Maine Seniors Magazine - November 2016

NOVEMBER 2016 • $5.95 MESENIORS.COM

Maine Troop Greeters Museum

A SALUTE TO OUR VETERANS

Senator Susan Collins & Honor Flight Veterans

Plus: • Women Veterans • When Duty Called • Thanksgiving Dinner for Two ...and more!

Publisher's Note

PUBLISHER

David. S. Nealley

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Ellen L. Spooner

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Ian J. Marquis

EDITORS

Catherine N. Zub Lois N. Nealley Mark D. Roth Clyde Tarr

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Ian J. Marquis Victor Oboyski

SALES & DISTRIBUTION

Christine Parker George Holton Sam Rapaport Jim Gorham A. Peter Legendre Roseanne Bolduc Dale Overlock Fred Connell Shane Wilson Victor Oboyski

WRITERS

Paulette Oboyski Dr. Len Kaye Hunter Howe Jane Margesson Barbara Kent Lawrence Jane Margesson​​​ Brad Eden Fia Marquis Cathy Genthner Sheila D. Grant Cliff Gallant

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Maine Seniors Magazine is published in the State of Maine

by Maine Seniors Magazine, L.L.C. in association with Maine Media Consulting, L.L.C. All information herein represents the views of individual writers and their understanding of the issues at hand, and may not represent the views of the Maine Seniors Magazine, its management, or editorial staff. For more information about Maine Seniors Magazine, visit www.meseniors.com.

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1 • MAINE SENIORS

Maine has approximately 130,000 veterans.

I

n other words, roughly 1 out of every 10 people in our state is a veteran.

So it is appropriate for MAINE SENIORS Magazine to have two stories this month; Veterans: Honor Flight Maine (page 45) and Special: It Takes a Village (page 51), a story about Troop Greeters who have put Maine on the map for U.S. troops from all over the world who have flown through the Bangor airport.

This Veterans Issue is a salute to all of our veterans and their families for their efforts and sacrifices. They have helped to keep us all safe and free in these great United Sates of America.

I close this publisher’s note with a couple verses from the song by Lee Greenwood, God Bess the USA. “And I'm proud to be an American Where at least I know I'm free And I won't forget the men who died Who gave that right to me And I gladly stand up Next to you and defend her still today Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God bless the USA!" —David S. Nealley, Publisher

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NOVEMBER 2016 • 2

MAINE SENIORS • Contributors

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Brad Eden

Paulette Oboyski

Dr. Lenard W. Kaye

Barbara Kent Lawrence

Fia Marquis

Ian J. Marquis

Rev. Dr. Cathy Genthner

Sheila Grant

Jane Margesson

Cliff Gallant

Hunter Howe

HUNTER HOWE Hunter’s Maine roots run deep. He has written

PAULETTE OBOYSKI Paulette retired early at 45 to

for the Cape Courier and penned a column called Senior Moments for the Senior News, a publication of the Southern Maine Agency on Aging.

a farm in Washington, Maine, and edited ten fundraising cookbooks for non profits in town and cocompiled the book, Washington, Maine People and Places, for the town’s bicentennial. She now lives in Brunswick with her husband.

DR. LENARD W. KAYE Dr. Kaye is the Director and Professor for the Center on Aging at the University of Maine. He has been in the forefront of promoting and planning elder issues at the state level.

IAN J. MARQUIS Ian is an artist, designer, writer, musician, and creative director. Born and raised in the state of Maine, he lives in Portland with his wife, Fia, and their daughter, Lyric.

His latest album of music, Legacy Drivers, is available on iTunes and at www.ianmarquismusic.com.

FIA MARQUIS Fia is a food writer, recipe creator, and member of the Maine food scene. A Maine native and mother of one, she lives in Portland with her husband—Maine Seniors Magazine Creative Director Ian Marquis.

BRAD EDEN Brad Eden is an artist, writer, and registered Maine Master Guide. He has lived in Maine for three decades, and is an avid outdoorsman and sportsman.

JANE MARGESSON Jane Margesson has worked for AARP for over 20 years in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and now Maine. Jane appears frequently on Maine’s television and radio news programs and is a public speaker on scam and fraud prevention.

3 • MAINE SENIORS

BARBARA KENT LAWRENCE Barbara is the author of eight books including "Islands of Time" and the sequel "Ben’s Story."

She lived year-round on Mt. Desert for twenty years where she ran a real estate and construction company, earned a PhD in education, and was a policy analyst and professor in Massachusetts. In 2015 she returned to Maine, and lives in Camden with her partner, Bob.

CLIFF GALLANT Cliff lives in Portland on the Eastern Prom and is a freelance writer, columnist, and visitors tour guide.

REV. DR. CATHY GENTHNER Cathy is a freelance writer and registered Maine Guide who lives in Gorham. An ordained minister and Doctor of Ministry, she has been a journalist for over 30 years.

SHEILA GRANT Sheila is the editor/writer of two national economic development newsletters, the Downtown Idea Exchange and the Downtown Promotion Reporter. Her work has also appeared in The Boston Globe and beyond.Sheila is the author of 50 Great New England Family Vacations, and her work has been recognized by the Maine Press Association and the New England Outdoor Writers Association.

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Page 7

NOVEMBER 2016 ISSUE 1 Publisher's Note

BY DAVID S. NEALLEY

3 Contributors 7 Prime Mover: Paul Lucey

BY SHEILA GRANT

15 Prime Mover: George "Skip" McGahey

BY CLIFF GALLANT

21 Prime Mover: Taylor Mudge

Page 21

BY BARBARA KENT LAWRENCE

31 Prime Mover: Rod Williams

BY CATHY GENTHNER

41 Sage Lens: Intimacy & Relationships

BY DR. LEN KAYE

45 Veterans: Honor Flight Maine

BY PAULETTE OBOYSKI

51 Special: It Takes A Village

BY JULIA MUNSEY

Page 31

57 Health Treasures: Confessions of an Aging

Workout-aholic • BY KELLEY J. KASH

59 Just Pondering: A Change in Uniform

BY WALDO CLARK

61 The MAINE Point: Women Veterans

BY JANE MARGESSON

63 Residential Review: Plant Home

GUEST ARTICLE

67 Bridging Generations: Honoring Veterans

BY JOAN CLARK

Page 51

69 Legacy: Understanding the Insurance

Landscape • GUEST ARTICLE

71 A Trail Less Traveled: Understanding Maine

Hunting Firearms • BY BRAD EDEN

73 Food for Thought: Thanksgiving Dinner

for Two • BY FIA MARQUIS

77 From the Porch: When Duty Called

BY HUNTER HOWE

Page 73

NOVEMBER 2016 • 6

PRIME MOVER • Paul Lucey

First Lieutenant Paul Lucey, USMC 7 • MAINE SENIORS

Paul Lucey • PRIME MOVER

Paul Lucey

BY SHEILA GRANT

"

T

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Paul Lucey was an 18-year-old freshman at Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island. A few days later, he drove to Boston to enlist in the United States Navy Air Corps.

hey sent me back to college for a little while before calling me up,” recalled Lucey, who is now a spry 93-year-old Veazie resident. The Navy sent him to Texas to learn to fly in the Stearman biplane trainer,“fondly called the Yellow Peril.”

“It was the summer of 1945 and I was a Marine aviator on the island of Okinawa. The island was‘secure’ after the savage Battle of Okinawa. Our next mission was to “soften up” Japan for the attack on the home islands.

“I ended up in Pensacola where I received my Navy Wings of Gold and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps,” said Lucey. Eventually, he was stationed on Okinawa, Japan, the site of the last great battle of the war. Lucey served as a USMC fighter pilot, flying Vought F4U Corsairs on “long, long over-water trips to bomb the southern coast of Japan.”

Japan was being strangled by a ring of steel including Marine and Air Force air strikes, Navy carriers harrying the homeland, B-29s from Iwo Jima and Saipan, and a submarine embargo — all preparing for Operation Downfall, code name for the invasion.

Japan had been preparing its defense for years and if the Battle of Okinawa was any example, the Pacific version of D-Day would be ferocious and bloody.

In November, 2012, Lucey wrote a special report for the Bangor Daily News about his time on Okinawa:

Happy Veteran’s Day! MSB sends our thanks to the men and women serving and sacrificing to protect the freedoms we all enjoy. We honor and salute you!

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NOVEMBER 2016 • 8

PRIME MOVER • Paul Lucey

On Aug. 6, in the midst of invasion battle plans, we heard of a new U.S. weapon. An ‘atomic’ bomb had been dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Three days later, another was dropped on the seaport of Nagasaki. On Aug. 15, Japan surrendered; on Sept. 2, the war was officially over.

The realization that the war was over took some time to sink in — no more combat air patrols, no more bomber missions or the fear of kamikaze attacks. The last entry in my WWII flight log book was on Aug. 23, 1945. On that day, Corsairs from Okinawa flew a last flight to Yokosuka, Japan. Our 50-caliber machine guns and bomb and rocket racks were without ammo. As we flew over the string of heavily defended Japanese islands leading up to Kyushu, I thought now those islanders could also spike their guns and get back to peacetime living.

We reached the mainland after three hours of flying when one word came from our squadron leader: ‘HIROSHIMA’! We spread our formation and looked far ahead. There it was, a black smudge on an otherwise green and brown landscape. We let down to 2,500 feet. The city had been incinerated by Little Boy, the first atomic bomb released in anger against an enemy.

Only the skeletal remains of a building at Ground Zero remained standing in the rubble.

Three days later, a second bomb, called Fat Man, was dropped over the port city of Nagasaki. My sensibilities were numbed by the Hiroshima flyover, but I remember a lone smokestack still standing. A memorial in the Hiroshima Peace Park

9 • MAINE SENIORS

The realization that the war was over

took some time to sink in—no more combat air patrols, no more bomber missions or the fear of kamikaze attacks.

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Paul Lucey • PRIME MOVER

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Paul Lucey received this model Corsair and plaque when retiring after 31 years of active and reserve duty with the United States Marine Corps.

symbolizes the pledge that “nuclear war will never again be waged.”

Today when Lucey recalls that period of his life, he says, “I was in Okinawa when the atom bombs were dropped. It was quite a surprise, I’ll tell you that! The regular troops didn’t know. We were as surprised as anyone.” And about that grim ‘sayonara’ flight over Hiroshima, he says,“It looked like a graveyard with no gravestones, just a burned out splotch on the ground. We just flew around it, and of course, were horrified by the sight.”

After WWII ended, Lucey returned to Brown University, graduating in 1948. Then he met and married Patricia – and got called back to military service for the Korean War while still a newlywed.

“I was over there with the 1st Marine Air Division as a rescue pilot, evacuating wounded marines from the front line,” said Lucey.“I did that for a year. Those were the early days of helicopters. They were NOVEMBER 2016 • 1 0

PRIME MOVER • Paul Lucey

still doves, not the hawks they were to become in Vietnam. This was before they were armed at all.”

