Thankful FOR THOSE
WHO SERVE THE HISTORY OF MAINE'S
AIR FORCE BASES
EXPLORE OUR NAVAL HISTORY
AND HEAD TO THESE MAINE MUSEUMS THAT HONOR LOCAL VETS
$5.95
November 2020
COMFORT FOOD • MAINE TEAS • AUTHOR JEN WAITE AND MARRY ME — A SPECIAL SECTION FOR MAINE COUPLES
CONTENTS
NOVEMBER 2020
FEATURES 42
LOOK TO THE SKIES
The history of Loring and Dow Air Force bases
48
ON THE SHORE
Maine’s rich naval history
52
DISPLAY OF COURAGE
Interview with a 27-year-old Marine
SPECIAL SECTION 33
MARRY ME
A special section devoted to getting married in Maine
42
LOOK TO THE SKIES
28
A DIFFERENT TABLE
IN EVERY ISSUE 08
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Local events & sightings
OBSESSIONS
What we can’t get enough of this month
56
GET OUT
Honoring veterans at these Maine museums
64
THE VIEW FROM HERE
Being there for our students
ON THE COVER B-17 Bomber crew member, circa 1943. PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE BANGOR PUBLIC LIBRARY THOMPSON COLLECTION
2 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
PHOTOS: (TOP) COURTESY OF THE BANGOR PUBLIC LIBRARY THOMPSON COLLECTION; (BOTTOM) ©BULLRUN/ADOBE STOCK
12
ARTS & CULTURE 10
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
Writer Jen Waite spins a creepy tale from a chance encounter
FOOD & DRINK 14
IN SEASON NOW
16
TEA PARTY
Hunker down and cozy up with these comfort food recipes
Seven Maine-made teas to try
HEALTH & FITNESS 20
HIKE ME
Easy wilderness walks with educational displays
26
IN & OUT
Calming breathing techniques
HOME & FAMILY 28
A DIFFERENT TABLE
Celebrating Thanksgiving from afar
OUTSIDE 62
WOODS & WATERS
Maine thanks veterans with more than words www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 3
EDITOR’S NOTE
VETERANS Edition
WHEN I LOOK through the books that line the shelves of my bedroom and dining room, I see the fiction that’s entertained me. And I see the nonfiction that gives me windows into other lives and experiences. Books are a gateway to knowledge and a keeper of understanding. And in those nonfiction volumes, I see something else: seasons. I don’t mean fall, winter, spring and summer. No, I mean the seasons of lives — the experiences large and small that shape us and how we see things.
THESE PAST SEVEN-PLUS MONTHS HAVE BEEN A COLLECTIVE SEASON OF LIFE FOR PEOPLE AROUND THE GLOBE. It’s been a time of uncomfortable change and uncertain future. It’s been a time of loss and challenge. And it’s been a time of charged differences that have shown us the best and worst of humanity. There’s nothing comfortable about uprooting everything you do to remain healthy in a global pandemic. And there’s nothing comforting about stepping away from your usual life or skipping your favorite events and activities. And there’s nothing good about hearing your 30-something cousin and his fiancé tell of their weeks of confinement and recovery after contracting COVID-19. But what is comforting is that they were there, on a family Zoom call, to share the tale. As we approach the holiday season, it’s hard to tell what life will look like. We can guess and assume — like I am doing right now. But we can’t know for sure. What we do know is that everyone needs to feel loved, cared for and comforted, especially in difficult times. That’s the inspiration for stories like Kaylie Reese’s look at holidays celebrated from afar on page 28. And that’s also the impetus for our very special story on simple breathing techniques, which can help release some of the stress, on page 26. And we know that November brings Veteran’s Day, a special day set aside to honor those who’ve defended us over the years. Don’t miss Emily Morrison’s interview with a young veteran on page 52 or Richard Shaw’s look back at Maine’s armed forces history on page 42. And, also, don’t forget to thank the veterans in your lives for their service. And wherever you are, know that you aren’t alone. Though times may be challenging now, we still have much to be thankful for.
SARAH WALKER CARON, EDITOR
Connect With Us Online bangormetro.com facebook.com/BangorMetro @BangorMetro bangormetro talkback@bangormetro.com 4 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
www.bangormetro.com P.O. Box 1329 Bangor, Maine 04402-1329 Phone: 207.990.8000
PUBLISHER
Richard J. Warren
EDITOR
Sarah Walker Caron scaron@bangordailynews.com
SALES MANAGER
Laurie Cates
lcates@bangordailynews.com
ART DIRECTOR
Amy Allen
aallen@bangordailynews.com
SUBSCRIPTION & PROMOTIONS MANAGER
Fred Stewart
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STAFF WRITER
Julia Bayly jbayly@bangordailynews.com
STAFF WRITER
Rosemary Lausier rlausier@bangordailynews.com
STAFF WRITER
Aislinn Sarnacki asarnacki@bangordailynews.com
STAFF WRITER
Sam Schipani sschipani@bangordailynews.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS Stephanie Bouchard, Bob Duchesne, Emily Morrison, Kaylie Reese, Richard Shaw www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 5
6 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS
HOW WILL YOU
Bangor Metro Magazine. November 2020, Vol. 16, No. 9. Copyright © Bangor Publishing Company. Bangor Metro is published 10 times annually by Bangor Publishing Company. 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 Sarah Walker Caron at scaron@bangordailynews.com. Advertising: For advertising questions, please call the Sales Director Todd Johnston at 207-990-8129. Subscriptions/Address Change: The one year subscription cost is $15.95. Address changes: to ensure delivery, subscribers must notify the magazine of address changes one month in advance of the cover date. Please contact Fred Stewart at 207-990-8075. Accounts Payable/Receivable: For information about your account please contact Todd Johnston at 207-990-8129.
COVER PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE BANGOR PUBLIC LIBRARY THOMPSON COLLECTION
CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING THIS YEAR?
“
My sister and I recently became puppy moms again, so this year our Thanksgiving will entail two tiny puppies, two big dogs, and five medium-sized kids playing with each other. And there’ll be lots of pie.” — EMILY MORRISON, CONTRIBUTOR
“Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I’ll be sad to be far away from my family in Virginia, but I’m going to try to make the most of it. Like always, I’ll have my favorite Thanksgiving-themed sitcom episodes (I see your ‘Friends’ and raise you a ‘New Girl’) playing in the background as I spend the day cooking. This time, though, I’ll be free from the obligations of feeding a crowd that might be disappointed (or worse, get sick) if my experiments go awry. I’m thinking of frying my turkey, topping my mashed potatoes with a crust of potato chips and making pumpkin macarons instead of pie. Of course, I’ll Zoom with my sister and parents so they can be part of the festivities.” — SAM SCHIPANI, STAFF WRITER
“I haven’t the foggiest idea. This has been the year of letting go of plans and accepting that unpredictability can be okay. Maybe I’ll make Thanksgiving dinner the weekend before and just have a turkey sandwich on the actual day while Zooming with my far-flung family. Who knows?” — SARAH WALKER CARON, EDITOR
www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 7
WHAT’S HAPPENING
FEELING THANKFUL
Gather round the Thanksgiving table and play our holiday Pop Quiz!
NOVEMBER Don’t forget to exercise your right to vote — if you haven’t already. Contact your town to find your polling place. And don’t worry if you haven’t registered in advance. Voting registration can be done in Maine on the day of the election, as long as you have proper documentation.
SATURDAY, NOV. 7 DOWNTOWN BANGOR LAMPPOST DECORATING
Bring your step ladder and help spread some holiday cheer through Downtown Bangor. The Downtown Bangor Beautification Committee needs help wrapping more than 100 lamp posts around downtown for the season. Step ladders should be a minimum of 8-feet tall. But even if you don’t have one, you can help. Meet in front of The Rock & Art Shop on Central Street at 9:30 a.m. to get involved.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 11 VETERANS DAY
On this day, we celebrate those who’ve served in the United States Armed Forces. Thank you so much, veterans, for your service.
NOVEMBER 21-22 MAINE HARVEST FESTIVAL
The annual Maine Harvest Festival is scheduled for Nov. 21 to 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Stay tuned to the harvest festival website for details of the event. MAINEHARVESTFESTIVAL.COM
THURSDAY, NOV. 26 THANKSGIVING DAY
Slide the turkey in the oven, make the dressing and mash the potatoes! It’s Thanksgiving Day. Remember to celebrate responsibly this year though. With the ongoing pandemic, a virtual family dinner might be the best way to show how thankful you are for each other.
Find answers below.
Answers to this month’s Pop Quiz: Question 1: A; Q2: C; Q3: B; Q4: A; Q5: A. 8 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
PHOTO: ©PROSTOCK-STUDIO/ADOBE STOCK
TUESDAY, NOV. 3 ELECTION DAY
www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 9
ARTS & CULTURE
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:
JEN
WAITE A THRILLING NOVEL WITH A HEART-THUMPING INSPIRATION
PHOTOS: (THIS PAGE) ©CHAINAT/ADOBE STOCK; (COVER) COURTESY OF JEN WAITE; (AUTHOR) EVYNNE MORIN
BY SARAH WALKER CARON
10 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
A CHANCE ENCOUNTER in the woods of New Hampshire got author Jen Waite’s blood rushing — but it did more than that too. It inspired her first novel. “I went to the White Mountains of New Hampshire with my mom and with [my daughter] Vivi, who at the time was 2, and had a very intense experience,” Waite recalled. It was February. They decided to take a nature walk, enjoying the solitude and the fresh, clean, frigid air. “Then this guy kind of came up on us very fast and he was pulling a sled behind him,” Waite said. “I think at the time my mom and I didn’t say anything to each other about it because we were in the moment.” The man simply passed them on the trail, but later, as Waite sat by the fire with her mother sipping a glass of wine, a story began percolating. They started talking about the what ifs of the situation. “That was the seed for the whole story,” Waite said. “Survival Instincts,” published in July, is a haunting, nail-biting thriller about three generations of women who find themselves trapped in a cabin with a dangerous stranger intent on terrorizing them. It was an August 2020 pick for Bangor Metro’s Obsessions list. Waite said that the what ifs she and her mother discussed helped her to develop the tale. “You have a kid and zero way to communicate with the outside world — at the time, right when it was happening, it was a little unnerving. But later on, when I was thinking about it, it was a little exciting [to have a fictional story to tell],” Waite said. It was the first time she’d felt that way since writing her memoir. The southern Maine author’s first book, a memoir called “A Beautiful, Terrible Thing,” explored her discovery that her marriage was built on an illusion, and the harrowing experience of extracting herself and her daughter from it. In writing her novel, Waite wanted to have an unexpected character somewhat based on her own lived experience. “I wanted to have a psychopath character but I didn’t want that to be the obvious choice. … I think a lot of people don’t associate a charming, nice … person [with being] a psychopath,” Waite said. People with some personality disorders or without empathy can portray themselves as typical, Waite said. “I think it’s important for … [people] to really wrap their heads around the fact that these narcissists or psychopaths can seem very
funny or goofy,” Waite said. But it’s a “slow burn” to the person revealing their real self. “It’s not you meet the person and on the first date they tell you about how they have no empathy or they’ve murdered someone. That would be a red flag.” As the intense story unfolds in the novel, readers are left guessing — and wondering their own set of what ifs. Since “Survival Instincts,” was released in July during the pandemic, Waite has been doing everything she can to get the word out about her book. With book tours on hold, she’s been digging into social media “to get the momentum going.” The experience is different than the release of her memoir — not just because of the pandemic though. Waite thinks with her first book, she had a personal tale to tell and that helped get the attention on television and print media. While she was thrilled with the attention her first book got, the process was also draining as strangers weighed in on her “intensely personal story.” “I took a full year after the memoir and just really went through the process of having that story, that really intensely personal story, be out in the world and I think that was harder for me than I thought it was going to be,” Waite said. She’s now hard at work on her third book, a novel.
www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 11
OBSESSIONS
OBSESSIONS WHAT WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS MONTH.
