Presidential Houses Three Maine transplants at the head of local colleges and universities
A Piece of Maine:
Hampden Kitchen Confidential
Urban Gardening
You don’t need a great big garden to grow a bumper crop
Orono’s Woodman’s Bar & Grill
An interview with
Deb Neuman
Inside:
Delicious Appetizers UMaine Track & Field MRSA Mysteries
$5.95
April 2013
Bonus Inside
BANGOR
THE FIRST
POSITIVELY EXCITING!
The excitement around Bangor’s future is growing, and The First is growing too – our 16th Maine branch is opening in downtown Bangor! For nearly 150 years, The First has been a leading coastal community bank from Wiscasset to Calais. And we’re looking forward to being a part of the energy and momentum in Bangor! At our new Bangor branch, there’s plenty to be excited about:
Find out lots more about our
Bangor Grand Opening at www.thefirstinbangor.com.
• Maine folks with a positive attitude and a deep understanding of your banking needs • Local lending authority with in-branch decision makers • Easy-to-understand products and pricing, including Totally Free Checking Come share the excitement – our March-April Grand Opening celebration includes weekly drawings* for big $500 Bangor prize packages! So stop by our new 145 Exchange Street branch, say hello, and enter our weekly drawings…and while you’re here, we’ll help you open an account!
145 Exchange Street Bangor, Maine 207.974.5001
* No purchase necessary to enter. Official entry form available at the Bangor branch and at thefirstinbangor.com. Employees of The First and members of their households are not eligible to win. The value of the prizes will be reported on Form 1099-MISC.
Bangor • Bar Harbor • Blue Hill • Boothbay Harbor • Calais • Camden • Damariscotta • Eastport Ellsworth • Northeast Harbor • Rockland • Rockport • Southwest Harbor • Waldoboro • Wiscasset
A Division of The First Bancorp • 800.564.3195 • www.TheFirst.com • Member FDIC
April 2013
contents
features maine business maven / 11 Deb Neuman knows business. She shares her passion with her loyal followers through the radio and her very own Maine Dock Designs. MRSA Misconceptions / 14 What you need to know about dealing with the super bug known as MRSA. urban gardening / 20 From rooftops to raised beds, see how these Bangoreans are making the most with limited space. Presidents at home / 28 We sat down with three university presidents to learn more about the places they now call home. A Piece of Maine: hampden / 34 There is way more to Hampden than meets the eye. Learn more about her hidden treasures in this feature story. From the County to the Coast / 50 Jessamine Logan creates three recipes that blend the flavors of Aroostook County with the Maine coast.
28
Woodman’s Bar & Grill / 54 Mark Horton is the man behind the fan favorites at this popular Orono restaurant.
Photos: (top) sha-lam photography; (Right) Mark mccall; (far right) Butch Moor/WBRC
20
34 www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 1
contents
44
columns
in every issue
eye on industry / 12 The fine art and crafsmanship of Maine’s boatbuilders.
TaLk of the Towns / 6 Innovative stories from Bar Harbor, Eastport, and Bangor.
Metro fitness / 18 How one woman trains for the Boston Marathon..
Biz Buzz & sightings / 8 People and places on the move.
woods & waters / 58 Gun control game changer. last word / 64 Being silly can sometimes ease the pain.
What’s Happening / 44 Celebrate spring with these April events. Metro sports / 48 A change in high school football and a UMaine track and field superstar. Perspectives / 56 Three moody landscapes by Steven J. Gray. savvy seniors / 59 How to successfully age in place.
2 / Bangor Metro April 2013
6
Photos: (top) Matt Dine; (left) courtesy of college of the atlantic
Christopher O’Riley in Concert, April 19 Gracie Theatre, Husson University, Bangor
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editor’s note
M
y husband and I, along with our baby and Chihuahua, live in a little house in Orono that used to belong to my grandparents. It’s on a dead-end street off Stillwater Avenue, and we love it. But with the addition of baby Ian, who was born in August, we’re feeling a bit cramped. Our 900-square-foot house has been overrun by all things baby. We’ve got a Bumbo, a Boppee, a Baby Bjorn—this is not forced alliteration, folks, I swear! We could put the house on the market and look to buy a bigger one, but we won’t. Our neighbors are too awesome. They mow our lawn, plow and snowblow our driveway, and watch our son when we want to run across the street and catch a movie at Spotlight Cinemas. We are so grateful for their willingness to help us out that we will probably never move. Who knows what kind of neighbors we’d have in a new neighborhood? Most of my neighbors have hilarious stories about my grandparents when they lived in the house. Some of them even remember my mother and her siblings growing up on the street. How my house fit five people and a Weimaraner is beyond my imagination. There’s only one tiny bathroom! My husband and I have plans to put an addition onto our house in 2014. This summer we are working on landscaping. We’re going to be putting in some raised beds, moving our gardening shed to the back of our lot, and building a fire pit. Our neighbor put in a fire pit last summer, and we were insanely jealous. We’ve been looking forward to these projects all winter long. This issue of Bangor Metro has given us some great ideas. From the feature on urban gardening, to the special Home & Garden pull-out, there’s a lot to think about and plan when creating a new landscape for your yard. I’m excited to start shopping for plants and shrubs and use the techniques I’ve learned in this issue to get the most out of my raised beds. Pretty soon the snow will be gone and the ground thawed enough to get started. Springtime is a time for planning—and we can’t wait to get started!
Melanie Brooks, editor
Photo: Kate Crabtree
The Bangor Metro Region
4 / Bangor Metro April 2013
www.bangormetro.com 263 State Street, Suite 1 Bangor, Maine 04401 Phone: 207.941.1300 PUBLISHER
Jack Cashman EDITOR
Melanie Brooks melanie@bangormetro.com
Trust.
It’s our middle name.
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Christine Parker christine@bangormetro.com ad sales consultants
Karen Bean karen@bangormetro.com Laura Cole laura@bangormetro.com ART DIRECTOR
Sandy Flewelling production assistant
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Kaylie Reese CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Tom Avila, Jack Cashman, Brad Eden Henry Garfield, Joy Hollowell, Chris Quimby Kaylie Reese, Jesse Scardina, Brian Sullivan Carol Higgins Taylor, Wendy Watkins
When you choose a bank, you trust them with more than your money. You trust them with your dreams. You trust them with your future. At Katahdin Trust Company we have all the services you expect from a bank. But more importantly, we’ve had a rock solid commitment to Maine communities since 1918. That commitment is now at work in the greater Bangor area.
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Contributing PHOTOGRAPHers
Michael Alden, Steven J. Gray Mark McCall, Sha-Lam Photography Circulation
Katahdin Trust Company, the bank you can trust with your future. After all, trust is our middle name.
Bill Osborne bill@bangormetro.com SUBSCRIPTIONS
Sue Blake sue@bangormetro.com 10 issues $24.95 Bangor Metro is published by Metro Publishing, LLC. Inquiries and suggestions are welcome and encouraged. Letters to the editor, story suggestions, and other reader input will be subject to Bangor Metro’s unrestricted right to edit and publish in the magazine or on the web. Please address written correspondence to 263 State Street, Suite 1, Bangor, ME 04401. For advertising questions, please call Christine Parker, Sales Director, at 207-404-5158. Bangor Metro is mailed at standard rates in Bangor, Maine. Newsstand Cover Date: March Vol. 9, No. 2, copyright 2013, issue No. 77. Advertisers and event sponsors or their agents are responsible for copyrights and accuracy of all material they submit. ADDRESS CHANGES: To ensure delivery, subscribers must notify the magazine of address changes one month in advance of cover date. Opinions expressed do not represent editorial positions of Bangor Metro. Nothing in this issue may be copied or reprinted without written permission from the publisher. Bangor Metro is published 10 times annually. To subscribe, call 941-1300 ext. 121 or visit www.bangormetro.com.
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www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 5
talk of the towns
Power Up!
6 / Bangor Metro April 2013
Bar Harbor: Driving your electric car to Bar Harbor for a little getaway? Then be sure to stop by the new solar-powered electric charging station at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor—it won’t cost you a dime. This solar-electric project was driven by Alex Pine, a third-year student at COA. “The first step in electric vehicle adoption is the implementation of a charging network,” Pine says. “With this station, COA is taking the lead in making the island ready for electric vehicles.” Pine, who drives a biodiesel car, was instrumental in creating a solarelectric circuit at COA. Anyone wishing to travel between the COA campus and the school’s two farms without emitting carbon can catch a ride on E-Van, a GMC electric van Pine found for a bargain price. After convincing the col-
lege president the school should buy the van, Pine contacted Darling’s Nissan in Bangor to see about getting a dock for a solar-powered charging station. “We are especially excited to be a part of this project, and we are looking forward to seeing what effects we can have in our communities through this partnership with COA,” says Geoff Johnson, general sales manager at Darling’s Nissan. Darling’s of Bangor began selling all-electric cars in Maine less than a year ago and donated two Level 2 chargers to the college. The devices can charge any plug-in vehicle currently on the market. One charging station was installed at the school’s main campus and the other at the college’s Beech Hill Farm in Mount Desert. The COA charging station is open year-round from 8 am to 5 pm.
photo: courtesy of college of the atlantic
Alex Pine
Salad Saver eastport: There’s nothing worse than reaching into your plastic vegetable bag from the grocery store to find that the lettuce you recently purchased has turned to slime. But salad lovers need not despair—Sally Erickson is here to help. The Eastport resident built a solar greenhouse to grow veggies all year long and designed a reusable cloth bag that keeps her freshly-picked harvest wilt-free in her refrigerator. The Vejibag is made with 100% U.S grown and milled organic cotton fabric and thread. A slightly moist cloth bag keeps vegetables crisp longer in your fridge than if they were stored in a plastic bag. Plastic bags do a great job of keeping the moisture in, but don’t allow it to escape, creating an environment that promotes rotting. “We started production last fall, but we’ve been working on ironing out the kinks,” Erickson says. Though she has a steady and loyal local following, Internet sales of vejibags have been fairly steady since their website and Facebook page launched at the end of January. Vejibags can be washed and reused time and time again, creating less waste. Take them with you to the grocery store or farmers market. The bags work great for any kind of vegetable, from artichokes to zucchini. You can learn more about how to use and care for the vejibag at www.vejibag.com.
Local Legal Help is a Click Away
photos: (top) steve erwin; (Bottom) ryan mcvay/thinkstock.com
Bangor: In January, Rudman Winchell Counselors at Law in Bangor launched the first online planning service in the state devoted exclusively to providing online estate planning legal services.
“We know how busy people are today,” says Jeff Solari, manager for business development for Rudman Winchell. “With this service, we can offer affordability and convenience, and we can serve clients from southern Maine to Aroostook County and Downeast.” Thanks to Rudman Winchell’s e-State Planning site, the legalities of estate planning can be as simple as a few clicks. Through the website, applicants fill out a questionnaire that is specific to their estate-planning needs—wills, trusts, power of attorney documents, and health care directives can all be completed on the site. The online legal documents are then drawn up and reviewed by experienced, licensed Maine attorneys. “While there are other services like this around the country, we wanted to make sure we created something unique for Maine, so we built this with that in mind, from the ground up,” Solari says. “We even have one on family camps. If that’s not unique to our area, I don’t know what is.” You can visit www.rudmanwinchell.com to learn more or get started.—Kaylie Reese
www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 7
biz buzz On the Move PHEBE WINTERS, DMD is
the newest addition to the staff of Penobscot Community Health Care’s Dental Center in Bangor. In addition to new patients, Winters will take on the patients of staff dentist Jeremy Jones, DMD, who left PCHC in December 2012. www.pchc.com
Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth. Houghton began his health care career as an Air Force corpsman serving at the military hospital at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He previously worked as a medical-surgical CNA at the Ellsworth hospital. www.mainehospital.org
the University Credit Union’s Orono branch as the Campus Development Officer. In this role, she will be working on business development and outreach at the University of Maine. Kenney previously worked as the marketing director for OTT Communications. www.ucu.maine.edu
The Southwest Harbor Public library has promoted two library staff members. KATE PICKUP-MCMULLIN has been named assistant director and MARY ANNE MEAD has been named circulation manager. Pickup-McMullin has been working at the library as an assistant since 2003, and Mead formerly worked at West Tisbury Public Library in Massachusetts. Both women are former volunteers for the library. www.swhplibrary.org
DEBRA CAPILLI has been hired by Eastern Maine Development Corporation as a general accountant. Previously, Capilli worked for the Charlotte White Center in Bangor. www.emdc.org
VERENA A. STOLL has been promoted to the position of executive director at Parker Ridge, a senior living community in Blue Hill. Stoll joined Parker Ridge in March 2001, as director of marketing and advancement. www.parkerridge.com
MELIK PETER KHOURY has been appointed to the newly created position of senior vice president for external affairs for Unity College. He has previously held leadership positions at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, Paul Smith’s College in New York, and Culver Stockton College in Missouri. www.unity.edu
MATT ARCHAMBEAU is the new
AMY KENNEY has joined
CYNTHIA L. BERGIN has
been named branch manager for Camden National Bank’s Brewer location. Bergin has more than 15 years of banking experience, most recently serving as a small business relationship manager at Key Bank in Brewer. She lives in Bangor with her husband and two children. www.camdennational.com RICK HOUGHTON, RN is the new surgical services manager at Maine
8 / Bangor Metro April 2013
manager at the Verso paper mill in Bucksport. He was previously the manager of the Verso mill in Sartell, Minnesota, which is no longer in operation. Archambeau began his career with Verso at the Bucksport mill 20 years ago. www.versopaper.com MARIE E. HANSEN, JD has been chosen
to serve as the dean for the College of Business at Husson University. She most recently served the College of Business as associate dean, executive director of administration affairs, and as the director of the Schools of Legal Studies. www.husson.edu The President and CEO of Eastern Maine Development Corporation, MICHAEL AUBE, is the newest addition to the Penobscot Community Health Care board of directors. Aube has previously worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development
Administration, and as Maine’s commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development. www.pchc.com
Awards The Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce recently presented awards to several area businesses at their annual dinner. The Non-Profit of the Year Award went to CHILDREN’S MIRACLE NETWORK HOSPITALS OF EMHS, the Community Service Award went to HAMMOND STREET SENIOR CENTER, the Catherine Lebowitz Award for Public Service was given to RICHARD ROSEN, the Bion & Dorain Foster Entrepreneurship Award was given to GEAGHAN’S PUB AND CRAFT BREWERY, ANDREW HAMILTON won the Arthur A. Comstock Professional Service Award, WBRC ARCHITECTS-ENGINEERS was named the Business of the Year, and the Norbert X. Dowd Award was given to PETER VIGUE of Cianbro Corp. www.bangorregion.com Primary care physicians from MAINE COAST MEMORIAL HOSPITAL have been recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for providing high quality care to patients who have cardiovascular disease or who have had a stroke. www.mainehospital.org DOUGLAS COLEMAN, Ph.D., a retired
Jackson Laboratory scientist whose work established the first clues to a genetic component in obesity, has won two major international science awards: the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine from the BBVA Foundation, based in Bilbao, Spain, and the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine from the Saudi Arabian King Faisal Foundation. www.jax.org ROBERT A. BEEKMAN, MD of Maine
Coast Pediatrics in Ellsworth was recently awarded the American Academy of Pediatrics Special Achievement Award for distinguished service and dedication to the mission and goals of the Academy. Beekman was cited for his many years of
devotion to the practice of pediatrics in rural Maine and his work with The Center for Human Genetics. www.mainehospital.org
A Growing Community
PRIMO in Rockland has been named to Bon Appetit magazine’s list of 20 most important restaurants in the United States. The farm-to-table restaurant is owned by James Beard Award-winning chef Melissa Kelly. www.primorestaurant.com
Grants EASTERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE is the recipient of a $280,000
grant from the John T. Gorman Foundation. The funds will be used to add a full-time developmental math specialist, as well as an advising specialist, to the Bangor-based school. www.emmc.edu Machias-based SUNRISE COUNTY ECONOMIC COUNCIL has been given a $300,000 grant from the John T. Gorman Foundation to fund the technology training program formally known as Washington County Education and Employment through Sustainable Broadband Adoption. Since its inception in 2010, the project’s effort has provided 13,000 learning hours to Washington County residents. www.sunrisecounty.org The COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC has received $15,000 in grant funding from the Environmental Protection Administration, which will enable the college to continue to explore the possibility of turning food waste into a resource for liquid fuel or biogas by fermenting the sugars in the waste. COA was one of only three New England institutions to receive this grant funding. www.coa.edu
HERMON IS a growing community of families and hard working people. I feel privileged to be part of this community and to serve both them and the greater Bangor region. —Dr. Phillips, Hermon Family Dental
Let me make the case for locating your business in Hermon. Call or write me today. Ron Harriman Economic Development Director
www.hermon.net • Grantron@aol.com
947-8595 • 1-800-648-8335
Ideal Location, Luxurious Guest Rooms, Onsite Restaurant, Elegant Grand Ballroom, Delicious Catering Services, and More...