Lucey noted that anyone who has seen the television series M*A*S*H has seen his type of Bell helicopter. “They had pods on either side, so I could put one or two wounded there, and one beside me.”

While Lucey’s helicopter was not armed, the enemy was. “The enemy had some high ground and whenever they saw a helicopter, they liked to throw mortars in there in the hopes of hitting one,” Lucey said.“Thank God, they never hit mine.”

Lucey is quick to deflect compliments about his Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medals. “It was not a question of courage,” he said. “I followed orders, whether flying long over-water flights in the Corsair or day or night helicopter rescue missions. That’s what I was trained for.”

Lucey did have a few close calls.“My Corsair had a ruptured oil line, covering the windshield and cockpit with oil,” he recalled. “Luckily, I was near an outlying field and I was able to land. The plane was running down the runway when the propeller stopped; the engine had frozen. I had landed with five seconds to spare.”

Lucey also had emergency landings in helicopters.“I was flying one helicopter when the engine quit, but luckily I was someplace where I could auto-rotate and land safely.”

After Korea, Lucey remained in the USMC Reserve. “I ended up the commanding officer of a helicopter squadron, and retired a full colonel after 31 years of active and reserve duty,” he said.

In the years following the Korean War, Paul and Patricia Lucey had a daughter, Gloria, and moved to San Francisco, where their

Paul Lucey (fourth from the left) and his squadron posed with this Grumman Wildcat shortly after he got his wings.

11 • MAINE SENIORS

Paul Lucey • PRIME MOVER Our residents LOVE living here . . . We’re confident YOU will too.

USMC Captain Paul Lucey, Korea, 1951

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Lucey wasn’t finished with helicopter adventures, however, piloting for the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska. “The helicopter was brand new, and perfect for their work,” he recalled.“Otherwise, they had to go in on foot or by horse. With the helicopter, the whole state opened up for making accurate maps.” But in Alaska, too, Lucey had a near miss.“That was where one of my forced landings happened. I decided to go back to teaching because it was safer in the classroom – almost,” he quipped.

Both Lucey children grew up to be college professors, Paul at the University of Hawaii, and Gloria [Vollmers] at the University of Maine at Orono. When Patricia developed Alzheimer’s disease several years ago, Lucey moved to Maine to be with his daughter.

Patricia passed away five years ago. All of Lucey’s flight mates and war buddies are gone now, too. “Up until three or four years ago, I made the reunions, but after a while, there aren’t enough left for reunions,” he said.“That’s the trouble with getting to be in your 90s.

You lose all your friends.”

After serving in WWII and the Korean War, Lucey remained in the USMC Reserve.

NOVEMBER 2016 • 1 2

PRIME MOVER • Paul Lucey

However, he’s not ready to call it quits just yet. “I’d settle for 95,” Lucey said. “But I’d take 100 if it’s given to me. I’m not in a wheelchair yet, or even a walker. I still enjoy a short walk.”

Lucey is still involved in military ventures. “I am the president of the Korean War Association in Bangor,” he said. “We care for the Korean War Memorial at Mount Hope Cemetery.“I’m also in the Marine Corps League. We try to help out veterans, go drive them somewhere, bring them to the Maine Veterans Home. We go to all kinds of funerals, and have an Honor Guard and that sort of thing.”

In August, Lucey was still “flying high” from his recent trip to Washington D.C. courtesy of the Honor Flight Maine program.

“They invited any WWII veterans that they could locate to go down to see the WWII Memorial, Jewell of the Mall, which is a masterpiece of granite and bronze,” Lucey said. “They provide a guide for us, and take care of us for the weekend so we can see the different war memorials. It’s a little payback for us, I guess. It’s quite an honor, and it’s quite a service to the WWII vets.”

MSM

13 • MAINE SENIORS

Paul Lucey is one of nearly 160,000 WWII vets flown to Washington, D.C. by the nationwide Honor Flight program.

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PRIME MOVER • George “Skip” McGahey

George “Skip” McGahey, on the left looking up gleefully at a plane flying by, stands with his fellow crew members in front of their WWII Liberation Bomber.The six Swastikas painted on the side of the plane represent the six confirmed “kills” of German fighter planes the crew was credited with; and the bombs painted above and below the Swastikas represent the thirty-nine missions credited to the bomber.

McGahey

GEORGE "SKIP" When a friend waiting for him to get his hair cut said that since they both were so eager to fight for their country, and since they both loved airplanes so much, maybe they ought to join the Army Air Corps and become fighter pilots, George “Skip” McGahey jumped out of the chair, ripped the towel from around his neck, threw it on the floor, and yelled:“Let's go!”

T

he Army Air Corps – which became the Air Force after the war – was very happy to see him, of course, but told him that while he definitely had the aptitude to be a fighter pilot, that wasn't their need at the moment, but he might consider attending

15 • MAINE SENIORS

BY CLIFF GALLANT

flight engineer school instead. That was fine with him, he told them, because then he'd get a chance to find out how those darned things stay up there!

“One day when I was a kid I was leaning over the hood of a junk car taking something off the engine,” he says,“and when I looked up at the sound of a passing airplane it hit me, out of nowhere, that what I was looking at was thousands of pounds of metal that man had taken from down deep in the earth and made into a machine that could fly through the air! What a miracle! To this day I don't know how the thought came to me, but from then on I was hooked on airplane mechanics for life!”

George “Skip” McGahey • PRIME MOVER

with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

There's a tendency to think of

WWII bombers as kind of lumbering along unmolested high above the clouds but the reality is that they were constantly under enemy fire.

Obviously, flight engineer school was right up Skip's alley, but, as many a recruit has found out, all military personnel have two jobs, the one you sign up for, and the one you end up doing. In Skip's case, after he finished flight engineer school the Army Air Corps needed gunners more than it did flight engineers, and the rest is history.

“Skip” McGahey was credited with flying on twenty-nine bombing missions over World War II Europe, from 1942 to 1945, under the most severe battle conditions of the war, as a gunner on an Army Air Corps B-24 Liberator Bomber. After we'd talked a good while, he got around to telling me that he was awarded the Air Medal

That represents a great deal of heroic action. There's a tendency to think of WWII bombers as kind of lumbering along unmolested high above the clouds to their target area, delivering their payload and heading home, but the reality is that they were constantly under enemy fire, both from the ground and from German Luftwaffe FW-190 fighter planes.“Dogfights” between Allied and German fighter planes, in fact, were generally about protecting a bomber, and when one of the enemy fighter planes got through to the bomber, the only thing that could save it, and the lives of the men aboard, was the skill and intestinal fortitude of the gunner, squatted at the doo cradling his 50 caliber,“givin' 'em all the hell we could,” as Skip says.

In addition to dropping thousands of tons of bombs on war manufacturing plants and destroying supply routes across Germany, Skip's aircraft crew was credited with shooting a total of six German Luftwaffe FW 190 fighter planes out of the sky, though he and the rest of the crew knew that they had gotten many more.

NOVEMBER 2016 • 1 6

PRIME MOVER • George “Skip” McGahey

“We'd see them limping through the sky trailing smoke from where they'd been hit, and we knew they'd never make it back to their home base, but we couldn't count them unless we actually saw them fall out of the sky,” he says, his finger drawing a plane spiraling down out of the sky in the air as he speaks, just as he might have done more than seventy years ago when he was back on the ground, having returned safely from yet another successful mission.

When I asked him if any of the planes he flew in ever got hit he threw his head back and scoffed, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

“We were hit on just about every mission,” he said, “getting hit was what you expected. We'd always limp home, just hoping we'd be able to land safely. It was pure hell, to tell you the truth. There were ten men on a bomber and sometimes we'd come back with five or six dead and others severely wounded. Sometimes even now I can see it and hear it all. It's a terrible thing and it never leaves you.”

He turns away and sits looking steely eyed across a field out the window of his rural Saco home, then turns back to me after a moment and very quietly tells me that he truly does consider himself to be the most fortunate and blessed man on earth.“Why them and not me,” he's asked himself over the years, he says, “every one of them had as much right to live as I did.”

What is particularly remarkable about Skip's having survived serving as gunner on those twenty-nine bombing missions over WWII Europe is that his was one of the most hazardous duties in the entire military. The saying “gunner today, goner tomorrow” was not born without a good reason. The German fighter planes

17 • MAINE SENIORS

Skip (far left) in front of the bomber "Sweet Chariot"

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George “Skip” McGahey • PRIME MOVER

what you expected. We'd always limp home, just hoping we'd be able to land safely. It was pure hell,

of how fortunate I was to survive. I can't bear to have the boot right out where I can see it every day, because it reminds me of all the good men who didn't make it, so I keep it in a closet. Every once in a while I catch sight of it, though, when I'm rummaging around for something, and a deep sorrow for my lost buddies comes over me, but I'm also overwhelmed with gratitude for having survived, and I'm filled with the pure joy of being alive.”

attacking Allied bombers had the gunner crouching at the door as their primary target. Time after time, though, Skip says, he would look around after the smoke cleared, find that he was still alive, and be filled with a deep gratitude, which he feels to this very day.

Life's been good to him after the war years, Skip says as we sit at the kitchen table in his spacious and much-lived in home located in a rural area of Saco. He built the home himself, “stick by stick” he says. He and his wonderful wife Helen, with whom he went to grammar school, raised five happy and healthy children in that home, so there are a lifetime of memories inside those walls, and a lot to be thankful for, he says.

“The closest they came to getting me,” Skip says in a kind of amazement, shaking his head,“was when a shell came so close to my leg it tore off the side of my boot and singed my leg a little. I thank God that I'm here today, and I brought the boot home as a reminder

He's pretty well known beyond the walls of his home, too. Anyone who knows Skip McGahey will tell you that he's got a world of experience out there in the work world and has got many a fascinating and rip roaring funny story to tell. House builder, farm

“We were hit on just about every mission,” Skip said,“getting hit was

to tell you the truth."

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NOVEMBER 2016 • 1 8

PRIME MOVER • George “Skip” McGahey

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owner, lumberman, truck driver, auto mechanic, Beech Ridge race car driver, he's done it all, and has enjoyed pretty much every minute of it, he says, except a few here and there, you know, like with the rest of us.

“My life's been good all around,” he says, smiling contentedly, “but, apart from raising my family, the best part has been getting my pilot's license and spending a lot of time up there in the wild blue.

I don't get to do much piloting now, but I go up with my son and we have a grand ol' time.”

So that single-engine fixed-wing airplane you see up there in the sky doing happy little loop-de-loops might just contain one George “Skip” McGahey.

“Even after all these years, I'm still in awe of being in a machine flying through the air,” he says, “I've never lost the fascination for it I had as a kid.”

