll Doll

• Roller derby skater profile: Crane Wrecks

• Roller derby skater profile: Chain Lynx

• Roller derby skater profile: Smacks on Deck

Rock Coast Rollers is a diverse group of women dedicated to advancing and advocating for the sport of roller derby, women, their league and their community. RCR aims to be a skater-owned, nonprofit business under the Women's Flat Track Derby Association, based in Rockland. For more information visit rockcoastrollers.org.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

ROCKLAND — All the cool kids are wearing grass skirts and coconut bras this weekend. So, if you’ve been following the new underCURRENT column on what there is to do, you know there’s a lot going on. But if you want a way to work out all of your “Crap, it’s tax time again! I’m sick of my thighs! There’s no spring in sight!” blahs, the Pope Memorial Humane Society’s fifth annual Tropical Getaway Dance is the best place to dance away your issues.

Cheaper than therapy; better than self-medication — that should be this Cheap Dates motto.

What you can expect: Steelin' Thunder Steel Drum Band, a 50/50 raffle, baked refreshments and a cash bar. (Note: Good news for the cash-strapped. You won’t be paying some hipster $10 a cocktail here: mixed drinks are priced like it’s still the 1980s.)

“It’s such a fun night and after such a long winter, it really is nice to let loose a little bit,” said Tracy Sala, Pope Memorial Humane Society’s executive director. She said the crowd always ranges in age and some go all out and put on their spray tan and Hawaiian shirts and some don’t, but that it’s pretty casual.

Expect some corny fun, like limbos and the bunny hops breaking out all around the room.

“You might think steel drums are limited in what they can sound like, but it’s not like that at all,” said Sala.“The Steelin’ Thunder Steel Drum band is absolutely wonderful. They donate their services for this evening every year. It’s amazing what they can do with those instruments. They play all these old songs that you know and contemporary ones too.”

The dance will be held at Rockland American Legion Post One, 335 Limerock St., Saturday, March 22, from 5 to 9 p.m. General admission tickets are $8, and will be available for sale at the door the evening of the event.

A cool thing is that all proceeds from each ticket will benefit the Pope Memorial Humane Society of Knox County.

The kittehs and the puppehs thank you.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Pilot columnist and funnywoman Anneli Skaar recently put out a satiric Facebook event titled: This is BULL**** Equinox Festivities for all of us Mainers looking out the window today and marveling at this wonderfully warm, sunny spring-like day.

Her event intro reads: Enjoy a private celebration, by yourself, in your own home, celebrating the end of winter. Get crazy and buy some asparagus and tulips at Hannafords, open a window to air out the smell of gangrene and despair, and clear out the odor of cat *** from the usually unused litterbox. Get crafty with the kids by creating an effigy of Punxsatawny Phil out of chlorine damaged towels from the winter's 63 trips to the YMCA pool and throw them on the bonfire built out of your enthusiastic neighbor's skis. NOTE: Event may be cancelled due to weather.

Following that, she asked for a spring haiku and many in the community came up with great ones.

Brian Willson
Mama never said
There'd be days like this. And where's
The Easter Bunny?

Sarah Byrnes

Crocus I cannot
focus on your potential
eventual bloom

Holly Noonan

Ice blocks the rain drain
Garden's an icy swamp
Plant seedlings my a**.

Shannon Lynn Thompson

Ashen face, limp hair—
My hips as full as the moon.
At least it's pouring.

Anneli Skaar

Driving me to drink
Dark and Stormies until May
I have enough ice

Reader submissions to this story so far:

Susanne Ward

This deary dark day
masquerades as Spring's herald.
It cannot fool me.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

Where did this majestic building stand and what is in its place now? Anybody have any stories to go with this place?

Answer: Bay Point Hotel, 1890s. Became the Samoset in 1902.-Rockland Historical Society

"I have a picture of grandmother sitting on that expansive porch.”-Sara Boyce

As always, check back on the answers to other Throwback Thursday photos, by typing in Throwback Thursday in the search bar.

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com

CAMDEN—Last year, the staff of the Camden Public Library thought it would be a nice way to stave off the dreary end-of-winter blues by transforming the interior of the Children’s Room into an under-the-sea theme for Marine Month. This year, due to popular demand, Children’s Librarian Amy Hand and her Youth Services Assistant, Stefanie McAllister, decided to temporarily remodel the room again—this time, as a tropical rainforest.

“This year, we decided to do it in March,” said Hand. “We were tired of all the cold and decided our new theme had to be the jungle. We’ve gotten a great response. People love it.”

A lot of donated crafts and volunteer time went into the six-hour transformation.