“Everything, right where you need it.”
250 Haskell Road • Bangor, ME 04401 • 207-262-0099 • www.bangor.hgi.com
The nonprofit group THE HUB OF BAR HARBOR has been awarded $20,000 by the Healthy Maine Streets program to lead small business workplace wellness efforts. The grant is funded through the United States Centers for Disease Control. www.barharbormaine.gov
www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 9
sight ings 1
2
3
4
5
6
1: Sharon and Miles Theeman at the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Dinner at the Bangor Civic Center. 2: Peter Bosse from the Old Town-Orono Kiwanis presents a check to Ben Robinson and Robin Merchant from the Rotary Club of Old Town in support of Sarah’s House, a low- to no-cost residence for people undergoing cancer treatment.
10 / Bangor Metro April 2013
3: Pictured cutting the ribbon of the new Mary Dow Center for Cancer Care are from left: Geof Fraser, Bob Merrill, Sheena Whittaker, Philip Brooks, Rebecca Sargent, Gary Fortier, Jeff Dow, Jayne Wixon, John Blanchard, Chuck Pollock, Rich Malaby, Charlie Therrien, and Louis Luchini. 4: Alicia Bagnall and Staci Coomer at the 2013 Governor’s Conference on Tourism held at the Samoset Resort in Rockport.
5: Local pageant queens Erica Hemphill, Jules Gorneault, Emily Braun, and Vessa Villarreal at the Northern Maine Bridal Expo at the Crow’s Nest in Presque Isle. 6: Captain John Nicolai wrangles lobster-girl Heather Purnell at the All Roads Lead to Greater Bangor tourism show at the Bangor Civic Center.
movers & shakers
O
Maine Business
Maven
Award-winning business maven and radio personality Deb Neuman’s passion for small businesses in Maine is fueled by her initiative to give back to the community. By drawing on her experiences as a small-business owner and her work in economic development, she has been able to help small businesses across the state to thrive.
Photo: bill drake
By kaylie reese
riginally from Pennsylvania, Neuman fondly recalls the summers she and her family spent on the shore at Steuben. After college in California and landing her first post-graduate job, Neuman says there was something about Maine that was calling her back. So she listened. Neuman moved to Bar Harbor and got a job managing the Ledgelawn Inn. She fell in love with the hospitality industry, and her ever-entrepreneurial spirit was sparked into action. “Somehow, I got it into my head that I could own my own inn,” Neuman says. “I had no money, but I had experience and a business plan. I found an inn for sale and ended up working it out.” She took advantage of the summerseasonal business life and acquired a tour-boat company, in addition to the inn. She ran both businesses for about five years, before selling them and switching gears for a job in economic development at the Washington Hancock Community Agency. Here she was able to assist small businesses with their needs, including lending, financing, and technical assistance. She regards her time spent there as formative to her business know-how. Neuman’s ability to connect what she learns from training with her personal entrepreneurial history has helped many Maine companies grow and develop. She was hired by the Eastern Maine Development Corporation to run the SBA Microloan program, providing loans and technical assistance to small businesses, then moved on to the University of Maine to run the Target Technology Incubator, a center for early-stage technology companies that are often spin-offs from UMaine research. Neuman was also instrumental in starting up UMaine’s Foster Center for Student Innovation. “I get really passionate when it comes to helping people come up with business ideas or going into business,” Neuman says. “I just see so many business opportunities in the state. You can make your own success here.”
to do business in Maine. “I got a little bit bent out of shape. I was like, ‘Wait a minute!’” she recalls. She thought to herself, ‘Somebody should do a talk radio show about doing business, and that it can be done, and interview businesses doing it.’ One week later she met Larry Julius, general manager of (the now former) Clear Channel Communications, Inc., at a networking event. She pitched the idea for a radio show about business. He bit, and the Back to Business radio show was born. This year marks the show’s seventh season on WVOM, which is now owned by Blueberry Broadcasting. The U.S. Small Business administration recognized Neuman and the program in 2007 by naming her “Small Business Journalist of the Year” for Maine and New England. “It’s such an honor to do it, because every week, I interview these great entrepreneurs and business people,” Neuman says. After working at the Target Technology Center for nine years, Neuman was approached by the state to assist with economic development, which she did for about a year and a half. This past summer, the entrepreneurial bug bit Neuman again, with the launch of Maine Dock Designs, an idea she developed with five of her nieces and nephews, who are third-generation Maine summer vacationers. The jewelry is created with Maine materials, like rubber lobster claw bands and brightly colored rope. “I’m better at coaching and interviewing Maine businesses when I have a business,” Neuman says. Blueberry Broadcasting approached Neuman this fall about being a regular on a new morning show with radio personality Mike Dow. She contributes news, weather, sports and random banter to the Big Morning Show With Mike Dow heard on The BIG 104 FM. It’s an early start to her morning, but she enjoys having time during the day to privately coach small local businesses and host customer service seminars, not to mention work on her Back to Business show, —Deb Neuman Maine Dock Designs, and her business colOne morning, on her way to work, umn for The Maine Edge. Needless to say, she was listening to a segment on the raNeuman is busy, but she maintains her dio that was detailing how difficult it was focus on following new opportunities.
“You can make your own success here.”
www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 11
eye on industry
Yacht under construction at Morris Yachts in Trenton.
Boat Building Perhaps no industry in Maine has a longer and more distinguished history than boatbuilding. It’s been claimed that the first boat built in the United States, which was not built by a Native American, was built in Maine. By Jack cashman
12 / Bangor Metro April 2013
F
rom the military ships built at Bath Iron Works, to canoes and kayaks built at the world’s largest and oldest canoe factory, Old Town Canoe, the reputation of Maine’s boat builders for excellent craftsmanship is second to none. According to the Maine Boat Builders Alliance, the most recent industry sales figures from Maine boat builders topped $650 million in 2011. Approximately 450 companies and 5,000 jobs are tied to boatbuilding and boat services in Maine, and these sales and employment figures do not include Bath Iron Works. We build everything from battleships, to luxury yachts, to work boats, to canoes. The Maine coast is peppered with names like Hinckley, Sabre Yachts, Hodgdon Yachts, Morris Yachts, Washburn & Doughty, and Wilbur Yachts, to name a few. These are all well-known names in the boating world. Each company has established its own reputation for excellence—Hodgdon Yachts started in business in 1816, and is America’s old-
est boat builder. Five generations have run the family-owned business, and the company continues to produce luxury yachts. Morris Yacht is an award-winning design company, Hinckley is famous for its innovative technology, and Washburn & Doughty specializes in construction of steel and aluminum commercial vessels. While the larger boatyards in Maine have been in business for a good number of years, the business is not without its challenges. The business of building boats and luxury crafts is susceptible to downturns in the economy. Purchasing a yacht, or even a small fishing boat, is discretionary spending. In bad economic times, that type of spending tends to be curtailed. As a consequence, employment at various boatyards can fluctuate widely. This creates one of the biggest challenges for the industry. Workers in this industry are highly skilled. Having to lay off workers in hard times and, conversely, to find skilled workers when the economy rebounds, can be very difficult.
But there are activities that boat builders are involved in that are not subject to economic swings. The larger boat building yards are also involved in servicing existing watercraft, storage during winter months, and, in some cases, providing brokerage services for the sale of used watercraft. These activities help to keep a decent cash flow, even when orders for new boats are down. There are major boat repair and services yards, such as Front Street Shipyard in Belfast, which are not in the boat building business but provide the ancillary services. Some Maine boat builders have also gotten into designing and building watercraft for military units. Morris Yacht built eight 44-foot training vessels for the Coast Guard Academy. Hodgdon Yachts has worked with the Navy to design and build an advanced composite patrol boat and a Greenough Advanced Rescue Craft. “We are currently building five of the GARC’s for the Air Force Operations Command, and we are hoping to build more for the National Guard,” says Tim Hodgdon. Both designs involve the use of new composite technology. Maine boat builders have become worldwide leaders in maritime uses of composite technology. Many firms work directly with the University of Maine Composite Laboratory to develop uses of lighter-weight composites. These newage materials provide the basis for building lighter, faster, and stronger models. Innovations like the composite technology, coupled with Maine’s boat builders’ reputation for high quality, keep Mainebuilt boats in the forefront of the industry. Maine boat builders have suffered along with the rest of the country through the recession that started in 2008. With the economy showing signs of turning the corner, the mood in the industry is more upbeat than it has been in recent years. While Cuyler Morris of Morris Yacht feels it will take time to get back to pre-2008 days, he’s optimistic about the future. “I’m excited about 2013 and even more excited about 2014,” Morris says. Maine’s tradition of family-owned small business has a strong presence in the boat building industry. There is also a large dose of the Maine “can do” attitude and pride of craftsmanship. These Maine qualities are the reasons why this industry has been and will continue to be a strong, resilient part of our economy.
Chef Arturo Montes has returned to Black Bear Inn Now booking for 2013: Receptions • Reunions • Conferences
Black Bear Inn • 4 godfrey blvd • orono, maine 207-866-7120 • www.blackbearinnorono.com
Brought to you by
Hosted by
Seating is Limited Reserve Tickets Early at 207-664-5548 or at www.mainehospital.org Tickets $100/each ($60 tax deductible) Overnight Accommodations $95/room Semi Formal Dress • Valet Parking • Coat Check Proceeds to support the Breast Clinic & Mammogram Scholarships
A benefit for
www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 13
metro health
MRSA Misconceptions Health professionals are working hard to inform Mainers about the real cause and effects of the infectious disease known as the “killer bacteria” or “super bug.” By Joy Hollowell
14 / Bangor Metro April 2013
some children had become severely sick or even died from it. I also found out that you could be a lifetime carrier of MRSA, which means you can pass it on to others without showing any symptoms.” Olivia had to take the liquid antibiotics three times a day. The pharmacist warned Faloon Saucier that the medicine tasted horrible and sure enough, her toddler wanted nothing to do with it. “After
what I had seen online, I was so scared,” says Faloon Saucier. “I remember crying and pleading with her on the kitchen floor, ‘Please just take this, you gotta take this.’ It was awful.” There are two types of MRSA—one that occurs in a hospital setting and one that can be found in the community. The MRSA bacteria typically live on the skin or in the nose. Red, painful bumps under the
photos: mark mccall
B
lack flies are vicious in May, so Danielle Faloon Saucier wasn’t surprised to see a few bug bites on her two-year-old daughter’s stomach. “There were about three, right at her waistline,” says the Winterport mother. Olivia complained that they hurt, but Faloon Saucier assumed it was because the bites were rubbing against her daughter’s diaper. But the bites got worse as the days went on. “They started getting bigger and raising up,” explains Faloon Saucier, “and the sores began to get weepy. I thought maybe she had the chicken pox.” She called her pediatrician and explained Olivia’s symptoms. The doctor told her to come in right away. “I remember they had us use a side door,” Faloon Saucier says. Olivia’s pediatrician immediately ruled out chicken pox. He then lanced one of the sores to take a culture. It was then that Faloon Saucier first heard the term MRSA, which stands for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. “The doctor suspected that’s what it was,” she says. Olivia was given both oral and topical antibiotics. The cream was to be used both on her sores and in her nose. “I immediately went home and did exactly what you’re not supposed to do,” says Faloon Saucier. “I looked MRSA up on the Internet.” What she found was alarming. “I read that MRSA was becoming more prevalent in prisons, and that
Danielle Faloon Saucier and her daughters battle MRSA.
skin, sores that mimic spider bites, an infected cut—they can all be signs of MRSA. “A thousand different species of bacteria are on us all the time,” says Dr. Michael Coyne, epidemiologist at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor. “There is real estate on our body that they compete for. [The bacteria] use antibodies and other techniques to get rid of the competition, so they can have more room to live.”