19 • MAINE SENIORS

“I feel so free and have so much fun up there I almost feel guilty!” he laughs.

No worries on that score, Skip. After the life you've led, and the service that you've provided to your countrymen, you've definitely earned any fun that might come your way.

MSM

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PRIME MOVER • Taylor Mudge

Taylor and Dale Mudge

21 • MAINE SENIORS

Taylor Mudge • PRIME MOVER

Maine’s

Taylor BIG MUDGE

BY BARBARA KENT LAWRENCE

When he bought his farm in Lincolnville in 1970, Taylor Mudge had no idea he would make important contributions to farming in his adopted state—but he has.

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t’s hard to imagine that the founder of State of Maine Cheese Company, and Chairman of the Board of Maine Farmland Trust was a back-to-the-lander who had never lived on the land, and a kid who “used to give my parents fits.”“I had a troubled academic career,” he insists. “After two semesters, when the Dean of Ohio Wesleyan where I was studying said I didn’t fit, no one was surprised. A cousin offered me a job in Hawaii and off I went, but then I was drafted.”

Taylor wasn’t strongly for or against the war, but believed he had been called to action for a reason. “I was an American, and my father served in WWII. That’s what you did.”

The Army decided that his experience as a mechanic analyzing problems and determining solutions would help him diagnose and process wounded soldiers, and he was assigned to the Army Medical Corps. After medical training and advanced training in surgery, Taylor was sent to Hue and Phu Bai in northern South Vietnam in 1968. As the plane delivering his unit was landing, the cargo sergeant ordered him to jump into his truck and start the engine.

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PRIME MOVER • Taylor Mudge

Taylor at State of Maine Cheese Co.

“We land; you drive.”

“Where?” Taylor asked.

“Out!” Taylor drove into the chaos of the Tet offensive with a MASH unit, assigned to support the Navy and care for an endless stream of wounded Marines. Mobile rockets supplied to the Vietcong by the Chinese were destructive weapons against which there was little defense because they could be assembled and dismantled quickly. During the Tet offensive, Hue was partially over-run and the Marines took severe casualties.

Talking about his service in Vietnam makes Taylor uncomfortable, but there are good memories too. He saved lives. “No one should have to play God, but we were always in a situation of triage. You just do the best you can—focus on what you’re doing, and try not to look at the big picture.” Taylor valued serving with people

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Taylor Mudge • PRIME MOVER

Talking about his service in Vietnam makes Taylor uncomfortable, but there are good memories too.

He saved lives.

from all backgrounds and parts of the country and developed his talent for analyzing problems and finding solutions.

After the service, Taylor returned home to Pittsburgh, but then moved to Boston where he worked as a motorcycle mechanic and enrolled in night school at Boston University. There he met Dale Sperry whom he married, and the couple began visiting his sister Polly and her husband painter Neil Welliver in Lincolnville, Maine.

Taylor finished his BA and an MA in geology and geochemistry, but the Arab oil embargo and the ongoing war in Vietnam

sausage, and ham. “We tried to be self-sufficient: heat with wood, can and freeze vegetables from the garden, raise sheep and a beef cow every year, as well as chickens for eggs and meat." They also had two more children.

There were challenges. The State required that the meat they sold be inspected, but there weren’t enough slaughterhouses or inspectors to make that easy and the market for organically raised vegetables and meat was undeveloped. Taylor soon realized the distribution system for Maine farm products was also weak. As he searched for alternatives, he became interested in the dairy business.

He discovered there are two classifications of milk based on their end use—Class 1 for drinking and Class 2 for processing into cheese, butter or powdered milk. Most Class 2 milk produced in Maine then was shipped to a powdered milk facility in Springfield, Massachusetts. To help keep it in Maine, Taylor started a cheese factory to produce cheddar. He had to pay for the milk within two

Taylor with MASH unit

made getting a job in the field difficult. The possibility of living independently on a farm in Maine became increasingly attractive.

In 1970 Dale and Taylor had few assets and no clue how to farm, but after qualifying for a small mortgage, they bought a farm near the Wellivers. In 1975, they and their two sons moved to Lincolnville to live there yearround. Taylor may not have been a good student as a child, but as a farmer he was a natural. He and Dale soon were pasturing unbred heifers for a neighbor, raising 300 sheep for meat and wool, and pigs from which they made bacon,

NOVEMBER 2016 • 2 4

PRIME MOVER • Taylor Mudge

Taylor contracted with Oakhurst Dairy to make and distribute the crème fraiche, while searching for his own plant. He found the perfect opportunity in Rockland, where people were used to processing fish with food grade stainless steel equipment necessary for cheese production. There was also a cooperative of dairy farmers along nearby Knox Ridge who could save money by bringing their milk to the factory. Taylor bought second-hand cheese-making equipment, and soon employed 7—8 people yearround, and 14 during the Christmas season.

The company produced over a million pounds of cheese a year, distributing it through Hannaford, IGA, Shaws, and Associated Grocers of Maine. Their cheese was in the dairy case, not the more expensive deli case, and competed successfully with Kraft and other well-known moderately-priced cheese. Politics intervened, however, when the Federal milk subsidy was modified, and the government bought dairy herds to reduce production. It became difficult to buy enough local milk to sustain the company at that level, and eventually Taylor sold it to an employee.

We help you stay accessible Taylor, Dale, and son Webster Mudge back to the land on their farm.

weeks, however, but couldn’t sell most cheddar until it had aged for at least a year.

Using his skill in analyzing a problem and creating a solution, Taylor explored producing crème fraiche, which matures quickly. After a few false starts, his friend Des FitzGerald at Ducktrap River Fish Farm suggested Taylor ask Julia Child for advice and she agreed.

Over three months, Julia Child tasted samples that Taylor and a dairy technologist at the University of Vermont created and she helped perfect. Finally, she offered some to Andre Soltner, chef at the famous New York restaurant Lutece. Soltner declared Taylor’s crème fraiche good enough for Lutece, and said he would buy it.

The State of Maine Cheese Company was on its way!

25 • MAINE SENIORS

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Taylor Mudge • PRIME MOVER

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Taylor enjoyed farming.

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PRIME MOVER • Taylor Mudge

Coincidentally, Cabot Cheese in Vermont then referred a request to help establish cheese-making plants in Colombia to Taylor, who soon was getting off a plane in Bogotá to start a new adventure.

Later, Dale worked in Boston and Taylor started a company making CD-ROMS for Simon & Schuster and other publishers.

Taylor and Dale lived in Boston during this period, but always wanted to return to Maine and when Dale became ill with cancer, she and Taylor came home. Though they had sold much of the original farm in Lincolnville, they retained 100 acres, which their son Sam works as Grange Corner Farm.

Taylor is certainly not out of farming! A long-time member of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), he has been very active with 4-H helping make Tanglewood and Blueberry Cove 4-H camps accessible to all Maine students.

Executive Director Susan Jennings says as a board member Taylor is extraordinarily skillful in identifying and analyzing a problem,

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Chairman of the Board of the Maine Farmland Trust Maine Farmland Trust Taylor Mudge, with outgoing President & CEO John Piotti and incoming President & CEO Amanda Beal 27 • MAINE SENIORS

Taylor Mudge • PRIME MOVER

The Next Generation Pearl Benjamin, a freshman at Camden Hills Regional High School, has been in 4H for four years She raises market steers and breeds her Katahdin sheep through the 4H program at Aldermere Farm in Rockport, and is building a remarkable reputation as a skilled sheep breeder. Her ewe Elvez recently won Supreme Overall Ewe at the Skowhegan Fair and was 4H Overall Grand Champion ewe at Union Fair.

"The 4H program at Aldermere Farm has made it possible for me to learn far more than just about animals. I’m building my own small business by marketing and selling my market lambs and steers, and creating a positive reputation for myself as a skilled sheep breeder within the the 4H community and beyond."

Pearl Benjamin with her ewe Elvez. Photo by Karin Luethy.

NOVEMBER 2016 • 2 8

PRIME MOVER • Taylor Mudge

“The depth of Taylor's knowledge of how a farmer thinks, and what is needed to run a business is invaluable."

but MFT helps farmers with these challenges and supports them through classes and individual sessions in the business aspects of farming. It also helps create and support the infrastructure missing in the distribution system and is helping start a farmers’ credit union.

and a gifted catalyst for change. She adds that he has an infectious passion that ignites other people’s enthusiasm.

Former Chair Frank Miles, Jr. says because Taylor knows Maine agriculture as a farmer and a business man “the depth of his knowledge of how a farmer thinks, and what is needed to run a business,” is invaluable.“Taylor is enormously positive, gracious and humble, yet effective, and he has a great sense of humor.”

In 2007 Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) invited Taylor to serve as Chair for their first capital campaign, and he was soon voted onto the board, which he now chairs. The Trust’s mission is to protect farmland that may be vulnerable to development, support farmers, and advance the future of farming in the state. MFT buys farmland it then sells to prospective farmers for a reasonable cost after creating easements so it will remain farmland. Banks don’t lend money on raw land, and old farmhouses may not meet codes,

Recently, Taylor surmised that Maine farmers could raise organic hops and provide local brewers with a first-rate product.

He started working a small section of his farm to test this out and the initial product proved delicious for brewers Peak Organic and Sebago, who use Ducktrap River Hops in their beers. The Army was right. Taylor Mudge is a gifted analyst and problem solver. Mainers are fortunate that he is putting his abilities into sustaining Maine farms.

MSM

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Taylor Mudge • PRIME MOVER

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PRIME MOVER • Rod Williams

Carolyn and Rod Williams have celebrated 62 years of marriage together, unified by the love of art.

31 • MAINE SENIORS

Rod Williams • PRIME MOVER

rod Williams

BY CATHY GENTHNER

gimmick to keep my name in front of her, so she wouldn’t forget me completely,” said Williams, now 84.

Rod Williams met Carolyn Ruth at a street dance in Millinocket in 1951 and was immediately smitten.

S

With ink and watercolors, Williams created a series of evocative scenes, about 40 of them, from his work on a transport ship off the coast of Cuba and around the Caribbean. He drew them on the envelopes he used to mail letters to Carolyn in East Millinocket.

The artwork indeed kept Williams’ name on his sweetheart’s mind.

In fact, Williams became the talk of the Millinocket area.

“I had been in the Navy a year at that point, and all my girlfriends had deserted me. They all wrote me Dear Johns or they just stopped writing. I figured I had to come up with some kind of a

“I remember getting the envelopes because the postmistress in town, when they came, would call me and say ‘Carolyn you got another

he was 15. He was 19, on leave from the Navy and shipping out again to the Caribbean three days later. He worried that she’d soon forget him. He decided, as he often has in matters of vital importance, to trust his art.