“Stefanie and I raided our homes,” said Hand. “We’ve been collecting stuff for a while. Then, we reached out to Thomas Heath and the Camden Hills Regional High School drama department and were able to borrow several bags of vines, which was wonderful. We had local volunteers who cut out a bunch of leaves and all of the ‘palm tree’ trunks came from Cayouette Flooring. We built all of this on a Saturday night before March 1.”

The kids who participated in the library’s Rainforest Camp the previous month also contributed paper amphibians and butterflies to the decorations.

To walk through the room, one has to duck amongst all the low-hanging vines while gentle sounds of the rainforest can be heard through the speakers. The train table has been temporarily removed and every detail that remains in the room has to conform to the jungle theme, from the palm frond seating cushions (courtesy of McAllister’s patio furniture) to the converted giant lighthouse, which now stands as a tree house. The staff ordered as many rainforest books as they could find, so every corner of the room has some kind of stuffed jungle creature displayed next to the appropriate book or media.

Hand says that children aren’t the only ones fascinated by the transformed room.

“We have adults who walk through here every day just to soak up the atmosphere. Especially when it’s a cold, overcast day,” she said.

Watch the 1 ½ minute time lapse video that shows the Children’s Room transformation. “It’s getting crazy Jungle Booky up in here,” said McAllister on the video.

As for next year? “We have grandiose plans,” said McAllister.

For more information about the Camden Public Library, visit: http://www.librarycamden.org/

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

WARREN — After Penobscot Bay Pilot launched in 2012, one of our first stories focused on Warren scrap metal sculptor Jay Sawyer and his quirky metal spheres in a piece titled Why does everyone want to get their hands on Jay Sawyer’s balls?  One giant sphere, in particular, A Spirit Of Its Own, was inspired by Sawyer’s close friend and mentor, David McLaughlin, also a welder/sculptor. When McLaughlin passed away in 2010, he’d bequeathed to Sawyer his coveted collection of steel shear rings, used in the construction of the trusses that went over a hangar at the Brunswick Naval Air Station. His final wish was that Sawyer would use the shear rings in other pieces. With that in mind, Sawyer created A Spirit Of Its Own using some of McLaughlin’s remaining shear rings. 

Creating the sculpture and securing a prominent location for its display has taken well over two years. A grant from The 1916 Foundation made it possible for the sculpture to be included in the permanent collection of the Davistown Museum of Liberty, and on loan indefinitely to the Portland International Jetport.

Paul Bradbury, director of The Portland Jetport, thought A Spirit Of Its Own would make a perfect addition to the airport’s grounds, not only for its unique look and the shear rings’ aviation connection, but also because its spherical shape represented the globe, a common imagery of the airline industry.

Sawyer helped choose an outdoor location on the airport grounds, alongside the Jetport Boulevard, the primary access road to the terminal.

“I have always had a special feeling about that strip of road by the runway,” he said. “It takes me back to my first flight out of Maine when I was in the Merchant Marines. I couldn’t help but remember all of those strange feelings about this particular spot when we were driving the stake in the ground where the sculpture would go.”

Given the sculpture’s grand scale, Sawyer thought it needed to be elevated. 

“I think spheres are beautiful to start with. Some of them look good just sitting on the ground, but some of them deserve a better presentation and this is certainly one of them,” he said.

Thus, he set to work building a stately stand for the sphere out of flat bar steel, which stands nearly 10 feet tall and cradles the sculpture. Additionally, Sawyer and Davistown Museum are collaborating on writing a book about this sculpture, which will provide, in part, an account of how A Spirit Of Its Own was created.

On Friday, March 21, Sawyer is inviting the public to see the sculpture. After, it will be transported from Sawyer’s property in Warren to the Jetport for installation. A dedication will take place later on June 6 at the Portland International Jetport and plans are for the publication to coincide with the event.

Art enthusiasts and friends of McLaughlins are encouraged to attend the March 21 event at Sawyer’s sculpture gallery, 131 Camden Road (Rt 90), one-quarter mile from Route 1 in Warren.  Look for the patriotic pick up truck at the entrance. Visitors can arrive as early as 3 p.m. and there will be a group photo taken at 5:30 p.m., which will be provided to the Warren Historical Society and other interested organizations. It’ll be muddy so take appropriate footwear.

CAMDEN — It takes exactly two spins around in an office chair for Kylee, 10, to get over being shy. “I love doing this,” she says, whipping around in her little leggings and neon sneakers.

“She makes me dizzy.” Behind her sitting at her office desk is her friend and mentor, Jessica Fossett, who is the school-based manager of Big Brothers Big Sister of Mid Maine.

