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PDEN • HOULTON • NEWPORT • DOVER-FOXCROFT • ROCKLAND • FORT KENT • BAR HARBOR • MILLINOCKET • BREWER • PRESQUE ISLE • FRANKFO

Pedal Powered 12 Tips for Biking to Work

Woods & Waters:

Maine Huts & Trails Latin Influence In the Kitchen at Thistles

Inside:

Maine Mill Towns Go From Page to Stage A Look at the Old TownOrono YMCA Skate Park UMaine Black Bear Mentor Program News from the Crown of Maine

$5.95

May 2015

Age is Just

a Number 3 Maine Seniors Making a Difference Inside the Hammond Street Senior Center Artist Lois Main Templeton

Your people, your region, your magazine.

MAY 2015

contents

features DRAWING DONATIONS / 13 Ellsworth teen uses talent to raise money for library HERE’S JOHNNY / 14 Johnny Hammond provides a tour of the Hammond Street Senior Center I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM / 16 Retirement tastes sweet at Stone Fox Farm Creamery CHOOSING END OF LIFE CARE / 18 Hospice provides much needed relief to patients and families PEDAL POWERED / 22 Mainers forgo cars for bikes to commute to work AGE IS JUST A NUMBER / 30 Meet three seniors making a difference in Maine

FROM PAGE TO STAGE / 54 Author Monica Wood highlights Maine mill towns in new play GINGER CHICKEN SALAD / 58 Healthy and delicious go hand-in-hand LATIN INFLUENCE / 62 Alejandro H. Rave’s background adds color and flavor at Thistles in Bangor CROWN OF MAINE / 77 News from Aroostook County

ON THE COVER

Johnny Hammond, resident cat at the Hammond Street Senior Center, enjoys the company of Pat Brown (see story on page 14).

Cover Photo: Brian Feulner 2 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

30

PHOTOS: (TOP) COURTESY OF RICHARD BALDARELLI; (BOTTOM) KASSIE ZEIGLER

22

NOW & THEN: MEDWAY / 38 More than just a town in the middle

Senior Artist Lois Main Templeton, page 66

PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) COURTESY OF LOIS MAN TEMPLETON; COURTESY OF THISTLES; KNUT BURMEISTER/THINKSTOCK.COM

Inside the Old Town-Orono YMCA Skate Park, page 44

62

in every issue

columns

TALK OF THE TOWNS / 8 News from your communities

METRO WELLNESS / 21 Girlfriends’ guide to sharing custody

BIZ BUZZ & SIGHTINGS / 10 People and places on the move

ROOTED IN ME / 57 Tips for talking to working moms

METRO SPORTS / 44 Indoor skate park in Old Town; Meet a UMaine Black Bear Mentor

MAINE WOODS & WATERS / 74 Inside Maine Huts & Trails

WHAT’S HAPPENING / 49 Enjoy May to its fullest PERSPECTIVES / 66 Senior artist Lois Main Templeton SAVVY SENIORS / 68 Protecting senior benefits

LAST WORD / 80 Chris Quimby’s tips for aging gracefully

BONUS FEATURE! 2015 SENIOR EXPO SUPPLEMENT Your inside look at the 2015 Senior Expo in Bangor

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES • Scan the code to visit us at bangormetro.com Visit us out on Facebook to enter fun giveaways!

Check out our interactive map of Medway (featured in Now & Then on page 38) More photos from events around our region.

Email your own event photos: sightings@bangormetro.com

REAL ESTATE / 70 Equine-friendly home in Troy

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 3

editor’s note

Respect your elders. It’s a lesson that my parents taught us more through their actions than words. I grew up in rural western Maine in what most only know as a stinky mill town.

(Top) Mary Ann “Meme” Thibodeau with Aimee Thibodeau. (Middle) “Papa” Sam Pond rocking Aimee in 1981. (Bottom) Mary Ann “Meme” Thibodeau, Aimee’s husband Cory Thibodeau, and daughter Chloe Thibodeau in 2011 – the day Chloe came home from the hospital. (Right) “Grampie” John Dolloff, Mariette “Nana” Dolloff, Aimee and Chloe Thibodeau on Christmas 2014.

At the time, I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to have two sets of living grandparents (one in Rumford and the other in California), a greatgrandmother lovingly dubbed Nana Tractor who liked to have visitors for tea and Danish butter cookies, and countless elderly neighbors who unknowingly helped shape my outlook on life.

Each Christmas, my mom and I baked dozens upon dozens of cookies and delivered them up and down the street to housebound neighbors. I learned to ride my bike across the road from our house in Miss Betsy’s endless loop of a paved driveway (a lavish commodity in our neighborhood) as she watched from her window. I spent countless afternoons sitting at the picnic table we shared with our neighbors (my third set of grandparents) eating watermelon with Janette when I got off the school bus and solving the problems of the world, or stealing cherry tomatoes out of Bud’s garden.

I picked up mail at the local post office for Fran and Harry when they were at camp for the summer; stopped to visit whenever I saw Mrs. Ladd sitting on the porch of her little yellow house (even in summer, she always had a pair of handknit mittens for me to take home); learned from Mr. Martin how to throw crabapples in the road just close enough to the yellow line to be crushed by passing logging trucks; visited the Elliots next door with treats whenever mom and I baked too much (on purpose); and always felt safe and secure just knowing that this extended family was there.

And after I met my husband, we were blessed with the ability to help care for and learn from his Meme up until her death last summer.

From each of these interactions, we’ve learned about patience, love, integrity, respect, kindness, loyalty, selflessness and so much more.

As Cory and I prepare to welcome our second child into the world and watch in amazement at the way our 4-year-old daughter mimics our behaviors, it has become even more apparent the impact these life lessons have had on us, and the values we now feel compelled to pass on to our children.

In preparing this special “senior” issue of Bangor Metro, I fondly reflected on each of the people mentioned above – many of whom died years ago, but whose voices and kindness I can still clearly recall. I thought of my Nana, who celebrated her 97th birthday in March. My Grammie in California who will turn 96 this year.

Meme, whose one-of-a-kind sayings (like double-headed twippy twirl) we hear spill from our daughter’s mouth almost daily.

So many legacies and lessons for us to pass on. So much responsibility. So many wonderful memories.

In the pages that follow, I hope you’re inspired by the people you read about. I hope we trigger a fond memory of a grandparent or neighbor. And I hope we convey just how important our seniors are to our families and communities.

AIMEE THIBODEAU, MANAGING EDITOR

4 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

www.bangormetro.com P.O. Box 1329 Bangor, Maine 04402-1329 Phone: 207.990.8000

MANAGING EDITOR

Aimee Thibodeau athibodeau@bangordailynews.com

STAFF WRITER

Emily Burnham eburnham@bangordailynews.com

SALES MANAGER

Laurie Cates lcates@bangordailynews.com

ART DIRECTOR

Amy Allen aallen@bangordailynews.com

SUBSCRIPTION & PROMOTIONS MANAGER

Pat Lemieux

STAFF PHOTOS: JUSTIN RUSSELL, MELANIE BROOKS, GABOR DEGRE, JOHN CLARKE RUSS & BRIAN FEULNER

plemieux@bangordailynews.com

Connect with Bangor Metro Online! bangormetro.com facebook.com/BangorMetro @BangorMetro editor@bangormetro.com

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 5

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Alicia Bane

Bob Duchesne

Natalie Feulner

Joy Hollowell

Rich Livingston

Deb Neuman

Chris Quimby

Richard Shaw

Emilie Brand Throckmorton

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS & ARTISTS

Brian Feulner

Mark McCall

Bangor Metro Magazine. May 2015, Vol. 11, No. 4.

Copyright Š Metro Publishing LLC. Bangor Metro is published ten times annually by Metro Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

This magazine may not be reproduced in whole or part in any form without the written permission of the Publisher.

Bangor Metro is mailed at standard rates from Portland, Maine.

Opinions expressed in either the editorial or advertisements do not represent the opinions of the staff or publisher of Bangor Metro magazine. Advertisers and event sponsors or their agents are responsible for copyrights and accuracy of all material they submit. Bangor Metro magazine to the best of its ability ensures the acuracy of information printed in the publication.

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 both in print and online.

Editorial: Queries should be sent to Aimee Thibodeau at athibodeau@bangordailynews.com.

Advertising: For advertising questions, please call the Sales Manager, Laurie Cates at 207-990-8149.

Subscriptions/Address Change: A one year subscription cost is $19.95. Address changes: to ensure delivery, subscribers must notify the magazine of address changes one month in advance of the cover date.

Please contact Pat Lemieux at 207-990-8219.

Accounts Payable/Receivable: For information about your account please contact Laurie Cates at 207-990-8149.

COVER PHOTO: Brian Feulner

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 7

talk of the towns

Fit for a WASHINGTON COUNTY: Living in Washington County opens your eyes to some hardships that people deal with on a daily basis. Washington Academy's National Honor Society saw this firsthand while on their monthly trip to the Whiting Food Pantry. The pantry serves about 150 families at their monthly food distribution. The NHS students have enjoyed the work they have done at the pantry and thought about how else they might serve the community.

The group’s advisor, Mathy Terrill, came up with the idea of a prom dress giveaway, and NHS President Madeleine Seeley and the group decided to give it a go. Throughout the month of March, the group has collected more than 80 dresses, with the intention of helping girls who 8 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

might otherwise be unable to go to prom.

“It's been really fun taking the dresses in and putting them into our inventory,” said NHS member Larissa Holland “Our goal is to have 100 dresses by the day of the event [May 16].”

The Prom Dress Boutique giveaway is set for Saturday, April 11. The group plans to convert Washington Academy’s cafeteria into a fun, funky boutique where local girls from all over the county can come to try on dresses and take one home – free of charge. They will also have the opportunity to meet with local beauty professionals for free hair and makeup consultations.

(Top) More than 80 prom dresses have been collected by the Washington Academy National Honor Society.

(Below) Danielle Bragg and Emily Lobley prepare dresses for the giveaway event.

PHOTOS: ASHLEY MAKER

Queen

Native

Art

INDIAN TOWNSHIP: Passamaquoddy tribal member Jeremy Frey, a basket artist from Indian Township, won the 2015 Best of Show Award at the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market in Phoenix, Arizona, which draws 15,000 visitors and more than 600 of the nation’s most outstanding American Indian artists. David Moses Bridges (Passamaquoddy), a basket artist from Bar Harbor, won first place in Traditional Basketry. Of the 645 artists who participated, five were Wabanaki artists from Maine.

"This is an exciting time for Wabanaki artists working on a national stage, and these wins tell us that northeastern basketry is the one to watch,” said Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, president of the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor. “The competition at juried shows is serious, and to place requires extraordinary talent and execution.

Congratulations to all of the Wabanaki artists who participated."

Frey, who comes from a long line of Native weavers, was honored for his winning “Loon” basket. In 2011, he won Best of Show at the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market and at the Sante Fe Indian Market, the largest Native American Indian arts market. It is only the second time that someone has won both shows in the same year, and it was the first time in Sante Fe Indian Market history that a basket achieved the highest honor.

Frey specializes in fancy ash baskets, a traditional form of Wabanaki weaving. He is known for etching traditional double curl

(Above) Jeremy Frey and his winning basket. (Left) David Moses Bridges’ etched Winterbark Basket.

patterns in bark, and his stitching with spruce roots along basket seams distinguishes his work from other birch bark artists.

Other Wabanaki artists at the fair were Abbe Museum Educator George Neptune (Passamaquoddy), Abbe Museum Trustee Jennifer Neptune (Penobscot), and Theresa Secord (Penobscot).

The Abbe Museum shop features artwork by each of these Wabanaki artists. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily May 1-Oct. 31.

Admission is $8 adults, $4 under 17.

Obstacle Course Race

PHOTOS: (TOP) COURTESY OF HEARD MUSEUM AND DAVID MOSES BRIDGES. (BOTTOM) COURTESY OF JUSTIN CLOUKEY

Comes to Lincoln

LINCOLN: From noon until 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, the Lynx Rush Obstacle Course Race will be held at Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln. This is a 3-mile, 12-obstacle course run on the newly renovated trails in Lincoln. The event is hosted

by Penobscot Valley Hospital and SPRINT, the school’s Healthy Maine Partnership, and offers many opportunities for sponsorships. Proceeds go to further enhancements of the town’s trail system.

Obstacles include wall climbs, cargo net pyramid, rope swing, traverse wall, tire flips, carrying objects and other racers in addition to obstacles that will challenge and encourage both individual effort and teamwork. Big time prizes for top racers and teams, including Battle Frog New England Race admission. DJ JI will be pumping you up at the start line and greeting you as you slip and slide across the finish line. Race will be capped at 300 participants. Early registration guarantees a t-shirt for the first 200 registrants. Register by calling 794-7324 or visiting pvhme.org/What-s-New.aspx. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 9

biz buzz & sightings On the Move DR. HARVEY KESSELMAN

has been named the new President of the University of Southern Maine.

Kesselman is currently the provost and executive vice president of Stockton University in Pomona, New Jersey.

GrowSmart Maine has hired ANDREW ZARRO as their new development director. Zarro has strong non-profit and development experience, having served as executive director of several small non-profits in Boston. His previous organizations span a range from criminal justice reform to downtown revitalization.

Bangor Publishing Co., the parent company of Bangor Daily News, is pleased to announce the promotions of TODD BENOIT to president and chief operating officer and JENNIFER HOLMES to vice president. Benoit has been with the BDN since 1988, and most recently was senior vice president and chief operating officer of Bangor Publishing Co. Holmes started with the BDN in 1994 and has served as director of human resources for the past 18 years. She has played a critical role in the company’s recent organizational transition. Bangor Publishing Co. is in its fourth generation of family ownership. It is the parent company of the BDN, the Piscataquis Observer, Aroostook Republican & News, Presque Isle Star-Herald, Houlton Pioneer Times and as of 2014, Bangor Metro magazine.

Frederick Haer, chief executive officer of FHC Inc in Bowdoin, Maine, announced recently that FHC’s board of directors unanimously voted to promote SCOTT HUMPHREY to the company’s COO position. Humphrey joined FHC in 2010 as Controller. FHC designs, manufactures and markets

10 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

neuroscientific and neurological devices to target microscopic brain structures.

MONICA FINLEY, FNP-C,

has joined the medical staff of Penobscot Community Health Care’s Community Care and Geriatrics, whose multi provider team serves patients in area nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, or for in-home visits. Finley’s practice centers on all aspects of high-quality nursing home care, including patient physicals, acute visits, and health care maintenance. In addition, Christine Finn-McLaughlin, MBA, has joined PCHC’s Leadership Team to serve as chief financial officer, responsible for all financial oversight, including accounting systems, internal controls, and budget management.