EAT RAYE’S MUSTARDS FROM THE FACTORY STORE WHY DO WE LOVE IT? I found myself in Eastport recently and, of course, popped into the Raye’s Mustard Factory Store. The mill isn’t open to the public (airborne pathogens and all), but the gift shop is, and I went ham on buying mustards I hadn’t seen or tried. My runaway favorite was the Dundicott Hott, a stone-ground chiliforward mustard that is delicious on sandwiches, as a glaze for chicken or by itself. I don’t usually see this one at our local Hannaford, but if it happens to be on the shelves at your area grocer, do yourself a favor and pick up a jar. Or, head out to Eastport — it’s worth the trip. — SAM SCHIPANI
GO WHY DO WE LOVE IT? Mossy Ledge Spirits in Etna makes for a fun day-trip (if you have a designated driver, that is). The craft distillery has a pandemic-friendly outdoor seating area and the four free tastings for every customer. Between their candy-flavored cordials (cherry, coconut, pineapple, you name it) and 120-proof rye, there will be something for everyone. Once you’re done, order a house cocktail from their impressively creative list of drinks — the Mudslide with toasted coconut cordial and the Bloody Mary with “Holy Hell” jalapeño-infused vodka are favorites of mine. — SAM SCHIPANI
12 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
HOLY HELL BLOODY MARY Start with a 2 oz pour of Mossy Ledge Spirits’ Holy Hell jalapeñoinfused vodka. Add a squeeze of a lime wedge, couple drops of Frank’s Red Hot, healthy pour of Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, Mr & Mrs T Bold & Spicy Bloody Mary Mix and a splash of Clamato. Garnish with the squeezed lime wedge, pickled onion, olive and a celery stick.
PHOTOS: ©TANYA KUKARKINA, ©GLISIC_ALBINA, ©5PH/ADOBE STOCK
MOSSY LEDGE SPIRITS IN ETNA
READ Every month, many new books cross my desk. I purchase even more. These are a few that I particularly enjoyed and recommend. “BELABORED” BY LYZ LENZ — This book is a look at the forces that have shaped how pregnant women are treated by medicine and other people. Those forces run the gamut from religious to historical to cultural myths, and they’ve led to a world where the natural process of birth is a medical one, where the autonomy of a woman’s body is political and where people with no background in birthing think they have a right to instruct women on pregnancy. This book is deeply personal as Lenz uses her own two births to illustrate the demands, expectations and judgements women face. And it’s illustrated by examples from history to show how birth has changed over the years. The witty, sometimes snarky, writing resonated with me as I recalled my own pregnancies and births. (NONFICTION) “FRIENDS AND STRANGERS” BY J. COURTNEY SULLIVAN — Elisabeth is an accomplished journalist new to motherhood and to her small town. After 20 years in New York City, there’s a certain amount of culture-shock that comes with being in suburbia so far from the familiar coffee shops and friends that speckled her life before. With her work faltering — how does one work with an infant anyway? — she hires a babysitter, Sam, from a nearby women’s college. Sam is a senior with big dreams — and a long distance relationship that clouds them. The two form an unlikely friendship outside their business relationship — but can it withstand their differences in privilege, power and age? I’ve long loved J. Courtney Sullivan’s work. Her writing is engrossing, her characters dynamic and her settings vivid. I loved the complexity of the characters in this as well. But, although it fortunately wasn’t a saccharine happy ending, part of me had hoped for a little more consequence in its wrapup. (FICTION) “CHOWDER RULES!” BY ANNA CROWLEY REDDING AND ILLUSTRATED BY VITA LANE — As a New York transplant, I grew up fascinated by the differences I saw between New England clam chowder and the Manhattan clam chowder. My mind was also a bit blown when I learned there was a Rhode Island clam chowder too. Within my family, there was a slight favoring of the creamy New England version though we all agreed that tomato-filled Manhattan clam chowder had its merits too. All of this is to say that when I opened this picture book recently, I was delighted to read a story all about the rivalry between New England clam chowder lovers and Manhattan clam chowder lovers. And it’s based on a true story! This lively picture book plucks a quirky story from history and delivers a fun story that parents and kids can enjoy together. (PICTURE BOOK) — SARAH WALKER CARON www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 13
in season now
FOOD & DRINK
COMFORT FOOD
STORY & PHOTOS BY SARAH WALKER CARON
SINCE MARCH, I have tried with fits and starts to embrace grocery pick-up orders. On one hand, it’s an easy way to shop that doesn’t require me to budget time for shopping. Plus, with the pandemic at hand, it’s been a way to limit exposure. But on the other hand, it’s been a frustrating endeavor that’s found me often wondering whether it’s truly worth it. I order chicken breasts just about every time. Only about 25 percent of the time do I receive them. My most recent order was also devoid of cumin, a bread for toasting and the potato salad my son wanted so badly. Other times, it’s been creamer or all of the snacks I ordered. Still, there is something nice about placing the order and just picking it up instead of spending an hour or more shopping. And to have someone else load my car with convenient, handled paper bags? That’s not too bad either. What do you think? Are you a grocery pick-up devotee? As we move toward the colder months, I’ll be filling my cart with more ingredients for comfort food — soups and stews, pastas and mashed potatoes. Here’s a few recipes that will help you do the same.
VEGETABLE BASIL SOUP Serves 6
INGREDIENTS 1 tbsp olive oil 1 yellow onion, diced 2 cups diced carrots 1 zucchini, diced 1 cup diced bell peppers 1 28-oz can petite diced tomatoes (no-salt added recommended) 4 cups vegetable stock 1 cup chopped fresh basil salt and pepper, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven, or a large pot. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden — about 10 minutes. Ad the carrots, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes and vegetable stock to the pan. Stir well. Stir in the basil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 hour, or until carrots are tender. Taste, and season as desired with salt and pepper. Enjoy.
BARBECUE TURKEY BACON MEATLOAF Serves 6
INGREDIENTS 1 lb ground turkey 6 slices turkey bacon, chopped ¾ cup diced onions ¾ cup diced red bell pepper
3 tbsp barbecue sauce, plus ¼ cup, divided 2 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp ground black pepper
¾ cup oats 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
INSTRUCTIONS Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking oil spray or line with nonstick aluminum foil. In a large bowl, stir together the ground turkey, turkey bacon, onions, red bell pepper, oats, Worcestershire sauce, 3 tablespoons of barbecue sauce, salt and pepper until well combined. Turn the mixture out onto the prepared baking sheet and form a loaf, about 1-inch thick. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until well browned on the outside. Brush the meatloaf with the remaining ¼ cup of barbecue sauce. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing and serving.
BAKED SMOKED GOUDA CHICKEN PASTA Serves 8-10
INGREDIENTS 2 tbsp olive oil 1 lb chicken tenderloins, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, plus ¼ cup, divided 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste ½ tsp ground black pepper, plus more to taste 4 tbsp unsalted butter, plus 2 tbsp, divided 4 cups milk 2 tsp dijon mustard PHOTO: (GROCERIES) ©VADIMGUZHVA/ADOBE STOCK
4 cups grated smoked gouda cheese 1 lb pasta, cooked according to package directions 1 cup thinly sliced sundried tomatoes 1 cup thinly sliced roasted red peppers ¼ cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
INSTRUCTIONS Heat the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. In a resealable bag, toss together the chicken pieces, 2 tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper until well-coated. Add the chicken to the olive oil and cook, flipping as needed, until golden on each side, about 6-7 minutes. Melt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter in a large pot. Whisk in ¼ cup all-purpose flour until well combined. Cook for 2-3 minutes until golden. Whisk in the milk a little at a time until fully incorporated. Heat until just shy of boiling. Whisk in the mustard. Whisk in the cheese until fully incorporated. It should thicken slightly. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cooked pasta, chicken, sundried tomatoes and roasted red peppers. Pour the cheese sauce over and mix well to combine. Spread in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Stir in the breadcrumbs until fully moistened. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta. Bake for 24-26 minutes until bubbly. Let cool slightly before serving.
SARAH WALKER CARON is the editor of Bangor Metro Magazine and the author of five cookbooks including the “Easy Frugal Cookbook,” released in July. Her book “Classic Diners of Maine” is available where books are sold. Signed copies are available at The Briar Patch in Bangor.
www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 15
FOOD & DRINK
TEA
Party 7 MAINE-MADE TEAS YOU NEED TO TRY BY SAM SCHIPANI
WILD BLUEBERRY BLACK TEA BY BAR HARBOR TEA COMPANY Wild blueberries are an iconic Maine crop, so it seems only right that Mainers found a way to steep them into a rich tea that can be enjoyed year-round both hot and iced. Bar Harbor Tea Company’s wild blueberry black tea is delicious and flavorful, with sumptuous undertones of the antioxidant rich fruit. If black tea isn’t your thing, you can give their wild blueberry green tea or fruit tea a shot, which are also loaded with Maine wild blueberries. Available at select locations in Maine, including Lisa Marie’s Made in Maine in Bath, Rebecca’s Gift Shop in Bangor and Bar Harbor Tea Company’s storefront location in Bar Harbor, or online at barharbortea.com. WINTERPORT BREAKFAST FROM TEA MAINEIA Inspired by Tea Maineia’s home base, Winterport Breakfast is a class breakfast tea with a twist. Like most breakfast teas, the tea consists of a mix of black tea leaves, but what sets it apart is the addition of Pu-erh, an aged, fermented black tea. The aging delivers a unique bold, earthy and slightly musty aroma and taste. Available at select locations in Maine, including West Market Square Artisan Coffeehouse in Bangor, Tiller and Rye in Brewer and Tea Maineia’s storefront location in Winterport, or online at teamaineia.com. SUNRISE TEA BY ZEN BEAR Tea and honey is a classic combination. Instead of selling them separately, this Brunswickbased company has combined the two into a sticky paste — just add water in order to make a delicious, sweet cup of tea. Their Sunrise flavor is a particular standout. Made with turmeric, black pepper, ginger, orange peel, lemon peel, licorice and coconut milk, this piquant blend has not only received rave reviews from customers, but also a Best New Product award at the 2017 New England Made Show. Available at select retailers in Maine, including The Store Ampersand in Orono and The Natural Living Center in Bangor, or online at zenbearhoneytea.com.