Coyne calls it a survival of the fittest. “It’s like bacteria boot camp,” he explains. “When they come out, they’re well trained.” Methicillin was an antibiotic developed back in the 1960s, when penicillin lost its effectiveness for treating staph infections, which are caused by staphyloccus bacteria commonly found on the skin or in the nose. MRSA is actually resistant
to many antibiotics, not just Methicillin, according to Coyne. “Depending on how it is inherited, it could be resistant to almost everything,” he says. The most recent numbers show 121 confirmed cases of invasive MRSA infections reported to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2011. That number went up from 91 cases Dr. Carey Fister reported and one of in 2010. The state began her tracking of pediatriccases patients. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 15
“For the first time, I was able to take my twoyear-old granddaughter Warren Grass, a student, spends some laboratory inofmy arms...” time as part his training in the new Northern
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MRSA in 2008, when it was added to the Maine CDC’s Notifiable Conditions List. In 2010, the state legislature passed a law, in an effort to track and trend MRSA prevalence in Maine hospitals. All highrisk patients, including those recently admitted to skilled nursing homes and long-term care facilities, prisoners, those with prior hospitalizations within the last six months, and patients undergoing dialysis, are to be screened during admission to the hospital. A nurse helped draft the legislation, after her father passed away from a MRSA infection while in the hospital. “This became a really big debate between the medical community and patient advocacy groups,” says Jessica Degrasse, director of Quality-Inpatient Services at St. Joseph Hospital. When it comes to screening for MRSA, Degrasse says St. Joseph Hospital’s policy is similar to those of other hospitals. “If you’ve ever been diagnosed with 16 / Bangor Metro April 2013
MRSA during screening procedures, or if you became infected with it, we’re going to take the necessary barrier precautions to protect other patients from potential transmission,” she explains. That means gloves and gowns for the hospital workers and hand hygiene before and after contact with a patient or the patient’s environment. “We’re not isolating patients because it’s a deadly disease, but because it’s so easily transmitted,” she says. Like any staph infection, MRSA can be fatal. The real concern comes in not being able to identify MRSA right away, and treating it with antibiotics to which the bacteria has developed a resistance. “It gives them a leg up,” Coyne explains. “That’s why MRSA is more serious, because during that critical phase when it first invades, we might not be helping you.” Like any infection, health care professionals say the key to treating and
controlling MRSA is to keep it from spreading. “It’s really important to, as your mother said, wash your hands,” says Degrasse. “Don’t share commonly used personal items like razors and towels. And cover any sort of wound that is draining.” She says many patients with MRSA are concerned they’ll have to live in a bubble. “They’re afraid they can’t hug their grandchildren,” she says. “Telling them that is perfectly OK is a huge reassurance.” Faloon Saucier says she took extra precautions after learning Olivia had MRSA. “Washing clothes, towels, and blankets in bleach and hot water,” she says. “I’d wash my hands both before and after applying the cream to her sores.” Because there was concern that her whole family could be carriers of MRSA, they all swabbed their noses with a prescribed antibiotic and took baths treated with a two percent solution of bleach. “You’re skin gets pretty dry,” says Faloon Saucier. Despite all of her precautions, Faloon Saucier’s youngest daughter also appears to have developed MRSA. “She gets sores on her back and belly,” she says. They’ve never had a culture to confirm it’s MRSA, however, she and her pediatrician believe it is and treat the sores as such. And, three years after her first outbreak, Olivia again developed MRSA sores, this time on her hand. “I remember being told that’s not normally a place where MRSA appears,” says Faloon Saucier. “I almost thought it might be a wart—it was kind of a crusty, raised bump, and it hurt.” Faloon Saucier told her girls’ babysitter they have MRSA, and she also informs the parents of some of their friends, particularly if there is someone with a medical issue. “Obviously I’d feel horrible if something happened, and I didn’t make them aware,” she says. “The whole epidemic of MRSA can theoretically be traced to the success of antibiotics,” says Coyne. “[They] have been enormously successful, and they kill off a vast majority of bacteria. However, those bacteria that are resistant survive and then repopulate. What was once a very tiny minority, has now become the vast majority. My personal concern is that we are more fearful of this than we ought to be because MRSA is Staph aureus. This really is the same bacteria that we have been dealing with for a very, very, very long time.”
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metro fitness
Training for the Boston Marathon
P
eople who fit big goals into an already busy life always inspire me. And even more inspiring is that, generally, they are the stealthy type—busy accomplishing things while the rest of us aren’t looking. I think that’s pretty cool. This past winter I’ve watched Deedra Dapice log miles on my gym’s treadmills, as she prepares to run the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15. I’ve marveled at how she has managed to fit her training into the pockets of her life. The Brewer resident is a busy mom and wife, plus she teaches science at Brewer High School, is the adviser for two school groups, and sits on a busy committee. Although she’s run countless 5Ks and 10Ks over the years (she started running while a middle schooler in Orrington and also ran competitively in college), last summer she set out to complete her first marathon, which she ran in Portland in September. Dapice’s main goal for the marathon was just to finish. Much to her surprise, not only did she finish much faster than she expected, she qualified to run the legendary Boston Marathon. “I knew I would have to go for it,” says the 46-year-old. “I consider it a once-ina-lifetime opportunity.” Busy schedule aside, marathon training in Maine during the winter isn’t easy. Not only are roads slippery, but short days mean there’s much less daylight during which to safely traverse those roads. Her prep for the fall race had been relatively easy because, as a teacher, she had more
18 / Bangor Metro April 2013
free time during the summer. Even so, she’s following the same training plan for Boston as she did for the Portland marathon last year. She runs four days a week, some runs longer than others, and does a cross-training class once a week. Family support has been key. She says when she first mentioned the idea of running a marathon last year, her family—husband Geoff, daughters Coralie, 20, and Shannon, 18, and son Ethan, 15—immediately got behind her plans. “I never would have continued without their support,” she says. “And they haven’t complained about waiting on meals or me vanishing on a long run.” Her husband has been known to meet her during long runs to check on her and give her water and energy gels to keep her fueled and hydrated. Two of her children have run track and cross-country, and when it’s not winter, she sometimes runs with her son. Qualifying for Boston last fall wasn’t even on her conscious radar. In her age group, the qualifying time is 3:55. She was thinking she’d finish in about 4:15, but crossed the finish line at 3:49.07. “Somewhere in the back of my mind I am sure there was part of me that wanted to qualify, but I am a realist, so wasn’t really planning on that. When I was a freshman at Brewer High School, our crosscountry coach’s wife was running the Boston Marathon, and our coach took the girls team down to watch her,” she says. “That was before the marathon was as big
an event as it is now. It was still a big deal, and we were very excited to be there. So maybe I have subconsciously been waiting and training 32 years for this.” One of the tweaks to her training regimen for Boston vs. the Portland race has been running with the Brewer girls’ indoor track team. “The coaches welcomed me, and the girls seemed to accept me tagging along. Running with others breaks up the monotony, and this has also gotten me onto the indoor track a few times for training. I can’t lie and say it has been easy to fit in the kind of training I should be doing, and I have taken a few shortcuts out of necessity, that I hope don’t impact my preparation too much,” she says. She loves the you-against-yourself nature of running and how there are no real set rules. And when it comes to running road races, she says she is a lot less competitive against others than she used to be, as she focuses on competing against herself. After she accomplishes the big goal of Boston, she’s unsure what’s next. “I would love to have more time to train, without feeling like someone or something was sacrificed,” she says. “I anticipate that, after completing Boston, I will continue to train and run road races, but I will most likely drop the distance to half marathons and less, just because of the training time commitment.” Wendy Watkins is a personal trainer and lifestyle coach at Bangor-Brewer Athletic Club in Brewer.
Photo: corallie dapice
Deedra Dapice’s family and community are helping her to train for the Boston Marathon. By Wendy Watkins
Urban
Gardening You don’t need a lot of space to grow bumper crops.
By Henry Garfield | photos by mark mccall
A view from the rooftop of the Hammond Street Senior Center.
feature story
T
he name may seem incongruous: a farmhouse in downtown Bangor? But when Zeth and Betsy Lundy moved back to Maine, after 16 years in exile in Los Angeles and Boston, they brought their vision of urban gardening with them. And they bought a farm— though it’s only a small space between two city buildings on Central Street. The Central Street Farmhouse sells brewing supplies on the first floor, cloth diapers and baby supplies on the second floor, and the Lundys and their young daughter and son live on the third floor. Little physical space is left for gardening in such a lifestyle, but doing a lot with a little is what urban gardening is all about. “We like to characterize what we do as old-school ideology meets new-school methodology,” Betsy Lundy says. “We take new and modern approaches to things people have been doing for a long time, like home brewing and using cloth diapers, and adapt them to the modern lifestyle. Urban gardening is one of those things.” Just a block away, at the Hammond Street Senior Center, peas planted last fall will soon poke through the dirt in raised beds on the roof. By midsummer, produce from the rooftop garden will appear in luncheons and salads at the center; members grow everything from flowers, to potatoes, to eggplant, to onions. “I never realized you could plant peas in the fall and they’d come up in the spring,” says Sharon Soderberg, who comes to the senior center regularly to play the piano and participate in yoga classes. “We also do very well with green beans, carrots, beets, and lettuce. It’s nice and green up there; it’s fun to watch things grow.” Some of the produce is sold throughout the summer and fall at the senior center. The garden is the brainchild of senior center member Charlie Taylor, who came www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 21
feature story Working the gardens on the roof of the Hammond Street Senior Center.
up with the idea five years ago, while looking out the window of the center’s pottery studio. “I always had a garden when I was growing up,” he says. “I was doing pottery one day, and looking out at the roof, and said we ought to start a garden out there. All you need is the dirt.” All over Bangor, and indeed in cities all over the United States, people are discovering the joys and health benefits of urban gardening. Perhaps you live in an apartment without sufficient outdoor space to plant a garden. Perhaps you own a restaurant and want to use locally-grown foods. Perhaps, like some 22 / Bangor Metro April 2013
members of the Hammond Street Senior Center, you’ve gardened all your life but no longer live in a place where backyard gardening is feasible. Urban gardening provides an outlet for your green thumb, as well as a sense of community. That’s the idea behind the Bangor Community Garden on Essex Street, begun in 2011 on land formerly owned by the U.S. Naval Reserve. For an annual fee of $25, you can rent a four-by-eight-foot raised bed for the growing season. The city supplies the soil and access to a nearby water supply; the gardeners do the rest. “It has gone much better than anyone
anticipated,” says Parks and Recreation Director Tracy Willette. “We started out with 30 to 40 raised beds; now we’ve got between 80 and 100. We’ve got a good core group of volunteers who manage the garden and conduct gardening classes for those who want them.” Willette describes the community garden as a cooperative project between the city, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and National Able, a nonprofit organization founded in Chicago in the 1970s that provides workforce development programs for individuals, families, and communities across the country. National Able provides most of the recordkeeping services for the garden. “The concept had been discussed by the city for some time,” Willette says. The Essex Street site provided available land reasonably close to downtown, with easy access and available water. Children’s plots and programs are also available, and people with disabilities can request higher beds or beds closer to the parking area. “It’s been interesting to see the variety of folks participating, from youth to senior citizens,” Willette says. “It’s a young program that could go in a lot of different directions,” says Kate Garland, horticulturalist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. “Different members use their spaces for different purposes. Some are growing food for themselves; others are growing ornamental flowers. We had a whimsical garden last year that was filled with gnomes and other lawn ornaments.” Several group homes in the area have plots, and members of the business community rent beds to grow food for the hungry, Garland says. The Cooperative Extension also oversees a children’s community garden in Capehart. The Lundys likewise encourage community involvement in their much smaller downtown garden. “We wanted to take some of the techniques of urban gardening and do them here in a way that will intrigue and interest people, and help them see that it’s something they can easily incorporate into their lives,” Betsy Lundy says. “We were inspired by a movement called square-foot gardening,” she continues. “It’s a different way of looking at a garden. I have it cordoned off with rope into one-foot cubes. The idea is that you
Raised beds at the Bangor Community Garden on Esssex Street. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 23
feature story Zeth and Betsy Lundy with their children Grant and Zoe.
look at each individual cube and each plant; how many inches apart do they need to be? Let’s say you’re growing carrots. The traditional thinking is to plant them in rows. You would have a foot or more between each row. Something’s going to want to grow in that foot of space. That’s where you end up battling weeds. Square-foot gardening says, why not just grow carrots in those spaces, as opposed to having long empty rows that you’re constantly weeding? You can grow 16 carrots in your 1-foot section instead of putting four carrots in a row in that same space. You look at each individual cube 24 / Bangor Metro April 2013
as its own specific environment. You can grow 32 onions in that same space. You do thin them out and eat them as they grow, but at the end of the season you’ll have some big onions.” In their small space, they deploy two raised beds, four feet on a side. “If you have a four-foot raised bed, you can reach the middle of it really easily and get to all your crops,” Lundy says. “If you made it eight by eight, it would be hard to get to the stuff in the center. Everything can be done by reaching in from outside the bed. And you can make the beds taller, so you don’t have to be on your knees.
You can stand and work your plot.” Lundy has also learned to think vertically. “I love tomatoes,” she says. “But they take a lot more space. You can only have one plant per square foot. Last year I devoted twelve squares to different varieties of tomatoes. I pruned them to grow tall instead of wide. They actually produce more if you have them growing taller as opposed to wider. I think of tomatoes as this way of measuring the summer, especially in Maine with such a short growing season. You have all this excitement leading up to it, and then the next thing you know, you have more tomatoes than you know what to do with.“ They also make use of trellises and the building itself. “Hops plants grow up the side of the building,” Lundy says. “They’re great, because they die back every year, so you don’t see anything, and in the spring, as soon as the snow breaks, they’re up, and they grow fast. They’re prolific growers. We interspersed squash and zucchini on the bottom, to use all the available space.” They use the hops in their own home brewing operation; during the summer, the plants help to cool the building and to absorb some of the sound from outside. The Lundys bought the small lot from the city last year. One of the first things they did was roll out sod, and the grassy area almost immediately attracted people to it. Lundy sees it as a great opportunity to take over stewardship of a previously unused slice of land and to share it with the denizens of downtown Bangor. “I love it when we go by and people are
out there eating lunch or having a conversation, or stopping to play with their kids,” she says. ‘We’ve been able to use it as an outdoor classroom space, as well, for canning classes and things like that.” The raised beds on the roof of the Hammond Street Senior Center are four feet by eight feet, and the roof now holds 14 of them. Starting the garden was a logistical challenge, because the senior center is in a historic building, and the only access to the roof is through a large crank-open window. They’ve built stairs on either side of the window to make it easier for people to get in and out. Charlie Taylor explains that the building was once a bank, and the wall is constructed of two layers of brick encasing a steel plate. “We had to haul the dirt up in the elevator, and we used to have to hand out water through the window in gallon jugs,” he recalls. But a grant from Green Mountain Coffee enabled the senior center to install an automatic irrigation system, and Granville Lumber donated a lift to hoist
The Lundys grow hops up the side of their downtown Bangor building.