Awards The Greater Bangor Convention & Visitors Bureau recently announced the winners of the 2015 Tourism and Hospitality Eagle Awards. VAUGHN STINSON will receive the Lifetime Achievement Eagle Award and DARLING’S AUTO GROUP will receive the GBCVB Impact Eagle Award during the 20th annual Tourism Awards Event and Silent Auction later in the year.

Stinson has been a tireless supporter of the tourism industry for the State of Maine since 1998 until his retirement in December 2015. As the CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, Vaughn has lead of team of 50 full and part time employees and had oversight of the States seven visitor information centers.

Darling’s was chosen for the numerous ways they support the community, including their Ice Cream For A Cause ice cream truck, which raised over $100,000 for area charities such as Ronald McDonald House, Forgotten Felines, Spruce Run, Bangor Public Library, Purple Iris Foundation, Brewer Food Cupboard, Central Maine Derby, Autism Society of Maine, Bangor Soccer Club, Boys and Girls Club, Maine Veterans Home, as well as many local families in need.

VisitBangorMaine.com

French professor ALEXANDRE DAUGEROTH is the recipient of Bates College's 2015 Kroepsch Award for Excellence in Teaching. The associate professor of French and Francophone studies is widely recognized for his work with survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, particularly with literature and personal testimony from those survivors. He has taken students to Rwanda during Bates' five-week springtime Short Term to hear firstperson accounts of the genocide against the Tutsi and to create collaborative short documentaries with survivors. bates.edu

Grants U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT has awarded

more than $5.4 million to public housing authorities in Maine for major large-scale improvements to their public housing units. For a complete list, visit hud.gov. The grants are provided through HUD’s Capital Fund Program, which offers annual funding to approximately 3,100 public housing authorities to build, repair, renovate and/or modernize the public housing in their communities. hud.gov AROOSTOOK COUNTY ACTION PROGRAM INC. has received a $36,190

grant from The Maine Cancer Foundation to provide a smoking cessation pilot called Tobacco Boot Camp in June 2015. Tobacco Boot Camp will be managed by Healthy Aroostook, a program of ACAP and a Healthy Maine Partnership. acap-me.org The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded more than $5.5 million in grant funding to support operations at health care centers across the state, including BUCKSPORT REGIONAL HEALTH CENTER in Bucksport ($1.5 million); FISH RIVER RURAL HEALTH and its two

associated locations in Eagle Lake and Fort Kent ($1.3 million); and KATAHDIN VALLEY HEALTH CENTER and its five associated locations in Ashland, Houlton, Island Falls, Millinocket, and Patten ($2.6 million).

The Bangor Region

Chamber of Commerce held its March Business After Hours event at the BDN’s new downtown location at One Merchants Plaza. The Bangor Daily News and Bangor Metro were pleased to welcome hundreds of local business people and visitors to its new space. PHOTOS BY JEFF KIRLIN

2

1 3

4

1: BDN Media Subscriptions and Promotions Manager Pat Lemieux outside of the BDN’s new downtown location at One Merchants Plaza.

2: Ian Tardiff and Amy Kenney enjoy the festivities.

3: Julie Leaden with Gibran Vogue Graham and Kathleen Adams.

4: Bangor Metro staff welcomes visitors during the After Hours event. Staff Writer Emily Burnham, Sales Manager Laurie Cates, Managing Editor Aimee Thibodeau and Art Director Amy Allen.

Check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/bangormetro to view all of the photos from our event www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 11

biz buzz & sightings

Events abound

this spring, including the 7th Bangor Symphony Orchestra Soiree, Maine Junior Black Bears games and the Maine Science Festival.

1

1: Sarah and Dustin Smiley at the 7th Bangor Symphony Orchestra Soiree.

2

2: Julie Dawson Williams and Kate Dawson enjoy the event, which included a silent and live auction and entertainment to benefit the Bangor Symphony Orchestra.

3: The 2014-2015 Maine Junior Black Bears Tier III Squirts’ state runners up play against their parents are the Alfond Arena in Orono.

4: Maggie and Finnegan Allen enjoy Ooey Gooey Science at the Girl Scouts of Maine booth at Cross Insurance Center during the Maine Science Festival.

5: A crowd watches Mad Science experiments during the Maine Science Festival, which took place all over downtown Bangor, including the Maine Discovery Museum.

2 3

4

PHOTOS 1, 2 & 5: JEFF KIRLIN

5

12 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

unsung hero

Drawing Donations E

More than a caricature, Ellsworth teen raises money for local library. BY EMILY BURNHAM

mma Henry

may only be 14 years old, but she’s already putting her youthful skills to good use. The eighth grade Ellsworth Middle School student has, for the past several years, been volunteering for the Ellsworth Public Library, both in the building and out in the community.

ily’s Ellsworth ice cream parlor, Morton’s Moo, located at 9 School St., and draws caricatures, accepting donations which she then gives to the library. So far, she’s raised several hundred dollars for the library – a place she considers very special.

“I love books in general and I love to read, and I love hanging out there,”

“I now feel very comfortable and capable drawing anything.

It’s a fun way to help out the library.”

Inside the large Federal-style building, she helps shelve books a few times a month. When she’s not at the library, she often sets up shop at her fam-

said Henry. “I love to bask in the quiet.

I would hate to see any part of that library go, so I try to put in a lot of effort to help them.”

Henry’s parents, Kirsten and Steve Henry, are understandably proud of their daughter’s motivation to help out their local library, a crucial part of any community. Emma says her drawing skills have improved greatly since she started drawing caricatures two years ago. She generally suggests a donation of $5, all of which goes to the library, located at 20 State St. in downtown Ellsworth. In fact, her drawing skills have progressed so much that earlier this year she entered the library’s contest looking for the best design for the Tshirts for the library’s Rainbow Readers Race, a foot race raising money for the library, and she won.

“I now feel very comfortable and capable drawing anything,” said Henry.

“It’s a fun way to help out the library.” www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 13

movers & shakers

Virginia Lemos holds Johnny Hammond, the resident cat at Hammond Street Senior Center in Bangor.

I Here’s Johnny!

t was seven

An interview with the Hammond Street Senior Center’s resident feline, Johnny Hammond.

STORY BY DEB NEUMAN PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEULNER

14 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

in the morning five years ago when Kathy Bernier, director of Hammond Street Senior Center in downtown Bangor, arrived for work.

Waiting for her to open the door to let him in was the newest member of the center, who would soon also become the most beloved.

Today, Johnny Hammond is a yearround resident at Hammond Street Senior Center and can often be found greeting members as they arrive. I recently found room on a chair next to Johnny to ask him a few questions.

Why did you choose the Hammond Street Senior Center?

I was looking for a new home. The place looked inviting and I figured with over 500 active members there would always be someone around to take care of me. So I waited by the door. I got lucky when Kathy met me there. I could tell she was a cat person (we just know) so I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist me, and I was right.

That was five years ago? Why have you stayed?

I’m a people cat. I enjoy making my people happy. They spoil me with lots of food, toys and belly rubs. I like all of the activity here. I can check out my people making pottery, playing games, having lunch, taking a class or greet them as they come in the door. Plus, there are 158 chairs here for me to nap on.

What activities do you like best?

I’m the in-house expert in napping. I do try to get to our yoga and exercise classes.

I’m at that age when it’s getting harder to keep my belly weight off. I usually take the elevator to class when I should walk up the stairs, and then when I get to class I prefer to find a sunny spot and nap.

I”m told you’re quite the thespian and like to dress up.

I love the stage. They put on a lot of shows here. I find my way into every performance. My people like to dress me up. I don’t mind. It gets me a lot of attention and makes them happy.

You have become quite the public figure. How has that changed your life?

I do love all the attention. People come here looking for me because they saw me on Facebook and want to take my picture or paint my portrait. The downside is that having too many fans can cut into my nap time. I’ve found some good hiding spots when I need time out of the public eye. But I always have to be well groomed because you never know when the paparazzi might show up.

Senior Center Hammond Street thy Bernier Ka or ect Executive Dir her office. brushes Johnny in

You make a lot of the members happy.

How does that make you feel?

When I came here I was just looking for a place to live out my days, and now I realize this was my calling. I take care of my people as much as they take care of me. My vet, Dr. David Cloutier from the Veazie Veterinary Clinic, keeps me healthy because I help keep my people healthy. He says I provide important companionship and just by letting them pet me I can reduce their blood pressure.

It’s a win-win situation.

You’re supposed to stay inside. Have you ever gone outside?

Our members plant an awesome rooftop garden in the summer. One time I crawled out an open window into the garden. There was a bird – I’m a cat (don’t judge). When I couldn’t get back in I ended up spending the night on the roof until my people found me.

You’re 56 years old in “human years.”

What lessons can you teach us about how to live a happy life as we get older?

For the record, I’m ten in cat years (that’s the new eight).

My people have taught me that life just gets better and richer as you get older. You can always learn new things and make new friends. I appreciate the simpler things like good food, quality catnip, spending time giving and receiving affection. Finally, no matter how dark your day may be, you can always find a friend to play with and a sunny spot to enjoy a good nap.

(Above) Johnny strolls the hallways, admiring pottery created by Senior Center members and (this photo) visiting with women playing a card game along the way.

The Hammond Street Senior Center’s resident cat sits with Laura Calderwood, a Beal College intern, while she paints a set a for the play "Circus."

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 15

eye on industry

ners Chamberlain, co-ow Kathy and Bruce in Monroe. ery am Cre rm Fa x of Stone Fo

IYouScream, Scream Retirement tastes sweet at Stone Fox Farm Creamery.

BY DEB NEUMAN

for many. That is especially true for Bruce Chamberlain who is spending his post-career days making and selling ice cream with his wife Kathy. The Chamberlains operate Stone Fox Farm Creamery in Monroe.

“A business that we started on a whim back in 2009,” according to Bruce.

After 35 years working for the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Chamberlain retired at the age of 57 and began thinking about what to do next.

“I wanted to do something fun and what isn’t fun about ice cream,” he said.

Chamberlain purchased some ice cream making equipment and started making it in his garage.

For Bruce, life has come full circle.

His father worked for Sealtest ice cream out of New York City for 34 years.

“My dad would come home with big boxes of ice cream and dry ice to keep it frozen. In those days no one had large freezers. What we couldn’t eat we gave away to everyone in our neighborhood.”

When he became a father himself, Bruce made ice cream for his kids.

Today, the Chamberlains create 35 flavors of ice cream under the name Stone Fox Farm Creamery – named after the foxes that used to roam their property. Salted caramel is a customer favorite, but Chamberlain is sure their newest addition will be a huge hit – maple bacon ice cream made with real bacon. The response has been overwhelmingly positive so far. He said one customer who tried it asked, “Is this even legal?”

Stone Fox ice cream is available in about 40 stores from Portland to Bangor in addition to being sold out of their ice cream truck at many outdoor events. They also have a smaller unit for indoor events.

“Weddings are big for us now,” said

Chamberlain. He explained that many couples are preferring lighter fare and more variety over plated meals at their celebration.

To meet the growing demand for their product, they plan to add a second ice cream truck this season and employ eight to 10 people.

Bruce says that a big part of their success is the quality of their ice cream.

Each batch is handmade using the freshest ingredients. He oversees quality control to insure that it meets his standards.

“Somebody has to do it,” he said.

As for the ice cream business, Bruce is happy with his retirement career.

“It feeds my entrepreneurial nature.

You can get as creative as you want with ice cream,” he said. But what he enjoys most are the reactions from his customers.

“I enjoy watching other people enjoying our ice cream. It amazes me how much they appreciate it.”

As far as the future of Stone Fox Farm Creamery goes, Bruce expects to be making ice cream as long as he is still standing. Standing room is getting harder and harder to come by in their garage-based production plant as the business grows.

Short term plans include finding a larger space. Longer term plans may be to pass the business on to the next generation or sell it one day.

Either way, Bruce said he never expected to have this much fun and success in “retirement.” His advice for others who are considering starting a business later in life is to, “pick something you enjoy doing. You’ve already proven yourself so it doesn’t matter how successful you are – as long as you’re enjoying what you’re doing. You’ve earned it.”

For information about Stone Fox Farm Creamery, visit stonefoxfarm creamery.com, find them on Facebook, or call 323-2850.

So Many Flavors to Choose From...

Some of Stone Fox Creamery’s more unusual flavors include: • Amarena Cherry Chocolate • Banana’s Foster • Chocolate Salted Caramel

16 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

• Coconut Creme • Espresso Bean • Gingery Ginger • Maple Bacon • Salted Caramel • Maine Blueberry

• Caramel Apple Crisp • Cinnamon • Blueberry-Ginger Sorbet • Celtic Crunch • Green Tea • Limone Gelato

PHOTO: (TOP) BDN FILE PHOTO BY KEVIN BENNETT; (ICE CREAM) AYÅE PEMRA YÃCE/THINKSTOCK.COM

R

etirement is sweet

metro health

Choosing

End of Life Care

M

isconceptions

are perhaps the biggest hurdles Erin Kerns and her team at Hospice of Eastern Maine have to overcome when it comes to hospice care.

“When a lot of people hear about hospice care, they equate it with curling up in bed and dying in a day or two,” says Kerns,

Hospice provides much needed relief and comfort to patients and their families. STORY BY JOY HOLLOWELL | PHOTOS BY MARK MCCALL in order to qualify for hospice care.

The protocol also states that a physician must estimate the patient has six months or less to live, if the disease or condition runs its normal course.

“The six-month limit is a huge stumbling block,” says Dr. James K. VanKirk,

“People see it as giving up. I see it as

accepting. Accepting that you have a terminal illness and that you want a quality

life, no matter how long that may be.”

— Erin Kerns team supervisor for HOEM, which is part of EMHS. “And that's sad because there's so much more that hospice can offer.”

“People see it as giving up,” she says.

“I see it as accepting. Accepting that you have a terminal illness and that you want a quality life, no matter how long that may be.”

Medicare and most other health insurance programs require a person to have a terminal diagnosis and no longer be pursuing aggressive treatments 18 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

medical director for HOEM. “So many doctors are afraid to refer people because they think, ‘Well, what if they live longer?’ We've had many patients go beyond six months.”

If that occurs, VanKirk says there is more documentation required by the health insurance companies, but there is no penalty to the patient.

“Actually, studies show that patients who get into hospice sooner have dramatically improved quality of life scores,” adds VanKirk. “Dramatically decreased

cases of depression. They live longer.”