16 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
PHOTO: ©ALMAJE/ADOBE STOCK
WHETHER YOU DRINK TEA to perk up your mornings or to wind down in the evenings, you may already have a few varieties that you love to drink again and again. If you are looking for new types to add to your rotation, one of many Maine-made teas might just make the perfect cuppa. There are a number of tea companies throughout the Pine Tree State with their own custom flavors or blends. Some Mainebased tea companies use locally grown or sourced herbs and spices, others rely on leaves from abroad. A couple Maine-based tea companies even get creative with the base for their “teas,” opting for locallysourced ingredients like seaweed instead of traditional tea leaves or herbs. Here are 7 teas from companies based in Maine that you need to try. Who knows — one of them might just be your cup of tea.
SEA SMOKE BY CUP OF SEA This unique tea producer based in Portland makes their teas from wild harvested seaweed from the cold, pristine waters of the Gulf of Maine, dried and blended with other ingredients in small batches. The Sea Smoke blend is a mix of lapsang souchong, a traditional smoked Chinese tea, and dulse, a reddish-purple algae. The result is a surprising, smoky-sweet aroma with a rich, almost oaky black tea flavor, perfect for sipping by the fire at an oceanside camp. Available at select retailers in Maine, including The Lincolnville General Store and The Belfast Co-Op, or online at cupofsea.me. TURMERIC-GINGER BY MAINELY COFFEE Don’t let the name throw you off: Mainely Coffee in Millinocket makes delicious teas in addition to their roasted coffee beans. Their tea products are made unique with the addition of dehydrated coffee fruit, also known as the cascara, which gives their teas a special fullness and sweetness. The turmeric and ginger balances out the rich, almost chocolatey cascara, with a distinct spiciness alongside lighter notes of citrus and black pepper. Available at select retailers in Maine, including The Not So Empty Nest in Brewer, Tiller and Rye in Brewer and Mainely Coffee’s storefront location in Millinocket, or online at mainelycoffee.com.
GREEN EYEBROW FROM LITTLE RED CUP TEA COMPANY Instead of making blends, this Brunswick-based tea company sources their pure teas from trusted partners throughout China. Each variety takes you on a tasting tour throughout the provinces, but if you have to try just one, give Green Eyebrow a shot. Named for the shape of the leaves, the tea is sourced from Jiangxi Province and has a bit more bite than other green teas, but retains that soothing freshness characteristic of an ideal cup of green tea. Available at select retailers in Maine, including Tiller and Rye in Brewer and Blue Hill Co-op in Blue Hill, or online at littleredcuptea.com. ASSAM CHAI FROM CHAI WALLAHS OF MAINE You may be familiar with this two-woman chai-serving duo from the Common Ground Fair, where they have been serving their signature chai blend since 2009. The chai is made with a unique blend of spices and assam black tea, sourced organic and fairly traded ingredients and packaged using ecologically sustainable packaging. Available at select retailers in Maine, including Tiller and Rye and West Market Square Artisan Coffeehouse in Bangor, or online at chaiwallahsofmaine.com. MAINE FIELDS FOREVER FROM DOBRÁ TEA This Portland tea house is like heaven for tea aficionados, boasting over a hundred different teas to sample. Their house blend, Maine Fields Forever, is specially blended with Ceylon black tea, Maine-grown tulsi and anise hyssop. The flavor is at once herbal and fruity with a hint of licorice, all combined with a solid base of the bold black tea. Available at Dobra Tea in Portland or online at dobra-teame.square.site. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 17
Be Ready FOR WHAT LIES AHEAD HAVE YOU PREPARED FINANCIALLY FOR THE HIGH COST OF LONG TERM CARE? BY CARROLL E. HARPER OF CARROLL HARPER AND ASSOCIATES INC.
HAVE YOU LOOKED at the cost of Long stabilized or plateaued) Medicare terminates fits your needs best. The best ages to apply Term Care lately? If not, well you might the coverage. Medicare also pays for some are between 50 and 65, that is when your want to take the time to open your eyes to Home Health Care, but again a “skilled” health is typically insurable and premiums this costly life event that can undo the best service is required and it must be intermittent are most affordable. You may decide not laid retirement plans! in nature, not 24 hour coverage and Medicare to insure against this risk, but it is worth In Maine, Nursing Homes and Assisted pays nothing for homemaker services, except the effort to educate yourself, so you know Living Facilities can reach $15,000 per in certain circumstances. your options before it is too late. month with most averaging around $12,000 The payor of most Long Term Custodial You should also plan to make an monthly. With an average confinement of care is Maine Care. To qualify however, appointment (either in person or virtual) approximately 3 years, that represents an Maine Care requires one to be medically with an Elder Law/Estate Planning Attorney average cost today of over $400,000.00, or qualified and financially impoverished. if you haven’t already done so. They will you might say a substantial dent in monies Maine Care is a very, very complex help you create a will (if you don’t have that you had set aside for those dream program and requires an expert in Maine one, or review your current will). They will vacations and all the other retirement plans. Care planning to navigate the complex laws put into place other directives to help you Consider that 20% will need care take advantage of current laws for 5 years or longer and the figure pertaining to future Long Term ...WORK WITH AN EXPERIENCED climbs to nearly three quarters of a Care planning. Elder Law/Estate LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE million dollars, or more! Planning Attorney’s can also REPRESENTATIVE WHO CAN HELP GUIDE So, who pays for these discuss the many types of trust staggering costs associated with planning. YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS SO THAT today’s Long Term Care. Long Term Care Insurance YOU DON’T WAKE UP SOME MORNING There are the Federal Programs, can be tailored to your individual AND REALIZE IT’S TOO LATE TO PLAN! Medicare and Medicaid, in Maine situation, but don’t put this referred to as “Maine Care,” with off, find out first if you qualify the latter paying most Long Term Care costs. governing Maine Care. These specialists are medically and financially. If so, then work Then there is the private payer who pays referred to as Elder Law Planning Attorneys. with an experienced Long Term Care out of savings and investments, or transfers These specialists, unfortunately, are usually Insurance representative that will help the risk to Long Term Care Insurance. the last resort for those who failed to plan. guide you through the process so that you Let me begin by stating that Long Term Another source, is private pay (using don’t wake up some morning and realize it’s Care is a level of care that is “NOT” covered retirement funds, or transfer the risk to too late to plan! Plan now, while you still by Medicare, as is so often believed! Long Term Care Insurance). Statistics tells can both physically and mentally qualify! Original Medicare provides a limited us that on obtaining age 65, approximately number of days for “Skilled” care only, 70% will need some form of Long Term Carroll Harper is an experienced Long following a hospital stay of 3 midnights Care! So, what should you do to safeguard Term Care Insurance planner who has and only if you are deemed “confined,” not against this potential life changing event? personally serviced Long Term Care “observation” status. Medicare Advantage You should plan today to obtain Insurance claims in the millions of dollars. Plans may be more liberal and not require Long Term Care Insurance quotes, either He has authored numerous Long Term Care the 3 day “inpatient” prerequisite, but again traditional plans (you pay until you need and Medicare CE courses, worked with the benefit is limited to a 100 days per benefit the care), or hybrid LTCi plans (usually a legislators to bring about positive change period. Even when qualified, most Medicare life insurance policy with a LTCi rider) to Maine’s Long Term Care Insurance and “skilled” patients never see the 100 day that provides a death benefit as well as a Medicare consumers through meaningful benefit due to the fact that once the claimant Long Term Care Insurance benefit, as well and effective legislation. He can be reached no longer responds to treatment, (considered as a residual value, and determine which at 1.800.539.5133. 18 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
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HIKE ME
HIKE &
LEARN EASY WILDERNESS WALKS WITH EDUCATIONAL DISPLAYS STORY & PHOTOS BY AISLINN SARNACKI
ENTERING A QUIET evergreen forest, the wide smooth trail travels between humps of moss, patches of exposed granite bedrock and the straight trunks of spruce trees. Hairlike strands of pale green lichen trail from tree branches, dancing in the breeze. As the sun climbs higher, the ground thaws, releasing an earthy aroma that mingles with the salty scent of the nearby ocean. A small group of walkers follow the trail to an overlook on the rocky shore, where they watch bufflehead ducks preening themselves as they float in the waves below. A bit further on and they come upon an interpretive display. Rectangular and held up by two metal posts, the display features colorful illustrations of local marine life, along with a written description of the nearby intertidal habitat. The group pauses to read the display and take in the view, then continues on, soon coming to another display and another. Throughout the walk, they gradually pick up facts about the environment they’re visiting, which only adds to their outdoor experience. Trail features such as educational displays and plant identification tags can truly enhance a wilderness walk for those who are interested in nature, no matter the person’s age. However they’re especially great for parents, guardians or teachers who are looking for a way to sneak learning opportunities for their children or students into an outing. Throughout Maine, several hiking trails feature educational displays, each with their own unique style. Some provide information about the natural flora and fauna of a property, while others offer tidbits about local history or certain landmarks. Of those interpretive walks, here are just a few.
20 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
SHIP HARBOR NATURE TRAIL
IN ACADIA NATIONAL PARK EASY The Ship Harbor Nature Trail is an easy, family-friendly hike that travels through a whimsical spruce-fir forest and along the rocky coastline of Mount Desert Island. Along the way, beautifully illustrated interpretive displays help hikers interpret their surroundings. For example, one display by the water offers information about the nearby mudflats and the animals found within: soft-shelled clams, marine worms, periwinkles and a variety of crustaceans. Forming a figure eight, the trail measures about 1.5 miles in length. The interpretive displays were illustrated by Logan Parsins, a woman from California known for her detailed and colorful depictions of the natural world. Parsins works part-time as a high school art teacher and freelance illustrator. In addition to Acadia National Park, her clients include Yosemite National Park, Scientific American magazine and UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources. All Acadia National Park visitors are required to pay an entrance fee upon entry May through October, regardless of whether they pass a fee collection gate
on their way to the trailhead parking area. Dogs are permitted if kept on leashes no longer than 6 feet and are attended to at all times. For more information, including how to purchase a park pass, visit www.nps/gov/acad or call 288-3338. DIRECTIONS: Drive onto Mount Desert Island on Route 3 and veer right after the causeway to head toward Southwest Harbor on Route 102. In 5.2 miles, veer left at the fork and continue on 102 for 11.3 miles, passing through a light in downtown Somesville (at about 5 miles) and the town of Southwest Harbor. At 11.3 miles, you’ll come to a fork; veer right onto Route 102 and drive 1.6 miles to an intersection in the town of Bass Harbor and veer left onto Route 102A. Drive 2.3 miles on that road, passing the road to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, and the parking lot for Ship Harbor Nature Trail will be on your right, just 0.3 miles before the Wonderland Trail park area, which also will be on your right.
www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 21
HEALTH & FITNESS
HIKE ME
ECOTAT GARDENS
IN HERMON EASY
Ecotat Gardens and Arboretum is a 91-acre property that’s home to 55 gardens and a network of woodland trails. Owned and managed by the nonprofit Ecotat Trust, it’s a great place to learn about a wide variety of plants, both native and nonnative. There are 280 types of trees on the property, and more than 1,500 varieties of perennials. A kiosk at the parking lot displays a trail map and visitor guidelines. Right beside that is an educational display about the Ecotat Native Tree Trail, which is a 22 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
route that follows a number of trails on the property to form a 0.75-mile loop. All along this trail are signs that identify native trees and offer a wealth of information about each species, such as how the tree helps wildlife. The property is open year round, sunrise to sunset. Dogs are not permitted. Access is free, though donations are welcome and Ecotat Trust is always looking for more volunteers to help tend the gardens and maintain the trails. For more information, visit ecotat.org or visit the “Ecotat Gardens and Trails” Facebook page.