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PRIME MOVER • Rod Williams

envelope.’ It was a little town, everyone wanted to see the envelopes,” said Carolyn, 79.“I certainly felt special.”

Art flows through the 64-year romance of Rod and Carolyn Williams, coloring it and bringing it to life. The painted envelopes helped nurture a three-year courtship while Williams was in the Navy. His drawings of stylish cars, often with a sketch of Carolyn alongside, helped him land a job at Ford. That gave him the confidence to propose. The two were married in 1954, just days after Williams got out of the Navy.

Art was the foundation of the business they started together in 1960, when Williams began creating marketing campaigns for clients, often using Carolyn as a model. And as their family grew to include four children and 10 grandchildren, Williams’ colorful hand-painted cards marked the birthdays, anniversaries and holidays.

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While they were dating, artist Rod Williams sent letters featuring his artwork on the envelopes to his beloved Carolyn, who lived in East Millinocket.

33 • MAINE SENIORS

Rod Williams • PRIME MOVER

Rod painting while in the Navy

Carolyn’s 80th birthday came in September and Williams said he “had some ideas” for what he would create.

Williams says he’s been lucky in his life, but most of his good luck has had something to do with his obvious artistic talent.

MY CALLING CARD Growing up in Millinocket, Williams was always drawing, always doodling. He says he wasn’t a good student but that his art always made him stand out.

“That was my calling card with everybody, that I could draw. When I had to do a book report, I’d just illustrate it, and the teachers liked it,” said Williams, sitting in the couple’s Biddeford Pool home.“But I think they passed me just to get me out of school.”

NOVEMBER 2016 • 3 4

PRIME MOVER • Rod Williams

Rod was stationed in Virginia, he sent letters to his beloved Carolyn in East Millinocket.

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Wanting to avoid a job in the Millinocket paper mills, Williams enrolled in art school in New York City but was out of money after one semester. He decided to join the Navy, so he could later use money from the GI Bill of Rights to continue art school.

When Williams met Carolyn a year into his Navy stint, he showed off his creativity right away. But it wasn’t his art he displayed, it was a creative fib he told just before he shipped out. He had only known Carolyn for three days.

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“He told me a story that his birthday was coming up – which was a lie – and that other sailors had gotten cakes from girls and could I send him a birthday cake,” she said, with Williams chuckling in the background.“And I did, because I believed him.”

While in the Navy, he applied for drafting school. But he later found out the drafting school had been discontinued. Frustrated,

Rod Williams • PRIME MOVER

Frustrated, Rod sent a letter and

some drawings to Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith. Soon, he got a new assignment: painting the portraits of Navy ships to hang in admirals’ offices. he decided to send a letter and some drawings to Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith. Soon Williams got a new assignment, painting the portraits of Navy ships to hang in admirals’ offices.

Around the same time, Williams did sketches of cars on his own

time, and they sometimes included Carolyn’s likeness.

An officer saw some of William’s sketches and sent them to Cars magazine. The magazine did a story on Williams titled “Dream Car Sailor.” The magazine spread got the attention of Detroit automakers and led to a job offer from Ford.

As a young man, Williams sometimes thought that he had no future because art wasn’t seen as a serious way to make a living in Millinocket. Getting a job in the field of art gave him the confidence to propose to Carolyn. The two married and drove to Detroit, with $100 in their pockets.

“I was 18 but I wasn’t scared,” she said.“I don’t know why, but I wasn’t.”

In Detroit, Williams worked with other artists to design styling

A general from the U.S. Navy poses with a painting to go on his office wall with its artist, Rod Williams

NOVEMBER 2016 • 3 6

PRIME MOVER • Rod Williams

Battleship by Rod Williams

Extra Time. Extra Care. elements of cars. He’s got a framed painting of a late ’50s Ford station wagon design he worked on, where his responsibility was the two-tone treatment, the triangular section on the middle of the car’s side, where one color met another. He said he hated working on station wagons, especially when executives kept directing him to make the tail fins bigger and bigger.

After about six years in Detroit, the couple decided to start their own business based on Williams’ art. They moved to the Boston area and started Williams Associates. Williams would spend his days“knocking on doors” looking for businesses that needed a logo or art for marketing. His wife was home taking care of the children, and the rest of the business.

“I didn’t know anything about the business part of running a business,” he said.“She was home with four kids, then at night she’d type up my proposals and do the books.”

37 • MAINE SENIORS

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Rod Williams • PRIME MOVER

Rod Williams as a staff artist for the Navy from 1950-1954

NOVEMBER 2016 • 3 8

PRIME MOVER • Rod Williams

Carolyn and Rod Williams at their home in Biddeford Pool

The business grew. Over the years, Williams designed the marketing art for ski wear makers and camping gear manufacturers, using his wife and his children as models in the photographs because he couldn’t afford to hire models. Plus, he had gotten used to having Carolyn in his art. Even when he didn’t use her photograph or likeness, he’d often work in her initials, C.A.R., on a license plate or the side of a ship.

One of the company’s clients, starting in the early 1970s, was Tom’s of Maine, maker of natural products. The Williams family moved to Maine in 1999, to work full time for Tom’s, which he did until 2004. Since then he’s been “retired” but still does design work for several Maine companies, including Kate’s Homemade Butter.

Holding a Valentine’s Day card her husband made for her a few 39 • MAINE SENIORS

years ago, Carolyn said she has always marveled at his artistic ability. It was a sunny home scene, with sunflowers viewed through a window, checked curtains, a basket of fruit and other homey touches.

But looking back on 64 years of life, love and family, does Carolyn think it would have all happened without Williams’ artistic courtship strategy?

“Oh, I certainly think so,” she said.

“I don’t know,” said Williams, sitting nearby. “I didn’t have much of a personality.”

But he does have art.

MSM

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INTIMACY & RELATIONSHIPS Learnings at This Year’s Geriatrics Colloquium The 11th Annual University of Maine Clinical Geriatrics Colloquium was held on October 7th. Approximately 200 attendees from around the state gathered together at the Wells Conference Center on the UMaine campus in Orono.

O

rganized by the UMaine Center on Aging and School of Social Work, this year’s conference focused on the theme of “Relationships in Later Life.” Conference goers participated in lively discussion and were treated to a number of excellent speakers focusing on the importance of older adults staying involved in their communities and maintaining strong networks of family, friends and neighbors throughout life.

Without such a network we are at much greater risk of becoming socially isolated, which in turn increases significantly our risk of experiencing worsened physical and mental health not to mention suffering more frequent falls, having greater difficultly surviving natural disasters, and even avoiding the common cold.

41 • MAINE SENIORS

BY DR. LEN KAYE

One of the focal points of the October 7th colloquium was the importance of human intimacy in our lives. So, I thought I would share with you some of the wise advice given by our keynote speaker this year, Dr. Pepper Schwartz, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington and AARP’s love and relationship expert. You may know Pepper as the love expert on the show “Married at First Sight” and the author of the Naked Truth.

Dr. Schwartz began her talk by reminding everyone of what should be obvious – that older adults normally want to have active lives and that includes having a romantic and sexual life as well. In a recent AARP survey, over 75% of people over 45 years of age said a satisfying sexual and romantic relationship is important in their

One of the most common challenges for all of us is our

You’ll getatmore You’ll get more 304!at 30

inability to communicate our desires to another person and to continue to express our feelings of affection over time.

lives. She highlighted five specific needs that older adults have in this regard. She said they want: love, more than just companionship, to be touched, some kind of sexual connection, and to feel capable of passion. The fact is, because so many older adults are looking for partners, the fastest growth in on-line dating is among people ages fifty and sixty plus.

Research confirms that our brain stays capable of intimacy and our glands continue to pump out sex hormones, including dopamine, androgens (estrogen and testosterone) and oxytocin. And like all other mammals, we continue to be capable of love. What’s more, being in a relationship is seen, by far, as the most important element in determining happiness for both men and women.

Pepper made it crystal clear that sex, love, and intimacy are lifelong rights. She said we all must fight for those rights, not succumbing to the myths about midlife and older adults that suggest somehow intense feelings are inappropriate for older people. We must also not let our caregivers, whether they be relatives or professional service providers, convince us that there is a time when we should put a stop to feelings of sexuality and wanting romance in our lives.

We learned that one of the most common challenges for all of us is our inability to communicate our desires to another person and to continue to express our feelings of affection over time. Dr. Schwartz confirmed that all affectionate behaviors decrease with age or length of relationship. This slippage occurs in expressions of affection, romance, and sexuality. Dr. Schwartz reported that 30% of women and 60% of men “feel deprived of romance” in their lives.

To be sure, it is well worth fighting against these tendencies since research has shown that strong social relationships, including intimate ones, are as good predictors of your health and well-being

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as light smoking and much more than even obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension, alcoholism, and exercise. What’s more, researchers in England and Australia have found that women who are happy with their sex lives give themselves higher grades in terms of their well-being, vitality, and overall quality of life. Similarly, men who have more orgasms have been shown to be less likely to die from heart disease.

Pepper pointed out that the behavior of extremely happy couples is very telling. The majority of such couples say “I love you” daily, give and get back rubs, cuddle at least twice a week, and use pet names for each other. If she could give one piece of advice to everyone in support of healthy relationships, it is to remember the importance of touching and being touched no matter how old you are or in what state of health you are in. If it were up to Pepper Schwartz we would all hold hands as often as we can with those we care about. Simple advice that I already have learned has influenced the behavior of those who were in attendance, including myself.

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4)

income, whichever is less.

5.

Change to 5% or more of the elderly person’s estate, or a substantial part of the elderly person’s disposable §1021-Definitions

Larry Willey for State Senate

the statute, plus attorneys’ fees and costs.

5.

A violation of this statute shall result in treble damages for the willful or intentional or reckless violation of Practices Act, 5 M.R.S.A. §§205-A, et seq.

4.

Unfair Trade Practices-A violation of this statute shall be considered a violation of Maine’s Unfair Trade

“A head for business, a heart for people.”

Add the following:

3) need §1023 Civil action “We to restructure State Government, reduce spending and reduce taxes.” es.]

ly or household purposes or ordinary living expenses” [Point: This expansion is necessary to protect the elderly from predatory practicverbal, electronic or other communication, and obtains property, real or personal, from the elderly, including for personal, fami“Seewritten, my plan at www.larrywilley.com.”

Expand the confidentiality definition to include a new “J. Any other person who communicates with an elderly person, in any form of 2) Confidential or fiduciary relationship.

“We need a business friendly climate, reduce regula-

involving a major transfer. [Point: This expansion is necessary to protect the elderly from predatory practices.] tions, and create new jobs.”

Expand the presumption to anyone the elderly person transfers any property, real or personal, by undue influence, trickery or falsehoods, 1. Presumption –

“We need to protect our constitutional beliefs, 2nd 1) §1022-Undue Influence Amendment Rights, and strong family values.”