Larry Napoleone wants to make it very clear – he will not die in a hospital. The 60-year-old from Brewer was diagnosed with ALS in October 2011. He joined HOEM a little more than a year ago.

“I think the reason I'm still here is because of these people,” says Napoleone.

Hospice provides Napoleone with a daily home health aid.

“They come in and feed me lunch,” explains Napoleone. “I also have a nurse that comes once a week to check on me and my meds.”

In addition, hospice volunteers visit frequently.

“The hospice team is like our family now,” says Napoleone’s wife, Gail. “He laughs with them, he jokes with them.

Sometimes the volunteers just come in and watch a movie with him. I feel comfortable that there's somebody with him so that I can run out and do errands.”

“We're really focused on the quality of their life and keeping them comfortable,” explains Kerns. “And having it be their life, not going out to medical appointments all the time. Preserving their energy for the things that they want to do.”

Dr. VanKirk works with the patient's primary physician(s) on a medical plan of care.

“We don't just stop everything,” explains VanKirk. “If somebody comes into hospice and they have a diagnosis of congestive heart failure or a pulmonary diagnosis, then we keep them on those medications. Because that's definitely part of their comfort and quality of life.

What we will try to do is get rid of medicines that may have little or no impact on their health. The classic is cholesterol lowering drugs. Everybody's on one of those. And they work great over years and years of time. When someone is down to just months to live, and these drugs are interacting with other drugs, getting rid of them actually makes people feel better.”

Kerns and her colleagues collaborate with the patient and their family about how they'd like their end of life care.

“Some people just want the nurse and social worker to come in,” explains Kerns.

“Some people want the whole team. And it changes. So what you need and want today might be very different tomorrow and different in a week and a month.”

In some cases, the care and comfort of a hospice patient is sometimes more complicated than can be managed in the home setting. There are three licensed inpatient hospice facilities in Maine, located in Scarborough, Auburn and the Sussman House in Rockport.

Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast has two hospital beds that are set up for this level of care.

“Our rooms were dedicated back in 1992,” says Kathy Bean, executive director of Waldo County Home Health Care Service. “They're very home-like with furnishings and couches for family members to sit or sleep on.”

Bean says there are various reasons why patients are admitted to the hospital for hospice care.

“In some cases, it's pain medication that needs to be given more frequently, or a combination of symptoms that are difficult or challenging to manage,” explains Bean.

Many times, the care has taken place first in the home but becomes too difficult like frequent bed turnings or wound care.

“People want to stay at home,” says Bean, “but when the condition advances to such a point where you can't support that level of care 24 hours a day, the symptoms preclude being able

Social worker Tricia Clukey talks with Larry Napoleone at his Brewer home.

(Opposite and this photo) Larry Napoleone and his wife, Gail, at their Brewer home.

to manage death at home.”

Bean says they try very hard to minimize technology in the hospice rooms.

“Oxygen is there for comfort but we seldom use heart or other monitors that can be in a traditional hospital setting,” she says.

Once a person is admitted to hospice care in the hospital, Bean often witnesses dramatic improvements, both in the patient as well as their loved ones.

“Sometimes the symptoms are exacerbated by anxiety and fearfulness and then once they're in a hospital setting, they realize they're going to get their symptoms managed immediately and it eases the situation greatly,” she says.

Patients usually are referred to hospice from their physician or a hospital.

“We may work with somebody for

hours, we might have someone for days,” says Kerns. “We have a lot of people that are with us for two weeks or less. We would love to see more of our patients in that three to six month range to receive the full range of hospice.”

While Larry Napoleone readily admits he's not ready to die despite the fact that his funeral is planned and he’s written letters to all of his kids, he says spending 12 hours in bed and 12 hours in a wheelchair “is no way to live.”

“Because of hospice, he's comfortable and he's taken care of, so he's able to prepare for the end of life,” says Gail.

“Don't wait,” urges Larry. “You can still have a really good quality of life, they'll help you out as much as they can. And then, when the end comes, they'll be there, too.” www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 19

metro

wellness

The Girlfriends’ Guide to

Sharing Custody

Passing along advice both learned and received from friends in the know.

T

PHOTO: FLAIRIMAGES/THINKSTOCK.COM

he year I

was going through my divorce, I had two friends who sat with me and told me everything I needed to know. I had many fears and many questions. I felt alone and misunderstood, and these women were my lifelines. They answered my questions honestly the way good girlfriends do.

I said, “What do I do without my kids?” They said, “You go for a run to sweat away bad feelings. You do the grocery shopping. You go to the movies or for a bike ride.” They told me about how to draft a shared custody schedule. They promised me that my kids would be OK, and that I would be OK. They offered me a glimpse of hope for my new life.

Having shared custody of my kids for three years now, I am no expert. I am humbled every day by something that I hadn’t anticipated. I have learned a lot, and I want to pay it forward in gratitude for the friends who helped me move ahead. You may need to shake your fists at the sky once or twice, or spend a day eating chocolate in bed, but your kids are waiting for you to lead the way forward, so it’s time to get positive and constructive.

Make a clear, consistent schedule that the whole family knows and can anticipate. When the kids are moving to the other parent’s house, they should be dropped off rather than picked up from your house. The car ride becomes the transition to the other household, when you can talk with your kids about the cool things you did together and what you have to look forward to coming up.

Some people might be jealous that you have “free time” every week to run errands without kids in tow, or think you are “lucky” to have a weekend to yourself. Your heavy heart will tell you otherwise. You will miss your kids with

BY EMILIE BRAND THROCKMORTON

your whole body and it will sting every time you drop them off. Listen: it’s hard.

Be kind to yourself. Use the time away from them to do things that fulfill you – work, exercise, eat well, write – and counter the time you miss by being engaged, positive, and connected when you are with your kids.

You already know not to speak critically of your ex-spouse ever, for any reason, not directly or indirectly. But

kids, just like you do, and sometimes I’m afraid to ask how they feel about going back and forth between two houses because I don’t want to “poke the bear” and uncover any bad feelings.

But if we want them to know that there isn’t anything they can’t tell us, then we have to ask, and we have to listen, and make adjustments where we can.

Establish a special routine for when they come back to you. When my kids

If you don’t have empathetic friends who are willing to tell you this,

let me: have faith in yourself. your kids are smart and will pick up on your attitude no matter what you say out loud. Any residual anger that leaks out is harmful to your kids. It is your job to follow every cliché in the book: take the high road, bite your tongue, choose your battles, turn the other cheek, walk the walk. The way you work out schedules, resolve conflicts, and arrive at decisions with their other parent teaches your kids how to problem solve and how to be fair.

Make your kids’ lives feel less compartmentalized by showing interest in the activities they do with their other parent. Ask questions and be excited with them for the fun things they do and the relationships they have. Don’t be threatened by their happiness; be grateful for it.

Talk to your kids about everything.

Of course, I worry about every big and little way divorce may be hard on my

spend the weekend with their dad, they come back on Sunday afternoons.

I make it a point that they walk in to a clean house, and they can smell dinner cooking and dessert in the oven. I have done all my work for the day, and I’m ready to pile on the couch with them and hear all of their stories.

My friends were right: we are all OK. Better than OK. If you don’t have empathetic friends who are willing to tell you this, let me: have faith in yourself. Even if you don’t have your kids physically with you 100 percent of the time, you are indeed a whole parent.

Trust that everything you do for your kids, the way you love them, talk to them, show them affection, provide opportunities for honest conversation, all of that stays with them, no matter where they are.

EMILIE BRAND THROCKMORTON is a mom and runner who co-chairs the English Department at Bangor High School and writes the blog One Mom in Maine.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 21

feature story

22 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

Pe da l Powered Pedal

PHOTO: DIEGO CERVO

Mainers forgo the car for a bicycle commute to work. BY EMILY BURNHAM

P

rofessor Thomas Stone

knows he’s “that guy” to his students. He’s the one that shows up on campus in the morning in shorts and a helmet. He’s the guy that rides his bike to work.

Most of the year, a third of his office is dominated by his bike and his bike gear, among stacks of papers to grade and books on physics and mathematics, which he teaches at both Husson University in Bangor and at the University of Maine in Orono. As long as there’s not too much snow and ice on the roads, he’s biking to work.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 23

Be Prepared Biking to work means being ready for anything.

For those who work in an office, a change of clothes for business attire is usually a necessity. Roll up your shirt, pants and undergarments and place them in a plastic bag, so they don’t get wet. Keep an extra set of clothes at work, just in case.

If your workplace does not provide access to a shower or other locker facilities, make arrangements to find other ways to clean up before starting your day. Keep a set of toiletries either at work, or in your gear bag.

(Top) Professor Thomas Stone’s bike and gear takeover his Husson University office.

(Below) Richard Baldarelli, a research analyst at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, has biked to work for decades.

Make sure your employer knows you’re commuting by bike, and see if there is a place in your building where you can safely store your bike.

Study bicycle traffic etiquette and be sure to wear colorful, reflective, highly visible clothing.

If you’re riding at night, have reflectors or lights clipped to your bike.

PHOTOS: (TOP) COURTESY OF THOMAS STONE, (BOTTOM) COURTESY OF RICHARD BALDARELLI, (WHEEL & SIGN) BRILT & AGOROHOV/THINKSTOCK.COM

Study the roads and byways of your community – there may be surprising, often traffic-free options for the commuting cyclist!

24 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

feature story “[Biking] is a really nice way to forget about the daily grind of work before I get home,” said Stone, 36, a father of two young children. “I definitely feel refreshed and ready to play with our kids by the time I get home at night on my bike. I really value the time I get to spend outside on my bike ... and during the school year, it’s the only exercise I regularly get.”

Whether it’s for exercise, saving money, contributing a smaller carbon footprint, or simply for the sheer enjoyment of using your body to get around town, biking to work is an increasingly

“[Biking] is a really nice way to forget about the daily grind of work before I get home.”

–Thomas Stone

popular option for Mainers in communities statewide. May is National Bike Month, the week of May 11-15 is Bike to Work Week, and May 15 specifically is Bike to Work Day, on which cycling organizations across the country encourage people to ride their bikes to work.

Jim Tasse, assistant director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine – himself a bike commuter – sees it happening not just in Portland, but all over. On May 15, the BCM will host bike rallies in Portland, Lewiston and Bangor, to bring together cyclists of all stripes, whether they ride to work or not.

“My unscientific estimate would be that somewhere around 30 to 40 percent of people who ride bikes generally are commuting at least a few times a month, if not more,” said Tasse, also the president of the Portland chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association. “I also know people that commute all yearround, 90 percent of the time.”

The most obvious benefit of commuting to work is the physical activity – depending on how long or hilly a commute might be, a person could get all their daily exercise in simply by going to work and back. And in Maine, there’s the added benefit of being surrounded by natural beauty nearly everywhere you look.

But the financial benefit is nothing to sniff at, either. Stone commutes from www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 25

feature story with the idea of going car-free, and finally I just went for it. It’s been incredibly liberating … and between insurance and maintenance and taxes I’m saving thousands of dollars a year. It’s only between $400 and $600 per year to maintain my bike and buy gear.”

When she’s not working out of her home office, Reed uses her bike to travel to meetings with clients and to job sites,

how little time it does take,” said Reed. “If you don’t have to deal with parking, and you’re going straight to your destination, and I’m usually riding not much slower than regular traffic, the difference is pretty negligible… and I have gear so I can bring whatever it is I need to carry. I get groceries. I can bring a box of pizza home.”

One of the less obvious benefits of biking to work is that it allows the rider to

“Regardless of where you are, there are ways

to make a bike commute more realistic.

It’s all about planning ahead and

figuring out what works for you.”

most of which are within Portland city limits. On the rare occasion she has to travel far outside of town, she rents a car through Relay Rides, a car-sharing website with daily car rentals available for between $30 and $50 per day.

“Most of the time you’d be surprised at

–Richard Baldarelli gain a different perspective of the roads and byways of their community. Instead of driving the same linear route to work, day in, day out, a biker can weave in and out of side streets, down bike paths or through forests, cut through parking lots and avoid high-traffic areas altogether.

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26 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

PHOTOS: (OPPOSITE, TOP) COURTESY OF TRACIE REED; (SIGNS) ZAGER/THINKSTOCK.COM

his home in Veazie to both Husson and to UMaine, both trips amounting to roughly a 13-mile round trip. He does opt for other transportation most of January and February, when road conditions can be dangerous. He estimates he logs about 1,000 commuting miles in the fall semester.

“Every gallon of gas I don’t burn is 19 pounds of carbon dioxide I don’t put in the air, and especially when gas prices are $3.50 a gallon, that’s when I see extra change in my pocket,” said Stone. “I save, typically, 40 bucks a month by riding.

That adds up.”

In some cases, bike commuters can even forgo a car altogether and use a bike as their primary means of transportation, as Portland resident Tracie Reed has done.

Reed, 33, got rid of her car two years ago and hasn’t looked back. She started riding her bike to work in 2006, and by 2013 she found she sometimes went weeks without even starting her vehicle.

“I brought my car into the mechanic because there was ice in the engine block because I hadn’t used it in so long,” said Reed, an architect. “I had been toying

Richard Baldarelli, a research analyst at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, has biked to work for decades – first as a graduate student at the University of California in Los Angeles, then while working in Boston. In both cities, he found ways to avoid congested areas, and on Mount Desert Island where he has lived for 18 years, he finds way to incorporate the many trails and roads of Acadia National Park into his daily commute.

“I’m very lucky, because I live on MDI, and it’s really a dream for commuting, compared to Boston. I never take that for granted,” said Baldarelli.

“Regardless of where you are, there are ways to make a bike commute more realistic. If there’s a part of a trip that you’re not comfortable with, you can drive to an established point, leave your car and then bike the rest of the way. Or you can alternate driving and biking. It’s all about planning ahead and figuring out what works for you.”

Planning ahead is one of the key components of successfully integrating bike commuting into your lifestyle. One of the biggest challenges potential bikers come across when trying to make the switch to bike commuting is the fact that after a morning bike ride – especially in the warmer months – you tend to work up a sweat, even after just a few miles.

“The fundamental question you must first answer is, ‘Will I need to take a shower when I arrive?’” said Baldarelli. “If you’re not riding very far, maybe you don’t have to. Maybe you can wear your work clothes and not change. If you will sweat, you have to plan ahead

Tracie Reed says she saves thousands of dollars per year since she went car-free two years ago.

Extra

Precautions

Plan ahead to stay safe before hitting the road.

For all-weather riding, fat tires or studded snow tires may be necessary. Talk to your bike shop professional about your options.