DIRECTIONS: Take Interstate 95 Exit 180 for Coldbrook Road in Hermon. Follow Coldbrook Road north for 2 miles until it ends at Route 2. Turn left onto Route 2 and drive 2.5 miles, then turn right onto Annis Road. In a few hundred feet, a large parking lot for the gardens and arboretum, marked with a large sign, will be on your right.
www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 23
HEALTH & FITNESS
HIKE ME
INDIAN POINT PRESERVE
IN ELLSWORTH EASY
Indian Point is a spit of land on the Union River. Covered with tall white pines, the point is a favorite spot for bald eagles and osprey fishing the river. It’s also a historic site, used by the native people of Maine thousands of years ago. Today, a large portion of the point is protected as a preserve that’s owned and maintained by the Frenchman Bay Conservancy. Along the preserve’s main trail are several colorful displays that help walkers identify various plants found in the area, such as haircap moss, lowbush blueberries and hayscented ferns. The trail also includes some
benches and a picnic area at the tip of the point. In addition to the main trail, there is a small loop trail, which veers off the main trail and reconnects near the tip of the point. This trail was built by Leif Jacobsen, an Ellsworth High School student, for his Eagle Scout Project. He named the trail the Native American Indian History Trail, and along the way, he erected informational displays about Native American culture and history. If you add this loop trail to your walk, it will be about 1 mile in length. Dogs are permitted on the property but must be
AISLINN SARNACKI is a staff writer for Bangor Metro and the editor of Act Out, a section of the Bangor Daily News. An expert on the Maine outdoors, she is author of the guidebooks “Dog-Friendly Hikes in Maine,” “Maine Hikes Off the Beaten Path” and “Family Friendly Hikes in Maine.” Follow her adventures at bangordailynews.com/act-out.
24 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
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kept under control at all times. Access is free. To learn more about the interpretive trails of Indian Point Preserve, visit the Frenchman Bay Conservancy website at frenchmanbay.org or call the conservancy’s office at 422-2328. DIRECTIONS: In Ellsworth, at the fourway intersection and traffic light just east of where Route 1 crosses the Union River, turn onto Water Street. Drive about 1 mile, then turn right onto Tinker Farm Way, which is marked with a Frenchman Bay Conservancy preserve sign. You’ll enter a housing development. Drive about 0.2 mile, then turn right onto the gravel drive that leads to the preserve’s parking area. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 25
HEALTH & FITNESS
IN OUT
& HOW SIMPLE BREATHING TECHNIQUES CAN HELP YOU FEEL MORE CALM
PHOTO: ©PHEELINGSMEDIA/ ADOBE STOCK
BY STEPHANIE BOUCHARD
26 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
YOU’RE STRESSED OUT. Filled with anxiety. Maybe even depressed. So, “just breathe,” right? But what exactly does that mean? We breathe all day, every day and that doesn’t make any of us feel better, now does it? That’s because we’re doing it wrong. “We’re shallow breathers in our society as a whole,” said Jen Harry, owner of Infusion Mindfulness of Bar Harbor. She specializes in stress reduction. “Our society is chronically stressed. That actually keeps us in that fight or flight nervous system state, which isn’t very good for our body.” Fight or flight is the bodily response we all want to be in if we’re faced with a once-in-a-while threatening situation, but it’s not good for us to be enduring that kind of bodily response on an everyday basis, said Elizabeth Clayton, who runs the employee wellness program, which includes twice weekly breathing/meditation sessions, for Northern Light Health system. Hormones associated with fight or flight cause a damaging inflammatory response in our bodies, she said. “It’s really bad for us,” Clayton said. “It’s really important to find ways we can kind of manually shift over into relaxation response, so breathing is really an invaluable tool in order to do that.” Using intentional breathing patterns is simple to do, can be done pretty much anywhere, and no one has to know you’re even doing it, said David Walker, who owns Blue Hill Center for Yoga. He has taught simple breathing techniques to customers in the aisles at the Blue Hill Co-op, where he works as the wellness manager, and uses breathing techniques himself through the day as he crisscrosses the store. “The yogis say the mind and the breath are like two fish that swim in perfect unison,” he said. “So, you slow the breath down and the mind slows down.” And, unlike trying to lose weight or gain muscle in the gym, the results are pretty much instantaneous, he said. Even just one minute of slow, deep breathing will calm and relax you. “I think it’s shocking to people — it shocks me all the time — how absolutely effective (breathing) is,” said Clayton. “Do it for a few seconds and there’s a noticeable difference in how you feel. Do it for a few minutes, and it can turn around a real feeling of anxiety. It’s kind of magic in a way.”
To find out for yourself, try these two simple techniques: IN FOR 4 SECONDS HOLD FOR 7 SECONDS OUT FOR 8 SECONDS
THE 4-7-8 TECHNIQUE: Breathe into your belly through your nose to the count of four. Hold your breath for seven seconds, then through pursed lips, slowly exhale to the count of eight. Do this over and over again as many times as you’d like.
SOFT BELLY TECHNIQUE: Sit comfortably but do not slouch. Breathe deeply and slowly through your nose into your belly. Hold your breath for a few seconds, then slowly exhale. As you inhale and exhale slowly, relax your belly and set your mind on a focal point: the sensation of your breathing; sounds you can hear around you; or words such as “in and out” or “calm and peaceful.”
www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 27
HOME & FAMILY
A DIFFERENT
TABLE CELEBRATING THANKSGIVING FROM AFAR BY KAYLIE REESE
28 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
IT GOES WITHOUT saying, but the Thanksgiving dinner table this year most assuredly won’t look like it has in the past. Because of current travel and group-size restrictions, many of us will be celebrating Thanksgiving away from family, some for the first time. But that doesn’t mean the holidays have been canceled. With careful planning and coordination with family and friends, there’s no reason holidays this year can’t be special. In an effort to ease us into the holidays, Jennifer Hubler, clinical supervisor of adult therapy services and outpatient program at Northern Light Acadia Hospital, and Cindy Sturm, clinical supervisor at Dirigo Counseling Clinic, shared tips for navigating the challenges this season presents.
PHOTOS: ©VLADISLAV NOSIK, ©BULLRUN, ©STEPHANIE FREY, ©AEROGONDO/ADOBE STOCK
FOLLOW CDC RULES AND RECOMMENDATIONS There’s no such thing as a ceasefire when it comes to viruses. First and foremost, it is crucial that family and friends adhere to the recommendations put forward by health professionals. In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention encourages everyone to cover coughs and sneezes, practice good hand hygiene, and to stay at home as much as possible. Nonessential travel is discouraged at this time, as it increases the likelihood of catching and spreading coronavirus. Out-of-state travelers are encouraged to do one of two things when entering Maine: quarantine for 14 days or obtain and receive a negative test result from a COVID-19 PCR test. (As of presstime, travelers from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York were exempt from these recommendations.) For additional resources on the coronavirus, visit coronavirus.maine.gov. ADJUST EXPECTATIONS Whether you’re starting new traditions away from home or are hosting a smaller group, it’s important to adjust your expectations. “Sometimes we have a grandiose idea of what the holidays should be and reality doesn’t match up, and we get a lot of images that come at us during the holiday season of these perfect families, and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” Hulber said. This pressure can easily ruin a holiday, but it doesn’t have to. Instead Hubler recommended that we focus more on what we do have and on what’s going well than what we don’t have or what is outside our control. “Remember, there’s no one way or right way to do the holiday season,” she said. STAY CONNECTED WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS The holidays are a time when you expect to be surrounded by family and friends. Unfortunately, the pandemic may not allow us to be in physical proximity to loved ones for the time being, but there are other ways to stay in touch. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 29
HOME & FAMILY
DEVISE A PLAN AHEAD OF TIME We were blindsided in March, when everything seemed to shut down overnight. But we don’t need to be blindsided going into the holiday season. If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving away from your hometown but still want to connect with family and friends, contact them ahead of time and stay in touch if plans change. Consider scheduling a video chat on Thanksgiving day, or share your menu so you can enjoy the same meal. You can even prepare your meals together by setting up a video chat, sharing cooking tips and maybe even secret family recipes. “We are going into these months knowing that we have to be creative and that we have to think outside the box, so we do have some time to get things lined up and get moving so that we’re not feeling like we have no resources and no support,” Hubler said. KEEP TRADITIONS YOU CAN, ADAPT OTHERS If you’re celebrating with a smaller group or away from home, there’s no reason to shirk on the accessible traditions that bring you joy. “Whether it’s decorations, whether it’s familiar food, whether it’s people you like to so30 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
cialize with, if there’s some way to connect with those same people, that would help to be able to stay connected and to be able to feel like [the holiday is] not so ominous,” Sturm said. If you enjoy overloading your dining table with decorative pumpkins and rustcolored napkins for Thanksgiving, do it! If you enjoy watching a movie or always playing games with family after dinner, you can still do that. All it takes is a little bit of extra planning ahead of time. “Part of why we love the holidays is because we’ve all developed traditions inside our family,” Hubler said. “But traditions don’t come from nowhere; they had to be invented. We just need to revamp and reinvent what we already have.” If traditions aren’t your thing, that’s OK too. This year, anything goes. “If you want to have a Spam sandwich for Thanksgiving,” Hubler said, “have a Spam sandwich for Thanksgiving. And watch a really cheesy movie.”
brick, there are a few ways to stay grounded. “Breathing exercises, mindfulness in general, being able to take some deep breaths or step away when you’re feeling frustrated or overwhelmed — those skills can really help a person to be able to manage their situation a little bit more effectively,” Sturm said.
DON’T SKIP OUT ON THE FUN Even if you’re celebrating away from home, it doesn’t mean you have to stop all the fun and games. Challenge others to incorporate unconventional ingredients to their menu, or compete with family and friends for bragging rights to the prettiest pie. I mean, who doesn’t love a good baking competition — or bragging rights?
REMEMBER, THIS ISN’T GOING TO LAST FOREVER Mainers are a resilient bunch. We know how to buckle down when it’s needed, adapt to the circumstances, and bounce back when it’s time. “It does feel like an arduous task to stay creative with all the pandemic has thrown at us, but we’re doing it. And it doesn’t last forever. And sometimes when we’re in the middle of these things, we get this kind of permanent sense, but it’s not permanent,” Hubler said. Whether you’re starting from scratch in a new location or you’ve had to press pause on regular visits with family, holiday celebrations this year may be abnormal. That said, it’s also a great opportunity to reflect on what’s going well in life and to look forward to a new year.
PRACTICE MINDFULNESS Hubler and Sturm also both emphasized the importance of mindfulness. And what better time to practice than during the holiday that celebrates gratitude? “A gratitude journal is always an important way to start your day. Get up first thing, write down what you’re grateful for,” Hubler said. Simple as that. But if Thanksgiving day hits you like a
CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING For many families, volunteering on Thanksgiving is a longstanding tradition. It may not look the same as it has in the past, but there are still plenty of opportunities to pay it forward in your community. “Reach out to community organizations and see how they are doing volunteer opportunities,” Hubler said. “It’s very important that we can’t forget about the community at large.” From sewing cloth masks to becoming pen pals with a senior at a senior residential care facility, there are lots of ways to stay connected and support others nearby.