(33 M.R.S.A. §§1021, et seq.)

Improvident Transfers of Title Act “We need to support a strong education system, including mandatory to work, for those capable RE: Proposed Amendments return to the Maine Improvident Transfer of Title Act, 33 M.R.S.A. §§1021, et seq., To Protect the Elderly of working.”

Larry Willey has drafted the following for seniors:

lwilley@midmaine.com

N. Laurence Willey, Jr. Esq.

Paid for by the Willey for Senate Campaign, Gerald Thibodeau, Treasurer.

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VETERANS

Honor Flight Maine

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Veterans in Maine: Honor Flight Maine Wants You!

BY PAULETTE OBOYSKI

Honor Flight Maine’s mission is to locate and transport every willing WWII veteran (living in Maine) to Washington D.C. in order for them to experience their national memorials erected in their honor.

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erminally ill veterans of all conflicts go to the top of the list for the next departing flight. Korean and Viet Nam veterans are also transported on a first-come, first-served, space-available basis.

All trip expenses are paid by Honor Flight Maine. Generous sponsors and individual donations fund this organization’s mission.

No money is accepted from the veterans who are esteemed during the Honor Flight tour. Honor Flight Maine is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization.

Earl Morse is the founder of Honor Flight. He is a retired Air Force Captain, a physician assistant and a private pilot. He conceived of the idea while working in a small clinic in Springfield, Ohio for the 45 • MAINE SENIORS

—

Department of Veterans Affairs.

He realized that many of the veterans that he encountered did not have the means or the support to help them to see their national memorials. Morse rallied local pilots from his aero club and in May 2005, the inaugural Honor Flight took place with 12 pilots who flew 12 veterans to their memorials in Washington, D.C. Since then, Honor Flight Network nationwide has transported over 170,000 veterans at no cost to them. There are currently 44 participating states and 140 hubs in the U.S. Morse moved to Vinalhaven, Maine and soon after established Honor Flight Maine. The inaugural flight took place on May 1, 2014. Due to the ongoing volunteer effort, close to 200 Maine veterans, the majority of whom are in their 90’s, will have been escorted to their memorials in 2016.

Laurie Sidelinger is the enthusiastic Chairman of the Board of Honor Flight Maine. She relates,“Honor Flight Maine is operated

VETERANS

Honor Flight Maine at National WWII Memorial Photo courtesy of Senator Susan Collins

by a group of dedicated, unpaid volunteers serving from their homes, whose only reward is seeing the joy that these trips bring to our veterans.”

The Red Barn • 455 Riverside Dr. • Augusta ME 04330

Honor Flight Maine voyages leave on a Friday and the veterans return on Sunday. It is a three-day/two-night trip. All meals, hotels and transportation for the veterans are supplied by the organization. The veterans are greeted and treated with respect

throughout the trip. The average number of veterans on each trip is 27 but sometimes there are as many as 45, depending on funding.

207.623.9485 • www.theredbarnmaine.org

Honor Flight Plane with Laurie Sidelinger in red Photo by TimProPhotography

NOVEMBER 2016 • 4 6

VETERANS

D-Day 70th anniversary.

Earl Morse with Honor Flight Veterans at National WWII Memorial Photo by TimProPhotography

Breton says, “When I returned from the war in 1946, for a great many years no one thanked me for my service to my country. In 2014, I attended an Honor Flight Maine trip to my memorial in D.C. Our trip was extremely well organized and our treatment was first-class – no hamburger joints – ballroom treatment all the way. It was one of the greatest events that I have ever attended.

When my group of veterans got together, we exchanged stories and we were able to say things about the war that our families never heard. Viewing our memorial and then the reception afterward was overwhelming.”

Breton has since become a huge volunteer fundraiser for Honor Flight Maine. For instance, in 2016, he partnered with Laurie Sidelinger and the Lewiston Elks Lodge to organize a talent show at the Calumet Club in Augusta, which raised $7,000 for the organization.

WWII Veteran Henry Breton Photo by Victor Oboyski

Earl with Honor Flight Veterans at Reception Photo by TimProPhotography

Volunteers try to make this occasion the most safe and enjoyable tour of a lifetime for them. There are many surprises along the way.

From the beginning to the end of the excursion, the veterans are usually surrounded by people who honor and thank them. Due to the camaraderie among the veterans, they usually return to Maine feeling much younger than when they left.

Henry Breton from Augusta, Maine is 91 years old. He is a World War II Veteran with three battle stars. During the war, he was a soldier in the 3160th Signal Battalion attached to the 106th Infantry Division. He was awarded a combat infantry badge for engaging the enemy and was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a courier for the Signal Core. Breton has attended three D-Day remembrances in Europe and was an honored speaker at the 47 • MAINE SENIORS

VETERANS

NOVEMBER 2016 • 4 8

VETERANS Honor Flight Veterans at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Photo by TimProPhotography

Honor Flight Maine’s Wish List

• Create a flightless virtual Maine Honor Flight for those who cannot physically fly there.

• Create a Newsletter to maintain the connection to the alumni after the flight.

• There are over 4,000 WWII veterans who are presently living in Maine. Honor Flight Maine wants to locate all of them and help get them to see their memorials.

Ways You Can Help:

• Acknowledge our veterans by thanking them personally.

• Help Honor Flight Maine locate WWII veterans.

• Donate money to Honor Flight Maine.

• Volunteer to be a Guardian for an Honor Flight veteran.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine recently greeted 26 Maine veterans from Honor Flight Maine at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. She said,“My father is a World War II veteran who visited the Memorial when it was dedicated. I was delighted to welcome these Maine veterans to our nation’s capital to see the Memorial honoring their service.”

MSM

• Attend a departure/homecoming celebration at Portland airport.

Applications and information can be found online at www. honorflightmaine.org, or by writing to Honor Flight Maine, P.O. Box 1770, Portland, ME 04101-1770. Or, you can call 207-370-7210, email MaineHonorFlight@gmail.com, or visit www.facebook.com/ honorflightmaine.

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From automated, self check-in kiosks to relaxing, comfortable places to wait. It’s a brighter, more spacious passenger services area. All designed to make the first part of your trip easy and enjoyable. Visit flybangor.com or come see the real thing!

49 • MAINE SENIORS

BGR_ME_Seniors_TerminalReno_101316.indd 1

10/13/16 4:54 PM

VETERANS

Senator Susan Collins with WWII Wave Yeoman Barbara Paiement Photo courtesy of Senator Susan Collins

Laurie Sidelinger (in red) with Susan Collins & Honor Flight Veterans Photo courtesy of Senator Susan Collins NOVEMBER 2016 • 5 0

SPECIAL

Maine Troop Greeters Museum supporters with former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and General Joseph W. Ralston.

It Takes a Village

TO BUILD A MUSEUM If you had asked Maine Troop Greeter Cathy Czarnecki if she thought she would ever have the opportunity to meet country-music artist Toby Keith in person she would have said,“Are you crazy? Of course, not.”

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ut that is just what happened not long after the June kickoff event announcing the fundraising campaign to build the Maine Troop Greeters Museum in Bangor, Maine.

Keith heard about the campaign to build the museum honoring those who have served in our military and offered to donate $1.00 from every concert ticket sold at Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion in Bangor this past July. Cathy Czarnecki and Gil Cory, Co-Chairs of the Museum Campaign, were able to meet Keith and thank him for his support.

51 • MAINE SENIORS

BY JULIA MUNSEY

Toby Keith is not the only well-known public figure to show their support for the museum campaign. Former Secretary of Defense and hometown Bangor son, William S. Cohen, has shown his support for the effort by serving as the Honorary Campaign Chair for the project. Writing in support of the museum Cohen remarked, “It is my pleasure to serve as the Honorary Campaign Chair for the Maine Troop Greeters Museum which will be located at Bangor International Airport where a remarkable story of gratitude and friendship was born.” Cohen is joined on the Honorary Campaign Committee by Major Gen. Nelson Durgin, USAF, retired, Brigadier Gen. Doug Farnham, Maine National Guard, The Honorable Nichi Farnham, Brigadier Gen. Ralph Leonard, USAF, retired and First Lady of the State of Maine, Ann LePage.

SPECIAL Maine Troop Greeter Lyle Grindle

But it takes more than a handful of people to create a museum honoring the over 1.5 million troops who have served and passed through Bangor. The mission of the Maine Troop Greeters Museum is to “preserve the thousands of items of memorabilia resulting from the greeting experiences shared by the Troops and Greeters and to create a place of healing and remembrance for all who visit.” In order to fulfill that mission, it will take a village —a big one. And to that end the Troop Greeters, museum campaign volunteers, local businesses, community leaders and many of the greeted troops have been lending a hand to make the museum a realty.

For the past few years, volunteers

have been crafting a plan to create an exhibit that will preserve the thousands of pieces of memorabilia and to tell the extraordinary

story of kindness and generosity of spirit that has taken place at Bangor International Airport.

For the past few years, volunteers have been crafting a plan to create an exhibit that will preserve the thousands of pieces of memorabilia and to tell the extraordinary story of kindness and generosity of spirit that has taken place at Bangor International Airport. A museum campaign committee was created including a fundraising committee and exhibit development committee. Exhibit design firm, Prospect Designs out of Portland, Maine was hired to create the vision to display the valuable collection and to tell the story.

With a collection of items numbering in the thousands, the exhibit development committee, led by chair Bob Petersen, has been busy recording, numbering and cataloging the items to preserve them for display and history. This dedicated group of troop greeters works every week making sure the items that have been entrusted

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to them are well taken care of and the story remembered in order to be shared in the museum. With over 5,000 challenge coins, 2,000+ patches, dog tags, flags, letters, decals, and banners each item represents the relationship and gratitude that has been shared between the troops and greeters.

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53 • MAINE SENIORS

An equally dedicated team of volunteers, led by fundraising committee chair Nichi Farnham, has been working hard to tell the story of the museum and reach out to folks for financial support.

With an anticipated museum opening date of November 2017, the fundraising committee is in full swing. So far the campaign has more than 300 donors and has raised close to $200,000. The overall campaign goal is $500,000 which includes an endowment fund to ensure the long term care of the museum collection.

Donations have come from folks across the country. Along with

Master Sgt. Kevin Tillman and Julie Ewing, John Bapst H.S. Music Director attend the Maine Troop Greeters Museum public campaign launch in June

SPECIAL

With a collection of items numbering in the thousands, the exhibit development committee, led by chair Bob Petersen, has been busy recording, numbering and cataloging the items to

preserve them for display and history. their donations have come stories about why the museum – and the troop greeters – are important to them.

In July, a gentleman from Tennessee called to purchase two of the limited edition Maine Troop Greeters Museum coins created to support the campaign. One of the coins was for him and one was for a friend from his days in the service. He said that he had heard

Call today & say you saw us in Maine Seniors Magazine.