A waterproof jacket and clip-on blinking lights for your bike will go a long way towards ensuring your safety in fog or rain.

Work with coworkers or friends to arrange for a ride in a car, if circumstances require it – or find a place to park a car for the day, if you wish to shorten your bike commute. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 27

– bring a change of clothes, toiletries.

And what if your employer doesn’t have adequate shower facilities? What if there’s no place to safely store your bike when you get there?”

Both Baldarelli and Stone work for employers that encourage bike commuting – both offer shower facilities and employee health incentives.

“It’s really a logistics game,” said Baldarelli. “You really have to plan ahead to make it work … you have to take that extra time to figure out what you need to make it work.”

Tasse from the Bicycle Coalition of Maine says distance is also a factor – he says the optimal commuting distance is between 3 and 7 miles. Less than 3 miles, and walking might be a more convenient options. More than 7 miles, and it starts to get a bit too long to manage.

“Once it starts to get above that, it starts to feel less like a commute and more like a regular bike ride,” said Tasse.

“In our experience, the perfect distance is 4.5 miles … we are in Maine, however, and a lot of folks live in very rural areas.

It’s not always possible.”

Even though Maine is a primarily rural state, the infrastructure for cyclists and other non-traditional commuters can vary wildly – even the most casual of bikers has likely had at least one hairy run-in with a car.

“People are not used to paying attention for cyclists,” said Reed. “If you’re on your cell phone, which you shouldn’t be anyway, it just takes one little error to hit somebody … you have to be very vigilant.

You have to be very visible, as a rider.”

The risks, however, are far outweighed by the benefits for most riders. In addition to saving money, being environmentally friendly and staying in shape, it’s the little things that make it all worth it.

“It’s still really fun for me,” said Stone. “[I get up early and] I still get a kick out of riding into work under a full moon. I hope I can be a good example to my students, and to my kids.”

“It’s empowering,” said Reed. “I tell people that it’s good for my wallet, my waistline, and for the world.”

28 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

KEVIN WOODROW, KAMIL & 29MOKARA/THINKCSTOCK.COM

feature story

Gear

To Go

The right gear to get you riding in the right direction.

A road bike or a hybrid bike will likely be what a commuting cyclist will want – there are countless kinds of bikes out there, and a visit with a staff member at a local bike shop will be a great place to start.

A helmet, proper footwear and proper clothing are all basic requirements for any biker – whether it’s bike shorts and a jersey in the summer, or specialized winter gear for the colder months.

Racks and baskets for the bike, to carry whatever it is you need to take to and from work. Some riders prefer to carry everything in a backpack.

A bottle of water, and a bike repair kit (tubes, a pump, a patch kit and Allen wrenches).

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 29

30 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

PHOTOS: (TOP) BDN FILE PHOTO/DANIELLE WALCZAK; (MIDDLE) KASSIE ZEIGLER; (BOTTOM) COURTESY OF MAINE ASSOCIATION OF NON PROFITS

feature story

Age is Just a Three Maine seniors prove you’re only as old as you feel. BY JODI HERSEY

T

he world is

ever changing, and no one knows that better than 100-year-old Jessie White, 95-year-old Wilma Bradford and 90-year-old Sam Coco. These three Mainers have lived through polio, World War II, the civil rights movement and the space age, and have witnessed the creation of color television, computers and cell phones. All three have had successful careers, got married, raised families and given back to their communities in one way or another. With a combined 285 years among them, White, Bradford and Coco are proving day after day that age truly is just a number and the best years of your life will always be when you are surrounded by family.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 31

feature story

Jessie White, 100 years old

"There were three things I always wanted — to get married, have a child, and have a home of my own, and I got them all," says Jessie White of Belfast.

It seems like a basic wish list many hope to one day achieve, but for White, who has suffered from polio since she was 18 months old, it was a dream she wasn't sure she would ever see come true.

"I had all the children's diseases and no vaccines," she says. "And I was on crutches. Not a lot of men will marry a woman on crutches."

But White soon discovered she had even bigger obstacles to face in the 1940s than her disease.

"I had a hard time getting a job because no one wanted to hire a handicapped person in those days," explains White.

She had attended Beal College in Bangor in 1939 where she studied stenography and bookkeeping, but the then 24-year-old didn't have enough money after paying for her classes and books to afford the $5 fee to receive her diploma.

"Everywhere I applied they said, 'We want someone with experience,' and I hadn't any experience. So finally I said, 'If no one gives me a chance, how am I going to get any experience?' So this man said, 'I'll give you a chance,' and he did.

From then on I didn't have any trouble getting a job," explains White.

She landed her first office job at a canning factory in Unity during World War II. "There was a shortage of manpower because of the war so they imported 200 Jamaicans and my job was to do their payroll. I couldn't speak a word of their language and they couldn't speak mine, but I had an interpreter to work with me," says White. "Before that job was all done, I got a job in a private hospital as a bookkeeper. Then I got a job at a poultry plant, got married and then my husband got transferred to Bermuda, and he and I lived there for eight years."

Last year, Allen Stehle, president of Beal College, found out White still hadn't received her diploma, so he made sure the 99-year-old got the long overdue rec-

ognition she deserved.

"I was amazed. My diploma is now sitting beside my computer," says White, who admits she walked away from graduation with more than a piece of paper.

"The president of Beal College introduced me to his wife and we've become good friends. We visit one another and stay in touch by computer," she says. "I just love the computer. Sometimes I stay on it all day looking up things."

Wilma Bradford, 95 years old

Ninety-five-year-old Wilma Bradford of Bangor, a local arts advocate, is not nearly as fond of technology as White.

However, she admits it is an amazing invention.

"One thing that absolutely floors me is all this stuff people have to communicate with," says Bradford. "First it was the Internet and now they have these new handheld things. But it can rule your life, if you're not careful."

PHOTOS: BDN FILE PHOTOS/DANIELLE WALCZAK

Jessie White, accompanied by her son Bill White, accepts her diploma from Beal College president, Allen Stehle. "This is a lot more fun than it would have been 75 years ago," said Jones-White on receiving her diploma during a reception after waiting 75 years for the document.

32 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

Jessie White poses wit h her certificate of completion for her degrees in account bookkeeping and ste nography from 1939 (left) and her diplom a from Beal College (right), replicating the diploma she would have received 75 years ago if she had the money .

She had attended Beal College in 1939, but the then 24-year-old didn't have enough money to afford the $5 fee to receive her diploma.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 33

feature story n Wilma Bradford at a receptio for the Maddy Corson Community Catalyst Award.

PHOTOS: (TOP) COURTESY OF MAINE ASSOCIATION OF NON PROFITS; (BOTTOM) BDN FILE PHOTO BY LINDA COAN O’KRESIK

Bradford was the driving force behind the creation of the Maine Center for the Arts (now called the Collins Center for the Arts) at the University of Maine.

34 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

Bradford, a Rumford native and University of New England graduate, was the driving force behind the creation of the Maine Center for the Arts (now called the Collins Center for the Arts) at the University of Maine.

"It was my idea," says Bradford. "I was on the President's Development Council and I said what we need up here is a performing arts center because the parents of these kids who go to school don't know what goes on up here. I remember Larry Mahaney [former UMaine graduate, businessman and coach] was there.

He was anxious for them to build a new hockey rink. And he said, 'A performing arts center? You won't get that for 50 years.' I said to him, 'Larry we're going to start a campaign and the first two million we get will be for your hockey rink and after that it'll be money for the performing arts center."

It took almost 10 years, but Bradford was able to raise the funds necessary to see the arts center erected.

"It's done a lot to bring people on the campus. People have become very much aware of what goes on at the university because they go to things up there. They have a nice schedule of programs and I think it's done a lot for the university," she says.

From plays to speeches, comedy shows to concerts, the Collins Center for the Arts has a full schedule of entertainment for children, college students, families and community members alike all because of people like Wilma Bradford.

"When John Patches came to run the Collins Center, he decided they were going to give an award every year to someone who has done a lot to help the Collins Center and they call it the Wilma Award," explained Bradford. "It's definitely an honor to have an award named after me."

During her lifetime, Bradford has been the President of the Girl Scout Council in Bangor and she was also the first female to ever serve as chairperson of the United Way of Eastern Maine.

"If you keep involved and keep busy doing things for other people, you're always going to be doing something that is good," says Bradford. "I'm 95 and having my four children and marrying my husband are the most memorable things I have ever done. I just can't believe I ever lived to get to be that old."

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 35

feature story

Sam Coco, 90 years old

At 90 years young, Sam Coco of Brewer still has music running through his veins.

"I've been a part-time dance band musician all my life. I play sax and clarinet," says Coco. "When I enlisted in the air force out of high school in 1943 I was slated to be a radio operator on a

been sent as a replacement in the Belgian Bulge. I remember so many kids who sat next to me in high school and never came back. God only knows maybe that's why I'm alive."

By 1953, Coco, a Massachusetts native, landed his first teaching job in Washburn, Maine. That's where he met

“I’ve been so lucky in life and in music.

I had a charmed life and sometimes I’m amazed I’m still living.” bomber when somehow or other I ended up getting into the air force band."

Stationed in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Coco was in the middle of basic training when he was told to report to one of the majors on base.

"They needed a replacement in the band and they looked through the service records," explains Coco. "This major said, 'We're going to give you a weekend pass to go home and get your instrument.' Just think — I could've 36 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

his bride Carolyn, the school's home economics teacher. The two moved to Bangor in 1963 where Coco worked for Bangor High School the next 22 years.

"While I was teaching, I played locally two or three nights a week with the Nat Diamond band. It was kind of a popular band in the area. Then I started playing with the Al Corey band in Waterville," says Coco. "I was very lucky to have had a wife who understood. Carolyn always encouraged me in music."

Coco still attends rehearsals every Wednesday night at the All Souls Church in Bangor and occasionally plays with the dance band Sentimental Journey at the Next Generation Theatre in Brewer. Many of his days, however, are spent working at St. Joseph Hospital as a volunteer.

"When I was training as a volunteer, I had a lady working with me and she said, 'Oh God, you know everybody!' I told her for God sakes if you have lived in area for 50 years, taught in the high school for 22 years and visited your wife who worked at the hospital for 18 years, you got to know somebody or otherwise you've been asleep," explains Coco with a chuckle.

Coco, like White and Bradford, has nothing but fond memories to share of the years gone by. He only wishes his wife Carolyn, who died in 2009, was still beside him for the journey.

"I've been so lucky in life and in music," he says. "I had a charmed life and sometimes I'm amazed I'm still living."

PHOTO: KASSIE ZEIGLER

Sam Coco with a photo of his wife, Carolyn, during the dedicati on of the Carolyn Harmon Coco Medical Librar y at St. Joseph He althcare.

medway then & now

A photo of the East Branch log drive from the Patten Lumbermen's Museum.

The Medway town record from the University of Maine Special Collections library.

38 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

At the Fork in the

River

Sitting between several major northern points, Medway’s more than just a town in the middle.

STORY & PHOTOS BY RICHARD SHAW

O

HISTORIC PHOTOS COURTESY OF PATTEN LUMBERMEN’S MUSEUM, UNIVERSITY OF MAINE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, AND BANGOR DAILY NEWS

n the map,

Medway sits pretty far north in Maine, but it’s only an hour’s drive from some important places. Motorists leaving Bangor, to the southwest, or Houlton, to the northeast, could meet midpoint at I-95’s exit 244, in time for coffee at Irving Big Stop or Lennie’s Superette. The town is a half-hour from Lincoln and 20 minutes from Millinocket, the “Magic City” paper mill town incorporated in 1901.

Before Millinocket and East Millinocket, there was Medway, where the Penobscot River splits into the East and West Branches. Gen. John Parker Boyd

built a saw mill there in 1820; in 1848, Henry David Thoreau passed through en route to Mount Katahdin. By 1875, it had grown large enough to be incorporated. By then, the burgh once known as Nicatou Plantation (nicatou meaning “the forks”) boasted a Congregational church and a tannery operated

by Henry Poor and sons.

“Benjamin N. Fiske was very influential in getting Medway established,” said Kathy Lee, a town administrative assistant. “He first petitioned the Legislature in 1855 to have Nicatou Plantation organized and was one of the first selectmen when Medway became a town.” www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 39

medway then & now The Medway Congregational Church today, and (at right) in 1975.

Town Stats First Incorporated: Feb. 8, 1875 Named For (disputed): Midway between Penobscot County’s northern and southern boundaries; or Medway, Mass., home of Town Clerk Benjamin N. Fiske’s girlfriend Motto: Gateway to Maine’s North Woods Population: 1,336 (2012 estimate) Notable People: • Gen. John Parker Boyd, township owner • Benjamin N. Fiske, early town clerk • Henry Poor, tannery operator • Harold C. Beatham, historian, genealogist • Mike Michaud, former U.S. Representative • Bernard Coro, KIA in Vietnam Landmarks: • 1874 Congregational Church • 9/11 Memorial • Medway-Nicatou totem welcome sign • A.J. “Allie” Cole I-95 rest area 40 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

A photo of the Allie Cole rest stop from the Cole Land Transportation Museum.

The West Branch drive, from the Patten Lumbermen’s Museum.

Then there’s that name, Medway.

Ask about its origins at The Bridge restaurant, Peggy’s Bar and Grill, or The Gateway Inn on Route 11 and you’ll likely spark a debate. Just like the Board of Selectmen’s endorsement of a North Woods national park, which would be centered in the town of 1,336. Many say it owes its name to geography, located halfway between Penobscot County’s northern and southern boundaries, but Lee favors another theory. “… Ben Fiske had a girlfriend from Medway, Mass.,” she said, “and though he married another woman, it is believed he was influential enough to get the town named Medway in her honor.”

“Benjamin N. Fiske was very influential in getting Medway established... [he] had a girlfriend from Medway, Mass. and though he married another woman, it is believed he was influential enough to get the town named Medway in her honor.”

—Kathy Lee

The East Branch ferry in Medway.

Medway Middle School, circa 1975.

Maybe it’s Fiske’s influence that has made Medway home to first-class schools and politicians. Former U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud owns a home there, along with State Rep. Steve Stanley of House District 143, who said his community is a sleeping giant near I-95, which opened up the town in the 1960s, with plenty of prime forest land. Unlike Millinocket and East Millinocket, it is no “shuttered” mill town.

Karl Ward grew up on the Grindstone Road, moved away in 1981 to attend college, and now serves House District 131.

“Medway is resilient,” he said. “It was built by hardy souls and has retained its hardiness, independence, and diversity.” www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 41

medway then & now Bruce Jones, chairperson of the Board of Selectmen, was born and raised there and said he never had the urge to leave. Former board member Galen Hale can trace his ancestry back 185 years.