PHOTOS: ©MIZINA, ©PROSTOCKSTUDIO, ©2MMEDIA/ADOBE STOCK
“If you have a phone, if you have a tablet or a computer, you can either text somebody or call somebody, message somebody,” Sturm said. And if your internet service permits it, “a video chat format is really helpful because you’re seeing another person. You’re able to connect a little more personally.” And of all the years to break the traditional dinner etiquette of no phones at the table, it’s now. While a long-distance conversation cannot replace in-person interactions, it allows some semblance of comfort when you’re away from home.
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32 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
marry
A special section devoted to getting married in Maine
Celebrating your Maine wedding
Wedding
PLANNING G during a pandemic What you need to know
&
A CHECKLIST for PLANNING from home
PHOTO: ©PROSTOCK-STUDIO/ ADOBE STOCK
Make a
Sweet statement CAKES THAT WOW WORTH
THE WAIT
#POSTPONE, www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 33 DON'T CANCEL
34 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
marry
Wedding
PLANNING G during a pandemic
I
f your wedding plans have been affected by COVID-19, know that you are not alone. The uncertainty of the pandemic has left many engaged couples wondering what to do and how to do it. A great deal of 2020 weddings have been postponed or canceled, some couples have elected to elope, and others are still unsure what their 2021 wedding will look like. Vendors have had to shift the way they do things to accommodate social distance mandates. It’s safe to say that future weddings will look a bit different, as the pandemic has disrupted things both now and longterm. Whether you’re postponing, reducing your guest list, or just in the beginning stages of planning, we’ve gathered the most important information for you as you navigate the challenges of planning your wedding through COVID.
COVID’s Effect on the Wedding Industry PHOTO: ©RAWPIXEL LTD./ADOBE STOCK
r IMPACT ON COUPLES
Many engaged couples have had to shift their wedding plans or change them entirely. “Our original wedding plans involved an intimate gathering of our closest friends and family at a property just outside of Siena in Tuscany, Italy,” shares couple Carsyn and Carder Lamb, who were set to get married in May of this year. “Our intent for the Italian wedding was to share our love of travelling with our loved ones and to celebrate in a place
Mini ceremonies, micro-weddings, Zoom gatherings and elopements are on the rise as couples are finding creative ways to celebrate.
NAVIGATING THE CHALLENGES
that shares a special place in our hearts.” When Italy instituted a country-wide lockdown, their destination wedding was officially impossible. “It’s something we had dreamed of long before we even got engaged, so it took a bit to grapple with that loss,” Carsyn recounts. Couple Jen and Chris Brault were faced with a similar disappointment when they made the hard decision to postpone their summer wedding. “Chris and I stopped sealing envelopes and had a serious conversation about whether or not we realistically would be able to have our wedding in August,” Jen recalls. “Every decision we made for this wedding was so that our guests would have the best time possible — we didn’t want them feeling unsafe or anxious. That night we made the difficult decision to postpone our wedding.”
r HOW WEDDING PROFESSIONALS HAVE ADAPTED
With the huge rush of postponements and cancelations, vendors in the wedding industry are hurting. “Most all of our weddings have been postponed to the following year,” says Matt Dubois, Coowner of The Bankery, an artisan bakery in Skowhegan. Julie Gray of Julie K. Gray Photography in Southern Maine similarly took a huge hit to her 2020 schedule: “Eighty percent of the weddings that I had booked for this year moved to next year (and even 2022!).”
BY ASHLI CAMPBELL
With ever-changing regulations, various measures have been implemented by wedding vendors in order to ensure that customers can shop safely. One example: Molly Lincoln, co-owner of The Henry’s Bridal Boutique, organized a stock of Clorox wipes, Lysol and hand sanitizer with the onset of the pandemic. “When a customer leaves our store, it’s at least a good 20 minutes of cleaning the area,” Lincoln explains. Wedding vendors with storefronts have found themselves inventing creative ways to meet with clients. Peter and Leesa Farnsworth of Striking Gold Jewelers stopped holding retail hours and set up an outdoor meeting area behind their retail building in Ellsworth for appointments with customers. Leesa detailed the positives of the change: “We would be able to spend more quality time with those appointments, and it was just so much fun. It was so much nicer an experience, not just for them but for us.” Having a supportive team of vendors who will go out of their way to make your wedding dreams come true is truly priceless — they appreciate your flexibility as much as you appreciate theirs.
Planning Around COVID
As you try to plan your wedding around the pandemic, know that the end result may not closely resemble your initial vision. “Don’t hang on too hard to your original plans,” advises couple Kristina Gromada www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 35
marry and Tom Rayder, who started planning almost immediately after getting engaged in March 2019. “Try to remember why you are getting married in the first place. Then focus on what you have control over and the little things that make you both happy.” If your original wedding plans are no longer viable, the hard choice has to be made: Do I postpone or drastically decrease my guest list?
#POSTPONEDONTCANCEL With the onset of COVID-19, many couples looking forward to their 2020 wedding were faced with the harsh reality that their special day could no longer take place. A great deal decided to cancel their plans entirely, which left vendors in the wedding industry reeling. In order to ensure that our local wedding professionals can continue to do what they love, we encourage you to work with your vendors to postpone your wedding plans instead of canceling. That way, when you’re ready, your team can continue their work on giving you the amazing wedding experience of your dreams. Reuben Bell, President of Blue Elephant Events and Catering in Saco, anticipated how hard the wedding industry in Maine would be hit by the pandemic. This sparked the idea for a unique and clever hashtag: #postponedontcancel. We asked Reuben a few questions about his campaign and what advice he offers to couples who are dealing with uncertain wedding plans: WHAT PROMPTED THE #POSTPONEDONTCANCEL HASHTAG?
Reuben: We realized that we (the entire wedding industry, not just us!) were facing a summer of cancellations if we didn’t try and salvage these events by postponing them. Our hope was that by putting this out there, it might avoid a tsunami of canceled dates. I am happy to report that it was effective and that the vast majority of clients have simply put things on pause and are looking forward to restarting next year. WHY IS POSTPONING BETTER THAN CANCELING?
Reuben: The vast majority of the wedding industry consists of small local and
often family-run businesses. Businesses like this work on deposits, and refunding an entire season’s worth of deposits would force many of these completely out of businesses. Postponing allows these wedding professionals (like the clients) to pause things, regroup, and start fresh next season. IF YOU COULD OFFER ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO COUPLES PLANNING THEIR WEDDING THROUGH THIS PANDEMIC, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Reuben: Remember that this situation is happening to all of us — wedding professionals included. Everyone is struggling with this in some way or another. If we keep this in mind as plans shift, we’ll all get through this together.
Z
She said yes!
NO COVID SAID SAVE THE N
EW DATE!
WE STILL DO
&
WE STILL WILL!
but later
r POSTPONING
Postponing your wedding can be stressful for many reasons. If you’ve already planned your entire wedding, the thought of re-doing everything might make your head spin. This is where connecting with your vendors is most important. “Without hesitation, my advice to couples is to maintain strong communication with their vendors throughout this pandemic,” says photographer Julie Gray. Your vendors totally understand the headache, and most will be more than happy to work with you on changing the date. Keep in mind is that it may be wise not to rule out an unconventional date. Your vendors may have already had their 2021 Saturdays booked a year ago, since it is common for weddings to start booking a year and a half in advance. This means you may want to consider a non-traditional day like Friday, Sunday, or even Thursday. Carsyn and Carder Lamb gained important perspective when dealing with multiple shifts in wedding plans: “When you’re marrying your best friend, Plan A, Plan B, Plan C...Plan X is exciting. We’re really thankful for each other, and for all the love and support our family and friends have shown us!” says Carsyn. Once you’ve changed your plans, be sure to let your guests know as soon as possible. Couple Kristina and Tom found a way to stay positive and infuse a sense of humor into their communication with guests via a “Let’s try this again/change the date” postcard featuring a bride and groom in gas masks.
r HOSTING A SMALL GATHERING
When it comes to celebrating marriage, bigger does not always mean better. Mini ceremonies (dubbed “micromonies”), micro-weddings, Zoom gatherings and elopements are on the rise since people are finding ways to celebrate in the midst of everything. “Focusing on smaller, more intimate events will definitely be important moving forward,” says Julie Gray.
If you’re holding a small gathering, then safety should become your top priority, as there is a lot to consider regarding the health of your guests. “Masks are required by everyone,” Kristina says regarding her private indoor ceremony. “The wedding party will likely all take a ‘DIY’ hair and makeup approach too, so we decrease the risk of exposing anyone to COVID.” Though The Braults had to postpone their wedding, they didn’t completely toss their original plans: they got married anyway! Jen describes the safety measures for their minimony: “We kept the group small, had the ceremony outside, and made everyone a separate lunch plate.”
r LET YOURSELF BE SAD... KNOWING THAT YOU’LL GET THROUGH IT
Engaged couples agree: It’s OK to be sad. The day you’ve spent a lifetime dreaming of and a year planning can’t happen the way you envisioned it would, and that is an undeniable bummer. “I know it may seem like a small problem compared to everything going on in the world, but postponing a wedding is stressful, mentally exhausting, and extremely disappointing,” Jen Brault says. “Once you make your decision, don’t feel bad about taking the time to grieve what you lost.” Although couples are sure to be disappointed, there are bright spots to COVID wedding planning. The Lambs took the opportunity to reconnect with what truly matters to them and emphasized their commitment to each other. “COVID really enforced our belief that the wedding itself is just an added benefit to getting married — the main thing is that we get to spend the rest of our lives together, and we truly couldn’t be happier.” To further this point, The Bankery coowner Matt Dubois offers sage advice to anyone looking to get married through COVID: “I would recommend focusing on what is absolutely most important to them, keeping in mind the reason they are getting married in the first place. Even during this pandemic, getting married should be fun and the most special day in their lives.” Through the myriad of details and seemingly endless re-planning, you may find yourself capable of things you never knew you could do. With mutual support, couples and vendors can get through this together and know that someday this hurtle will be a thing of the past. Besides, when you’re old and gray together, this will be one heck of a story for the grandkids!
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Make a
Sweet statement
A RISING TREND IN CAKES IS TO COVER A WHITE OR NAKED CAKE WITH TRANSLUCENT GLAZE TINTED IN THE COUPLE’S WEDDING COLORS.
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COURTESY OF METRO CREATIVE
rides and grooms may pour over every detail of their weddings, but few components of the festivities may be as fun, especially for foodies, as deciding what the wedding cake will look like. Couples who want to deliver show-stopping visuals often express some measure of their creativity and personalities through statement wedding cakes. · STATEMENT TIERS can make a cake really pop. The cake may be
traditional in nearly every way, but couples then set the cake apart by featuring an elaborate design or a different hue in one tier. · LIFELIKE SUGAR FLOWERS will make people stare. Guests may
not be sure if they can consume all aspects of some cakes. But delicate sugar flowers often taste as good as they look.
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· TEXTURE can also make a statement. Even an all-white cake
can be dressed up with interesting textural effects. Ruffles, lace, embossing, and 3-D rosettes are different textural components that can be incorporated in cake designs. · TELL YOUR UNIQUE STORY with cake. Individual tiers designed
to reflect various milestone moments from the couple’s relationship can be quite engaging.
