Guiding Passions
“ I ALWAYS SAID I’D DO THIS UNTIL I WASN’T HAVING FUN ANYMORE.” —Johnny Mac River guide for 34 years
One of the great women mystery writers!
September 2019 $5.95 • meseniors.com
THE SHERIFF WHO WON’T QUIT
ARTIST MARY BOURKE’S CONTAGIOUS SPIRIT
“I am young, I am old, & I am home in Maine.”
Trains, trains … and more trains! YES, THAT’S PAUL PETERSEN
… and more! PHOTO: JASON P. SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY
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IN THIS ISSUE
“The greatest potential for growth and self-realization exists in the second half of life.” —DR. CARL JUNG
EDITOR / PUBLISHER
Jim Kendrick jk@jameskendrick.net
A QUICK NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER:
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Mary Frances Barstow sheasbay@aol.com ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Christine Parker christine.maineseniors@gmail.com
M
uch of this issue of Maine Seniorsmagazine is dedicated to exploring passions here in Maine. Specifically, we make a few quick visits with fellow Mainers who enjoy wonderful, creative passions in their lives
SALES
They are all great lessons for life, and certainly proof of Dr. Jung’s thought (above).
Randy Nichols randymeseniors@gmail.com (207) 322-9088
His declaration is fun to consider. To me it means,“Our best days are yet to come.”
PRODUCTION
That’s cool, and I believe it!
Ian Marquis marquisij@gmail.com
—Jim Kendrick • Publisher, Maine Seniors
BUSINESS OFFICE
91 Camden St, Suite 403, Rockland, ME 04841 Phone: (207) 299-5358
TABLE OF CONTENTS: What Tess Gerritsen Wants • BY DANIEL DUNKLE
19 Game Changer: Bill Eberle • BY DANIEL DUNKLE
River guide for 34 years
One of the great women mystery writers! THE SHERIFF WHO WON’T QUIT September 2019 $5.95 • meseniors.com
7
17 The Fleeting Quality of Summer • BY BARBARA BEARDSLEY
“ I ALWAYS SAID I’D DO THIS UNTIL I WASN’T HAVING FUN ANYMORE.” —Johnny Mac
ARTIST MARY BOURKE’S CONTAGIOUS SPIRIT
I found him! Paul Peterson • BY MARY FRANCES BARSTOW
11 The Art of Mary Bourke • BY MARY FRANCES BARSTOW
Guiding Passions
“I am young, I am old, & I am home in Maine.”
5
Trains, trains … and more trains! YES, THAT’S PAUL PETERSEN
… and more! PHOTO: JASON P. SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY
23 Finding Room to Roam • BY BRAD EDEN 25 Matters of Law • BY JASON PAIGE SMITH 27 Tomato Spinach Pie • BY EDITORIAL STAFF 29 A Child's Perspective • BY MARY FRANCES BARSTOW
ON THE COVER
33 Outrunning Alzheimers • BY STEPHANIE GRINNELL
The one and only Johnny Mac, photographed at Crusher Pool in The Forks, Maine. At the age of 65, this is Johnny’s 34th consecutive season as a river guide. Normally a job associated with younger people, Johnny doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.“I always said I’d do this until I wasn’t having fun anymore.” He sure seems like he’s still having a good time on the river.
35 Honored for a Life of Service • BY SHEILA D. GRANT
PHOTO BY JASON P. SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY
39 Maine's Top Ten Cities • BY EDITORIAL STAFF 41 Septuagenarian Cycles • BY FRAN GONZALEZ 45 Alan Baker: Success & Serendipity • BY SHEILA D. GRANT 53 Captain Clive Farrin • BY DANIEL DUNKLE 61 In the Garden We Are Never Alone • BY LYNETTE L. WALTHER 65 Advice from Mary & Jimmy • BY EDITORIAL STAFF
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 4
Wicked Memories
I found him!
Paul Peterson
Do you remember him? Paul Peterson? His photo graced many little girls’ walls in the 1960s ... certainly mine.
Y
es, he was a heartthrob to all who watched the awardwinning Donna Reed Show back then.
Paul Petersen – the movie star, TV star, and singer of several top ten records. Remember Lollypops and Roses and My Dad, top ten records of 1965.
BY MARY FRANCES BARSTOW
door with the pressure of auditions and hopes that he could get the job. When asked if he wanted to be a child actor, he answered “I became a child actor because my mother was bigger than me.” He went on to talk about being 10-years-old and going for an audition for a big movie with Sophia Loren and Carey Grant in 1958 (House Boat). Paul got the part, and that’s when his life changed. For the next 8 months, he worked long hours. No more school … just intense work.
"Bumble gum times,” Paul calls it.
He was no longer the little boy he was. He now was the little boy they wanted him to be.
Paul—who grew up in California—was one of the original cast members of the Mickey Mouse Club. Remember M I C K E Y M O U S E? Oh yes, we all sang that one.
He described it, saying, “Actors are taught to lie about their personal feeling, and to speak other people's words. There is something wrong with this. It’s just not healthy.”
Paul’s interview was so eye-opening! Here was a contemporary of many of us who experienced life in a way most of us are so unfamiliar with.
Paul was good at what he did. He was always a very bright little boy and the entertainment people loved children who could read well and memorize their lines fast.
As a child, we were told to go out and play. Not Paul. He had hours of lessons for dance and singing, and then was out the
He was perfect for the job.