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feature story
The volunteers at the Hammond Street Senior Center enjoy the fruits of their labor.
the soil up onto the roof from outside. Taylor and his brother constructed the cedar frameworks for the beds. Sprague’s Nursery donates the soil, and several area nurseries donate seeds and starter plants. The soil is reused through multiple seasons by rotating crops, Taylor says. The variety of vegetables is surprising, from peppers to potatoes. “You need a little bit more dirt for potatoes,” Taylor says. He adds that the garden is all organic, helped by compost and a few tricks he’s shared with his fellow gardeners. “Peppers like sulfur,” he says. “But instead of going out and buying sulfur, I do something I used to do when I had my own garden. I take three or four wooden matches, light them, and put them in the hole while they’re still lit. The peppers grow like crazy.” If you go to Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant, out near the Bangor Mall, chances are you’ll be eating peppers grown on their roof. Owner Chris Jones has ten 30-inch-square raised beds up there, a number he hopes to double this season. “I’m an avid gardener myself, and we like to use locally-grown food whenever pos26 / Bangor Metro April 2013
sible,” he says. The Anaheim peppers he grows on his roof are pickled and used throughout the winter. Other crops include mint, Mexican oregano, jalapeño peppers, and cherry tomatoes. As an independent restaurant competing with national chains in the area around the mall, Jones strives to keep his prices competitive. Thus far, his rooftop garden has been more a labor of love than a cost-saving enterprise. But he’s always looking for innovative ways to improve his garden’s output and efficiency. Ground Country Fair is held each He The hasCommon a 55-gallon rainwater collector on September in Unity and offers an array of the roof, and is looking at the possibility activities and demonstrations. of using water from the restaurant’s airconditioning system for irrigation. “Over the next few years, the garden will save us money,” he says. For Zeth and Betsy Lundy, urban gardening is a way to share their philosophy with like-minded neighbors. “Our approach to things is that we’re not necessarily experts,” Betsy Lundy says. “I like to experiment, and I like to share in the experimentation process with other people, so we sort of invite people in to see what we’re doing. I put out four different kinds
of trellising to get the tomatoes to grow upward. And some of them worked terrible, and some of them worked great. So this year I’ll know that big wooden stakes is the way to go. I never like people to think that what we’re doing here is a finished product, but rather we like to expose the process and get people excited about trying different things.” People on the street seem to respect the effort, and the spirit of sharing. “Everybody warned me that people would destroy the garden,” she says. “I didn’t want people to come along and take all my tomatoes, but I did envision people sort of walking by and snacking on them. Besides, I’ve had raccoons steal my tomatoes. And if you live in a rural area you might have deer come and eat your crop. Drunk people are apparently the deer of a downtown environment. If they steal a couple of tomatoes, that’s okay.” And sharing is half the fun. “There were times last year when I had too much lettuce,” Lundy recounts. “I was rounding up everyone who came into the store and saying, ‘Please, pick some lettuce on your way out.’”
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feature story
Presidents
at Home
Maine’s college and university presidents are a busy group. Their days are filled, from the time they get up in the morning until the time they go to bed. Thankfully, three of them made some time to sit down with us and talk about the schools that brought them to Maine. By Melanie Brooks
Linda Schott
Linda Schott moved her family from Colorado to Maine this past summer to become the president of the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Located right on the college campus, Schott’s home puts her within walking distance of her office and her middle- and highschool-aged kids within a stone’s throw of the cafeteria, where they can eat to their hearts’ content. Which, if you have teenagers, you know is a good thing. The move to northern Maine was easier for Schott and her husband than it was for their three teenagers, but Schott admits that her job affords her kids some perks that their friends don’t have. “My kids have a lot of opportunities that come with my position—they get to go to a lot of events on campus and meet the state’s leaders,” Schott says. “Living on campus is raising my kids’ aspirations.” 28 / Bangor Metro April 2013
As a newcomer, it was important for Schott to do a lot of listening when she first arrived on campus. Now finishing up her second semester as president, Schott feels more in tune with her new, tight-knit community. “I feel like I have found my footing a little bit,” she says. “I have worked hard to balance listening, learning, reacting, and doing.” Juggling multiple things at once is something that comes easily to Schott. The Texas native started out working in higher education as a faculty member at several universities in her home state. While teaching history and American Studies at the University of Texas in San Antonio, she was asked to be the director of the Center for the Study of Women and Gender. It was her first taste of the administrative side of academia, and she liked it. At Fort Lewis College in Durango,
Photo: sha-lam photography
The University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI)
President Linda Schott in her Presque Isle home.
www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 29
feature story
Colorado, she worked as the Dean of the School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. It was here that she started thinking about becoming a university president. The small school and welcoming community was what drew her to the position at UMPI. The public education, nice people, and local airport were also factors in deciding to move her family to Aroostook County. The house that Schott and her family now occupy was originally built in 1938 and was used as a medical practice. The university purchased the home in 1974, and renovated it into the president’s house 13 years later. With over 5,000 square feet of livable space, it’s both a private residence and a public building. The home is used for all sorts of events, including receptions, dinners, recognition events, and alumni brunches. The proximity to campus and downtown Presque Isle is ideal, while the space is comfortable and intimate. Just under one year into her tenure as the leader of UMPI, Schott has set some goals for the school and the 1,400 students who attend it. One of her main 30 / Bangor Metro April 2013
goals is to better prepare the students for the workforce. “When parents and students are looking at colleges, they want to know about job opportunities after graduation,” Schott says. “We have a plan developed in partnership with local employers in the region, which will start in the fall of 2013 and will have students focus more deeply and in a more structured way on career preparation, including workplace etiquette, resumé and cover letter writing, and internships.” Schott also wants to make UMPI a school of choice. “Our goal is to take a look at the mission and strategic plan this year and figure out what it is that makes someone come to UMPI,” she says. “We are a great option—we have great resources, great faculty, and great staff. We want people to know why this is where they should be.”
Stephen Mulkey Unity College
When we met with president Stephen Mulkey in January, he was getting ready to head to India to speak at a con-
ference on climate change. The man from a small town in central Missouri says he’s been an intellectual his entire life. Mulkey is an international expert on tropical ecology, but it was his passion for climate change that moved him from Idaho to Maine. He has spent vast amounts of time at his field site in eastern Amazonia, where he studied tropical plants. It was here that he came to the realization that humans are living in a dangerously disruptive climate that is unable to support the planetary population. “Children born today are going to live in a diminished world, and that realization was bearing down on me,” Mulkey says. He decided he had to do something different. “Many people are deciding not to recognize the problem of climate change, but the science is there, and has been there,” Mulkey says. “This is inexcusable. We’ve wasted decades.” So Mulkey decided to hang up his tropical ecology hat and dive into the other end of academia—the administrative side. But it wasn’t easy. As a faculty member at the University of Florida and the University of Ida-
Photos: courtesy of unity college
Unity House on the campus of Unity College.
President Stephen Mulkey
ho, he found the bureaucracies at these large institutions difficult. Politics at these schools kept getting in the way of his passion. “I always saw the president of a college as part of the problem with schools,” he says. But it was Unity College’s progressive board of directors that changed his mind. “It became apparent that I could make change happen here. Giving up tenure at a large state university was the most liberating thing I’ve ever done.” In just under two years as the head of Unity College, change has indeed happened. Mulkey and the school’s board of trustees have decided to divest from investment in fossil fuels—it’s the first college in the country to do so. He’s also reorganizing the curriculum to take a stand on the mitigation of global climate change and adopt sustainability science learning across all fields of study. “I see us as a national leader,” Mulkey says. “Sustainability has a role in every aspect of higher education. This is the environmental century. How we respond today will result in how we live in the future,” he says. And, indeed, Mulkey is living in the future right on campus. Unity House, where Mulkey lives with his wife Michele, is a net zero home, meaning it creates more energy than it uses. The home was constructed in 2008 by Bensonwood Builders. While most new home construction creates 8,000 pounds of waste, Bensonwood Builders carted away just three barrels. Talk about practicing what you preach. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 31
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Mulkey is working diligently to put Unity College on the map. “In five to 10 years, I want Unity nipping at the heels of the elite colleges like Middlebury, Williams, Colby, Bowdoin, and Bates,” he says. He’s working on bringing in more experts to teach classes in the sustainable agriculture and sustainable energy management programs. He also wants to build a Center for Sustainable Science at the school. Mulkey wants people to take a look at Unity in 10 years and say, “That’s what higher education should be about.” 32 / Bangor Metro April 2013
Larry Barrett
Eastern Maine Community College (EMCC) Larry Barrett is the only president we interviewed who doesn’t live in a house on campus. And that’s just fine with him. When he first took the job at EMCC and moved his family to Maine from Indiana, they rented a house on the river in Hampden. Two years later their home in Indiana was finally sold, and they decided to buy a home in Maine. Since they had first settled in Hampden, they didn’t want to take their two children out of the
local school system. They bought a twostory home in Winterport, which is a bit off the beaten path. “I like it out here, because it’s peaceful and out-of-the-way,” Barrett says. His home is modest and comfortable, and ruled by two extra-friendly cats. His living room is decidedly Disney. A glass hutch holds about 20 Disney snow globes, and Disney prints hang on the walls. Two Disney blankets are folded neatly on the comfy furniture. “We love Disney!” Barrett says. “We’ve been to Disney World as a family about 18 times.”
Photo: melanie brooks
President Larry Barrett in his Winterport home.
And while his demanding job as the head of EMCC takes up a lot of his time, his family is what is most important to him. “Some days I have the best job in the world,” he says. “Other days it’s very challenging.” Barrett is a product of community college education—albeit in New York and not Maine. He was working as the vice chancellor at one of Purdue University’s satellite schools when he learned about the position at EMCC. He helped to start an engineering program at Purdue, and the dean they hired was from the engineering program at the University of Maine in Orono. “He urged me to apply for the presidency position,” Barrett says. “It was the first presidency I applied for.” Barrett is lucky that he has had a collection of great mentors who have helped prepare him for the job he has today. “You have to have discipline in this job—I never make a snap decision,” he says. “One of the presidents I used to work under always used to say, “Let me think about it, and I’ll get back to you,” and it used to drive me crazy! Now I say the same things.” Eastern Maine Community College offers 33 programs, and over half of them are at capacity. One of their most popular programs is welding, one of only three programs in New England; EMCC had 169 applicants in the fall of 2012 for 24 spots. “The biggest issue for EMCC and other community colleges in Maine is funding,” Barrett says. “That welding program could expand, if we had more money to hire more teachers. We turned away 800 students this fall. Maine has the infrastructure at these community colleges to accommodate more students. We have the facilities to bring students in. But we have to pay for it, and that’s a struggle.” Another challenge for Barrett is the fact that Maine’s community college system is so new—it began in 2003—that it’s hard to educate traditional college-age students about the system’s educational opportunities. “In New York State, 33% of high school graduates go on to community college,” Barrett says. “Traditionally, it’s been the nontraditional students who have been the most interested in EMCC. But over the past few years, we’ve been seeing more traditional, or recent high school graduates, interested in what we have to offer.”
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a piece of maine: hampden
Riverside Beauty
W
hat you’re not seeing as you go flying past on Route 1 is a beautiful riverfront that’s waiting to be discovered. You’re likely not giving a second thought to the fact that you’re passing through a town that was nearly burned to the ground during the War of 1812, is the birthplace of mental health pio34 / Bangor Metro April 2013
neer Dorothea Dix, and plays host to the school where Stephen King was teaching when he learned that Carrie would be published. Dan Higgins, general manager of Hamlin’s Marina, had been working for his in-law’s 20-year-old Waterville-based boat business for just about a year when he and his wife were in Bangor doing
Photo: courtesy of dan higgins
The town of Hampden is a lot like a tucked-away antique shop where you always seem to find a unique treasure. The jewels that make up Hampden’s crown are there for discovering. By tom avila
some Christmas shopping. “We got to Hampden and saw this nice town with nice neighborhoods,” Higgins says. “We went down this little road, and it opened up into the most beautiful river view I had ever seen.” Higgins is now playing a key role in transforming that spot into a burgeoning waterfront area. And then there are those things that some believe represent the true measure of a Maine town, like beautifully kept homes, an appreciation for green space, wonderful schools, and a great local library. Approach the Edythe L. Dyer Library on the right snow-covered day, and you might believe you’ve stumbled into a storybook. It was 1983 when Edythe L. Dyer—who helped found the Hampden Regional Library at the high school in 1971—moved to Mount Desert Island and left her picturesque two-year-old Hampden home to the town’s residents as a library building. While certainly a place to pick up the latest bestseller, programming at the Dyer Library is designed to give everyone a reason to turn off Main Road North. “It’s a fun place to come,” library director Debbie Lozito says of the building tucked into the trees. “We’ve had e-book reader how-to sessions, informational sessions on Medicare, and adult book discussion groups. We’ve even started a book discussion group with third and fourth graders. They meet across from my office, and it’s been really interesting to hear what they have to say.” This is often the case when you start to explore Hampden. New ideas and unexpected opportunities hiding where you’d least expect them.