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PHOTOS: ADOBE STOCK
CAPITALIZE ON THE TREND OF EDGIER WEDDINGS WITH A DARKER HUE — EVEN A BLACK TIER — OR NONTRADITIONAL SHAPES TO THE CAKE ITSELF OR ITS DESIGN ELEMENTS.
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10 Wedding Planning Tasks To Do From Home
10 TASKS TO KEEP ON TRACK BY ASHLI CAMPBELL
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WEDDING WEBSITE
A wedding website is a handy organizational tool to keep all of your plans in one place. Upload photos, plug-in your timeline, and add any other information you’d like your guests to have access to. Websites like Minted.com also have built-in communication options to keep your guests informed of event updates.
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FLORIST
Many florists have online catalogs you can peruse to see their top-rated bouquets. If you’re hoping for something specific, contact the florist with photos and ask if they’re able to arrange what you’re looking for.
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ll weddings, whether big or small, near or far, take a lot of careful planning. With the added complication of pandemic restrictions and safety measures, you may find yourself slightly overwhelmed! Thankfully, it’s easy to safely plan from a distance with technology and social media apps. Here we’ve compiled a list of tasks you can comfortably do from home. Take the burden out of planning and stay on schedule with this helpful guide to digital wedding preparation.
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Who doesn’t love online shopping?! This is a fun activity for couples to do together. Register at a few places with different price points to give your guests options for what to get, and then list the registries on your wedding website.
Nowadays, it isn’t hard to find the venue of your dreams from the comfort of your couch. Many venues now offer virtual tours of their event space, which is incredibly helpful in getting to know the location. Check out reviews and email or call with any questions you’re left with, such as: What’s the capacity of the room? Do they have an in-house caterer? How many hours does the booking include?
Most bakeries are open for pick-up orders, so you have a great excuse to eat cake! Order a mini cake or cupcakes to-go, grab a bottle of wine on your way home, and enjoy a fancy cake-tasting date with your husband- or wife-to-be.
The officiant is a special part of your day, and much consideration should be given to the choice of who marries you. Find your top contenders online and reach out to see if they’d be open to scheduling a Zoom call so you can connect one-on-one.
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BE OVERLY PREPARED
This last step is a new one for 2020 couples. In case the pandemic lingers past your wedding day, you should be ready with contingency plans. Consult the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on small public gatherings for expert advice on reducing the potential transmission of COVID-19.
Check online for local artists who can make you a custom invitation, unique to you and you special day. Invitations and save the dates can also be created online with websites like Vistaprint or Shutterfly. Vistaprint even has a free sample wedding invitation kit that can be sent directly to your door so you can see and feel an array of stationery and paper stocks.
Whether you’re choosing a DJ or band, if you want a packed dance floor, it’s important to hire someone with experience. Check out online reviews from people who hired that vendor for their wedding. A video chat is a good idea here, as well, so you can get a feel for how they’ll command the room.
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PHOTOS: ADOBE STOCK
View gorgeous wedding photos and videos online to get an idea of what your own photos will look like. Find a photographer you love and ask if they’re available for an engagement shoot, too.
FEATURE
Look to the
SKIES A LOOK BACK AT DOW AND LORING AIR FORCE BASES BY RICHARD SHAW
Maj. Charles J. Loring, 1918-1952. PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD SHAW
NEARLY 40 YEARS after Ron Libby began serving at Loring Air Force Base in northern Maine, there still are things about his mission that he can’t discuss. Classified information, he insists. But ask him about the brutal winters, when meandering moose and squalls called “snow snakes” slithered across icy runways, and he could talk for hours. Melting the chill of a 30-below zero day, he said, was the camaraderie of other Air Force families who made his service in Limestone memorable. “You had to take time to build relationships to survive up there,” said Libby, a pastor and retired postal worker from Brewer. “We were active in the base chapel, and there were fewer distractions at home. I had a basic Commodore 64 computer and cell phones weren’t here yet. You’d walk into a friend’s house when they were gone and it was expected that you would make coffee for when they returned.” Libby lived at Loring with his family, including his Air Force father, Don Libby, in the 1970s. When he returned to serve there from 1982 to 1989, he rose from staff sergeant to tech sergeant, and performed police work, aircraft security and weapons storage security, which included providing security during the loading of nuclear weapons onto B-52 bombers. He retired from the Air Force in 1993. Today, the Limestone region is a better place because of Loring, once the largest base in the Strategic Air Command, which closed in 1994. For four decades, base families built
Main hangar at Loring Air Force Base in 1965. POSTCARD COURTESY OF RICHARD SHAW
Lt. James F. Dow, 191 3-1940. PHOTO OF PAINTING COURTESY OF BRIAN SWARTZ
(Top) B-17 Bomber Crew, circa 1943, at Dow Field. COURTESY OF THE BANGOR PUBLIC LIBRARY THOMPSON COLLECTION (Right) Loring Air Force Base’s 42nd Air Refueling Squadron patch. COURTESY OF RICHARD SHAW (Far right) Dow Air Force Base Guide, circa 1963. COURTESY OF BRIAN SWARTZ
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FEATURE
Base Operations at Loring Air Force Base, circa 1965. POSTCARD COURTESY OF RICHARD SHAW
Missile display in 1958 at Dow Air Force Base. BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO
Existing Union Street Terminal in 1967, before the opening of Bangor International Airport In 1968. BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO
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community relationships. Libby, along with his wife, Connie, and daughters, Monika and Jessica, eventually moved off base onto Wyoming Circle, where visiting officers, even the base commander, would check their ranks at the door while stopping by for dinner and fellowship. “These bases had strong ties with their communities,” said historian David Bergquist. “During World War II, Dow Field in Bangor had commanders who were popular with the city manager and others in government. After the war, military installations became a bit more self-contained.” Bergquist has lectured on Dow Field (it was renamed Dow Air Force Base after the war), and wrote a book, “Bangor in World War II,” published in 2015 by The History Press. His interest in the base was sparked by an article he wrote for Echoes Magazine about Lt. James Dow, an Oakfield native who died in a 1940 military training accident just as the new air base was being built. Fueled by his sterling character, Air Corps service and ties to the University of Maine, where he was a standout student athlete, a movement gained traction to name the field in his honor. Loring Air Force Base was named for Maj. Charles J. Loring Jr., USAF, a Medal of Honor recipient who died during the Korean War. “Bangor’s school system is stronger because of Dow Air Force Base,” Bergquist said. “The University of Maine at Augusta is located on the former base, and industrial development in the area is a result of there once having been a major installation there.” GI Village, a World War II-era housing complex located off of Union Street that was razed around 1970 after the opening of Old Capehart, was a tightknit housing complex of particular interest to Bergquist. In their modest accommodations, neighbor cared for neighbor, especially when the Air Force fathers and mothers were away on duty. “I lived in military housing at 160 Elizabeth Ave.,” recalled Chuck Byrum, president of the Maine Air Museum in Bangor. “When I re-enlisted in 1967, I got a $1,500 re-enlist bonus and training fire in my honor. That was the only re-enlistment bonus I ever got while in the Air Force.” Byrum served at both Dow and Loring Air Force Bases, a valuable experience from which to draw while serving in
Sen. Margaret Chase Smith with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, right, and President Dwight Eisenh ower at Dow Air Force Base in June 1955. COURTESY OF MARGARET CHASE SMITH LIBRAR Y
(Above) Dancers and jazz musicians in 1944 at Dow Field. (Below) Woman service member driving a tug near a B-17 Bomber in 1944 at Dow Field. PHOTOS COURTESY OF BANGOR PUBLIC LIBRARY THOMPSON COLLECTION
(Left) Officers’ Club, Bar and Cocktail Lounge at Loring Air Force Base, circa 1965. POSTCARD COURTESY OF RICHARD SHAW (Above) B-17 Bomber crew member in 1943 at Dow Field. COURTESY OF BANGOR PUBLIC LIBRARY THOMPSON COLLECTION www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 45
FEATURE
Capt. Willard Shaw, right, Dow Air Force Base Maintenance Officer for the KC-97 tanker, prepares his crew for a flight competition in 1960. PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD SHAW
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his museum capacity, as visitors peruse photos of Gen. Billy Mitchell, who visited Bangor in 1923 and saw its potential, geographically and culturally, as a future military center. “When I got to Loring in 1979, they told me not to unpack my bags,” Byrum said, “that I would not be here for long because it had been on the base closure list. But Congress changed its mind since Loring was the closest base to Europe in air miles.” The biggest difference between Loring and Dow Air Force Bases, Byrum said, was that Loring had one of the largest weapons storage areas in the Air Force. It had two runways and an underground jet fuel pipeline that ran from an Air Force facility in Searsport, through Dow and northward to Limestone. He specialized in firefighting at both bases, which closed because of economics and shifting defense missions. But the two SAC bases had plenty in common. They both had runways long enough to accommodate B-52 bombers and the various space shuttles that never had to land there. They also were the pride of their regions and drew international attention to the surrounding communities. Today, Bangor International Airport occupies the former Dow Air Force Base, converted in 1968. The former Limestone base, home to the Loring Commerce Centre, hosted three Phish jam band festivals, attended by a total of 180,000 fans in 1997, 1998 and 2003. “The Maine Air National Guard is today where it has been since its birth in 1947,” said Mike Gleason, of Bangor, a retired Senior NCO. “It is the part of Dow Air Force Base that was never turned over to the city. Much of the equipment there is what makes BIA the crucial ‘diversion airport’ for which it has a worldwide reputation.” The Maine Air National Guard is a family affair for Gleason. He served there from 1973 to 2001, as did his wife, Della, their two children, Amanda and Abel, and Della’s three brothers. His father, Gordon Gleason, was in the U.S. Army Air Force. MAINEiacs stationed there comprise the only unit with a daily active military role left in Maine, Bergquist said. Where once there were numerous military installations in the state, now there is only the one in Bangor. Dow and Loring. The memories are endless, and the two go together like Bangor and Limestone. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 47
FEATURE
President John F. Kennedy delivers remarks at an arrival ceremony at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Brunswick on Aug. 10, 1962. PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD SHAW
Original Air Control Tower at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Brunswick, circa 1960. POSTCARD COURTESY OF JOHN RIPLEY
Souvenir patch. COURTESY OF RICHARD SHAW 48 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
ON THE
SHORE MAINE’S RICH NAVAL HISTORY BY RICHARD SHAW
WITH 3,500 MILES OF COASTLINE, and a maritime history that predates the American Revolution, it is no surprise that Maine once boasted several first-rate naval bases. But one by one, most have vanished, leaving only converted buildings and museums in their wake. “Maine used to have a ton of military installations, including several good ones along the coast,” said Hermon historian David Bergquist. “They closed for many reasons, including changing missions and economic circumstances.” In their prime, two Down East naval bases, in Cutler and Winter Harbor, were as notable for their scenic beauty as for their strategic importance, especially in Cold War America. But the U.S. Naval Air Station in Brunswick, which opened in 1943 and closed in 2011, was the king of Maine naval installations. With a runway long enough to accommodate Air Force One (Presidents John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton flew into NAS Brunswick), and big enough to lure thousands to the Great State of Maine Air Show, the station put the region on the map.