Brewster Buttfield of Prospect Design and Julia Munsey, Project Manager unveil the Maine Troop Greeters Museum exhibit design

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Maine Troop Greeters George Bridgham and Norman Rossignol salute the United States of America flag during the campaign launch in June

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about the Maine Troop Greeters Museum on the radio as he travelled through Maine on his way to Presque Isle hauling goods as a truck driver. He had been welcomed by the Greeters when he returned home from his service in Desert Storm and has never forgotten it. He wanted to support the people that had supported him and make sure that everyone knew about Bangor and the museum. He couldn’t wait to give his friend the coin and to tell him about what is happening in Bangor with the Maine Troop Greeters and the museum. It truly takes a village…

MSM To learn more about the Maine Troop Greeters Museum, and to join the village, visit www.mainetroopgreetersmuseum.org or call 207.356.0683 to receive information in the mail.

SPECIAL

Thank You to all of our Veterans and the Maine Troop Greeters.

BGR is proud to be the future home of the Maine Troop Greeters Museum.

For more information, visit mainetroopgreetersmuseum.org

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NOVEMBER 2016 • 5 6

Confessions of an Aging Workout-aholic

I’ve always enjoyed being active. From when I was 11 years old following in my brother’s footsteps as a runner to rigorous training as a career military officer, exercising in some form has been a part of life.

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he majority of my time has been spent as a runner, having completed 10 marathons and multiple other races. It’s something I had always loved to do, it motivated me and provided the long-term health benefits I sought.

However, when I turned 50, I started to feel the pounding on the pavement in my joints more, and more, and more. My body was talking to me, and I needed to listen. I needed to scale back or maybe even stop running – a hard thing for an avid runner to admit.

Yet, I knew in some way, shape or form I needed to stay active.

I knew exercise was good for me both physically and mentally, and I wanted it to always be a part of my life.

So how do I stay active? What should I try? What will keep me motivated? – especially when the weather turns cold and brisk.

57 • MAINE SENIORS

BY KELLEY J. KASH, CEO, MAINE VETERANS’ HOME

I found swimming and walking to be low-impact forms of physical activity that I truly enjoy. I now swim 4-6 miles a week and walk on a regular basis. As a runner, I never thought I would “walk” for exercise, but I have found walking to have tremendous physical and mental benefits, and I look forward to it.

The key is finding something you truly enjoy. No matter if in a gym or at your home, no workout is ever bad. And if you enjoy it, you’ll want to do it again and again.

Make it fun, try something new, challenge yourself!

A workout can provide: 1) time to yourself to clear the noise from the day and reflect, 2) energy to fuel you throughout the day, 3) stress relief, 4) an overall healthier well-being, 5) motivation, 6) a sense of accomplishment and, 7) a positive outlook on life.

I encourage you to not wait to make physical activity part of your regular routine. There are many forms of exercise to explore, from yoga to strength training to walking. Also, incorporate stretching into

that routine. This is one area I wish I had placed more focus on in my younger days, but it’s never too late to get started!

curls, tricep kickbacks and shoulder presses. Even light weights improve muscle strength and tone.

I’ll leave you today with some great tips to staying active at any age and in any weather condition.

Stretch. Perform stretching exercises 3-5 times a week to help prevent aging muscles from losing their elasticity, range of motion and flexibility.

Stretching is also an excellent way to help relax and relieve any tension you may be feel in your joints and muscles.

Take dancing lessons. It’s a fun way to gain cardiovascular benefits and help improve balance and coordination.

Try tai chi or yoga. These are great exercises to improve strength, balance and flexibility, while reducing stress.

Get wet! You can swim laps, take an aqua-aerobics class or go aqua-jogging. It’s an extremely beneficial, full-body workout that is also low impact.

On a final note, please remember that it is always important to consult a doctor before any rigorous exercise, and it’s key to perform exercises and stretches with proper form to prevent injury.

Staying active as you age should be fun and a priority in your life.

Find something you truly enjoy and it will easily become part of your daily routine.

MSM

Walk anywhere, everywhere. Whether it’s a morning walk at the mall or an evening walk on the treadmill, walking can be done anywhere, by yourself or with a friend. It’s an easy way to get your body moving.

Get pumped! Use soup cans or half-gallon jugs of milk to do bicep

Give MSM a call at 207-299-5358 to find out how you can tell your story to our readers in your very own Guest Article.

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A Change in UNIFORM

BY WALDO CLARK

It is unfortunate to see very highly paid athletes and other “famous folks” sitting in protest about our flag and national anthem.

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merica and its safety and ideals are being challenged throughout the world and here at home, too! And we cannot even enjoy a football game without seeing a political protest against these United States of America.

I guess our athletes and the famous “Hollywood types” have determined that we all truly care about their opinions on just about any given subject.

Yes, they may play a good ball game.

Just pondering though…

Does this translate to knowledge about history, current events, economics, international issues and even good public policy here at home? Even if the answer is yes, do we really care about their opinion or did we tune in to watch a football game?

of cash, and putting on a uniform of a police officer or maybe even the uniform of our military?

Jeesh, they would have to sell the big houses, fancy cars and lose all the glitz that comes with the celebrity status. Yet, they would learn to see the world in a different perspective.

A solution is at hand.

Maybe, just maybe, when they try to walk in someone else’s shoes, they may realize that just like they try to play a good ball game, most everyone else in uniform tries to do their best, too.

How‘bout taking off those uniforms that allow them to make piles

God Bless America!

59 • MAINE SENIORS

MSM

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NOVEMBER 2016 • 6 0

Women Veterans Bringing their voices home in Maine

BY JANE MARGESSON

With its commemorative focus, November is a month of remembrance and celebration.

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his is the month we get together with friends and family for Thanksgiving and it is also National Family Caregivers Month. As my readers know, caregiving is dear to my heart as I have been a caregiver for my mother-in-law for eight years. In September, my mother-in-law, also named Jane, passed away very quietly and peacefully in our home at the age of 93. It has been a great privilege to care for her for these many years and we miss her terribly. She was a remarkable person whose accomplishments included graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts with classmate Grace Kelly, and initiating a highly successful arts program for children in Pennsylvania which she ran for 30

61 • MAINE SENIORS

years. Interestingly, Jane was also a veteran of the Coast Guard which brings me to the designation for which November is perhaps most recognized: The month in which we remember and honor veterans of all services past, present and future.

I’m discovering that women veterans are often known as “the silent group.” However, according to Retired Navy Senior Chief Joy Asuncion, a native of Belfast and an AARP Member, this is changing. “Women Veterans are involved in many organizations across the state of Maine and working together to help each other whether it is through the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) American Legion and AMVETS.” Joy’s last duty station was in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, assigned to the Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet Headquarters where she was

THE MAINE POINT 

“We want people of all ages across

Maine and our country to remember our Veterans and active duty Troops— those who served and are still serving—so we can enjoy our freedom.” the “Leading Chief” responsible for over 125 men and women sailors. Joy said “I remember driving to work every day and seeing the Arizona Memorial and thinking about the sacrifices the men and women who served during WW II made for all of us.” Joy’s father, John R. Lewis, U.S. Army, served in the China-Burma-India Campaign during WWII and even though he never talked about his service, Joy knows how much he sacrificed for his family in the name of freedom.

After Joy retired, she wanted to give back. One day while in a Sunday Church Service at Faith Temple Church in Belfast, she says “the light bulb came on” and she asked herself “what can I do to make a difference in supporting our veterans and active duty troops?” Joy has not stopped in her efforts to help raise awareness about women veterans and active duty members to ensure people know “how proud we are of their service to our country and what they have accomplished.” During the last year, Joy worked on two initiatives.

First, she raised awareness about the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, located at the Gateway to Arlington National Cemetery. This Memorial was built in honor of all women past, present and future who serve or served our country. The Memorial offers a registry where all women can register their service and Joy has been reaching out to women in Maine (and those who left the state) to tell them about their Memorial and ask them to register on www.womensmemorial.org.

In addition to serving on the board of the non-profit Honor Flight Maine, Joy is a member of the Maine Troop Greeters and recently teamed up with three other women veterans to plan a Maine Women Veteran’s Event and Luncheon in Belfast and was delighted that 65 women veterans attended. Remarkable connections were made! A rather shy woman in her late sixties was able to find

other golf enthusiasts, while another shared how her severe MS symptoms had been greatly alleviated through the acquisition of a modified bike which was made for her by the VA. Others in the group wanted to know how they, too, could receive such modified and life-changing devices. My mother-in-law would have gotten quite a kick out of sharing such stories.

Joy also launched a Facebook page – Maine Women Veterans – and hopes that others will want to communicate with her (Joy Lewis Asuncion) and meet other women veterans and active duty troops of all ages who have served. “We won’t be the ‘silent group.’

We are the women who served and are serving our country proudly,” she says. “We want people of all ages across Maine and our country to remember our Veterans and active duty Troops—those who served and are still serving—so we can enjoy our freedom.” MSM For information about AARP’s work on behalf of Veterans and their families, visit www.aarp.org/veterans

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NOVEMBER 2016 • 6 2

RESIDENTIAL REVIEW

Considering Sacrifice A REFLECTION ON THIS VETERANS DAY

It was the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 1918. Finally, World War I had come to an end. Soldiers came home, families reunited, and the world rejoiced, but sadly,“freedom was not free.”

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here were more than 38 million casualties in total— a number that is incomprehensible today. When Congress officially chose November 11th as Veterans Day in 1926, there was more behind their decision than just the concluding date of the First World War. November has always been a month of reflection, with its proximity to the end of the year and the Thanksgiving holiday. Consequently, choosing November for Veterans Day was intentional, to bring thankfulness, appreciation and reflection amongst the nation.

63 • MAINE SENIORS

Often mistaken with Memorial Day, Veterans Day isn’t only about those we have lost. It is about sacrifice, and no one understands that better than the veterans and military families across our nation.

At its core, Veterans Day reminds us that when mankind works together to defend the basic principles of humanity, there is no force greater that can overpower our moral compass. Veterans understand not only sacrifice and moral duty, but that as human beings, we need each other. Even the heroes who help save the world will one day, in some fashion, need help themselves.

Sacrifice comes in many shades. It can present itself in the smallest acts of selflessness as well as the grandest of gestures. Veterans are undoubtedly the most recognizable source of sacrifice in society.

And Veterans Day is an ideal time for all of us to reflect on the idea of service and its cost.