Photos: courtesy the hampden historical society
HISTORY Benjamin Wheeler was the first settler in the area that would one day be Hampden, which was settled largely by individuals migrating from southern New England and Nova Scotia. Arriving in 1768 and making his family’s home near the mouth of the Souadabscook Stream, Wheeler was attracted by the region’s abundant forest land and close proximity to waterways. In 1774, what was being referred to as Souadabscook Plantation or Wheeler’s Mills took the name, not surprisingly, of Wheelersborough. Or, it was Wheelersborough until January 24, 1794, when
Top: The law office of Hannibal Hamlin. Hamlin opened the practice in 1834. Middle: View of the corner of Main Street and Summer Street. Bottom: The entrance to Dorothea Dix Park. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 35
a piece of maine: hampden
Dean Bennett, director of Hampden’s Community and Economic Development.
an incorporation petition made its way to Massachusetts, asking for the town to be renamed Olive. And then, in February, another petition was sent, asking the court to forget Olive and, instead, approve the use of the name Hampden. It’s unclear why any of these revisions took place but, on February 24, 1794, poor Benjamin Wheeler’s legacy was left to diligent historians, and the town of Hampden, named for British Parliamentarian and noted rabble-rouser John Hampden, was born. It was, unfortunately, not the last time the British would leave their mark on the town. In 1814, with the War of 1812 raging throughout New England, Captain Charles Morris brought the U.S.S. Adams to Hampden for repairs after it had run 36 / Bangor Metro April 2013
aground at Isle au Haut. British forces were not far behind, intent on capturing the Adams. What followed was a brutal battle, with Morris and General John Blake, head of the Eastern Militia, leading the citizens of the town of Hampden into a confrontation for which they were unprepared. With less than 24 hours for their transition from shipbuilders to soldiers, the Hampden forces were overwhelmed. Members of the town were taken hostage, homes were ransacked, and, at one point, a British order to destroy all the liquor in the town set off bedlam. “‘We are alive this morning,’ wrote a newspaper correspondent, ‘but such scenes I hope not to witness again. The enemy’s Soldiery...destroy every-thing they cannot move,’” James H. Ellis recorded in A
Ruinous and Unhappy War: New England and the War of 1812. Town members were eventually forced into accepting a bond against the completion of several vessels, to save Hampden from being burned to the ground. The British would take two of those unfinished vessels upon their return in October, just months before the Treaty of Ghent ended the conflict. Word of the Treaty reached Hampden in the early part of the following year. But the history of Hampden is not all battlefields and burnings. Situated at the Hampden end of the Bangor, Hampden & Winterport Electric Railway, Riverside Park opened on Sunday, June 21, 1908. From 1898 to 1916, the Frank Blaisdell-designed park—which included a dance hall, a bowling alley, picnic grounds, and notorious, though vig-
Photo: melanie brooks
“Our first concern is for the people and businesses that call Hampden home. If a business or development opportunity is right for the town, then we’ll do anything we can to make it happen.” —Dean Bennett
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orously denied, blue-law-busting Sunday baseball games—drew people from across the region. In those years before WWI, before automobiles became more common and reliance on streetcars waned, weekend crowds would top 10,000. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the dynamics of Hampden really began to change, with people starting to spend their days working in Bangor, as opposed to in town. Hampden began to be thought of as a suburb, rather than a destination. Today, however, that’s changing.
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THE COMMUNITY OF CHOICE IN CENTRAL MAINE The credit for the changing perceptions of Hampden goes directly to those individuals and business owners who have put their faith in the town and their belief in what’s most important for a healthy, growing community. It’s an economic legacy that includes landmarks like the Stearns Lumber Company, which was founded in Brewer in 1836, but moved to East Hampden in 1952, and maintains a strong business and community presence today. It includes R.H. Foster, a company that started as Foster Fuels, with just a Gulf Oil dealership and a single oil delivery truck and is now a Hampden-based corporation (since 1989) with 350 employees, a wholesale transportation unit, and 24 Foster’s and Mobil On The Run locations. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 37
a piece of maine: hampden And, it’s a legacy of economic growth that includes Maine Savings. “[Hampden] is truly a community of people and families,” says John Reed, president and CEO of Maine Savings. Maine Savings is headquartered in a 30,000-square-foot Hampden building that it shares with a number of its subsidiaries. As the head of an institution that prides itself on its local nature and investment in building better communities, Reed has strong feelings about what Hampden has to offer. “It’s a very desirable place to live, with beautiful housing developments in rural country settings,” he says. “Add to that a tremendous educational system. Hampden is on the move. It’s an exciting place, and it’s getting more exciting all the time to be here.” Dean Bennett, the director of Hampden’s Community and Economic Development office couldn’t agree more. “Hampden is a community who knows who it wants to be,” explains Bennett. “Our first concern is for the people and businesses that call Hampden home. If a business or development opportunity is right for the town, then we’ll do anything we can do to make it happen.” Bennett is one of those people whose passion makes discussions about noise impact and traffic flow oddly compelling. He’s a guy who isn’t afraid to dig deep into the bureaucratic details, who greets obstacles as opportunities, and has a love for the town that is infectious. Bennett helped spearhead the creation of a new way of doing business with those interested in bringing projects to Hampden—a way of clearing out the red tape that many saw as rop-
Top: The Edythe L. Dyer Community Library. Lauren Verow and her son Martin play in the library’s children’s room.
Incorporated: 1794 Population: 7,257 Population Density: 191.3 sq/mi Median Household Income: $86,964 Median Age: 40.8 Mil Rate: 15.9 Median Home Value: $210,000 38 / Bangor Metro April 2013
Education: • Earl C. McGraw School • George B. Weatherbee School • Reeds Brook Middle School • Hampden Academy
Leading Employment Sectors: • Education, health, and social services • Professional, management, and administration • Finance
Major Employers: • H.O. Bouchard Inc. • R.H. Foster Energy • Roe Village • SAD #22 • Town of Hampden • Hannaford Supermarket & Pharmacy
Major Natural Resources: • Penobscot River • Souadabscook Stream • Dorothea Dix Park
Photos: melanie brooks
hampden stats
ing off the town line where businesses were concerned. To minimize delays and obstructions, developers sit down with a team made up of officials from every town office whose approval they’ll need. Plans are discussed, regulations are explained, and everyone leaves with a clear idea of how things will, or won’t, be moving forward. “The first person who went through after we developed the process was Bud Hall of Angler’s Restaurant,” Bennett says. “Bud was someone who had real concerns because Hampden had a reputation of being difficult to deal with. With this new way of working, we were able to tell him right up front what needed to happen. Bud saved thousands of dollars, because he was able to have numerous contractors working all at the same time from our original plans. The time between when Bud closed on the property, a completely abandoned building, until he served his first meal was just 52 days.” Right now, Hampden is hoping for a similar rags-to-riches moment with another piece of land, this one right in the middle of town. “One of the biggest challenges is the former Hampden Academy property,” says Bennett. “We have 22 acres of riverfront property with this campus of eight buildings. Whatever goes there, whatever happens, is going to have an impact on this community. If we find the right development, or that development finds us, we’re prepared to do what it takes to bring them to Hampden, including giving the land and giving the buildings away. The town will collaborate with the developer on what needs to be done, whether that’s razing the buildings or doing the environmental studies, whatever that might be. It’s in everyone’s best interest and it has to be done right.” Given Bennett and the town of Hampden’s track record, it’s hard to imagine it would be done any other way.
Photo: courtesy of dan higgins
THE RIVERFRONT Bennett had just arrived in his position when Dan Higgins approached with what would, on the face of it, seem a simple question. Could Hamlin’s Marina buy the land that they currently leased so that they could continue to expand their business? That was 2008. “Fast forward six years later, getting them the land ended up involving the
Dan Higgins and his daughers Zoe and Ella.
National Park Service, NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Office of the Attorney General,” Bennett explains. “Because the land was purchased with federal grant money, the town had to replace it with something equal, or better than, what’s there. Basically, we had to create a new launch facility and a parking lot.” And then, something unexpected happened. A guy walks into what was then Dana’s Grill at the marina and strikes up a conversation with Higgins. As it turns out, the man had been retained by Chevron, which was facing significant fines for tanks leaking further up the river. Chevron was investigating local environmental projects to fund as compensation to the region and as a means of reducing their payment. Higgins sent the visitor to talk to Bennett and, thanks to an investment from Chevron, a peninsula of land adjacent to the marina will be permanently protected waterfront and will eventually boast walking trails and picnic areas. “Hamlin’s Marina creates jobs, and we have a great story to tell,” says Bennett. “All because the town of Hampden saw potential.” Hamlin’s Marina is indeed creating jobs in the area, just as they created
the largest boat showroom in Maine on Main Road North in Hampden. They’ve doubled the size of the marina, expanded their amenities, and have built a great reputation thanks to their skilled team of workers. They’re currently re-organizing to start boatbuilding onsite—small yachttending Puffin dinghies, sailboats, and rowboats. As a result, the facility is attracting folks from well beyond the town line. “The furthest we’ve stored and serviced was a Norwegian family, a husband and wife and two girls. They had purchased a boat in the French Riviera and had sailed to the Caribbean and up the coast,” Higgins recalls. “They stored with us for a couple of seasons and then went back across the Atlantic.” The waterfront in Hampden is an important asset to the community. “When we arrived, no one was really taking advantage of it,” Higgins says. “Now, we have these wonderful full-service docks, with power and water, right at the foot of a restaurant, with access to Castine and Belfast within an hour. You go up the river, and you can catch the concerts, you can go up to the city docks to the Sea Dog. It’s amazing. And, as far as the community, my neighbors up here on Main Road like PDQ Door, Stearns Lumber, and R&K Variety, are just wonderful, hardworking people. Everyone on the corridor is startwww.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 39
a piece of maine: hampden
A view of Hampden Academy and the surrouding area from above.
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207-862-3906 11 Main Rd North, Hampden website: tardiftherapy.com 40 / Bangor Metro April 2013
ing to make improvements. Jeff Rawcliffe has operated his business, Rawcliffe’s Service Center on Main Road North in Hampden for over 20 years. “It’s about one mile between Higgins Electric and R&K Variety on Main Road North, and there are over 45 businesses in that one stretch of road,” Rawcliffe says. “I call it the forgotton highway.” Rawcliffe says he regularly asks locals how many businesses they think are located on that strip. “People guess maybe 10 or 15,” he says. “People don’t realize that there are so many businesses located here. There have been some nice businesses that have come in.” And McLaughlin’s, Rawcliffe says, is one of those nice businesses. “Years ago we inquired about the spot that we’re on now but they were entertaining putting a hotel or something like that and it never happened,” says Kimberley McLaughlin. “Then Dana’s was leaving, and there was some talk of our taking it over. But, really, it was when Hamlin’s contacted us in January a few years ago that we started working on a business plan. We figured out what things would look like and calculated the good, bad, and the ugly. The first year it rained and it was ugly.” McLaughlin laughs, demon-
strating the good humor that, along with great seafood and a beautiful location, is attracting growing crowds to their seasonal restaurant. “No one has a spot like this. Once you’re there it’s so refreshing to your soul. People feel comfortable, even coming in on their own for dinner,” McLaughlin says. Like Hamlin’s, McLaughlin’s has plans for the future as well. “This spring we’re roping a little compound off and putting in an outside bar and a custom fire pit. You’ll be able to come in, have a piña colada or a cold beer, some mussels and then go sit at a picnic table,” McLaughlin says. “We want it to be comfortable. The restaurant is like our home to us.”
THE ACADEMY With the opening of the new school campus in the fall of 2012, Hampden Academy’s motto, “No footsteps backward” has perhaps never rung more true. It certainly seems to have informed the community’s vision when it came to creating a new home for this public school that was first incorporated in 1803. “S.A.D. 22 contributed $6.2 million dollars to the building budget to be certain four things were done,” explains
Photo: Butch Moor/wbrc
Friendly, casual and affordable dining for the entire family.
Photos: (top) mike pullen/wbrc; (right) sandy agrafiotis/wbrc
Hampden Academy Principal Ruey Yehle. “[The community] wanted us to use alternative energy sources. They wanted a performing arts center big enough so that all of the students could be in the space at the same time. They wanted our gymnasium to be the same size as it was before, and they wanted our science labs to meet national standards.” What that has translated into is a 175,000-square-foot building that is a clever combination of brilliant space planning, environmental consciousness, and unexpected learning opportunities. Heating and air conditioning systems, which would normally be hidden, are instead exposed behind glass walls, allowing students to see the complex geothermal exchange that allows Hampden Academy to run without fuel oil. Classrooms are bathed in natural light and boast forward-thinking technology. The performing arts wing includes a black box theater space, a full scene shop, professionally equipped music rooms, and the second largest performance hall in the state. There are well-equipped art studios, spacious science labs, an envy-inducing fitness center, and an overall commitment to ensuring that the building serves not just the 700-member student body, but residents throughout the surrounding area. As striking as the building is, however, what one walks away with is an appreciation for the students. At a time when praise is too seldom put forward for teenagers, members of Hampden Academy’s faculty have plenty. “There’s a level of class and really high expectations at Hampden Academy,” says Mike Bisson, an experienced teacher who started as the school’s athletic director just this year. “The kids put the effort forward to be excellent. It’s a great environment; you see our kids really pull together and support each other.” That’s a sentiment echoed by Principal Yehle. “I’ve always been tremendously proud of our student body. More often than not, people comment on how polite they are, how thoughtful they are, how positive they are. They have a huge amount of pride in their school, not just the bricks and mortar, but Hampden Academy as how we perform and what we represent. The added bonus is that now there is pride in the bricks and mortar.”
The Hampden Academy bronco poised outside the school. Below: A view of the library and auditorum.
www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 41
Vote today for your favorite restaurants!
From Fort Kent to Rockland and Greenville to Eastport.
HURRY! Votes must be received by June 7, 2013!
www.bangormetro.com
Photos: Pie: Julie Barker; wings & fries: mark mccall; omelet: ragina kakos; sushi & cocktail: donna just; beer bottle: seth whited
A sampling of last year’s winners
Vote by region: Bangor Greater Bangor: Includes Brewer, Hermon, Hampden, Winterport, Frankfort, Bucksport, Holden, Eddington, Orono, Old Town, Veazie, Glenburn, Milford*
Coastal: Includes Thomaston, Warren, Rockland, Rockport, Camden, Lincolnville, Northport, Belfast, Searsport, Stockton Springs*
Downeast: Includes Castine, Blue Hill, Ellsworth, Trenton, MDI, Jonesport, Machias, Eastport, Calais*
North: Includes Millinocket, Lincoln, Lee, Topsfield, Danforth, Houlton, Presque Isle, Caribou, Fort Kent*
West: Includes Palermo, Unity, Thorndike, Pittsfield, Newport, Skowhegan, Jackman, Greenville, Dover-Foxcroft, Dexter*
*And everything in between!
what’s happening
April
Kid Fest Presque Isle • April 6 Grab your kids and head to The Crow’s Nest for a day filled with fun. Jump in the bounce house, play some games, eat some yummy treats, get your face painted, and much, much more. Snow White Ellsworth • April 14–20 You know the story of Snow White, but have you seen it performed live on toeshoes? Bangor Ballet will showcase a new rendition of this classic fairy tale.