Others, like Ngoc Gantnier, are “from away.” After marrying Louis Gantnier, who was serving a tour of duty with the Army in her native Vietnam, she opened a Chinese-American restaurant in town and lives there with her husband. Their daughter, Melissa Moutria, serves in the Air National Guard.

That’s Medway. Full of history, diversity, and promise.

Check out our interactive presentation of Medway at bangormetro.com

dge.

The old Route 11 bri

42 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

The I-95 bridges cutting through Medway.

The Medway welcome totum circa 1993, and (below) today’s view of the welcome sign.

WHAT MAKES

MEDWAY SPECIAL?

In March, Medway administrative assistant Kathy Lee put that question up for discussion on her town’s Facebook page. Here, edited for space and content, is a sampling of current and former residents’ postings: Darlene Kilton: Growing up in the heart of Maine is what you get when you live in Medway. We have everything that makes a Mainer: nature trails, farm life, and a close community. Plus, I-95 is in the middle, so if you need to head someplace, you can get there from here.

Joni Severance Lowell: I always like it when I hit Exit 244 and look to the left and see the old Medway church. It’s our welcome home sign.

Leslie Stanley Lawson: It’s home. There is no place like home.

Jeff and Juanita DeWitt: People taking care of their own and their neighbors.

April Staples: I’m from the Portland area and I love it up here. There are a lot of kind people.

Bryant Davis: Being a descendant of Medway (Thompson), and now having a business there, I would say it’s people and how close they are.

They pull together for each other when times are tough.

Melissa Anne Gagnon: It will always be home.

Charity McLaughlin Rudge: Medway is a community in the best sense of the word. It is a safe place full of family history, where children and grownups still play in the woods and are close to nature. Rockabema is the community center. People of all ages take rides hunting, fishing, and chatting. People are known by their nicknames. CB Channel 30 is the phone of Medway where locals check up on each other. Priority is outside in nature, not lost in technology. Medway is our heart and home.

Chuck Theriault: Family history, roots, and small town country living.

Eddie Pelkey: My father was born and raised in Medway. He brought me up to have the same love for the town. It has been years since I was home. I will always consider Medway home. I had some of the best times of my life there and some of the worst times, but living there helped make me a man. It’s because of the strong ties to family and how the community takes care of each other.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 43

metro sports

On Deck

Old Town-Orono YMCA Skate Park offers year-round skateboarding fun for youth and adults. STORY & PHOTOS BY EMILY BURNHAM

an activity that has, after decades on the margins, been accepted as a legitimate sport and a great way for people of all ages to build strength and dexterity. Even so, there aren’t very many places for people – especially youth – to practice, and even be trained by an older skater with skills to share. And in Maine, there’s certainly not a lot of places to practice year-round.

To help fill that gap, the Old TownOrono YMCA opened its indoor skate park in 2006. The park offers after-school sessions for aspiring young boarders learning how to ollie, kickflip and grind (or even just stay upright), and Saturday morning lessons with an array of highly-skilled skaters.

And after 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, it’s not just elementary and middle school kids – it’s teens and adults enjoying the open skate period, and it’s

The Old Town-Oron o

YMCA opened its indoor skate park in 2006.

it at earlier ages,” said Andrew Walker, director of youth and recreational sports at the Y in Old Town. “We know it’s a little unorthodox for a YMCA to have an indoor skate park, but we’ve found that it really keeps kids’ interest.”

The park offers after-school sessions for aspiring young boarders learning how to ollie, kickflip and grind (or even just stay upright), and Saturday morning lessons with

an array of highly-skilled skaters. parents skating with their kids. It’s a far cry from the parking lots and municipal space that skaters used to sneak into to practice their skills.

“We try to enhance the positive side of skateboarding, and we try to get kids into 44 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

Aside from the after school skate program, the nightly open skate and the Saturday morning skate lessons, the local organization has partnered with some Maine skateboarding companies to offer skate demonstrations and other events.

Kids using the skate park also are welcome to put other wheels under their feet – on a given afternoon there are often as many youth on scooters and rollerblades as there are on skateboards, zooming around the facility.

“It’s not completely skateboard-centric,” said Walker. “It’s for anything with wheels, including scooters, and it’s a safe place to do it, to build that confidence and coordination. And there are not a lot of places to do any of that anywhere in Maine in January and February.”

Though there are indoor parks in Bath, Portland and Carrabassett Valley, there’s no indoor park north of there for more than 100 miles – until you get to Old Town.

The only other skating facility in the Bangor area is the outdoor Bangor Skate Park on Union Street, which is, for obvious reasons, closed in the winter months.

PHOTOS: (SKATEBOARD & SKATER) KNUT BURMEISTER & SLOWRUNNING/THINKSTOCK.COM

S

kateboarding is

Tips for Skaters

The Old Town-Orono YMCA Skate Park also attracts a diverse age range of skaters – from college students to parents and adults lending their skating experience to elementary school-age children. And it’s not just boys, either; there are plenty of girls picking up a board and seeing how much air they can grab.

“On a given night we’ll have between 10 and 20 skaters that range in age from 13 all the way up to 40,” said Walker. “We’ll get some older guys that are used to skating out on the street and in places they probably shouldn’t have, and now they have a chance to come back and be role models for kids today.

They’re doing it in a different way but in a better environment.”

l sessions The park offers after-schoo learning s rder boa ng for aspiring you d. how to ollie, kickflip and grin

After School Skate Programs for kids and teens 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays at the Old Town-Orono YMCA, located at 472 Stillwater Ave. in Old Town.

Skate lessons are Saturday mornings, and are from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. for beginner level and 10:30 a.m. to noon for intermediate level skaters. The cost for Y members ranges from $35 to $50 for each session and $65 for non-members.

The next nine-week session is set for May; visit otoymca.org or call 8279622 for more information.

Skate shops in eastern Maine include Gunn’s Sport Shop and Pat’s Bike Shop both in Brewer; Zumiez in the Bangor Mall; and Birgfeld’s Bike Shop in Searsport.

metro sports

Being a

Good Sport

BDN FILE PHOTOS BY (TOP) GABOR DEGRE AND (BELOW) KEVIN BENNETT

W

UMaine football player a big score for Black Bear Mentor Program. BY ANNIE GABBIANELLI

hen you read

about Trevor Bates on the sports pages, it’s easy to be impressed by the stats of the 245-pound Maine Black Bears football defensive end. But to teenager Austin Sargent, Bates is much more than a standout college athlete. He’s “cool, funny, nice, athletic, and a friend.”

Bates, a junior at the University of Maine, is best known for his performance on the field and for his aspirations to take a position in the NFL. Among the highlights of Bates’ UMaine career thus far, he was a second team All Conference player after his junior year, and was a third-teamer after his sophomore year. Last season, he was third on the Black Bears team in tackles with 60, and also recorded 5.5 sacks and three interceptions.

But what most don’t know about the 6-foot-2 Westbrook native is that he’s been a mentor and an inspiration to a local

13-year-old boy for the past four years.

Bates was lured to UMaine because of what he calls the football family.

“I met team members, and they were all genuine then and are to this day,” Bates said.

Early on in his UMaine career, Bates was introduced to the Black Bear Mentor Program and jumped at the opportunity to be like a big brother, which is sometimes a rarity for athletes because of their busy schedule.

“People in the community look up to athletes,” he said.

The mentor program matches UMaine students with a third- to eighthgrade student from the area. The duo spends two hours once a week together from October to April.

While UMaine was training Bates to be a mentor, the guidance counselor at the Dr. Lewis S. Libby School in Old Town was seeking a mentor for Austin Sargent. “[He was] extremely shy, and now he’s

UMaine football player Trevor Bates .

the most confident kid I’ve seen,” Bates said.

The young teen agrees with his mentor’s assessment.

“When the day came for me to meet my mentor, I stood outside these two big closed doors at school,” Sargent recalled. “I was freaking out saying, ‘I can’t do this,’ and then the teacher www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 47

Forty-five Big Brothers and Big Sisters and 45 of their Littles joined U.S. Cellular on Oct. 4 at the University of Maine football game. Austin S. (center), a Little with the organization, joined Matt Kasper, director of sales for U.S. Cellular (left), and Karlton Creech, director of athletics for UMaine, on field before the game. His Big Brother, Trevor Bates (not pictured), plays for the UMaine football team.

Norfolk State's Malik Stokes (right) is tackled by University of Maine's Najee Goode (center) and Trevor Bates during their football game at Morse Field in Orono.

Running back Harold Cooper (2) of the University of Rhode Island is grabbed by University of Maine end Trevor Bates during Saturday's game at Kingston, Rhode Island. Bates had a key interception in the Black Bears' 20-14 victory.

48 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

coached me to come in. Even though I was scared, it was pretty cool.”

Like a well-rehearsed touchdown pass, this team of Bates and Sargent has scored goals for both young men. For Bates, it’s seeing Sargent’s personal growth. And for Sargent, it’s having a good friend.

The timing that brought the two together couldn’t have been more perfect.

“We were relatively new to the area and Austin was having a hard time adjusting,” said Jessica Sargent. Not only has this mom and her husband seen their son become more confident with Bates’ mentoring, but the family has taken to Bates, as well.

“We love Trevor, we think he’s great,” said Jessica Sargent. “He is very hard working, very serious about his school work, a great football player, and dedicated to everything.”

For Bates, the time spent with Sargent has been like being in the end zone.

“We would just meet for a couple of hours each Monday and talk about certain things like relationships with family, school work, and bullying. He trusts me enough to open up, and now he resembles my character a little,” said Bates.

Bates admits he’s competitive and now sees that quality coming out in Sargent.

“We find time to do things like play Xbox, and being competitive in our games, it pushes him to work and really try to put forth his best effort,” said Bates.

Sargent also has learned from Bates through the defensive end’s action on the field.

“I guess I didn’t think about this when we became good friends that I wanted to be like Trevor,” Sargent said. “I used to like baseball, but now I realize I want to play football in high school next year. I have a few positions I prefer like defensive end, wide receiver or quarterback.”

Sargent already proudly wears Black Bear jersey No. 92.

“We went to the tent sale at UMaine and even though Trevor’s old jersey for sale was pricey, we bought it for Austin’s birthday, and that’s all he wears,” said Jessica Sargent. “We were fans of football before we met Trevor, but he has given us the opportunity to attend games more frequently and that has given us some cool family time thanks to his generosity.”

“He considers me his best friend and just hearing that shows the role I played in his life is significant, and after I graduate, the relationship will not end,” said Bates.

PHOTOS: (TOP) COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF MAINE; (MIDDLE) BDN FILE PHOTO BY ASHLEY L. CONTI; (BOTTOM) TYSON MCHATTEN/UNIVERSITY OF MAINE ATHLETICS.

metro sports

what’s happening SUN

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MAY 1

Turn the page for details & more of

Camden Garden What’s Happening this month!

Club’s 100th

Penobscot Narrows Observatory Opens for the Season page 50

Birthday Party

page 44 Visit us at www.bangormetro.com to check out what’s going on and add your event!

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BDN FILE PHOTOS BY (CONCERT) JIM EVANS, (COLOR BANGOR) GABOR DEGRE, (STANDPIPE) BRIAN FEULNER

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Thomas Hill Standpipe Tour, page 52

Color Bangor, page 51

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9th annual Senior Expo page 52

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Have a laugh at Spectacular Event Center’s Comedy Show page 45

30 The Sweetback Sisters page 53 page 52

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 49

what’s happening Join us from 5:30 to 11 p.m. at the Ellsworth Ramada on 215 High St. for delicious food, live music by The Larry Williams Band. Call today: 664-5311!

April 30-May 17 “August: Osage County” Penobscot Theatre in Bangor The Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play “August: Osage County” comes to the Bangor Opera House, in a locally-cast production of the critically acclaimed play. A big, dysfunctional family comes together for a funeral, and nerves are left raw – though there’s humor as well. The show runs Wednesdays through Sundays from April 30 through May 17; tickets available online. penobscottheatre.org May 1 Penobscot Narrows Observatory Opens for the Season Prospect The Penobscot Narrows Observatory – the viewing platform at the top of one of the two spires of the Penobscot Narrows bridge – opens for the season Friday, May 1. With your admission to Fort Knox State Park in Prospect – or separately for just the observatory – you can take the 420 foot elevator up to the top for an incredible view of Penobscot Bay. fortknox.maineguide.com.

50 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

May 2 Maine Coast Memorial Presents Anchors Aweigh Ellsworth Ramada Delicious food and live music by The Larry Williams Band. Call 664-5311.

May 2 Lincoln Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce 2015 Business Expo Mattanawcook Academy Runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event is open to the public.

May 7 National Homebrew Big Brew Day Central Street Farmhouse in Bangor National Homebrew Day is technically May 7, but the National Brewer’s Association designates the first Saturday of May as Big Brew Day – a group homebrewing celebration for brewers nationwide. The folks at Central Street Farmhouse in Bangor plan an afternoon of brewing and camaraderie – learn how to homebrew, or pick up some tips from other local brewers. It’s set for 2-6 p.m. in CSF’s Pocket Park, outside. Free.

May 2 Maine Coast Memorial Hospital presents Anchors Aweigh!

May 7 Broadway’s Best in Bangor presents “Camelot” Cross Insurance Center The classic Broadway musical “Camelot” comes to the Cross Center stage, with the touring Broadway production set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7. Tickets for the show – featuring such iconic songs as “If Ever I Would Leave You” – are available online. crossinsurancencenter.com.

May 7 “My Home By The Sea” Camden Opera House "My Home by The Sea” is an original musical by Camden-Rockport high school music teacher Scott Dyer.

This local history piece, written in collaboration with historian Barbara Dyer, shares local folklore. An early settler riding down Mt. Battie on a bear, the invention of "donut hole" and many other stories connected with our community. There is no cost for admission; showtime is 7 p.m. at the Camden Opera House. camdenoperahouse.com

EVENTS

THEATER

May 9 Rise Above Fest Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion in Bangor This daylong celebration of heavy music – from modern rock and radiofriendly hard rock bands to heavy metal of all stripes – keeps it loud for a cause.

The cause being the suicide awareness organization SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education). Headliners this year include Godsmack, Seether, Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Papa Roach and All That Remains.