President John F. Kenned y greeting the Blue Angels at the U.S . Naval Air Station in Brunswick in 196 2, PHOTO COURTESY OF JOH N RIPLEY
U.S. Naval Radio Station in Cutler, circa 1975. PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD SHAW www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 49
FEATURE
Sen. Margaret Chase Smith at the U.S. Naval Radio Station in Cutler in 1960, PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MARGARET CHASE SMITH LIBRARY
Sen. Margaret Chase Smith with Capt. Yarrosky, left, at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Brunswick in 1957, PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MARGARET CHASE SMITH LIBRARY
50 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
“As the director of public affairs in Brunswick, I spent a lot of time communicating the base’s storied history in addition to what it would mean to the area once the base closed,” said John Ripley, of South Portland. “We all quickly became a family because we knew the importance of our mission — to honor those who served before us, and to prepare the base as a center of economic innovation.” Even though most Maine naval installations are only a memory, the state’s maritime heritage lives on. War ships are still built at Bath Iron Works and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, midshipmen still earn degrees at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, and exhibits still draw visitors to the Maine Marine Museum, in Bath, and Searsport’s Penobscot Marine Museum. The former naval air station is now called Brunswick Landing, a civilian redevelopment project that started with the opening of Brunswick Executive Airport and Southern Maine Community College. The Schoodic Institute, which bills itself as “Acadia National Park’s primary partner in science and education,” occupies the onetime Winter Harbor radio station. And a drive farther east is worth the trip, if only to see the massive radio towers at VLF Cutler, which remind visitors of a downsized base that still transmits signals to submarines far out to sea.
Blue Angels at the Great State Of Maine Air Show at the U.S. Naval Station in Brunswick. PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 1ST CLASS ROGER S. DUNCAN
(Top left) Souvenir coins from the U.S. Naval Air Station. COURTESY OF RICHARD SHAW (Above) FAA Radar Site on former Bucks Harbor AFS. PHOTO BY JOHN STANTON (Left) Plaque from the U.S. Naval Radio Station in Cutler. COURTESY RICHARD SHAW
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FEATURE
Display of
COURAGE INTERVIEW WITH A 27-YEAR-OLD MARINE CORPORAL DUSTIN FREEMAN has just spent three hours online attending a virtual job fair sponsored by the Maine Department of Labor and its CareerCenters. Every September since 2015, they run the Maine Hire-A-Vet campaign with a goal of connecting 100+ employers with 100+ veterans in 100 days. Last year, they met this goal and then some by helping 283 vets find gainful employment. This year, with more than 101,000 Mainers filing for unemployment since the start of the pandemic, helping veterans like Freeman find work is harder than ever. Since coming back from his second deployment in Afghanistan in 2012, Freeman has worked for UPS, owned half of a jewelry store, and been the head mechanic at a bowling alley, but none of those jobs seemed to pan out in the long run. As to why he’s no longer in active duty Freeman says, “In my second deployment I was driving an MRAP, and we hit an IED. I tore my knee up really bad. I tore my ACL, MCL, and my meniscus and had to have surgery. Then, they told me that I couldn’t reenlist.” The homemade bomb was explosive enough to turn the 90,000 pound vehicle “up on its ass,” and they were lucky to have escaped with their lives. This was not the case the first time Freeman landed in PB Boldak, a patrol base 20 clicks (12 miles to civilians) from Camp Leatherneck, a large Afghan Armed Forces base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Nineteen of Freeman’s 120 comrades never returned. One of them, a friend Freeman made during his three months at Parris Island, died on his 21 birthday while they were patrolling together. When trying to articulate how he made it through such trauma Freeman explains, “It’s one of those deals where we’re trained for this. Yes, the first time we took contact,” he means contact with the enemy, “I think I shit my pants. But after that, it becomes the norm. And a lot of times during the deployment we’d have to remind ourselves, ‘Hey, we can die from this,’ because it’s really not normal [to be close to death] but you hear it everyday, so it becomes your normal.” 52 / BANGOR METRO November 2020
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
BY EMILY MORRISON
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“IT TEACHES YOU THAT YOU’RE ONLY AS STRONG AS YOUR WEAKEST PERSON, AND I DIDN’T WANT TO BE THAT PERSON. IF WE HAD ONE WEAK LINK, IT WAS THE PLATOON’S JOB TO BUILD THAT LINK UP.”
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Fifteen years prior, if someone had told the Bucksport boy who grew up playing football, hunting, fishing and fourwheeling, that someday bullets whistling past his head, driving 40 ton trucks over explosives and staying up all night smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee would be normal, he might have laughed and said, “Cool!” But the 27-year-old man who watched his best friend get shot, fed hungry kids who approached the trucks daily asking for food, and lost six friends to suicide since returning home eight years ago, feels differently about what’s “normal” now. “It sucks being over there, losing people, seeing people get hurt and have to go home. It’s a shitty thing, but in that moment when the bullets are still cracking over your head, you gotta get ’em [the wounded] and get ’em home and focus on the job at hand,” Freeman says. Focusing on the job at hand is exactly what Freeman was trained to do. This is why, according to Freeman, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, is such a big issue for so many veterans. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, about 11 percent of veterans of the war in Afghanistan and 20 percent of veterans who served in Iraq suffer from PTSD. Why aren’t these numbers acknowledged to the degree they should be? “When you’re in the military, especially in the Marine Corps, and you say ‘I have PTSD,’ or whatever, they just kinda push you off to the side and say, ‘Get back to work and get over it.’ Then when you get out, we all have that same mentality like, ‘You can’t hurt us, you know?’” Freeman says. For Freeman, ignoring the issue only made it hurt worse. “There are downsides [to ignoring PTSD]. I got out eight years ago, and I see a therapist every week for it. It took a lot of distractions in the beginning [to cope] and now that I’ve started to deal with the problem, it’s a lot easier. I still have nightmares and cold sweats, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Sometimes it’s a fear, but it can also be a rage. I can have a quick fuse when it comes to stupid things,” Freeman says. Sounding like a man who has recently realized that he signed up for a marathon instead of a sprint, Freeman acknowledges his recovery is a “long process not an overnight fix.”
PHOTO: ISAÍAS IBÁÑEZ./ ADOBE STOCK
FEATURE
Part of the reason Freeman believes so many soldiers suffer from PTSD is because of the way they are conditioned to see themselves. From the moment he stepped foot on Parris Island he was taught, “There is no ‘I’ in TEAM.” “When you’re in boot camp, you can’t refer to yourself. So for example, say you have to use the bathroom. You have to ask the drill instructor and say, ‘Excuse me, sir. This recruit asks permission to use the head.’ You cannot refer to yourself as a person. They break you down completely and rebuild you as a Marine. You are not an I. You are not a person. You are part of a team.” Because of this mentality, everything that a Marine does, for instance eating, walking, talking and dressing, becomes a ritual they perform for the team to function properly. “We’re all supposed to look the same, eat the same, walk the same. It’s the same with our uniforms. We’re all supposed to look like a Marine. No wrinkles in the uniform; no thread or strings hanging off them,” Freeman says. “I would do ceremonies in the corps where I would spend four or five
hours preparing my uniform before the ceremony if I was wearing my dress blues.” To a civilian, spending four or five hours getting ready sounds ridiculous, but to a Marine, taking the extra time means the difference between running until you puke, doing push ups until you pass out or, according to Freeman, “watching your entire platoon get slayed because you didn’t do what you should have.” “There is no time to question your feelings over what or how you are doing — there is no YOU,” Freeman says. One of the many life lessons Freeman learned from boot camp was to keep on the straight and narrow. Reminiscing on the experience Freeman says, “It teaches you that you’re only as strong as your weakest person, and I didn’t want to be that person. If we had one weak link, it was the platoon’s job to build that link up.” Building his teammates up was nothing new for Freeman. From his time on the football field (he played from second grade through senior year), Freeman had plenty of experience training with a team. In fact, Friday night
football games, hanging out with close friends, listening to his grandfather talk about his time as a Marine (and his father before him), most of Freeman’s life prior to enlisting was an exercise in what Freeman calls “Maine male bonding.” But he also knew that a lot of bad stuff goes on in small Maine towns, and if he was ever to make something of himself, he needed what the Marines had to offer: a new start in a new place with people who felt like family. “I don’t know where I’d be right now if I’d never gone in the Marine Corps. I still talk to a couple of good friends. I go visit them and they come visit me now that we’re all out. Honestly, it’s the strong brotherhood I never had.” Even though Freeman continues to fight his battle with PTSD, his time at the online career fair has turned up an interview for a job making more than minimum wage with good benefits. He’s got a house back in his hometown, a girlfriend to enjoy it with and a life that’s getting better one day at a time. And he’s ready to run his personal marathon.
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VETERANS EDITION
GET OUT:
VETERANS
PHOTOS: BDN FILE
EDITION
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HEAD TO THESE MAINE MUSEUMS THAT HONOR OUR VETERANS BY JULIA BAYLY
SINCE IT WAS enacted into law by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month has been set aside as a special day to honor all living veterans of American’s armed services. That date was chosen originally to recognize the end of hostilities between the Allies and Germany in World War I, or “the War to End All Wars.” It was originally called Armistice Day. In 1938, Armistice Day was declared a legal holiday. In 1954, in recognition of the servicemen and women who served in the military, it was renamed Veterans Day. Here in Maine, there are approximately 114,000 living military veterans. Historically speaking Maine has had servicemen and women involved every conflict or war since the Civil War. From Fort Kent to Kittery, our citizens have played an active role in the military. Rare is the Maine city, town or municipality without at least one public monument honoring the sacrifices of their hometown veterans. Our veterans deserve our thanks and respect every day. On this one special day set aside for them, take a moment and reflect on what Veterans Day means for them and for us. Visiting one of the state’s museums or historical centers is a great way to get a sense of why the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is more than just another holiday.
Among the outdoor monuments at the Cole Land Transportation Museum in Bangor is a UH-1 “Huey” helicopter, similar to those flown in Vietnam by Army aviation units. (Right) The Loring Air Museum on the grounds of the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone.
LORING AIR MUSEUM 101 NOYES ROAD, CARIBOU LORINGMILITARYHERITAGECENTER.COM At one time the United States Air Force Base outside of Caribou was home to the largest collection of nuclear arms in the world. To this day no one knows exactly how many nukes were stored at the base at their greatest number. According to Cuppy Johndro, museum volunteer and veteran stationed at Loring from 1987 to 1991, it’s a record for the most nukes in one place that remains unbroken. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 57
GET OUT
VETERANS EDITION
Among the books, documents, and items from Loring Air Force's heyday, the Loring Air Museum features a Pratt & Whitney JT3 Turbojet Engine.
Johndro helps run the Loring Air Museum and loves nothing better than introducing visitors to the facility and where they can learn about its importance as a strategic air command — or SAC base — thanks to Maine’s proximity to Europe. From it’s opening in the late 1940s to its decommission in 1994, the sights and sounds of military aircraft in the skies over Aroostook County were common. The museum at Loring is stocked with written and photographic accounts from the men and women who lived, served and worked on the base — both civilians and military. At one time Loring was home to more than 9,000 people and was a city within a city. “Families at Loring lived side by side in very close proximity and share their lives together,” Johndro said. “I love to hear the stories and see the look on faces of a family when they see their family members staring back at them in a book or photo, and I’ve seen old veterans breakdown at the sight of themselves at 19 or 20 in a photo.” The museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 3 p.m. Tours at other times may be arranged by contacting the museum at 207-551-3439.