April 14-20 Snow White/ Ellsworth 44 / Bangor Metro April 2013
Photos: (top) istockphoto/thinkstock.com; (bottom) Hemera/thinkstock.com
April 6 Kid Fest / Presque Isle
April 3 & 17 Taping of The Nite Show Next Generation Theatre, Brewer If you ever wanted to see a live, latenight talk show but didn’t want to travel to New York or Los Angeles, attend a studio-audience filming of The Nite Show with Danny Cashman. Audience members must be at least 14 years old. 5:45 pm. Free. www.theniteshowmaine.com April 4 Alejandro Escovedo and The Sensitive Boys Strand Theatre, Rockland Legendary Texas-based singersongwriter Alejandro Escovedo has spent a lifetime traversing the bridge between words and melody through a variety of genres. He will be joined for the performance by his band, The Sensitive Boys. 7:30 pm. $20. 594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com April 5 Slavic Soul Party! Camden Opera House Irresistible mash-up of Balkan and gypsy sounds with gospel, techno, funk, dub, jazz, and Latin influences. 7 pm. $35 general admission; $25 ages 21-35; $10 ages 20 and under. 236-7963 www.camdenoperahouse.com April 5–7 BDN Maine 2013 Garden Show & Spring Fling Bangor Civic Center Turn your gardening dreams to reality. This expanded show will fill both the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center. Check out a variety of gardenscapes and play in the family-fun area. Fri. and Sat.10 am–8 pm; Sun. 10 am–4 pm. $5; free for children 12 and under. www.bdnmainegardenshow.com April 6 Presque Isle Kid Fest The Crow’s Nest, Presque Isle This massive, spectacular, and totally amazing Kid Fest is sponsored by Townsquare Media. There will be bounce houses, clowns, candy, games, food, music, face painting, and so much more. 10 am–4 pm. 769-6600 • www.q961.com
Events April 9 Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations in HD Strand Theatre, Rockland For the first time, the Dickens classic will be staged in London’s West End, and audiences around the world will be able to share the historic opening night. The event is part of the global celebrations surrounding the 200th anniversary of Dickens’ birth. 1 & 6 pm. $15 adults; $10 students. 594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com April 11 The Stunt Dog Experience The Grand, Ellsworth High-energy excitement for all ages, the Stunt Dog Experience will present some of the most incredible stunts and behaviors ever performed by dogs. Every show will include crowd participation in cheers, chants, and audience-judged “showdowns.” You will witness the most athletic and talented dogs in the world. 5 & 8 pm. $20 adults; $12 children 12 and under. 667-9500 • www.grandonline.org April 11 Carolina Chocolate Drops Strand Theatre, Rockland The Grammy Award-winning trio’s approach to fiddle- and banjo-based music is provocative and revelatory, as they seek to interpret the century-old works that have shaped what we know today as popular music. 7:30 pm. $25. 594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com April 12–14 43rd Annual Bangor Home Show Bangor Auditorium & Civic Center The Bangor Home Show attracts 20,000 patrons and over 300 vendors each year. Shop, compare, and draw inspiration on everything from decorating, to energy efficiency, to alarm and security systems all under one roof. Fri. 1–9 pm; Sat. 10 am–9 pm; Sun. 10 am–5 pm. Adults $7; free for children 12 and under. 800-237-6024 www.bangorciviccenter.com April 12–14 Kill Me, Deadly! Gracie Theatre, Husson University Bangor Come see this student-run humorous
Theater
Music
parody, which honors the film noir era. Fri. & Sat. 7:30 pm, Sun. 2 pm. 941-7888 • www.gracietheatre.com April 13 City-Wide Historic Tour on Molly the Trolley Presque Isle Join the Presque Isle Historical Society for a narrated three-hour city-wide tour of historic sites around Presque Isle on Molly the Trolley. Reservations are required. 9 am–12 pm. $5. 762-6300 • www.pihistory.org April 13 18th Annual Hike for the Homeless Bangor Proceeds from the unique community event will go to the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter. Hikers will start their journey from Bangor, Brewer, Hampden, or Hermon, making their way to Waterfront Park in downtown Bangor to enjoy a lunch and entertainment. www.hikingforthehomeless.org April 13 & 14 Southern Aroostook Trade Show John A. Millar Civic Center, Houlton Come see your favorite vendors and meet new ones. Events will be happening throughout the weekend. 532-4216 • www.greaterhoulton.com April 13 & 14 Mount Desert Island YMCA Badminton Open Mount Desert Island The two-day badminton tournament will be held at MDI’s YMCA and will feature round-robin preliminaries followed by a double-elimination tournament. Participants at all skill levels are encouraged to play. 9 am–5 pm. $12 per person, per event. 288-3511 • www.mdiymca.org April 13 & 14 Music Off Broadway: The Magic of Motown Peakes Auditorium The 8th production of Music Off Broadway celebrates the beginning of country and rock and is presented by the Rotary Club of Bangor. Sat. 7:30 pm; Sun. 3 pm. 356-0996 www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 45
Events
Theater
April 14 Dvorak’s Stabat Mater Collins Center for the Arts, Orono The Bangor Symphony Orchestra will join with the University of Maine Singers and Oratorio Society to perform Dvorak’s Stabat Mater. The groups will be led by BSO conductor Lucas Richman. 3 pm. $19-$43. 581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com April 14–20 Snow White The Grand, Ellsworth Bangor Ballet will present a new and original ballet based on the Snow White fairy tale. Choreographed by faculty at Thomas School of Dance, the performance combines classical music and dance to depict the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 1:30 pm. $14 adults; $7 children 12 and under. 667-9500 • www.grandonline.org April 18 The Hyssongs Concert Camden Opera House The family trio the Hyssongs will encourage and delight audience members with their Gospel vocal harmonies, lively and energetic style, humor, and brass instruments. 6:30 pm. 236-7963 www.camdenoperahouse.com April 19 Christopher O’Riley in Concert Gracie Theatre, Husson University, Bangor Pianist and NPR Radio’s From the Top host will perform his groundbreaking transcriptions of Radiohead, Elliott Smith, and Nick Drake on the piano. 7:30 pm. $20 adults; $12.50 children and students. www.gracietheatre.com April 20 Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race Kenduskeag to Bangor The 16.5-mile race from Kenduskeag to Bangor is the largest paddling event in New England and one of the largest in the country. The event is hosted by the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department. 8:30 am. 942-4490 www.kenduskeagstreamcanoerace.com 46 / Bangor Metro April 2013
Music April 20 Kid Fest Brewer Auditorium This massive, spectacular, and totally amazing Kid Fest is sponsored by Townsquare Media. There will be bounce houses, clowns, candy, games, food, music, face painting, and so much more. 10 am–5 pm. 249-9936 • www.wbzn-fm.com April 20 Dancing with Ellsworth Stars The Grand, Ellsworth Based on the popular TV show, Dancing with Ellsworth Stars is The Grand’s annual fundraiser that features dance performances by local celebrities. Attendees can vote for their favorite ballroom dance team. Each vote is $1. For each ticket that is sold, $1 will go to The Grand’s Restoration Fund. 7 pm. $25 reserved seating; $17 children 12 and under; $1 per vote. 667-9500 • www.grandonline.org April 20 Dave Mallett and the Mallett Brothers Band Strand Theatre, Rockland Singer-songwriter Dave Mallett, whose career spans four decades, will share the stage with his sons Luke and Will from the Mallett Brothers Band for an evening of folk, rock, and alt-country music. 7:30 pm. $22. 594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com April 20 Run-A-Hound 5k Youthlinks, Rockland Bring your pooch to this fun event. The proceeds will support Youthlinks after-school programs. Dogs must be on a leash. 9:30 am. $10 adult with dog; $15 adult without dog; $8 student aged 18 and under. 594-2221 • www.youthlinksonline.org April 20 & 27 Habitat’s 2nd Annual Spring Mud Walk Ellsworth Assemble a team to walk two or four miles, raising awareness and supporting the current house construction in Lamoine. Those who finish the walk will be served breakfast at St. Andrew
Lutheran Church. 9 am. 667-8484 • www.ellsworthchamber.org April 24 Bodas de Sangre and Suite Flamenca in HD Strand Theatre, Rockland Two distinct works—Blood Wedding and Suite Flamenca—combine for an incredible and combustible performance from the Teatro Real. The passion, color, and rhythm of the flamenco envelop the viewer in this classic of Spanish dance. 7 pm. $15 adults, $10 students. 594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com April 25 & 26 Hair: National Broadway Tour Collins Center for the Arts, Orono Hair tells the story of a group of friends choosing to speak up and sing out in celebration of love, life, and freedom, with some of the most rousing and soulful songs ever written for the stage. Thurs. 7 pm; Fri. 8 pm. $48–$53. 581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com April 26 Kris Allen Strand Theatre, Rockland Since winning American Idol’s 2009 season, Kris Allen has enjoyed five singles on the Billboard charts. Kris’s newest album, Thank You Camellia, showcases the richness of his voice through heartfelt lyrics that explore the ups and downs of love. 7:30 pm. $20. 594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com April 26 Annual Smelt Fry Columbia Falls Fire Department Grounds This event is a local favorite, where smelts are deep fried to perfection. Tours of the Pleasant River Hatchery will also be given from 4–5 pm; smelt fry, from 5–9 pm. $6 adults; $4 kids; $20 per family. 483-4336 www.mainesalmonrivers.org April 27 Erin’s Run Bangor Waterfront This annual 5k is held in honor of Erin McGrath Wooley, who died of cancer.
Wooley was a supporter of Spruce Run, and proceeds from the race will support the Bangor nonprofit as well as create a scholarship in Wooley’s name for a member of the UMaine swimming and diving team. 10 am. $25. www.erinsrun.org April 27 WERU’s 3rd Annual Spring Fling Music Sale Belfast Boathouse, Belfast The sale features used records, CDs, instruments, and other musical gear sold by area vendors and WERU. Refreshments and music provided by WERU disk jockeys. All proceeds will benefit WERU Community Radio, 89.9 FM Blue Hill, 99.9 FM Bangor. 10 am–3 pm. 469-6600 • www.barharborinfo.com April 27 HOPE Festival New Balance Student Recreation Center, Orono The 19th annual HOPE festival will feature juggler Zachary Fields, music by Timbered Lake, “Do One Thing” presentations, and a “Wall of Hope” in addition to its organizational fair that hosts over 60 vendors. 11 am–4 pm 942-9343 • www.peacectr.org
April 27 Live from the Met: Giulio Cesare The Grand, Ellsworth The Met: Live in HD presents this new production of Handel’s opera that conquered London. David Daniels sings the title role opposite Natalie Dessay as Cleopatra. Baroque specialist Harry Bicket conducts. 12 pm. $26 adults; $24 seniors; $17 for children 12 and under. 667-9500 • www.grandonline.org April 27 Guided Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Presque Isle Presque Isle Join the Presque Isle Historical Society for a guided two-hour walking tour of historic downtown Presque Isle. Weather permitting, the tour begins and ends at the Vera Estey House Museum at 16 Third Street and covers approximately two miles and over 30 historic sites and individuals. 10 am. $2. 762-1151 • www.pihistory.org April 27 Park Day Cleanup Project Fort Knox and Penobscot Narrows Observatory, Prospect Held in conjunction with the Civil War Preservation Trust and the History Channel, volunteers are needed to
rake, sweep, and pick up winter debris. Volunteers who assist with the removal of winter debris will receive T-shirts and a tour of the Fort. Rain date: April 28. 10 am. 469-6553 www.fortknox.maineguide.com April 27 & 28 Top O’ Maine Trade Show Madawaska Multi-Purpose Complex The largest and most well-attended trade show north of Bangor features more than 80 exhibitors, displaying their products and services. All weekend long, attendees can enjoy food, prizes, and giveaways. www.greatermadawaskachamber.com April 28 Mnozil Brass Collins Center Hutchins Hall, Orono This Austrian brass septet routinely combines slapstick humor with impeccably accomplished musical performances. Founded in 1992 by graduates of the Vienna College of Music, Mnozil Brass is a truly singular experience and one not to be missed. 3 pm. $28–$33. 581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com
museums Hancock County Abbe Museum Bar Harbor 822-3519 • www.abbemuseum.org Birdsacre-Stanwood Wildlife Sanctuary & Homestead Ellsworth 667-8460 • www.birdsacre.com George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History Bar Harbor 288-5015 • www.coamuseum.org Wendell Gilley Museum Southwest Harbor 244-7555 www.wendellgilleymuseum.org Woodlawn Museum Ellsworth 667-8671 www.woodlawnmuseum.org
Knox County Coastal Children’s Museum Rockland 385-1105 www.coastalchildrensmuseum.org Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center Rockland 596-6457 www.farnsworthmuseum.com Maine Lighthouse Museum Rockland 594-3301 www.mainelighthousemuseum.com Owls Head Transportation Museum Owls Head 594-4418 • www.ohtm.org
Penobscot County Hudson Museum at the University of Maine Orono 581-1901 www.umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum Maine Discovery Museum Bangor 262-7200 www.mainediscoverymuseum.org University of Maine Museum of Art Bangor 561-3350 • www.umma.maine.edu
www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 47
What Makes a Great Football Team? Will a change from a three-class system to a four-class system for high school make much of a difference? By Brian Sullivan
T
he lyrics, “Times they are achangin’,’” written by Bob Dylan back in the 1960s, ring true in today’s Maine high school football ranks. A move from the current three-class system to a four-class system is part of an effort to raise the level of competition on a week-in, week-out basis. A level playing field is the goal, based on the enrollment of Maine’s high schools. Certain schools will move up a class, others down. Some rivalries will be lost, others born. But even with the new classification system, the schools that are at the top of their game will probably stay that way, at least for a little while. There is a reason
48 / Bangor Metro April 2013
certain schools are at or near the top of their respective leagues each season. Talent and coaching are a huge part of wins and losses. There are a few exceptions to this rule, like the John Bapst Crusaders, but the key to success comes down to two words: feeder system. The best teams around the state offer football to middle school, and even elementary school, students. This helps to instill the fundamentals of the game in kids at a young age. If an up-and-coming football player learns the correct way to tackle a player at age 12, then, as a junior and senior in high school, the tactics, plays, and rules come as second nature, making everything that much easier.