Tickets for the show are $46.75 through $69.75 and are available via Ticketmaster.com. riseabovefest.com

BDN FILE PHOTOS BY (TOP) BRIAN SWARTZ, (MIDDLE) JIM EVANS, AND (BOTTOM) GABOR DEGRE

May 14-17 Taste of Bar Harbor Food Festival Downtown Bar Harbor Community feasts, tastings, wine dinners, open houses, farmers market, pub tour, dessert tour and much more are on the menu for the annual Taste of Bar Harbor Food Festival. Multiple restaurants, bars and shops are participating; for a full schedule of events and to reserve seating and buy tickets at various meals, visit the website. barharborinfo.com May 16 Alleycat Bike Race Kick off in downtown Bangor Once a year, avid cyclists in the Bangor area get together to host an alleycat bike race – in which cyclists all take off from one location, and are given a map of checkpoints they must visit in whichever order they choose. The first person to reach every checkpoint and come back to the starting point wins.

The individuals at each checkpoint often as riders to complete a silly task – a dance, a math problem, a poem, lots of things – so it’s a really fun way to spend an afternoon, and to test your knowledge of Bangor. This year’s race is set for noon, starting at Norumbega Parkway. Free.

MUSIC

May 1 Penobscot Narrows Observatory Opens for the Season

May 9 Rise Above Fest at Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion

May 17 Color Bangor 2015 to benefit the American Folk Festival

May 16 Penobscot Valley Hospital Hosts The Lynx Rush Obstacle Run Lincoln The Lynx Rush is a 3-mile obstacle run that will test athletes and runners www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 51

what’s happening

Lincoln

Upcoming Events May 2 Lincoln Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce 2015 Business Expo

Join us Saturday, May 2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mattanawcook Academy. This event is open to the public.

Ready for an Obstacle Course Run?

The Lynx Rush is a 3-mile obstacle run that will test athletes and runners of all types.

Come run on the newly renovated trails and take in the scenery as you climb walls, swing from ropes, carry other runners and so much more! www.runsignup.com

of all types. Come run on the newly renovated trails and take in the scenery as you climb walls, swing from ropes, carry other runners and so much more! www.runsignup.com May 17 Color Bangor 2015 to benefit American Folk Festival Bangor Waterfront Join the American Folk Festival as runners and walkers take over Bangor's Waterfront for a day of color, fun, walking/running and more. Participants will pass through color zones at different spots on the course; each zone will have a different colored powder (don't worry, it's just corn starch) that volunteers will throw at your shirt to help get your white shirt to be covered in different colors.

Then continue the fun with the postrun color throws at the finish line where there will be more color and music.

Proceeds benefit the American Folk Festival. Register on their website. colorbangor.americanfolkfestival.com

52 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

May 16 Penobscot Valley Hospital Hosts The Lynx Rush Obstacle Run in Lincoln

May 20 Spring Standpipe Tour Thomas Hill Standpipe, Bangor Every season brings new and beautiful views from the Thomas Hill Standpipe.

The spring tour of the water tower this year is set for 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 20. It’s free, and it’s one of only four chances the general public gets to enjoy the 360 view of Bangor from the iconic structure.

May 22 9th Annual Senior Expo Cross Insurance Center, Bangor BDN Events presents a full day event dedicated to seniors, including more than 100 senior-related vendors, informational sessions, health screenings, craft vendors and film screenings from the Camden International Film Festival. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free admission. facebook.com/BDNMaineEvents

May 22-25 Downeast Spring Birding Festival Washington County The 12th annual Downeast Spring Birding Festival is set for May 22-25 and brings bird lovers from all over the state to Washington County – based out of the Cobsbook Bay Community Center in Trescott but extending to Lubec, Calais, Eastport and other WaCo towns.

A full weekend registration is $85; WaCo residents are $65. Single days are $30. cclc.me May 30 The Sweetback Sisters Strand Theatre in Rockland The Sweetback Sisters are a wildly entertaining group of countryrockabilly musicians, swinging and singing in close three-part harmony that brings to mind everyone from the Everly Brothers to the Judds.

They have been featured on “A Prairie Home Companion.” The show is set for 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $15.

There’s no app for this.

ps New non-sto ns o and connecti ! d rl to the wo

Mobile apps, tweets and IMs are great, but nothing can compare to the moment when you finally see each other again. So pick up that smart phone and do a smart thing: go to FlyBangor.com, book online, and this time — send yourself.

Nonstops, connecting flights, competitive fares and friendly customer service.

Bgr_Metro_May15_H.indd 1

3/27/15 1:37 PM

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 53

arts & culture

From Page to

Stage Novelist Monica Wood adapts stories of Maine mill towns into new play.

BY EMILY BURNHAM

54 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

Monica Wood

N

ovelist and

Portland resident Monica Wood has increasingly focused her writing on the lives, loves and inner emotional world of the people she grew up with in western Maine – millworkers, townsfolk, even her own family, as in her critically acclaimed memoir “When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine,” published in

PHOTOS: (TYPEWRITER) MAKARONPRODUKTION/THINKSTOCK.COM; (THIS PAGE) COURTESY OF PORTLAND STAGE

When you write a novel, it’s done in solitude and silence. [A play] doesn’t start to live until you allow strangers into your process, including the audience.

that process. So I found myself writing scenes. I essentially wrote the first draft of what became the play in hotel lobbies and airports and bus stations, and when I got home, I thought, ‘Gosh, maybe I have a play here.’ It all happened ridiculously fast.

What was the process of taking “Ernie’s Ark” from page to stage like? How did you come to refine what became “Papermaker”?

The first draft was not very good [laughs] ... I wrote a couple more drafts.

I hired local actors to come read it for me, and having actors do it made me understand that it had the potential for the stage. We eventually had a staged reading at Mad Horse Theatre Company in South Portland, where the audiences were extremely generous, and then Anita Stewart, the director at Portland Stage, asked to read it. I figured, oh, I’m an experienced writer, I know what happens when you go down a new path in a different genre. She’ll say, ‘It has potential, but we’d like to work with you at a different time.’ But instead, she said they wanted it for the final show for this

2012. Instead of following up that book with another novel or memoir, however, Wood turned her attention instead toward the theater. Over the course of two years, Wood adapted one of the stories from her 2002 book “Ernie’s Ark,” a series of interrelated stories about millworkers in the fictional Maine town of Abbott’s Falls, into a play, titled “Papermaker.”

“Papermaker” was set to have its world premiere on April 21 at Portland Stage Company, and is scheduled to run Wednesdays through Sundays through May 24 at the theater, located at 25 Forest Ave. in Portland.

Bangor Metro spoke with Wood this spring about mill towns, book tours and becoming a playwright.

At what point did you think this story could be transformed into a play?

I did not initially go into it with that in mind, to write a play based on that story.

I do love theater. I go to everything, I have season tickets to more than one company.

Theater is something that’s always been thrilling to me. I’ve always wanted to write a play. It started when I was on tour for “When We Were the Kennedys.” It was a book tour that just went on and on and on.

I thought I should be writing my next novel, but I just couldn’t find the time to start

season. I just about swallowed my teeth!

It’s all very new to me. I feel like a beginner in some ways. In a good way. It’s a fresh feeling of discovery. When you write a novel, it’s done in solitude and silence. [A play] doesn’t start to live until you allow strangers into your process, including the audience. It’s kind of terrifying. I’m not used to letting any Tom, Dick or Harry into my world that only myself and my editor and agent see. In a play, that circle you let in is extremely wide.

Eventually, you have to let go of that fear … and then the thing becomes 10 million times better. It’s very refreshing.

How do you think these mill towns – be they Mexico, or Bucksport or Millinocket – have changed, identity wise, as mills have closed? How does your play deal with this?

First, let me say that the play is set in 1989, and it takes place over three days, late in the third month of a labor strike. It brings two families into conflict – one family is the striking paper maker’s, and the other family is the CEOs. But it’s not about the strike. The big backdrop against which these conflicts play out is that something

Actors Daniel Noel and Lisa Stathopolos, seen in a workshop per formance of "Papermaker" in Portlan d last spring.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 55

is changing, and nobody knows what it is. The audience knows, however. We know what has happened to these communities. We know that the mills, if they haven’t closed, only employ a quarter of the people they employed 30 years ago.

But in this play, the mills are doing great. They are running at full capacity.

And for me, even today, it feels the same.

It feels like where I grew up, in some ways.

That family feeling is still here. What’s changed is the sense of prosperity. There are no thriving businesses. The houses need work. It makes me so sad. The industry has left, and the town’s identity was so wrapped up in it’s chief employer.

Wilson Electronics

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Systems utilize outside antenna, inside antenna, power adapter, and cellular amplifier.

Date night?

Visit bangormetro.com and check out our calendar of events 56 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

How have audiences – including those from mill towns – reacted to this play during workshops and readings?

Well, there are no villains in this play.

Everybody makes a case that is perfectly reasonable for what they know at that time… and it must be said that in towns like Rumford the mill had very decent management back then. They cared about their employees and felt responsible for them. This was before the corporate model took over. It was more of a family model, back in the day. Now everything in America is on this corporate model, and it makes a profound difference in how people are treated.

The tension in the play comes from the relationship between the parents and children and between these two men – but other tension comes from what the audience knows, and that’s what I like. It depends on the audience, as a play should.

People who have seen it have loved it, and even those from mill towns tell me they don’t hate the CEO character. They understand him. They still take the side of the strikers, but they understand his position. That was my goal in writing this – that no matter who you are, you can find the humanity in people. Even with those whom you’d normally disagree.

Show Times

Showtimes and ticket prices for “Papermaker,” at Portland Stage through May 24, can be found at portlandstage.org or by calling 774-0465.

rooted in ME

Things Working Moms Don't Want to Hear

And What to Say Instead Co-worker just coming back from maternity leave?

Here’s what not to say...

BY NATALIE FEULNER

I

recently went

back to working from an office after a year of working from home. I read dozens of blogs, books and forum discussions about how to handle the transition without too many tears. We got up earlier than usual the first morning, we were out the door only 15 minutes later than planned, and I managed not to cry.

That day, friends, family and coworkers all sent well wishes and bits of advice. And while I appreciated the sentiment behind it all, sometimes it is what you say, not just how you say it. Consider the following alternatives to common things said to working women a public service announcement.

"She'll be so busy, she won't notice you're gone." — Maybe, but I'll know, and that's the hardest part.

Try instead: I'm sure she'll have fun being around kids her age.

"It's good that you're teaching her about being a strong woman." — Strong women aren't just the ones who work, or the ones who work outside the home. For our family, a year working from home was perfect. Now, there's a good opportunity for me outside the home, and I'm going to go for it. That doesn't make me any "stronger" of a woman today than I was six months ago when my days consisted of writing articles during nap time, then having dance parties in the living room a few hours later.

Try instead: I'm sure when she's old enough, she'll look up to you knowing you did what was best for your family.

"Are you sure you want someone else raising your daughter?" — First of all, my daycare provider is not "raising" my daughter any more than a fourth-grade teacher is raising his or her 10-year-old students. This one probably stings the most, it's too judgey to feel at all "well-intended."

PHOTO: FUSE/THINKSTOCK.COM

Try instead: It's great that you found someone you're comfortable with to care for her.

"Won't you miss being off?" — Stay-at-home parents are not "off" and work-at-home parents are certainly not off.

Honestly, some days when I was home, I longed for the structure of an office, for the banter of co-workers and for someone else to comfort my crying baby.

Try instead: It's great to have you here.

NATALIE FEULNER is a journalist and “semi-crunchy” cloth diapering momma to a rambunctious toddler named after a county in California. She blogs about her adventures in parenting and Maine at www.rootedinme.bangordailynews.com.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 57

food file

Ginger Chicken & Maine blogger finds ways to make healthy and delicious go hand-in-hand.

STORY & PHOTOS BY ALICIA “EESHA” BANE

For more from Eesha Bane, visit her blog at eeshaeats.wordpress.com

58 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

I

Portland (nourishyourselfforlife.com), I began a journey where I took on a holistic approach to weight loss. I started a blog, eeshaeats.wordpress.com, started

of a deep-dish meat lover's pizza, I would have expressed that salads are bland, unappealing and certainly not delicious.

But, of course, I was wrong. Seven months and 53 pounds ago, I decided to make some significant life changes — including eating one big bowl of leafy greens per day. With the help of my health coach, Heidi Symonds, out of

meditating and cut out gluten, dairy and refined sugar from my diet. There have been struggles along the way, but teaching myself how to make a decent salad — a salad I could CRAVE — was one of the biggest.

Salads are generally categorized as “health food,” which is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because when

f you asked me

one year ago if I would consider a salad to be one of my favorite foods, I would have responded with a hearty laugh. In between a bites

There have been struggles along the way,

but teaching myself how to make a decent salad — a salad I could CRAVE —

was one of the biggest.

PHOTOS: (CHICKPEAS) GALAYKO SERGEY & (BOK CHOY) PAULCOWAN/THINKSTOCK.COM

Curried Chickpea Salad

Coat chickpeas thoroughly before roasting in shallow baking pan. you're nourishing yourself and nourishing others, the benefits of eating healthy really go unmatched. Food that is healthy — natural, unprocessed and packed with vitamins and nutrients — makes you feel lighter, happier and more energetic because your body is being fueled by foods that serve you instead of weighed down by foods that don't. The curse side is the stigma that comes with anything labeled as “health food.” It's not considered particularly delicious — and certainly not as scrumptious as something cheesy, fried or caked in sugar.

The key to making a salad you want to eat is incorporating ingredients with flavors you love. For this recipe, I chose to use Indian spices, Asian greens, sweet carrots and peppery arugula because they are all foods that make me excited to cook. I also chose two types of proteins to add a little variety of flavor and texture: sautéed chicken and roasted chickpeas. Since I am avoiding glutenous salad fixings like croutons, I roasted the chickpeas for extra crunch. For the greens, I chose a mix of bok choy, napa cabbage, red cabbage and arugula.

I encourage you to follow the recipe and see how you like it. Something I like to try to do when I'm writing recipes for my blog, however, is to encourage people to take the recipe I give them and make it their own. Maybe you aren't a fan of curry powder. Maybe you don't like ginger. Maybe you don't like the peppery nature of arugula. Don't look at those ingredients and flip the page — replace them with something you like, and get cooking.

You can roast the chickpeas and sauté the chicken using any combination of spices and oils that you like. Instead of toasted sesame oil, you can use olive oil or butter. You can use a spring mix for your greens, or a big bowl of raw baby spinach or classic, chopped romaine lettuce as your base. Roast the chickpeas with garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil if you aren't into curry. Sauté your chicken with cajun seasoning if you want a spicier salad. March to the beat of your own drum when you're in the kitchen. Part of what makes cooking fun is being flexible, trying new things, and looking for ways to make foods that suit your taste. Have fun with it, and enjoy!