Located on the Odlin Road in Bangor, the Cole Land Transportation Museum houses many exhibits dedicated to land transportation in Maine.
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The Cole Museum is devoted to all forms of land transportation equipment vehicles that have driven the roads, fields and woods of Maine. Exhibits cover farm equipment, firefighting equipment, logging gear, snow removal motorcycles and bicycles. But for many, the heart of the museum is its exhibits honoring military memorabilia used around the world by servicemen and women from Maine. Coles is only open seasonally from midJune to mid-November, and it’s no accident the last open day every year is Nov. 11. It’s a day set aside to honor Maine’s veterans with special displays and programs. Due to state mandates on crowds and indoor gatherings to control the spread of COVID-19, the museum had to cancel this year’s veterans’ program. But people can still visit on Veterans Day — or any other day the museum is open — to check out several military vehicles and a display of uniforms representing different branches of the military and from different eras.
PHOTOS: BDN FILE
COLE LAND TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM 405 PERRY ROAD, BANGOR WWW.COLEMUSEUM.ORG
In 2016, WWII veteran Galen Cole showed photographs from the war to nieces of deceased rifleman William Golladay at the Cole Land Transportation Museum. Golladay was killed in WWII on April 2, 1945 at the age of 19 after the half-track that he and Cole were riding in was hit, killing 5 of the 13 soldiers and injuring the other 8. Cole has been trying for years to locate family members of his deceased brothersin-arms and it has finally happened. "I’ve been waiting for 71 years for this," said Cole. Galen Cole died at age 94 in January 2020.
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VETERANS EDITION
(Above) Jim Neville leads a group of University of Maine students through the Cole Land Transportation Museum in 2013. (Below) Exhibits cover everything from the Revolutionary War to current day conflicts at the Maine Military Museum in South Portland.
Outside on the museum grounds, the museum is home to several monuments devoted to Maine’s military men, women and heritage. The State of Maine World War II Veterans Memorial is on the museum’s front lawn. Nearby is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park which contains a Vietnam Conflict-era M-Tank and a UH-1 “Huey” Helicopter. A somber granite monument lists the names of Maine veterans killed or still missing as a result of the conflict in Vietnam. Rounding out the museum’s outdoor exhibits is the Military Order of the Purple Heart Memorial to the west side of the World War II memorial. All or any of these three displays are accessible year-round and serve as a special area to reflect on the service and sacrifice of our veterans. MAINE MILITARY MUSEUM 50 PEARY TERRACE, SOUTH PORTLAND WWW.MAINEMILITARYMUSEUM.ORG The Maine Military Museum has exhibits, displays and programs covering every aspect of military service in this country starting with the Revolutionary War right up to the country’s military involvement in
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Afghanistan and Iraq. A primary focus is on Maine prisoners of war from the Civil War through the Vietnam Conflict. The museum goes out of its way to not glorify war, rather it pays tribute to our veterans and their service to our country. Check out the exhibit devoted to uniforms past and present and you will begin to get an idea of what it’s like to be in active combat wearing up to 100 pounds of body armor, weapons and other gear in the fierce desert heat. Or take a look at what our parents, grandparents or great grandparents had for cold-weather gear as they fought in the mountainous terrain of Korea. A roomful of poignant, grainy black and white photos tells a silent story of those who were captured as prisoners of war in Vietnam. A second exhibit is devoted to artifacts from POWs including clothing, identification bracelets and personal correspondence. Other displays include weapons, letters, military toys, flags and other memorabilia. Taken as a whole, the museum’s exhibits will give you a fantastic and sobering look into the experiences of our veterans. The Maine Military Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Nov. 11. From Nov. 12 - May 26 hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday or by appointment. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 61
WOODS & WATERS
A GOOD HUNT
“THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.” This sincere appreciation, personally expressed to America’s military veterans, has become fashionable in recent years. It’s nice, as far as it goes. But it’s the nature of Mainers to look for more tangible ways to say thanks to veterans. BY BOB DUCHESNE Some of that gratitude is expressed in the Maine tax and motor vehicle codes. Eligible veterans enjoy income, sales and property tax breaks. Registration fees and excise taxes are waived for certain service-related disabilities. Veterans can receive free day-use passes to Maine state parks, historical sites, and museums. In fact, given Maine’s rich natural resources and its wealth of wildlife, it’s no surprise that a grateful Maine would bestow a host of outdoor opportunities on veterans, including hunting and fishing. Veterans with a significant service-connected disability may apply for a complimentary license to fish, trap or hunt, and may even receive a GIVEN MAINE’S RICH guide’s license upon meeting the qualifications. Disabled vets qualify NATURAL RESOURCES AND for expanded any-deer and antlerless deer archery permits. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife even allocates 25 ITS WEALTH OF WILDLIFE, moose permits to disabled veterans for a controlled moose hunt in Aroostook County. IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT A Periodically, Maine legislators propose doing even more. That’s GRATEFUL MAINE WOULD when good intentions meet hard reality. All licensed hunters have an opportunity to take a buck in the fall, but opportunities to harvest a BESTOW A HOST OF doe or antlerless deer are limited. The permits are typically doled out through a lottery. Most of the legislative proposals would either set OUTDOOR OPPORTUNITIES aside a certain percentage of special permits for veterans, or at least ON VETERANS, INCLUDING improve their odds of winning one in the annual drawing. Unfortunately, the math inevitably runs afoul of competing priorities.
HUNTING AND FISHING.
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MAINE THANKS VETERANS WITH MORE THAN WORDS
Currently in statute, first priority goes to holders of Superpack licenses — an allinclusive hunting and fishing license. Next, the legislature says thanks to land-owners who allow hunting on their property. Up to 25 percent of the annual allotment of any-deer permits are set aside for a special landowner lottery, in areas where the herd size can support it. After the landowners, increased opportunities are carved out for junior hunters, in hopes that this will encourage Maine’s youth to continue the state’s outdoor sporting traditions. Occasionally, there are legislative proposals to increase the number of any-deer permits set aside for seniors. Obviously, the more opportunities that are carved out for special groups, the fewer opportunities are left for the average hunter. In order to increase special permits for veterans, there would have to be a decrease for others. That legislative discussion often doesn’t go well. Furthermore, special permits are one of the primary means by which DIF&W manages the deer herd. Deer are not evenly distributed throughout the state. Maine is a hodge-podge
of habitats. Deer do well in some places, and poorly in others. Where they do too well, they become a nuisance, wandering into traffic and chowing down on backyard gardens. Deer populations require management and control, typically accomplished by locally limiting the number of females and young. The state is divided into Wildlife Management Districts, and the number of any-deer permits available each year is allocated by district. For instance, the area of central Maine from Newport to Augusta, and east of I-95 to the coast, has an abundance of deer. This year, 17,000 any-deer permits were made available in this district — WMD-23. Conversely, none were available in much of the working forest west of the Allagash. Sometimes, there simply aren’t many permits to allocate to favored groups in a particular district, which means that the ability to say “thanks” through hunting licenses gets unevenly applied across the state. Despite the challenges, hope springs eternal.
Every session, legislators look for that secret sauce that would allow the state to further thank and honor veterans with special hunting privileges. Some recent proposals have been directed toward disabled veterans only, to combat-injured veterans only, or just limited to Opening Day. Some proposals lumped veterans into an almost irresistible package, along with youth and seniors. Other proposals sought to carve out more moosehunting permits for veterans. Still others would have exempted veterans from required hunter safety courses since they are already weaponstrained, although hunter safety involves more than firearm familiarity. More hunters are hurt by tree stands than by firearms. Trying to say “Thank you for your service” with a few extra hunting permits looks simple, but it’s proven to be complicated. Sustainable management of Maine’s deer herd, while providing the widest possible array of hunting opportunities, is what keeps DIF&W biologists awake at night.
BOB DUCHESNE is a local radio personality, Maine guide, and columnist. He lives on Pushaw Lake with his wife, Sandi.
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pBe Where They Are THE VIEW FROM HERE
SOMETIMES ALL WE CAN DO IS BY EMILY MORRISON
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Once they know that you truly see them, they’ll hang on every word you say. They’ll conjugate verbs; they’ll read a book they don’t want to read; they’ll even write an essay they didn’t copy from online all because they believe you really, really want what’s best for them. No matter how disenchanted and disengaged they are, perhaps even because of how disenchanted and disengaged they are, they will love you back. So I love them first. I sing for them. Sometimes I break out into spontaneous dance for them. I tell them stories and ask them to tell me theirs. I share food, bake food and find out who needs a new winter jacket, pair of sneakers, heat at home, their wood cut, their mom to get sober and who just needs a hug. What hurts is that for the last half of last school year, I wasn’t able to love them, and I’m worried about how this new year will look like inside of my classroom. No more desks in a circle with me sitting at the coffee table in the middle. No more secret handshakes or high fives in the hallway. No more, “Come sit with me and tell me what’s wrong.” Some teachers may choose to stay home, and I get it. Some students may choose to stay home, and I get that, too. Walking around in a mask all day, sitting six feet apart from your closest classmate and never leaving the room unless you have permission to use the bathroom doesn’t sound like much of an educational experience. But for me, my decision to return boils down to one unchangeable fact: I can’t do this job as well from behind a screen. I can’t find out where they are or help them see where I am if we’re not together anymore. We may not be sitting as close or even seeing each other’s faces, but I can still sing for them, dance for them, tell them stories and listen to theirs. I can still love them from six feet away.
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TWENTY YEARS AGO, I would’ve never believed kids needed love as much as learning. I wasn’t much older than 20 myself and had a grand notion of being the kind of teacher that made Michelle Pfeiffer’s ex-marine educator in “Dangerous Minds” look like Suzie Sunshine by comparison. Whether my students hailed from the inner city or way out in back of the beyond, I would cut them “zero slack and take zero crap from nobody.” Oh yes, and they’d love me for it. As luck would have it, the first day of my glorious career as teacher of the century, my cooperating teacher caught a flu bug. The school didn’t have time to find a sub, which left me, his student teacher, as the first choice for another adult in the room. Even though I used a communal bathroom, waited my turn to take a shower and ate two meals a day in a cafeteria, I was old enough to take attendance and say, “Quiet down and stay in your seats!” My mentor didn’t send in plans, so I decided I’d read poetry from my favorite Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova, maybe recite a few Shakespearean sonnets about love, death and summer days and then encourage everyone to pen their own poems with a quill or something. “Frailty, thy name is woman” reciting Shakespeare to 17-year-olds. I wasn’t edgy or relevant, had no leather jacket to speak of, not even a good hair look going for me. All I had was my worn-out poetry books, a matching cardigan and cami set from the GAP and a new dream — to find out what made kids tick and then what made them listen. Truthfully, it took my first decade as a teacher to figure out where my students were coming from and my second to get them to care about where I was coming from, but I can tell you what’s taken me 20 years to learn: all kids, no matter where they start from, want to be with you in the end.
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EMILY MORRISON is a high school English teacher, freelance writer and editor from coastal Maine. She is living happily-ever-after with her handsome husband, three beautiful children and two beloved dogs. And a cat.
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