RESIDENTIAL REVIEW

Thomas Plant, the visionary and founder of The Plant Memorial Home, was a man also familiar with what mattered in life. Born an impoverished French-Canadian immigrant in 1859, Mr. Plant worked diligently creating his shoe factory and amassing a grand fortune. Recognizing the need to provide for those less fortunate he purchased 24 acres in his hometown of Bath in 1917. With his entire community in mind he built The Plant Memorial Home and endowed the home with 3,300 shares of his shoe company, equating to $400,000 at the time. His vision for this home remains the same today: "This home is founded on my sincere belief that those who have lived honest, industrious lives and are without means or friends to care for them, have earned the right to be cared for. Only through the labor and expenditures of others is it possible..."

Mr. Plant took a risk by investing in such a large endeavor as The Plant Memorial Home during a time of war. What he did not know, was that he too would require assistance later in life.

At the age of 58 Mr. Plant completed this establishment and ironically, in the same year, encountered significant financial

Sacrifice comes in many shades.

It can present itself in the smallest acts of selflessness as well as the grandest of gestures. Veterans are undoubtedly the most recognizable source of sacrifice in society. difficulty. As a friend of Theodore Roosevelt, he took Roosevelt’s advice and invested a large sum of money in Russian bonds.

Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, the October Revolution occurred marking the advent of Soviet control which devastated Mr. Plant’s NOVEMBER 2016 • 6 4

RESIDENTIAL REVIEW

As the Plant Memorial Home approaches its centennial it continues to meet Thomas Plant’s vision by providing subsidized

housing for seniors.

investment. Similarly, his investment in sugar commodities failed with the collapse of the industry at the conclusion of WWI. At the time of his death in 1941, he was penniless. Mr. Plant’s creditors permitted him to die in his estate, Castle in the Clouds, located in New Hampshire, a fitting gesture for someone who sacrificed so much so that others may live out their final years in comfort and security.

As the Plant Memorial Home approaches its centennial it continues to meet Thomas Plant’s vision by providing subsidized housing for seniors. The campus is located on the banks of the

65 • MAINE SENIORS

RESIDENTIAL REVIEW

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Kennebec River and provides a dignified lifestyle in a spectacular setting that many, including veterans, have enjoyed and continue to enjoy today.

Sacrifice is not bound by time nor event. It lives on altering the course of life for others—many of whom do not realize that they are the recipients of another’s generosity. Sometimes sacrifice is the precious, immeasurable cost of someone’s very life. As we remember the cost of freedom in our community, we offer our sincerest thank you to all of our veterans and their family members for their service and sacrifice. May God bless you all.

MSM

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NOVEMBER 2016 • 6 6

HEALTH TREASURES

A DAY FOR HONORING

All Veterans

BY JOAN CLARK

Veterans Day, a time when our country honors all persons who have served in the United States Armed Forces, is a federal holiday that is celebrated every 11th of November.

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his date marks the anniversary of the end of World War I, when the conflicts ended and the Armistice with Germany began on the 11th hour of 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.

It is so important to give thanks to our Veterans and to teach the younger generations about how they have selflessly served this Country for our freedom. Donating to organizations like the USO, Honor Flight Maine and the Maine Troop Greeters Museum are good ways of showing your gratitude. Listening to the stories from

Pork Chop Stew for Veterans Day

Veterans you may know is another.

You can also just create a favorite meal for the Veterans in your family.

This Veterans Day, I plan to make my father, Waldo, and my husband’s favorite recipe, Pork Chop Stew, for the whole family while they watch their favorite Veterans Day movies. Below is the recipe.

8 pork chops

4 cloves minced garlic

1 large can chicken broth

1 tsp sugar

8 large potatoes, quartered

2 bay leaves

2-4 tbsp wine

cooking oil

8 carrots, halved

4 chicken bouillon cubes

2-4 tbsp soy sauce

pepper

2 large onions, chopped

4 tsp crumbled thyme

Put oil in heated large Dutch oven to cover bottom. Heat oil very well.

Brown pork chops on both sides. Before you turn chops over on 2nd side, add onions to brown them. Sauté garlic after pork chops & onion are almost done. Add bay leaf, broth, bouillon cubes, thyme, wine, soy sauce, Worcestershire, and sugar. Cover with carrots and potatoes. Put pepper on top of potatoes and add hot water to cover the veggies. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for ½ hr. When veggies are soft, remove all from pot and put in covered casserole dish. Add cornstarch mixed with ¾ cup cold water to liquid in pot. Heat until thickened and add this gravy to

2 shakes Worcestershire

4-6 tsp cornstarch

ingredients in casserole dish. MSM

67 • MAINE SENIORS

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www.StoNewoodCottageS.CoM NOVEMBER 2016 • 6 8

LEGACY

understanding the

Insurance landscape

Tony Aruda

It’s not surprising to me that one of the most common statements I hear when speaking to Maine seniors is that they are so confused about how to handle the ever more complex insurance programs being offered by the government, private industry, and myriad other decisions they have to make as they approach retirement.

E

very year as Fall arrives it becomes necessary to make some very confusing decisions. Medicare Open Enrollment starts October 15th and goes thru December 7th for those 65 or older. For seniors not quite 65, there is the Affordable Care Act insurance which can be terribly difficult to navigate, and that Open Enrollment period goes from November 1st to January 31st.

After seeing all this frustration, I decided it was time to address this ever growing confusion and open the Senior Planning Center.

Nearly five years ago, I opened the first location in Farmington, Maine, with a goal of helping struggling seniors save money, take the confusion out of difficult insurance decisions, and help in any way we can.

69 • MAINE SENIORS

Let’s take the Affordable Care Act insurance for instance. This program is designed for people to enroll in right up until they turn 65, but it never fails, we get regular questions from people who are worried that they will get a penalty for not signing up in time, when in fact they are older than 65 and are ineligible for the program. I have made it a point to have trained staff to make sure we help people make good solid decisions when choosing the Affordable Care Act plan that is right for them.

Consistently the one thing that seems to drive the most confusion is Medicare. Who can keep track of all the changes? The reality is, that most seniors don’t keep track, it’s too confusing. What I see the most in this business is that out of fear of change, frustration about the complexities in the plans or simply lack of awareness, too many Maine seniors let their plan ride from year to year without evaluating their options.

In the State of Maine, the majority of seniors have Medicare Supplements. These supplements pay after Medicare and cover

LEGACY

In the State of Maine, the majority

of seniors have Medicare Supplements.

These supplements pay after Medicare and cover the co-insurances and co-pays they would be responsible for under Medicare A and B.

the co-insurances and co-pays they would be responsible for under Medicare A and B. For a senior who is prone to illness these plans work wonderfully and take some of the stress away from paying co-payments. These types of plans generally don’t change in their benefits and usually have a cost increase every year, as the average Plan F is $200 or more per month, with additional increases planned for Spring of 2017.

One of the most consistent questions we get at our offices is how can I save money on my Part D drug and health plan expenses?

I’d like to say that the answer to that question is simple, but it is not. One of the most important things that you can do each year is evaluate your Part D Drug Plan with a licensed professional.

Options change each year, prices change, and so do the drugs covered under each plan.

Additionally, it is important to pay attention to the mail around the end of September as the Annual Notice of Change letters are sent out by your plan identifying changes that are occurring for the new year. Because making changes can be so confusing it also is important to find a professional to help you navigate your choices.

The same applies to your Medicare Health Plan as well. Changes occur every year and with those changes you can either gain or lose coverage.

For those seniors who are looking for expanded benefits, low premiums, and combined drug coverage, they may find a Medicare Advantage Plan a welcome alternative to the high premiums of a Medicare Supplement Plan. Designed to cover items like preventive dental, hearing aids, eyeglasses, and more, the Medicare Advantage Plan can make saving money more of a reality.

Starting October 1st, Medicare Health Plans were allowed to start marketing the new plans for 2017, and after that date is a perfect time to meet with a professional and make sure that you truly have the plan that is right for you.

The Senior Planning Center is fully prepared to assist you. With offices in Farmington, Rumford, and Presque Isle and a statewide team of Licensed Agents who can make home visits, we can help you take the confusion out of those difficult decisions.

MSM

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Enjoy every moment to the fullest and put all worries about your legal affairs out of your mind. Our job is to make certain that this part of your life is well covered.

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NOVEMBER 2016 • 7 0

A Trail Less Traveled

Understanding Maine Hunting

FIREARMS With hunting seasons upon us, arm yourself with factual information on what hunters are carrying into the Maine woods this fall

T

hose shots you are hearing off in the distance are likely upland bird hunters with their shotguns and deer hunters with their deer rifles. While hunters enjoy their outdoor passion, some non-hunters are anxious and even afraid this time of the year. I think some of that angst is derived from a fear of firearms, possibly based on a lack of experience and knowledge about how they operate and their specific purpose. Certainly firearms, like chainsaws and vehicles, are dangerous if not handled properly, but are ultimately inanimate objects, tools, so to speak. Maybe I can calm some anxiety with a general explanation of the different types of firearms typically used for hunting in Maine. At least I’ll give it a shot.

71 • MAINE SENIORS

BY BRAD EDEN

PHOTO BY DAVE POPA

Both shotguns and rifles come in a variety of actions: single shot, double barrel, pump, lever, bolt and semiautomatic. A single shot allows one shot between reloading and a double barrel two. Pump, lever, and bolt actions have one barrel with a magazine inside or inserted into the firearm that can hold multiple rounds. You manually work a lever, bolt, or forearm to expel a spent round and load a fresh one into the chamber. (You are probably familiar with the requisite “shucking” sound of a pump shotgun that Hollywood inexplicably uses for all firearms on TV and in the movies.) A semiautomatic automatically cycles the fired round out and places a new one into the chamber. This type of rifle can only be fired once each time you squeeze the trigger between shots.

The semiautomatic firearm is often confused with a full automatic firearm; often termed a machine gun. With a fully automatic firearm you squeeze the trigger and the gun keeps firing. Those

A Trail Less Traveled

Certainly firearms, like chainsaws and vehicles, are dangerous if not handled properly, but are ultimately inanimate objects —tools, so to speak.

firearms are largely illegal to possess and certainly not used for hunting in Maine. All the above actions have some sort of safety mechanism to block the trigger from being inadvertently tripped.

Shotguns are used primarily for wingshooting game birds and waterfowl. They come in a variety of gauges from the small .410 used for game like squirrels up to the large 10 gauge for geese.

Shotgun ammunition is called shells and houses the primer, gunpowder, and “bird shot”. The plastic shell or hull can hold several hundred shot or pellets of various diameters depending on the gauge and game being pursued. When a shotgun is fired the shot exits the barrel like a swarm of bees and immediately starts to disperse and establish a pattern. This pattern is determined out to a certain distance by the choke of the shotguns barrel. The choke is the constriction at the end of the barrel; the smaller the hole the tighter the pattern, the more open, the larger the pattern. A hunter swings on a flying bird in an attempt to hit the bird with some of the shot pattern–where the bird is going, not where it’s been. It may sound relatively easy, but trust me it’s not. The shot discharged from a shotgun generally loses its effectiveness within 30-60 yards depending on choke and shell configuration. Shotguns are shortrange weapons and that’s why some municipalities have banned rifle hunting but allow shotgun only hunting.