Dan O’Connell, head coach at John Bapst in Bangor, doesn’t have the luxury of a feeder system. “We have kids from all over, many of them playing football for the first time,” he says. “We have to get the most out of our junior varsity schedule, even allowing freshmen and sophomores to play in varsity games that allow for the opportunity.” O’Connell, who played his high school football for the Bangor Rams, was a product of one of the best feeder systems in the state. He knows the difference it can make, but it’s not just the feeder system that makes the difference. “Kids have to enjoy themselves in what they do now, otherwise they won’t play,” he says. “There are just too many other viable options.” Those options include other high school sports, part-time jobs, and extracurricular activities like drama and volunteering. “Decades ago it may have been a foregone conclusion [that] a young athletic kid would have played football, because that’s just what you did. Those days are gone,” O’Connell says. According to O’Connell, the key is to make the every young person involved in the program feel like he is a part of something bigger than what takes place between the lines. “Having a member of the varsity in attendance, refereeing a fifth grade game for instance, is invaluable. The kids playing look up to the older players and see that they care. It’s infectious.” “There aren’t as many things that make men as there used to be. Football is still one of them,” says Jack Cosgrove, head coach of the UMaine football team. The move from three classes to four is part of an overall effort to make football in the state more competitive across the board. Bangor will be the only class A team north of Augusta. Lawrence has been to the state game for the past two years in class A, but now they will be playing in class B. The ideal goal is the right one—to put out a better product on a weekly basis. But the fact remains that the same teams will remain the best, because of the work that is done off the field, in and around the program. Laying the building blocks for success at an early age, will ultimately make the difference. Brian Sullivan is the local sports director at Fandom Sports.
photo: Jackie cyr
metro sports: high school
metro sports: college
Knocking Down Records
One Meet at a Time UMaine senior Justin Gagne recently set a school record. His sights are now set on the NCAA championships.
Photo: peter Buehner/university of maine
By Jesse Scardina
T
wo weeks before breaking the University of Maine indoor shot put record, junior Justin Gagne realized he had a psychological block with throwing, after fouling out of a meet at Bates College. “After that meet at Bates, we found out how much of a mental barrier I had with fouling,” says Gagne, who hails from Biddeford. “That week and going into the next week when I would break the [school] record, all we worked on was
not fouling throws, no matter how bad they were. I didn’t break 50 feet until the last throw before the meet.” At the home meet against the College of the Holy Cross, Gagne threw the shot put 59 feet, nine inches, breaking the school record and setting a new personal best. Gagne’s throw is good for the 35th best throw in the country, but the senior needs to add about another foot onto his throw for a chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships, which was his
loftiest goal entering the season. “We have a tiered goal system,” Gagne said, citing assistant coach Rolland Ranson as the inspiration behind the tiered system. “I came into this season and my [personal record] was 55 [feet], and I knew I had more in me. I said I wanted to break the school record, I wanted to break 60 [feet], and I wanted to qualify for nationals.” Breaking UMaine school records isn’t a new thing for Gagne. During the spring 2012 track and field season, Gagne broke both the school’s shot put and discus records at the same meet at the University of New Hampshire. Gagne’s shot put throw of 52 feet, 10.25 inches still holds as the outdoor record. The following week, Gagne broke his own discus record, throwing a distance of 166 feet, nine inches, breaking a 33-year old record set by Alan Sherrard in 1979. Gagne ended that season on a high note, and could have taken the summer off and hit the beach. Instead, Gagne helped coach his high school track and field team. He was glad to have the opportunity to help teach high school kids about the sport he loved. “My coach Gerhard [Skall] said you don’t really understand something until you’re able to teach it,” Gagne says. “Being able to coach other athletes helps me understand more by seeing them in body positions.” Body position is just as, if not more important, than brute strength when it comes to throwing the shot put. Originally a football player—center and defensive tackle—Gagne picked up throwing just to supplement football in his junior year as a Biddeford Tiger. Yet he soon fell in love with the sport, despite its vast differences from the gridiron. “Track’s one of those rewarding sports. If you get a really good throw or a really good time, you know it’s on you,” Gagne says. “You can’t say ‘Oh, he carried you.’ You did it yourself.” Gagne puts in hours and hours of preparation each week for his meets, where, if he’s lucky, he will throw the shot put a total of six times. Gagne still has his sights set on qualifying for nationals and for the chance to represent his home state at the NCAA tournament. “It’s a big deal for me,” he says. “[Biddeford’s] a very proud community, always emphasizing Tiger Pride. It’d be a great honor to go to nationals and represent Maine.” www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 49
food file
Pairing produce from the County with seafood from the midcoast is a recipe for success. By Melanie Brooks
50 / Bangor Metro April 2013
J
essamine Logan thought long and hard about what she was going to prepare for this story. She hails from Boothbay Harbor, and her boyfriend Jon Pottle is from Littleton, which is just north of Houlton. She decided to combine these two distinct areas of Maine to create a tasting menu for some of her Bangor-area friends. Logan, who is a staff assistant to Sen. Susan Collins, and Pottle, who is an associate attorney with Eaton Peabody, are a great match—especially in the kitchen. The couple met in Boothbay at a mu-
tual friend’s Christmas cocktail party and talked politics. When Memorial Day rolled around the following year, Logan decided to invite Pottle to a party and set him up with one of her friends. He attended the party, but didn’t get introduced to Logan’s friend. The two have been together ever since. They bought their house in Bangor, which was built in 1834, about four years ago. “I love it because it’s quirky,” Logan says. The house has beautiful hardwood floors, four fireplaces, and lots of charm. While Logan lays out a spread of appe-
Photos: mark mccall
From the County to the
recipes Dirty Fiddlehead Martinis Ice Twenty 2 vodka Splash of vermouth Splash of fiddlehead brine Pickled fiddleheads Fill a shaker with ice and pour the vodka into the shaker until it reaches the top of the ice. Add the vermouth and fiddlehead brine. Shake and pour. Garnish with a pickled fiddlehead. Food Camp Oysters 2 dozen Damariscotta River oysters 4-6 Tbsp. Houlton Farms Dairy butter ½ cup fried/rendered pancetta 2 heaping tablespoons of minced garlic and shallot mixture 1 sliced lemon ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesean cheese Cocktail sauce—doctored up with some fresh horseradish
Coast tizers—including cream cheese topped with her own homemade hot pepper jelly—Pottle starts mixing the martinis in the couple’s converted bar area (a large pantry located in the dining room). The pickled fiddleheads used in the Dirty Fiddlehead Martinis were picked on Pottle’s parents' property in the County. Pottle makes the martinis with vodka from Houlton-based Twenty 2 Vodka. The fiddleheads are crisp, and the drink is reminiscent of warm summer days—a wonderful respite, considering there’s about a foot of snow outside.
Heat your grill to a medium-high heat. Melt butter with the garlic and shallot mixture on a stovetop or on the grill. Once melted, add fried pancetta. Add oysters to the grill and wait for the shells to pop open, about 2 to 5 minutes. Wearing protective gloves, open the oysters, loosen the meat, and place open oysters on a pan. Add a pinch of Parmesan, a spoonful of the butter mixture, and a squeeze of lemon. Let the oysters rest while the cheese melts and serve with a side of cocktail sauce.
*Note: It’s best to have two people make this appetizer. Salmon Bites 3-4 small Aroostook potatoes 4 oz. Maine smoked salmon Crème fraiche Lemon zest Capers Olive oil Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and slice potatoes into rounds. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and place potatoes on the cookie sheet, making sure they aren’t too close together. Spray with olive oil and garnish with salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until crispy. Let cool, add a dollop of crème fraiche, a slice of salmon, a caper, and lemon zest. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 51
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Jon Pottle mixes the martinis in the couple's converted bar space.
Pottle serves the drinks in canning jars, while Logan is preparing the oysters for the grill. “Anyone want a raw oyster?” Logan hollers from the kitchen. Pottle shucks an oyster using a crude, but effective, oyster trough and offers it up for takers. The rest of the oysters he takes outside to put on the charcoal grill. As with clams or mussels, the heat from the grill helps open the oysters. Logan takes the oysters, which came from the Damariscotta River, and tops them with a delicious
concoction made with Houlton Farms Dairy butter, pancetta, shallots, garlic, lemons, horseradish, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. She serves the oysters on the half shell to rave reviews. Next up are Logan’s salmon bites, which, like the oyster appetizer, is a recipe she created on her own. “I love to cook,” Logan says. “Appetizers are my thing.” The salmon bites are made with potatoes grown in Aroostook County and delicious slices of Maine smoked salmon—
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the epitome of two of Maine’s biggest industries, farming and fishing. Topped with crème fraiche, capers, and lemon zest, these salmon bites burst with flavor. Logan’s recipes were a hit with the group, who spent the evening stuffing their mouths with one delicious appetizer after another. Logan and Pottle chose to use ingredients that were made or harvested right here in Maine. If you’re looking to impress someone from “away,” any of these delicious recipes would fit the bill.
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kitchen confidential Where are you from? I was born in Bar Harbor. I moved to Washington State for a couple of years in my early twenties. I came back to Maine for a summer and never left. As much as I loved living in Washington, Maine is my home. What is your first food memory? When I think of early food memories, I think of the lamb roasts my family had on special occasions and holidays. I am also brought back to the times we would have lobster during the summer. What are some of your early cooking experiences? My mother gave me the option of helping with dinner or doing the dishes By the time I was in junior high school, I was cooking dinner for the family a few nights a week. Are there any family influences on your style and taste? Growing up on the coast of Maine gave me a real love of fresh seafood. Other than that, my mother’s homemade pasta sauce sparked an interest in Italian food for me when I was in high school. Where did you study or apprentice? I didn’t have any formal training when I started working in restaurants at 15 years old and worked at several restaurants over the years. I probably learned the most from my friend Eric York, Jr., whom I hired to help me open the kitchen at Woodman’s Bar & Grill.
Bar & Grill
Mark Horton worked in restaurants all his life. At the ripe old age of 27, he and a couple of friends opened Woodman’s Bar & Grill in Orono, where he reigns supreme in the kitchen. By Melanie Brooks
54 / Bangor Metro April 2013
When did Woodman’s Bar and Grill open? Woodman’s opened in May of 2005. Abe and Heather Furth and I all graduated from the University of Maine in 2004. That fall, Abe asked me what my plans were, and I said I would probably eventually go to grad school or open a
Photos: michael alden
Woodman’s
When did you realize you were a chef? It wasn’t long after Woodman’s opened that I realized the restaurant was growing past my experience. That is when I started buying culinary textbooks and teaching myself the skills I needed to be the chef I wanted to be. By 2007, a couple years after Woodman’s opened, I started considering myself a chef but I have always kept that quest for learning alive.
ping food to answer the phone and it is someone from out of state trying to sell me something. When was the last time you really surprised yourself in the kitchen? This winter we catered a Christmas party for 30 people. It was a four-course dinner that I had to prepare in an unfamiliar kitchen, and it went off without a hitch. Opposite page: Chef Mark Horton. Above: Woodman’s Shrimp Napoli.
restaurant. He said he was interested in opening a restaurant as well. The three of us began talking in January, and we opened Woodman’s four months later. What do you love about your location? I love our location, because Orono has a great small-town community. Because the University of Maine brings cultural and athletic events to so many people, we have many of the perks of living in much larger towns. Our customer base has a sophisticated enough palate that nothing is too adventurous for them.
more info WOODMAN’S BAR & GRILL 31 MAIN STREET, ORONO 207-866-4040 Hours: Mon.–Sat. 4–10 pm; Sun. 4–9 pm. Specialties: Steak, seafood, pasta, and burgers.
What does a perfect day off look like? The perfect day off for me is spending time with my family. My wife Mary, our 2-year-old daughter Charlotte, and our 3-month-old twins Jack and Lula.
Accolades: Bangor Metro’s Best Restaurant winners for best burgers (2011 and 2012) and best cocktails (2009 and 2010). Ranked in the top three restaurants on UrbanSpoon.com for the Bangor area for over four years.
What would you want your last meal to be? I would have a filet mignon topped with lobster and béarnaise sauce.
First-timer tip: Try something on the specials board. A good portion of the week is spent keeping interesting specials on the board.
What do you love most about your job? I love my job because it is what I make of it every day. I have limitless possibilities, because we are not confined to one type of cuisine.
Directions: Take exit 191 off I-95 and turn right onto Kelley Road. At the light, take a left on to Main Street and follow it into town. Woodman’s Bar & Grill will be on your left, at the center of town.
What is your favorite ingredient to work with? I love working with fresh seafood. Scallops are probably my favorite, because they are so versatile and flavorful—the possibilities are endless.