It took Jessica about a year in her role at BBBS to consider becoming a “Big,” the term for a Big Sister to an elementary and middle-school aged “Little.”

When BBBS first matched them up, Kylee admitted, "I was a little nervous."

Jessica said, "I was a little nervous, too. Like ‘Will she like me? Will she pick me?’"

"I knew," Kylee answered.

Jessica added, "When I called her mom up to make the first plan to hang out together, Kylee's mom said, 'Welcome to the family.’"

The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine has always been pretty straightforward: “to provide children in Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Somerset and Waldo vounties facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported 1-to-1 relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.”

Jessica runs the after-school program at BBBS Mid-Maine. Her role is to pair high school and college students with elementary and middle school students from Knox, Lincoln and part of Waldo counties. They all get together an hour a day a week at various schools and get to know each other better over board games and snacks.This is only one of BBBS Mid-Maine programs. All told, there are approximately 100 matches in the Midcoast.

For Kylee, who has an older brother but no sisters, BBBS filled a real need:  “I wanted a big sister really bad and I have for a long time, so I asked my mom and she signed me up. Then [BBBS] chose Jess and we pretty much like to do the same things."

We take a walk around Camden as Kylee comfortably chatters away. We walk by the bare bushes lining the corner of Main Street and Atlantic Avenue by the library, where dozens of birds are nestled inside, tweeting away like a real-life Twitter. When I comment on that, Kylee shoots me a joke.

“Why did the birds get in trouble? Because they were tweeting too much on their phones,” she says.

"It took me about a year working at BBBS, before I realized I really wanted to become a ‘Big’ myself,” said Jessica. “I have brothers and was the youngest and nobody showed me how to wear makeup. Nobody did those things I think every girl should have. It's really rewarding to feel like someone is looking up to you...."

Hearing that, Kylee stands on her tiptoes and tries to look directly up to Jessica. "Literally and figuratively..." Jessica continues laughing. "I think it's really great to have a little friend. Kylee and I are so similar, we're both so sassy. She's worse than me if you can believe that. And we both like really goofy humor and I love that we can laugh about things together. She even makes up her own jokes."

"Why was the playing card laughing?" Kylee breaks in. "Because it was the Joker!"

They’ve only been matched a few months, but meet up about once or twice a week and like to go shopping, swimming, and anything to do with fitness.

"We go to the library and usually we try to find books on how to do stuff," said Kylee. "We were thinking about if we had our own restaurant, what would it be?"

They came up with the idea of an animal-themed restaurant one day after having lunch at Bricks and drawing with crayons on the place mats.

"Everything would be about animals, even like the food. My aunt makes this kitty litterbox cake, and it was really good," said Kylee, implying of course, that it would be on the menu.

“I looked at the menu we drew and we had Meow-tain Dew listed under drinks,” added Jessica.

When asked what she likes most about being Jessica’s Little, Kylee answers, “I look forward to seeing her and playing games. I can't wait ‘til the spring so we can do more outdoor things.” They’re both looking forward to camping this summer.

“It's cool to show her new things,” said Jessica.  “I play ice hockey in the women's league, so at her birthday party, I got Kylee and her friends to play with one of my hockey sticks and a ball. I just like giving her a chance to try new things.”

As we make our way down to the harbor, Kylee spies the ducks and gets excited about one in particular, a white duck with the pouffy mullet.

"I'm going to name this one, Bob," Kylee says.

Jessica elaborates on the topic we were just discussing. “I like to show her I'm proud of her. Recently, she got to go skiing go on the chairlift for the first time. I remember I was always scared of that when I was a kid so I told her I was so proud of her.”

Even though they’ve only been friends for a few months, Jessica and Kylee have forged a bond they both hope will last a lifetime. “BBBS asks for a year commitment from the Bigs, but the positive impact will last forever. Like I tell Kylee, I hope I can go to her wedding someday."

Kylee looks up at her and smiles.

To learn how to become a Big or to volunteer for their Bowl For Kids’ Sake Fundraiser, visit: Big Brothers Big Sisters Mid-Maine.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

We’ve been throwing the photos wayyyy back lately. Can you tell where exactly this is and guess the approximate year? Anybody have any stories to go with this place?

Answer: if you guessed Lincolnville Beach, you were correct.

As always, check back on the answers to other Throwback Thursday photos, by typing in Throwback Thursday in the search bar. Your guesses have all been spot on!

Throwback Thursday needs your submissions. Send us your “back in the day” photos with a caption at news@penbaypilot.com