Rifles are used mainly for big game like deer, bear, and moose. Rifle ammunition is called cartridges. The brass cartridge packages the primer, the gunpowder, and the bullet. They come in a plethora of calibers from the .22 for plinking cans up to huge loads for African game. Cartridges have different gunpowder charges, bullet sizes and weights depending on the game being pursued. Maine big game rifles are in the mid-range with stalwarts like the 30-30 and 30-06 calibers. The rifle barrel has helical grooves inside called

rifling. This imparts a spin on the bullet that stabilizes the flight and makes it more accurate. A bullet fired from a rifle held up in the air can travel for miles, but in hilly and heavily forested Maine a bullet shot horizontally to the ground is likely to hit a tree or the ground before it reaches any significant distance. Regardless, rifle hunting is not appropriate in heavily populated areas. Identifying the target and what’s beyond, along with muzzle control; keeping the barrel pointed in a safe direction at ALL times, is the main emphasis of mandatory hunter safety courses.

I’m not disregarding the concerns many non-hunters in Maine have during hunting seasons, particularly the firearms season on deer. Hunters and non-hunters alike need to take extra precautions like knowing where houses are and wearing blaze orange when venturing into the Maine woods during deer hunting season. But, being informed and armed with factual information on firearms can be the safest precaution of all.

MSM

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Cranberry-Glazed Turkey Roulade with Squash Rolls and Stuffing Muffins

Thanksgiving

dinner for two

BY FIA MARQUIS

If there is one universal struggle following a Thanksgiving get-together, it’s leftovers. The larger the group of family and friends that gather together, the greater the amount of leftover food, it seems—and the politeness battle begins as soon as the last person pushes away from the table.

T

he host and/or hostess will begin fixing plates of leftovers (or encouraging their guests to do so) before anyone can leave, because they don’t want to be left with a refrigerator full of food. The guests will politely attempt to refuse, because as much as everyone loves a good Thanksgiving sandwich on Black Friday, nobody wants to look at another bite in that moment.

73 • MAINE SENIORS

Many other food writers will share innovative things to do with those leftovers when your interest in them has long since dwindled and you’re left with the dregs (and if you’re interested in those recipes, I have a few good ones). What I’m here to do, however, is give you an option for a small-scale Thanksgiving feast—perfect for a family of two or three—that will allow you to enjoy the familiar flavors of the holiday without having a staring contest with a dry, days-old turkey carcass when you’re sandwiched out.

KITCHEN TIP: Make your own cranberry horseradish (a delicious

spin on a classic holiday condiment) by melting 1/3 of a can of pre-made cranberry jelly (any brand will do) and stirring in a teaspoon of prepared horseradish.

I was introduced to squash rolls by my oldest friend Margaret.

She makes them somewhat regularly for workplace events and family meals, and they've always been a hit. I always thought they sounded intriguing, but never thought to make them until recently.

Burned out on regular yeast rolls, I wanted to make something different—and these definitely delivered. It turns out squash dinner rolls are the perfect companion to a simple holiday meal, combining two staples of the Thanksgiving dinner table into one tasty bundle.

Margaret suggests using sour milk for best results, but as I didn’t have any, I settled for scalded milk. You can use whichever you prefer; either way, the result will be delicious.

A roulade seems like a very fancy thing (and it certainly can look quite striking), but it’s actually very easy to make. However, if you live in an apartment building, I don’t recommend pounding out your turkey breast during the evening hours—unless you would like to sow discontent among your neighbors. It’s a noisy task, but you’ll feel much better when it’s done—it's a great way to relieve some pent-up stress. The great thing about this technique is that not only does it tenderize the breast meat (which can sometimes be tough and dry), but the chicken broth in the stuffing helps keep the meat moist as it cooks. And, it’s versatile: if you can't find a whole breast half, you can pound together two breast“tenderloins” or several breast fillets into one sheet and still stuff and roll it with relative ease. If following this method, simply roll the roulade up in the bottom layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours to help it hold its form before roasting.

The bottom line: if you’re in the mood for Thanksgiving dinner out of season, aren't able to make it to the big family gathering (or your family isn’t able to make it to you), or if you’ve scheduled your family meal for another day but still feel like celebrating at home, these recipes are a great alternative to the traditional feast.

Or, if you've managed to successfully give all your leftovers away and find you still have a taste for turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, this is sure to do the trick. You can even transform a slice of roulade into a sandwich with the addition of a squash roll and a little mayonnaise—assuming you have any leftovers, that is.

MSM

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NOVEMBER 2016 • 7 4

Featured Recipes SQUASH ROLLS

CRANBERRY-GLAZED TURKEY ROULADE

INGREDIENTS:

INGREDIENTS:

       

¾ cup pureed winter squash ½ cup scalded milk 2 ¼ teaspoon or 1 packet active dry yeast ¼ cup warm water 3 cups all-purpose flour ¼ cup white sugar 1 teaspoons salt ¼ cup melted butter (plus more to brush on tops)

DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

2. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar and salt. Stir in the yeast mixture, butter, squash and milk. Mix well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. When the dough has pulled together (you may need to add a bit more flour to accomplish this, it’s okay) turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for an hour, or until it doubles in size.

4. Divide the dough into twelve equal pieces and form into rounds. Place the rounds in a lightly greased 9x9 inch baking pan. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled again, about half an hour this time.

5. Brush tops with melted butter, place in oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

          

1 turkey breast half (2-3 lbs) 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced ½ pound sage pork sausage 1 carrot, chopped 1 cup Italian bread crumbs 2 cups chicken broth 2 tablespoons butter Olive oil Salt and pepper Cranberry horseradish sauce*

DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Melt butter in a nonstick skillet, and add onion, garlic and carrot. Cook until softened.

2. Add sausage to skillet, breaking up with a spatula until the pieces are quite small. Add bread crumbs and broth and mix well.

3. Place turkey breast half between two pieces of plastic wrap on a sturdy, flat surface. Using a meat mallet (or another heavy, flat object,) pound the breast until it is about half an inch thick.

4. Place a generous portion (about a third**) of the stuffing mixture onto the flattened turkey breast, and roll breast to surround the stuffing. Secure with turkey skewers and/or kitchen twine and place in a 9x13 baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.

5. Place baking pan in preheated oven, and roast turkey breast roulade for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and spoon cranberry horseradish sauce over the top. Return to oven and bake until it reaches an internal temperature of 170°F. 6. Remove from oven and allow to rest before removing skewers and/or twine, slicing and serving.

*I used Stonewall Kitchen’s cranberry horseradish sauce, but you can make your own by melting 1/3 of a can of pre-made cranberry jelly and stirring in a teaspoon of prepared horseradish. **Extra stuffing can be portioned into a muffin tin and baked along with the roulade.

75 • MAINE SENIORS

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www.parkdanforth.com NOVEMBER 2016 • 7 6

FROM THE PORCH

Duty

When

Called

BY HUNTER HOWE

“Take that hill boys!”

I

wonder how many times, over how many years, in how many wars, our courageous soldiers obeyed an order to move forward and upward to secure an important strategic position? Frightened, facing the possibility of imminent death, and knowing they’d probably never see their families and friends again, they answered the call to duty.

They bestowed the ultimate sacrifice—their lives for ours. They slept forever so America could live forever.

For that, we owe them our lasting gratitude. That’s why, every November 11, we celebrate Veterans Day. It’s a time to salute and honor those who, in times of peril, showed up.

Although the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, 77 • MAINE SENIORS

officially ending World War 1 (“the war to end all wars”), the fighting between the Allied nations and Germany actually ceased (armistice) on November 11, 1918.

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 Armistice Day. In 1938, a Congressional Act made Armistice Day a legal holiday. In 1954, Congress amended the Act of 1938, the new name, Veterans Day, honoring veterans of all wars.

Former Congressman Steve Buyer said,“Since the Revolution, eight generations of American veterans have established an unbroken commitment to freedom.”

They sacrificed so much in those early days of our country, so we could live free. And we do, embracing those cherished words in the Declaration of Independence, “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Years later, President Kennedy said, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any

FROM THE PORCH

They sacrificed so much in those

early days of our country, so we could live free. And we do, embracing those cherished words in the Declaration of Independence, “Life, Liberty,

and the pursuit of Happiness.”

burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival of and success of liberty.”

On the 11th, all over America, we watch our veterans, proud of their service, march down Main Street. They’re black and white;

Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Muslim, Hindu, Polish, Japanese, Chinese, Russian. They’re a melting pot, a rainbow coalition of veterans. Citizens all, they served our country.

Most descended from other countries. Their forefathers fled religious persecution and political conflict; they fled from ignorance, from hatred, from tyrants. Many arrived carrying one piece of worn luggage, wearing frayed clothing, possessing little money, knowing only a few words of English. They came for liberty and freedom.

They came to build new lives and in turn, to help build America.

And many fought for America.

Don’t you love observing a swearing in ceremony? In doing so, you witness a solemn part of our heritage. Immigrants stand there, in churches, court houses, and other public venues, hands raised, faces full of anticipation, tears falling. Something feels good about all of this. Then, you hear those heartfelt words, “I made it, I made it, I made it.” New Patriots.

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NOVEMBER 2016 • 7 8

FROM THE PORCH

In straightforward terms, patriotism refers to the love of country, to making America better, for future generations.

But patriotism isn’t that simple. Everyone has their own definition, many with disparaging, diverse viewpoints. You see, patriotism not only goes toward country, but deeper to its ideals and values.

Oscar Wilde said,“Patriotism is the victim of the vicious.” Voltaire wrote, “It is lamentable that to be a patriot, one must become the enemy of the rest of the world.”

Americans reserve the right to criticize and challenge our country. It’s part of who we are. We point out its flaws and we demonstrate, in many forms. However distasteful to others, we’re free to do this. We do it not only for love of country but out of a concern for our country.

We’re not rejecting America. Dissent doesn’t make us unpatriotic.

That said, I prefer to take the broad view of patriotism—I want

79 • MAINE SENIORS

it simple within its complexity. To point, Adlai Stevenson II said, “I venture to suggest that patriotism is not a short outburst of emotion, but the tranquil and steady devotion of a lifetime.”

No matter what you think, we must remember those who served our country; and we must carry on so those brave men and women didn’t die in vain.

Edgar A. Guest wrote, We heard it from the dying in those troubled days now gone, And they breathed it as their slogan for the living: “Carry on!”

I know our country has many problems. But when the flag’s raised and when the nation’s anthem sung, I’ll stand, if for no other reason, to acknowledge those veterans who sacrificed so much, for me, for you, for our country, and when you think of it, for all of mankind.

When duty called.

MSM

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