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What is the dish we are featuring? The dish that I am featuring is our Shrimp Napoli. I was trying to decide what to do with some shrimp I had ordered a few years ago. It was late summer, and basil was plentiful, so I had just made a big batch of pesto. I added sundried tomatoes—they taste great with pasta and pesto. What is your favorite restaurant? With a young family and the hours I work, we don’t get to eat out much but I love pizza and my favorite is Rosalie’s in Bar Harbor. Rosalie’s is also where my first restaurant job was. What is your least favorite job-related task? My least favorite task is answering telemarketing calls. I don’t mind anything that I do in the kitchen, but nothing annoys me more than when I stop prep-
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per spectives
Steven J. Gray
56 / Bangor Metro April 2013
Steven J. Gray was born and raised in the Bangor area. He has been a photography hobbyist for many years, and took it on as a career two years ago, opening a studio in downtown Bangor. Outside of photographing the landscapes of his beloved home state, he also enjoys photographing high school seniors, weddings, and fashion. His work has garnered several awards in Maine competitions and has been featured on the pages of Bangor Metro, the Bangor Daily News, and the 2013 Greater Bangor Visitor’s Guide. He also works locally for Darling’s Auto Group, as a photographer and graphic artist in their marketing department. Visit www .stevengrayphoto.com to see more of his work.
www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 57
A Gun Control Game Changer There are currently 32 gunrelated bills being prepared in the Maine legislature, and it remains to be seen how those will impact gun owners in Maine. by Brad Eden
58 / Bangor Metro April 2013
s a sportsman and a gun owner, I feel compelled to write about the gun control debate. This has been one of the most difficult columns I’ve ever composed. But I had to say something. As soon as I heard the news about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, I knew that this would be a game changer for gun control. I knew I couldn’t confidently defend gun rights in the shadow of this particularly horrific event. I knew that spewing out statistics and facts in defense of gun ownership would be pointless, even if that information illustrated that mass shootings were a very small problem, that the number of people killed was insignificant compared to accidental drowning, poisonings, and even people struck by lightning. I knew that an explanation about how nebulous the term “assault rifle” is would fall on deaf ears, and that to drone on about gun bans taking guns away from law-abiding citizens rather than criminals wouldn’t cut it. Frankly, I was left defenseless and speechless, because these were innocent little kids mowed down by a madman with a rifle. I wondered what made mass shootings so emotionally charged and this particular event the proverbial last straw. While researching, I discovered a term called “The Fallacy of Misleading Vividness” that helped explain this phenomenon. This is when a small number of dramatic events are taken to outweigh a significant amount of statistical evidence. In other words, when the thought, imagery, or reality of something is so egregious and emotionally powerful that you begin to overestimate the likelihood and frequency of its occurrence. A good example is the fear of flying. We can be aware that plane crashes hardly ever happen, but the thought of plunging into the ground is so alarming that the fear overwhelms the reality that you were in more danger driving your car to the airport. This is what has happened collectively to all of us after this recent tragedy. I’m not belittling the public outcry that we have to do something to stop this from ever happening again. That’s understandable, but unfortunately it’s simply not possible in a free and open society. We can attempt to take measures to curb the frequency of these events but will never eliminate them completely. There will always be criminals and
mentally unstable individuals intent on harming the innocent. Politicians pontificate about how people, particularly hunters, don’t “need” this type gun or such large quantities of ammunition. This may be a poor analogy, but does a golfer “need” three titanium drivers, four putters, and a dozen balls in his golf bag? The Second Amendment to our Constitution has nothing to do with hunting, nor does it have anything to do with need. Like it or not, the Second Amendment guarantees citizens the right to own firearms. The real question is how much “compromise” can be inflicted on that right and how much control gun owners will tolerate, if any. I am certain that pro-gun-control politicians and their supporters have no clue how important the right to own firearms of their choice is to a large segment of the American population. The vast majority of people who are being demonized are law-abiding gun owners that you sit next to in church, in restaurants, and at ball games. It’s not even the guns themselves that they value—it’s the right to possess them and use them to protect their families. Unfortunately, those crafting gun control bills, especially at the federal level, rarely rub elbows with these people. The pro-gun side of this argument is admittedly borderline hysterical at this point. They are dismissive and downright hostile to anyone, including fellow hunters, who don’t agree with them loudly and without reservation. People are emptying gun shops of firearms and ammunition and joining pro-gun rights groups in unprecedented numbers. To many of these people, the “common sense solutions” being suggested, like universal background checks, are just a precursor to confiscation. To them, the Second Amendment doesn’t only mean self-protection but defense against what they now perceive as a tyrannical government. As I send in this column there are 32 gun-related legislative bills being prepared in Maine. Regardless of where you stand on the gun control issue, it behooves law abiding gun owners and hunters to be informed. An outline of those gun-related bills can be found on The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine website. www.sportsmansalliance.com. Brad Eden is an artist, writer, and Registered Maine Master Guide.
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maine woods & waters
savvy seniors
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Make Aging in Place Possible Being prepared can help keep the golden years from tarnishing. by carol higgins taylor
“T
here’s no place like home,” repeated Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, while clicking the heels of her ruby red slippers together three times. She is right. Wise beyond her years, the beloved character chanted what seniors have always known. Home is the place they want to live out their lives. The challenge lies in keeping them safe, as time takes its toll on their bodies and sometimes their minds. There is a comfort that comes from living in the same home for decades. Around every corner is a memory, from marks on the door frame that measured growth spurts in children, to the faded wallpaper in the kitchen, to the small stain in the corner near the ceiling from
ice dams in particularly bad winters. Seniors surrounded by their own personal history and reminders and memories of the past can feel more connected to the community in which they have lived for so long. For some seniors, the importance of remaining at home and aging in place is paramount to their wellbeing and emotional health. The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging offers a list of things to consider when the goal is to age in place. The time to start planning is now. Look around your home. Are there places that can be modified, should the time come when you are not as ablebodied as you currently are? There are numerous things you can do to make life a little easier. Do you have www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 59
savvy seniors trouble juggling groceries? That will only get worse. Placing a small bench or table for bags and packages near the entry to your home will free your hands for unlocking the door and my help prevent a tumble down the steps. Do you find yourself coming home to a completely dark house? To ensure outside lighting is adequate, install sensor lights that will turn on automatically as you approach. They may also be used in other parts of the home to keep you from fumbling for a lamp or light switch. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to light up your world. Check out the bathroom. Try to envision grab-bars near the toilet and tub/ shower. While historically clinical in appearance, there are now some versions on the market that are decorative, and no one will be the wiser. Will a chair fit into the tub? Is the height going to be a problem later in life? Consider installing a shower stall with a built-in fold-down seat. Also think about installing a phone in the bathroom, in
case of an emergency, such as a fall. You may think to yourself, “I’ll just carry my cordless or cell phone with me.” But do you remember to do it every time? Raised toilet seats that are not completely clinical-looking are on the market, too. Set hot water temperature to 120 degrees, which is safer for aging skin, and use a single faucet that mixes hot and cold water together on your tub and sink for better regulation. Have you given any thought to your doorknobs? The lever type is much easier for arthritic hands to operate than the round ones and can be relatively inexpensive to purchase. Does your staircase have a railing on each side? It may seem like overkill, but when balance falters, two railings are better than one. Look around your kitchen. Is the freezer on top of the refrigerator? Bending over to fetch things can be hard on an aging back. Reaching can become a problem for shoulders, so consider putting a lazy Susan in cupboards with deep
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334 Stillwater Avenue Bangor, Maine 04401 www.stillwater-healthcare.com
335 Stillwater Avenue
Stillwater HealthcareMaine is an affiliate of Bangor, 04401
adminstillwater@firstatlantic.com 207·947·1111
60 / Bangor Metro April 2013
Do you want to: • Feel good about yourself • Stay healthy overall • Get rid of your pain • Regain your strength and mobility
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shelves to make items more accessible. It is sometimes seen as a space-saver to have the microwave oven over the stove or on a high shelf. That may be true, but it can also be a recipe for disaster. Aging arms may not successfully lift heavy hot dishes down from overhead. Burns are a real possibility. Play it safe, and make some room on the countertop. If you live in a two-story home, is there a downstairs room that could be easily converted to a bedroom? Some dining rooms would make lovely bedrooms when the stairs become too much. It is a lot to think about, but planning now can take the edge off later. It really is never too early to research services. Medicare has a valuable resource that can answer your questions and explain what is available as you age. Log on to www .longtermcare.gov and look around. Carol Higgins Taylor is director of communications at Eastern Area Agency on Aging. She may be reached at chtaylor@eaaa.org.
real estate: estate Visit www.bangormetro.com for additional listings & virtual tours insurance
Life Insurance You insure your home and car for the unexpected times in life: why wouldn’t you insure yourself? k Hogan’s The Dick Hogan Agency Dic Office: 207-947-4579 Toll free: 800-327-7927 Insurance Agency 792 Stillwater Ave, Bangor Mon-Fri • 8:30am–5pm
penobscot County
Prospect Harbor • MLS#1003396 1.8 acre deep water lot with 198' of water front. Beautiful views of Prospect Point & the working harbor. Listed $225,000 Barbara Bragdon The Winter Harbor Agency Office: 207-963-2347 babragdon@prexar.com
hancock County
agents
Newport • MLS#1081630 Immaculate home w/open floor plan & cathedral ceilings. Granite counters, hdwd flrs, loft, fp, pocket doors. Deck w/gazebo. Overlooks lake. $410,000 Kelley & Wally Fenlason Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Town & Country Office: 207-942-6711 Cell: 207-949-7376
Kelley & Wally Fenlason Associate Brokers The Only Team You Need! Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Town & Country Office: 207-942-6711 Cell: 207-949-7376
Commercial
Investment OppOrtunItIes
Castine • MLS#1081931 Waterfront contemporary shingle style has open views & privacy on quiet road. Elegant & easy to maintain. A perfect house for relaxed entertaining. Close to golf and yacht club. $1,250,000 Pat Dunham Compass Point Real Estate Office: 207-374-5300 www.compasspointrealestate.com
Winter Harbor • MLS#1069848 Newman St., 2560 sq. ft commercial building formerly occupied by Winter Harbor Hardware, on 2.2 acres. Building and land are for sale, not the business currently operating on premises. Listed $269,000 Barbara Bragdon The Winter Harbor Agency Office: 207-963-2347 babragdon@prexar.com
BELFAST: 10,000 sf. building. Mostly wide open. Ready for build out. Ideal Rte. 1 location. Near Downtown. 1 acre lot. GREAT INVESTMENT! Assessed at $385,000. Asking $225,000.
BANGOR: 15,000 sf. building. 9000 sf. warehouse/ garage, 3000 sf. Showroom, 3000 sf. office space. Natural gas at site, GREAT LOCATION near I95 and I395. JUST BEAUTIFUL! Assessed at $445,000. Asking $375,000
207-745-8118 | 4 Union St. | Bangor, Maine Dave Giroux, Broker | www.ProRealEstate.com
Brewer —
we’re anything but business as usual “At Maine & Company, we work with businesses that are looking to make growth and expansion decisions. Companies need to find communities that know how to get things done. In Brewer, City staff understand the needs of the community and they know how to move a project forward quickly and smoothly. This allows businesses to make decisions in a smart and timely manner. Maine & Company knows Brewer gets things done.” —Peter DelGreco, President and CEO, Maine & Company
Peter DelGreco, President and CEO, Maine & Company
Contact D’arcy Main-Boyington, Supplied Original Economic Development Director 989-7500 • www.brewermaine.gov dmain-boyington@brewermaine.gov www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 61
Blue Seal, BANGOR
I
n 1868, the Blue Seal brand was created when HK Webster started making feed in a small New England town on the banks of the Merrimack River. Featuring only superior quality ingredients, Webster’s horse feed supported a lifestyle that was part livelihood and part a way of life. That tradition endures to this day. More than 140 years later, the Blue Seal brand is part of a family-owned company that continues to honor and maintain the same commitment to innovation, quality and the craftsmanship that went into the very first bag of feed. It continues to support a country lifestyle—and customers who value authentic, rewarding connections that come from caring for animals. Connections to family…to the land…and to our past. Like our customers, the maker of Blue Seal feeds understands that raising animals is an act of passion. This passion translates to responsibility, companionship, tradition and ultimately a spirit that is a real tribute to our heritage. We will continue to work with pride—and with purpose—to support and promote this way of life. Customer Promises Every relationship holds a promise—it’s what keeps us together and helps each of us grow. The relationship Kent
Nutrition Group holds and values with our customers is no different. It is in the mutual interest and benefit that we make and live up to our promises. • We will do the right thing—and what we say we are going to do. • We will share our real-world knowledge of animal nutrition. • We will focus on select opportunities to create sustainable value for all our stakeholders. • We will innovate with products and services to meet the changing needs of our customers. • We will satisfy our customer needs—guaranteed. •
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last word
The Joy of Fluff We Mainers are lucky that our grocery store shelves are always stocked with this sweet marshmallow treat. Not everyone in America is so lucky. By Chris Quimby
Chris Quimby is a husband, father, Christian comedian, writer, and graphic designer from Brooks. Visit him on the web at chrisquimby.com or nachotree.com. 64 / Bangor Metro April 2013
illustration: sandy flewelling
O
ur family is friends with a young lady from our church who is currently away at college in Tennessee. In a recent moment of desperation, she posted a distress signal on Facebook stating her displeasure that she had just run out of Marshmallow Fluff and, like many places, it was not sold where she lives. I once experienced some Fluff-related awkwardness in South America. My wife and I brought some of the sugary spread and some peanut butter on a mission trip to Ecuador. Suffering through the language barrier with our Spanish-speaking hosts, in whose home we were staying, I spread each product on some of their bread, held it up enthusiastically, and slowly enunciated the word, “Fluffernutter.” They just looked at me curiously, then smiled. After a few failed attempts to repeat the word, the female head of the household reluctantly placed the sandwich in her mouth and chewed slowly. I think she only took one bite. Fluffernutters might be an acquired taste. In my mind, every citizen of the world should have equal access to Fluff. My understanding was that, like Whoopie Pies, Fluff was not available all over the country. Checking the Marshmallow Fluff website, I learned that one can order it to be shipped anywhere in the 48 contiguous states. For some reason, only 28 states are listed as having a Fluff wholesaler. Thankfully, Maine is on that list. In an effort to help our friend trapped in the Fluff-free state of Tennessee, we decided to ship a jar of Fluff out to her immediately. Apparently her need was not urgent, so we agreed to use the Postal Service rather than a Life Flight Helicopter. I stopped into the small grocery/convenience store in my hometown of Brooks and discovered that, thankfully, they stocked a few gigantic five-pound buckets of the creamy treat. My daughter and I quickly determined that we needed to send the bucket instead of a jar, since it would be way more fun for our friend to receive in the mail. Sending it through the mail was less fun. We expertly packaged the Fluff in a taped up, broken down box from the grocery store, only to be informed by the Brooks Post Office that we could not use the box we chose because it was a liquor box. Although Fluff is not alcoholic, the box might have allowed it to be mistaken as such, and it is apparently illegal to ship liquor through the Postal Service. I carefully broke down the box and turned it inside out to disguise any alcoholic evidence and re-secured the delicious contraband. The teller accepted the package, and I received a tracking number, with which we would be able to go online to be apprised of the travel status of the spread. Our Fluff was likely going to travel over a few states that have never had it grace the shelves of their stores. Although it would be unfortunate for our young friend in Tennessee, I can imagine a scenario where a shipping mishap could be an incredible blessing for someone. I picture a forlorn individual in one of the Fluff-deprived states, praying earnestly in an open field that God would facilitate the provision. Then my hastily-taped inverted liquor box would fall from the plane, hitting the ground, and busting open, revealing the bucket of goodness in all its glory beside the praying individual. We hear a lot of the financial problems in Maine and sometimes suffer through wintry weather and frequent bug bites, but we should all be thankful for the blessings we enjoy that some don’t. This is a land of abundant Fluff.
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