Step 1

Roast the chickpeas

Set your oven to 325 degrees. Next, take one 29-ounce can of chickpeas and thoroughly drain and rinse them in a colander, shaking out any excess water. Transfer the chickpeas to a large bowl. Add to the chickpeas 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 tablespoon curry powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes. Stir the chickpeas with a rubber spatula until each chickpea is coated. Take a large, shallow baking pan and spread the chickpeas out onto a single layer. Roast the chickpeas in the 325 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. You want the outsides of the chickpeas to be crunchy, and the inside to be soft. Remove from the oven after they are finished cooking and set them aside.

Step 2

Saute’ the chicken

Step 3

The salad base

Cut up 1 pound boneless chicken thighs or breasts, and put the pieces in a medium-sized bowl. To the chicken add 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon garlic powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir the chicken and spices until the chicken pieces are well coated. Next, set a wok or a sauté pan on your stovetop to a high heat. Pour the chicken in the pan and sauté until the chicken has a rich color to it — you want to see just a little bit of brown. It should take about 6 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the heat and set it aside.

Take 2 cups of chopped bok choy leaves, arugula and napa cabbage and put them in a large bowl. Add 1 cup each of thinly-sliced carrots and shredded red cabbage, and give the whole salad base a quick mix.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 59

food file

Bok choy, arugula, napa cabbage, red cabbage and carrots make a healthy salad base.

Step 4

Compose the salad

Now that all the components are complete, you can arrange the salad. Take a heaping handful of greens and put them in a salad bowl.

Sprinkle with some warm ginger chicken and a scoop or two of roasted chickpeas. This salad is delicious on its own, but is also quite scrumptious with a little sugar-free, glutenfree ginger sesame salad dressing. Enjoy!

ALICIA “EESHA” BANE has spent most of her life obsessing over unhealthy foods. In mid-August 2014, she decided to look at food in a new way and with the help of a health coach she is taking her love for food, writing, and humor and using it to her benefit. For more of Bane’s stories and recipes, and to follow her food journey, visit her blog at eeshaeats.wordpress.com.

Food File Ginger Chicken & Curried Chickpea Salad INGREDIENTS Roasted Chickpeas: 1 29-ounce can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 1 tablespoon curry powder 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon turmeric 1/ teaspoon salt 2 1/ teaspoon red pepper flakes 2 Chicken: 1 pound boneless skinless chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1/ teaspoon salt 2 Salad Veggies: 2 cups chopped bok choy leaves 2 cups arugula 2 cups napa cabbage 1 cup shredded red cabbage 1 cup thinly sliced carrots

60 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Set your oven to 325 degrees. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. In a large bowl, add the chickpeas, sesame oil, curry powder, cumin, turmeric, salt and red pepper flakes. Stir with a rubber spatula until each chickpea is coated. Spread the chickpeas out onto a single layer on baking sheet. Roast the chickpeas in the 325 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.

2. Cut up boneless chicken thighs or breasts. In medium bowl, stir chicken, toasted sesame oil, ginger, turmeric, cumin, garlic powder and salt. Set a wok or a sauté pan on your stovetop to a high heat. Sauté the chicken. It should take about 6 minutes. Remove it from the heat.

3. Mix bok choy, arugula and napa cabbage in a large bowl. Add carrots and red cabbage.

4. Arrange the salad. Take a heaping handful of greens and put them in a salad bowl. Sprinkle with some warm ginger chicken and a scoop or two of roasted chickpeas.

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kitchen confidential

C

hef Alejandro

H. Rave, originally from Bariloche, Argentina, brings Latin influence from Argentina and Colombia to his dishes at Thistles in Bangor. He discovered the restaurant for sale 16 years ago, and the rest is history.

Alejandro H. Rave

Owner of Thistles in downtown Bangor What is your first food memory?

My first food memory is Italian food. My mother was from Torino, Italy and I grew up cooking with her big family style Sunday meals.

What are some of your early cooking experiences?

I remember sitting around with my mother and grandmother and I would make the pasta by hand with them.

Latin Influence

Chef Alejandro H. Rave’s diverse background adds color and flavor to his dishes at Thistles in Bangor.

(Above) Chef Alejandro H. Rave. (Left) Thistles is committed to offering Gulf of Maine seafood and supporting Maine fishermen. (Right) Thistles interior, made over in 2008.

62 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

Where did you study/apprentice?

In the 1960s in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I attended culinary school and architect school. Can you believe I dropped out two months before graduating to join the Argentine Zarzuelas, which was a traveling opera theater company. They had auditions and if selected, I had to leave right away. Well, I got selected and I dropped everything and went on the road singing and acting as a tenor, traveling to all the countries in central and South America. I was a foodie and loved eating in all these countries. I picked up many recipes, techniques and memories during these years. I thought food and singing was my passion.

Later in my career I was under the wing of a great German executive chef named Helmut Sweden. I worked with him for five years at the Regency in Bar Harbor he perfected my French technique.

When did you realize you were a chef?

When the cooks and staff, my peers, starting addressing me as chef I realized then that I was a chef.

PHOTOS: RAVE FAMILY PHOTO ARCHIVES, RUSTYCO DESIGN AND ALICIA ATHERTON-DOW.

Any family influences on your style and taste?

Yes, Latin influence from Argentina and Colombia where I met my wife and lived for many years. We owned a commercial bakery and a restaurant there.

What do you consider to be your pivotal career move?

When I left the theater I found in cooking a place that I could be creative and engage my artistic talents. Like the theater every night is a performance. First the curtain call, then the opening of the show and later working together hard to reach the final act for the applause. Like acting and singing you put on a show for your audience to be happy, the same with cooking – you cook for their enjoyment and experience.

What is your favorite ingredient to work with?

Flour. I like to make breads and pastries.

Fish is another ingredient that I am enjoying as of lately. We have become culinary partners with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. As a partner we have committed to always having and promoting responsibly harvested gulf of Maine seafood on our menu.

In addition we also have committed to educate our staff on seafood sustain-

ability and contributing to continuous improvement of the sustainability of our operation.

Your favorite restaurant beside your own?

Mama Liberata in Buenos Aires. I don't know if it still exists but it was a family restaurant that I frequented.

Least favorite job related task?

Inventory, enough said...

When did Thistles open? How why did it happen?

October 1999 is when we bought and took over the restaurant. Moving to the states I never had a chance to work for myself like I did in Colombia, South America. Thistles was the perfect size and price range my wife, Maria, and I were looking for. it was the place to release all my pent-up creativity and find myself again. I had worked for someone else for the past 14 years in the states and I was ready to work for me!

On the Menu Appetizers

Enjoy the Latin influence of these menu samplings from Thistles.

Entrees

ARGENTINEAN EMPANADAS Juicy seasoned ground beef with onion, garlic, olives and raisins stuffed in an oven baked pastry turnover, served with a tangy Chimichurri sauce on the side

FETTUCCINE ALLA GRICIA Olive oil, prosciutto, green peas, onion, garlic, peperoncini and parmesan cheese, served over imported Italian fettuccine

RISOTTO LATINO A marinated then grilled giant fresh Portobello mushroom cap topped with a medley of rice, Cheddar cheese, spinach, basil pesto and roasted pine nuts

WIENER SCHNITZEL Breaded veal cutlets pan-seared golden brown finished with a lemon-butter sauce

QUESO FRESCO WITH GUAVA Mexican white cheese wedges, breaded then pan fried and accompanied with a sweet and tart Guava fruit sauce

GAUCHO STYLE RACK OF LAMB A frenched rack of lamb marinated in a North Argentine chimichuri with Malbec wine, grilled & finished with a delicate mint sauce

LOBSTER CAPONATA CROSTINI Onions, tomato, green olives, capers, pinenuts, blond raisins, eggplant and lobster finished with Sherry wine and butter. Served over crostini

DUCK WITH RASPBERRY MOJO Pan-seared duck breast finished with a raspberry Mojo made with scallions, shallots and cranberry juice. Served with rice and the vegetable of the day.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 63

kitchen confidential The last time you really surprised yourself in the kitchen?

I messed up on a genoise sponge cake.

It did not come out how I wanted it to.

So instead of wasting it, I soaked it in three milks and created a very traditional Mexican dessert called Tres Leches. It was awesome! We have that dessert at the restaurant frequently now.

What does a perfect day off look like?

A perfect day off is me not cooking and watching old western movies all day long. You can't beat John Wayne. Well, let me take that back, watching Tinker Bell with my 3-year-old granddaughter does beat John Wayne.

BANGOR/BREWER

more info THISTLES RESTAURANT 175 EXCHANGE ST, BANGOR 207-945-5480 Hours: 5 - 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday for dinner Speicial Notes: Live music on Friday and Saturday nights

BANGOR/BREWER

Accolades: • 2014 tripadvisor certificate of excellence • Award-winning serving staff • Award-winning recipes Website: thistlesrestaurant.com

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per spectives

Lois Main Templeton

“It’s The Way They Mingle,” oil on canvas.

“Amelia and Me,” on canvas 2015.

66 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

“Over the Hills,” oil on canvas 2015.

“Won’t Get By My Forty Eight.”

PROFILE PHOTO: JAYNE LEDGER BOWLER

Artist Lois Main Templeton in her studio.

“All to the Good,” oil on canvas.

A

t age 87,

painter Lois Main Templeton might actually be even more prolific than ever. After more than 40 years working out of studios in San Francisco, Indiana and Maine, she has “retired” to Dirigo Pines Retirement Community in Orono –though “retired” is likely a huge understatement.

The feisty, intelligent artist still paints constantly, and her legacy as an artist, illustrator and educator is as strong as ever.

Templeton did not begin her life as an artist until the 1970s, when she and her husband lived in San Francisco and she was inspired by the beautiful landscapes and cultural vibrancy in the Bay Area. They then moved to Indianapolis, where in her early 50s she received in 1981 a degree from the Herron School of Art and began to teach. She was among the first artists to inhabit Indianapolis’ now thriving downtown studio scene, and her work has been featured in countless exhibits in Indiana and the Midwest over the decades.

Through it all, however, Templeton’s Maine ties called to her – a cottage on Frenchman’s Bay has been in her family for several generations, and she returned each summer to Maine to live and paint. Now, living at Dirigo Pines, Templeton still paints, and maintains a blog on her website, loismaintempleton.com.

Speaking about her work, in an interview after receiving the NUVO Cultural Vision Award in Indianapolis in 2011, she said, “I paint the way a jazz group plays. When I say I talk with the paintings, this is true of any jazz group – they will listen to each other and then go off. This is very much the way I work. I want to be there when jazz is played. I want to watch the interaction.” www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 67

savvy seniors

Senior Benefits

AARP working to protect vital programs for at-risk Mainers.

BY RICH LIVINGSTON, AARP MAINE VOLUNTEER STATE PRESIDENT

is tackling many issues this legislative session, one of our real concerns in the state budget discussions is the proposal to cut the Medicare Savings and Drugs for the Elderly Programs. Many low-income Mainers are struggling to make ends meet and it is important to protect these programs that help them stay healthy.

Many low-income Mainers are struggling

to make ends meet and it is important to protect these programs that

help them stay healthy.

AARP has created a petition about this issue and already hundreds of Mainers have signed on, but we hope many others will want to get involved.

The Medicare Savings Program or MSP covers premiums for doctor visits, preventive care, ambulance services and outpatient care. It also cov-

68 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

ers Medicare Part D prescription drug costs and co-payments. Under the current proposal, tens of thousands of seniors and adults with disabilities will be cut from the program. These cuts will be devastating to the state’s most atrisk resident if they go through.

Margie Higgins is an 87-year-old native of Bar Harbor who has been a resident of Bangor for the last 24 years. Like

more than 30 percent of seniors over 65 in Maine, Margie has no other source of income other than her once-a-month Social Security check. Margie’s check is just $1,291 per month. Due to her health concerns, she takes several prescribed medications and it is thanks to the MSP that she can afford them.

PHOTO: ALEXRATHS/THINKSTOCK.COM

Protecting W

hile AARP Maine

The Drugs for the Elderly Program or DEL helps pay for prescription drugs for Mainers whose monthly income falls below approximately $1,600 for an individual and $2,200 for a couple. It is important to remember that this income has to cover heating costs, rent/mortgage, food and other necessities. Current DEL beneficiaries are on the cusp of Medicare eligibility – between the ages of 62 and 64½. They have nowhere else to turn. These are the poorest of the poor in Maine, counting the days to Medicare eligibility.

What we hope our elected officials can understand is that older Mainers and residents with disabilities simply cannot absorb these costs. They will stop going to their doctors and taking their medications. They will use the emergency room for their primary care and only as a last resort.

We hope that Maine residents will go to our website at aarp.org/me or find us on Facebook at aarpmaine to sign the petition. Anyone can sign it online. For those without Internet access, we can

mail a paper version of the petition if you call our office at 1-866-5545380. Even if you will not be directly affected by cuts to the MSP and DEL, chances are you know someone who will be.

Let’s work together to protect our most vulnerable friends and neighbors.

RICH LIVINGSTON is the AARP Maine Volunteer State President.

Margie Higgins

For More Information:

Interested in learning more about the AARP’s petition against cuts to Medicare Savings and Drugs for the Elderly Programs? Visit these sites or call for details.

AARP Website: aarp.org/me AARP Office Phone: 1-866-554-5380

Need ideas for something to do?

Visit bangormetro.com and check out our calendar of events

Since 1947

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 69

real estate

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Country Living

Beautiful Troy home for sale with barn, fenced pastures, panoramic views and in-law apartment.

Linda Gardiner, Realtor Licensed since 2004 Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate 478-5841 • bangorsbesthomes.com

Pick of the Month: 355 Bangor Road, Troy

What do you love about this home?

“I have a special affinity for equine homes. Having owned horses for over 20 years, I understand the needs of equines and their families.

This is a gorgeous, move-in ready home with space for everyone, including stables for the horses.”

70 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

CALLING TROY HOME...

PROPERTY DETAILS: MLS# 1152179 355 Bangor Road, Troy

Details: Amazing 4-bedroom property on 115 acres with fenced pastures and 4,000 square foot barn. Custom-built in 2008 with in-law apartment included.

COMMUNITY DETAILS: Population: 1,030

(Opposite page, top) The property includes 115 acres with some fenced-in pastures.

(Opposite page, bottom) The custom-built gourmet kitchen is open to the dining area.

(This page, clockwise from top) The large granite island offers additional seating and workspace. A view of the beautifully landscaped grounds. The 4,000 square foot barn.

The welcoming entryway, like the rest of the home, is move-in ready. The open-concept and spacious dining area.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 71

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maine

woods & waters

Off the Grid

Adventure Maine Huts & Trails offers ‘off-thegrid’ nature experience for all.

STORY BY BOB DUCHESNE

A

s I have

Flagstaff Lake Hut, one of the four eco-friendly lodges in the Maine Huts & Trails system, is ado rned with driftfood from the nearby Fla gstaff Lake.

the load, gear shuttles are available.

The huts are not just hostels. They provide back-to-nature retreats for business meetings, social events, and even weddings. My first opportunity to visit the Flagstaff Hut came when Maine Audubon held an event there a few autumns ago. This March, I returned to

It’s a trail system in Maine’s western mountains that connects four remote huts, though to call them huts is an injustice. them huts is an injustice. These are thoroughly modern lodges with hot showers, composting flush toilets, and heated bunkrooms. All are off the grid. Solar panels power the bulk of the day’s needs, and a generator kicks in during peak periods.

Hikers, bikers, skiers, and snowshoers can pack light, carrying only a few necessities. A backpack with clothing, toiletries, pillowcase, and sleeping bag is all that’s needed during the seasons when full meals are provided. To further lighten 74 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

the hut when I was recruited to present a program on birding. Having gotten a taste for how gentle the trails are and how scenic the area is, I am already consulting my calendar, wondering when I can explore further. So far, I’ve hiked only 2 of the 80 miles.

It is remarkable that each hut can be such a totally different experience from the others. Poplar Stream Falls Hut was the first, beginning operations in 2008. It is near Kingfield, and

prized for its proximity to hiking in the Bigelow Range. Mountain bikers like to stay at Poplar because it neighbors the 50 miles of bike trails belonging to Sugarloaf Outdoor Center.

Stratton Brook Hut is the newest lodge, established in 2012. It’s convenient to Carrabassett Valley’s hiking and biking opportunities, and I’ve heard it is ideal for birding and wildlife watching.

Flagstaff Hut opened in 2009 and I can attest to its comfort. It offers the shortest access trail, allowing explorers to dump their gear in the bunkroom and strike out unencumbered to enjoy vistas on the back side of Flagstaff Lake.

This lodge provides the best boating and swimming experiences.

I’ve got my eye on Grand Falls Hut. Grand Falls is a spectacular waterfall on the Dead River. It spans the river and plummets 35 feet straight down. I’ve managed to convince a Subaru to navigate the logging roads to within walking distance a few times, so I know how rugged the area is. Whitewater canoeing and rafting are popular in this gorge. Anglers

BDN FILE PHOTOS BY AISLINN SARNACKI

gotten older, I have improved my ability to lie to myself.

In my mind’s eye, I am still young enough to scale peaks, paddle rapids, and ski moguls. In my reality, I just don’t get around to doing those things because I’m too busy doing more productive things, like not hurting myself.

In this fantasy world, I picture a place where I can rough it without really roughing it. Such a place would let me wander its trails, explore its lakes, and fish its rivers. At the end of the day, such a place would feed me. There would be beer and wine. And a bed.

Such a place would look exactly like Maine Huts & Trails. It’s a trail system in Maine’s western mountains that connects four remote huts, though to call

Signs mark the many trails that make up the Maine Huts & Trails system in western Maine.

rave about it. This hut is the most remote and secluded, and when I finally arrive, I may reward myself with a second beer.

Speaking of which, on my first visit to the Flagstaff Hut, I found the beer selection to be excellent, but the wine – not so much. On my second visit, the wines were much improved. These folks catch on fast. They make every effort to offer an outstanding adventure, and I’ve watched them broaden their programs and services over the last several years.

There are a few private rooms, but most people are comfortable in the bunkhouses. If you’re doing it right, you’ll wear yourself out during the The dock of Maine Hu ts & day and sleep like a baby. For light Trails Flagstaff Lake Hut. sleepers, the huts offer ear plugs.

On a budget in peak season, look for special promotions. Off season, the BOB DUCHESNE is a local cost drops for those willing to backpack radio personality, Maine guide, their own food. Don’t take my word for and columnist. He lives on it. Visit mainehuts.com and tell them Bob Pushaw Lake with his wife, Sandi. sent you. And they’ll say, “Bob who?”

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 75

Special Section Featuring Northern Maine

M

akenna (Kenna) Ward

was a rock star in her community, said her father Kirk Ward. Everywhere she went, whether in the Greater Houlton area or at one of several hospitals across Maine and New England, people knew of her and her story. She was just 6-years-old when she died from the cancer she fought for most of her young life, but her family and the

by Bangor Metro

Continuing a Legacy of Caring

community who loved her so much while she was with them are continuing her legacy in the one way they know would have made Kenna most proud – by giving to others.

Kenna’s father said despite her years of visiting doctors and experiencing challenges, like losing her hair, Kenna never identified herself as a cancer patient.

“Kenna was affectionate, a cheerleader for her older sister (Felicity) and younger brother (Blake), serious none of the time, stubborn, gentle and caring, a blessing, a teacher, and a definition of life,” said Kirk. “Other than she having no hair, and from time to time she had tubes sticking out of her body, she was a typical four-, five- and six-year-old.”

Doctors diagnosed Kenna with Neuroblastoma Cancer when she was just 22 months old. She managed to go into remission for about 13 months, but when the cancer returned, even experimental, aggressive treatments were unable to stop it.

“When it comes back the second time, it’s extremely hard to fight it off,” explained Kirk. “We tried many

County community rallies behind Kenna Cares Bags to keep young cancer patient’s memory alive.

BY MONICA PETTENGILL JERKINS

new ways of battling cancer. Once, after a high dose radiation treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital, we couldn’t touch or hold or hug her for a good week. We tried holistic, we tried everything to save our daughter. She fought and she fought hard.”

As Kenna’s primary caregiver, her mother, Amy Ward, devoted all of her time and energy to seeing her daughter through rigorous chemo treatment schedules, radiation, blood transfusions, surgeries, stem cell recoveries, traveling to appointments and specialized care even while at home. She lived for making her family feel as normal as possible through such a difficult time.

“I’m so proud of my wife who kept track of everything. This woman is truly my hero,” said Kirk.

So, when one night Kenna told her mom she wanted to help other kids and asked her how she might be able to do that, Amy and Kirk promised her they would think of some way to accomplish her goal. Unfortunately, Kenna died in December 2013, her goal still unrealized. That’s when her parents decided to honor their daughter’s wishes by creating a lasting legacy that would help other childhood cancer patients.

Since then, they’ve chosen several ways to do just that, including donations to Diamond Blackfan Anemia to honor a dear friend Kenna made during www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 77

her treatments who suffered from that disease, and to CureSearch for Childhood Cancer. Each summer, since even before Kenna’s death, the Wards have raised money for both of those causes by organizing a Miracle Mile run/walk in downtown Houlton. They’re also in the process of establishing a scholarship fund in Kenna’s memory that they will award to a graduating senior at Hodgdon or Houlton High School who plans to pursue an education in nursing and who demonstrates an exemplary aptitude to succeed in the nursing profession.

something that can take their mind off of cancer for a short period of time. A treatment can last a couple of hours, so to give them something to color or put together – like Legos – it makes them feel normal, which is how they want to be treated.”

The idea blossomed, and in the first year, the Wards, with the help of their community and donors, were able to fill and distribute more than 70 bags to the Lafayette Family Cancer Center in Brewer, along with pediatric hospitals like Boston Children’s and pediatric wings at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Maine Medical in Portland and Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. The Wards

“This is something that we want to continue building on, becoming an advocate for childhood cancer awareness. Makenna made such a difference for so many people.”

“We’re very excited that we have so many different ways to give back and honor Makenna,” said Kirk.

Perhaps the most rewarding and direct way the Wards have found to give back, however, is with a project they have named Kenna Cares Bags. Just a couple of months after Kenna’s death, and just as her parents were searching for ideas on how to fulfill their daughter’s dream to help people, Sarah Estabrook and Amber Brown, a couple of young women from the community, approached them with the perfect concept. Brown worked for ThirtyOne, a company with a strong reputation for giving and who sells bags and purses of varying sizes. Understanding the challenges that travel and boredom present, along with the need for small emotional distractions while seeking treatment for cancer, the idea was to fill these bags with meaningful items that would make life easier, and perhaps offer some comfort to cancer patients during a trying time.

“It’s become quite popular, which is what we wanted it to become,” said Kirk.

“The items are anything from blankets to chapsticks, coloring books, baseball caps, crayons; for the older ones – iTunes cards. Lotions are big, especially in treatment because you tend to dry out a lot.

We’ve had a lot of parents say the bag itself is handy for travel because they’re good-sized bags. The bag is chock-full of the essentials for cancer treatment – 78 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

created a Facebook page for the cause and invited people to make donations and follow their progress. This year, they were able to exceed their goal of filling 100 bags by 42. They had so many bags that they decided to stuff sibling bags as well, remembering that Kenna always had her brother or sister at her side as she went for treatments, and recognizing that the siblings of young cancer patients are also affected by the disease.

“This is still really new to us. We’re in the process of pulling together a board of trustees because it’s getting so big, it’s hard to stay ahead of it,” said Kirk. “We’re just really thrilled with all of the followers out there who have jumped on board.

Our dining room right now is right full of boxes of goodies – stuffed animals, nail polish, sports figures … It’s a good thing, it’s not a bad thing. There’s just so much of it, we haven’t sat down to have supper at the dining room table in over a month.”

Soon, the Wards are thinking they will have to rent a space to store all of the supplies they’ve received, which they will continue to use to create more and more bags.

“Makenna’s appreciation of finishing something she started was unprecedented. If we stop doing what she started, then we would be limiting her, and we definitely don’t want to limit her. Even though she’s not with us, she always went into everything 100 percent, and she never gave

up. So, for us, this is for infinity. We don’t want to give up on something that she felt so adamant about. For us, it’s keeping her memory alive and building her legacy even more,” said Kirk.

Kenna was full of energy, even when she was in the midst of treatments. Her parents are determined to keep that energy going, and their faith in God is helping keep them strong to accomplish just that.

“Whenever she was being treated, it was, ‘Get me the heck out of here, I want to go play.’ I was just so proud of her as her daddy. She was a little superhero – to me and to her friends and to her family. I don’t know how often I prayed. ‘Pray without ceasing’ – we pretty much lived by that. We always had questions – why God? Why us?

– but we always stayed faithful. We never gave up hoping for new possibilities.”

“This is something that we want to continue building on, becoming an advocate for childhood cancer awareness. Makenna made such a difference for so many people. Even though she fought cancer and had such a short life, in six years she made such a difference in so many lives. There’s no end in sight,” said Kirk.

How to Help

Anyone interested in donating can do so by dropping off purchased items at several established sites, including: • Houlton Wesleyan Church at 18 Kelleran St. • Houlton Elementary School and the Southside School or any schools in SAD 29 • University of Maine at Fort Kent • Donations can also be mailed to the family at 7 Weeks St., Houlton, ME 04730; Laura Ward at 7 Mulberry Drive, Presque Isle, ME 04769; or to Melissa Corbin, 716 Houlton Road, Easton, ME 04740.

For more information about the family’s various projects to honor Kenna, visit their Facebook pages, facebook.com/MiracleMile Race4Research or facebook.com/ KennaCaresBags.

last

word

W

hen I was young

Aging

Gracefully

Using youngsters to make you feel more physically dominant is a great way to up your self image.

BY CHRIS QUIMBY

I thought my father was a stud.

He ran marathons, which I couldn’t wrap my mind around. Forget the physical demands such a task would require of the human body – I couldn’t even imagine suffering the boredom of running for two hours. No, if I was ever going to have to hold in vomit for that long I would prefer it to be because of candy.

My father could lift things I couldn’t budge. He worked with tools I was not allowed to use. He had thick, muscular legs and Worm Veins in his hands.

I’m not sure the reason for the association, but my father had large veins on the back side of his hands and up his arms and I thought this was proof of his great strength. I remember occasions in junior high when I would purposely lean sideways on my chair in school so that the backrest would cut off circulation in my armpit and cause my veins to grow.

I was pretty sure that this was how I was going to become a man.

As I aged I began to to be able to lift heavier objects, including a lawnmower I would hoist into the back of my Subaru GL to take to properties of elderly women who were not able to mow their own lawns. I played a lot of pickup basketball, dreaming of the day when I would be able to jump high enough to dunk the ball.

This has still not happened. In fact, I peaked physically some time ago.

The Bible encourages me to take heart, that though my outer self is wasting away, my inner self is being renewed day by day. I’m just hoping that I at some point I will become a quality person inside at a higher rate than my lower back deteriorates or that my hair grays.

Thankfully, I had two children in my mid-20s. They were initially very small, weak and whiny as babies. Comparatively, I felt quite dominant. I could outrun them and outwrestle them. In fact, I could throw them into the air for a few feet and catch them each time.

Not to brag, but I retired from this activity with a 100 percent success rate.

But my wife and I continued to feed these children. Now, they are in their mid- to late-teens. My son can outrun me. He cannot, however, outwrestle me yet, but mostly because there’s a little more fight in this dog. I can usually summon the necessary fury by thinking of the times I have intended to scoop out a bowl of ice cream only to discover he’s already eaten it all.

But if that doesn’t frustrate me enough, I can simply meditate upon all of trash-talking I receive. My son will advertise his lack of body fat percentage when he sees me without a shirt on. “And what have you done to earn that?” I will ask defensively. What he has done is eat more than I do and exercise much less.

Continuing my defensiveness upon memories of how much faster than me he is, I will remind him that I am doing all of this with parts that are 20 years older than his. This is about as fair as someone with a T1 connection racing to do a research paper against someone with a truckload of encyclopedias.

But like many elder statesmen, I am looking forward to grandchildren.

Many of my friends have already entered this world. Enjoying their twilight years with their children’s children, they pass down stories and lessons and build strong relationships that bridge generations while adding richness to their lives.

Not me. When I am presented with these underdeveloped toddlers I will exult in the long-awaited opportunity to once again feel comparatively physically dominant. I will outrun them. And if they beat me in wrestling, it will be either because I let them or because I’m pretty tired. And these kids are going to gasp in wonder at something I’ve been growing for over 40 years – something handed down from my father and indicative of my qualifications as a man. My own impressive set of Worm Veins.

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.

80 / BANGOR METRO May 2015

IMAGES: STOCK_SHOPPE/THINKSTOCK.COM

When I am presented with these underdeveloped toddlers I will exult in the opportunity to again feel comparatively physically dominant.

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