5 • MAINE SENIORS
After the movie, Paul went straight into the Donna Reed show,
Wicked Memories from 1956 till 1965. These were eight years of very hard work. He does speak about his TV family, Carl Betz, and Donna Reed. He has great respect for them, proud of all their accomplishments. He speaks of his tv family as one would speak of their own families. He says e would call Donna Reed both Mom and also Miss Reed until he was 26 -yearsold. He told me how Carl Betz won so many prizes, and Shelly Fabares, his TV sister, was like his own sister. When Paul's time on the show was over, he was a bit lost.A big bit! He speaks of his unique friendship with Mickey Rooney, a very famous child star. How Mickey came to his home and spoke to him very honestly. Mickey told him that Hollywood would now abandon him for the next 25 years. He encouraged Paul to get an education and plan a life for himself. Child stars are children, Mickey told him, and he now was an adult. He was typecast and needed to move on.
Paul was horrified, and his life would never be the same. He committed his life to honor his friend in a way that most of us could not do. He created a foundation, A Minor Consideration. He took on Hollywood in a huge way. He works diligently to this day changing the child labor laws to protect children in the entertainment industry. He speaks about how children are considered the property of their parents, so there are no laws to protect them from work. His first success came when he helped create a law that prevented Hollywood from using premature babies for acting. Yes, they did this and often! A Minor Consideration deals with the emotional, financial and legal protection of children and former child stars in show business. He focuses on better education, and stricter laws, especially regarding a 40-hour work week.
Today, he speaks of how his life truly changed. He takes a big breath, and discusses his dear friend Rusty Hamer who was a child actor on The Danny Thomas's show, Make Room For Daddy.
At 73-years-old, Paul enjoys his life. He and his lovely wife Rana, a former Registered Nurse, live in California and enjoy retirement. They love to travel to visit their three children and grandchildren. Asked if he still is in touch with other former child stars, he quickly answers,“They still are our closest friends.”
Rusty had a very difficult time during the transition from child star to“normal” life. Paul and Rusty Hamer both had Cobra cars.
And this includes former child stars like Wally from “Leave It To Beaver.”
Paul says,“We dated the same girls. We were real buddies.“
“We all understand each other,” Paul says. “We have all been through the same unique experience.”
Paul took Mickey Rooney's advice and headed east to College. It was an adjustment for him, having been a teen idol and now entering a world he was not familiar with. Paul got his education and his master’s degree. He went on to write over 16 books. He lived in Connecticut and would go to New York City to see his publisher. It was time for him to heal and become who he was.
Then his tone became very quiet. He talked about how he knew Rusty was feeling depressed. He had gained weight, living alone … in Louisiana. Paul talks about how he was on book tours all over the county at this time, and how he should have taken a few hours off and visited his old friend. It haunts him because he learned within a few months that Rusty had taken his own life. And Rusty was only one of many Hollywood child stars who suffered this fate.
Paul has a new book coming out this September on Amazon, called 60th Scrapbook. As our interview ended, I swear I could see Lollypops and Roses ... I could hear the song MY DAD, and I realized that Paul Petersen had become a dad to so many children. I honor him for his amazing journey in this world.
MSM
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 6
Tess Gerritsen what
wants BY DANIEL DUNKLE
Bestselling writer, movie-maker feels empowered to defy fan expectations, take creative risks
A
bout two years ago, bestselling novelist Tess Gerritsen of Camden decided she was going to stop signing multi-book contracts that bound her to tight deadlines.
"It was kind of scary to say 'I'm not going to sign that contract,' because everybody wants you to," she said during an interview at her home on the coast. "I've just started to decide, maybe it's time to do what I wanted to do, to say no to what everybody else wants me to do." Her latest novel, "The Shape of Night," coming in October, represents a departure for the 66-year-old author. For one thing, it is not part of her popular Rizzoli & Isles series, and for another, it is her first book to deal with the paranormal. In the story, a cookbook writer comes to a house on the 7 • MAINE SENIORS
coast of Maine to complete an overdue project, only to learn that her new home is haunted. Or is it? Ava, the woman telling this story, may not be entirely reliable, Gerritsen teases, and it will be up to readers to decide what is real and what is not. As Ava forms a connection with the ghost in this house, she also must decide how to face up to her past and the deep sense of shame that goes with it. "I think what made me a little bit nervous about it is there's a lot of sex in this book," Gerritsen said, and laughed. "I'm not sure I want my kids to read it." The story deals with what women feel they need, the author explained. "Part of the theme is, who is a perfect lover?" she said. "It's a ghost, because a ghost knows your secrets and will never tell them. A ghost knows what you want and can fulfill those needs. A ghost, you don't have to cook them breakfast in the morning." Rizzoli & Isles fans may not love this standalone book, she acknowledged.
PASSIONS • Tess Gerritsen
"Maine is collecting some really interesting seniors. We all gather here because we feel something special about the place." "I've written 12 Rizzoli & Isles books. Everybody always assumes I'm going to just keep on going and going with the same characters, and I like the characters, but I understand why Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes after a while. I've gotten to the age now where I think, how many books do I have left in me? I'm going to start writing the ones I want, the stories I really want to tell. ... I'm taking a lot more creative risks, having a lot more fun." While Gerritsen may have shed the deadlines imposed by others, she continues to work steadily and has multiple projects and interests. She has been making movies with her son, Josh Gerritsen, of Lincolnville. She wrote the script for the horror movie "Island Zero," which he directed. The movie, in which a monster stalks a group of island residents off the coast of Maine, was released in 2018. They have been working on their second film collaboration, a documentary called "Pig," in which they seek out experts all over the world to gain a better understanding of our strange relationship with this species. The project started as an exploration of where the religious taboo about eating pork came from, and grew from there as they learned more about the significance of swine. "We have such a long history with pigs," she said. "They were probably domesticated not much later than dogs. And they are so much like us. I think that's what bothers a lot of people, is they are so much like us. Their teeth look like ours. You can mistake human teeth for pig teeth and vice versa if you find them in an archaeological site, and they eat the same things. They're omnivores. They're smart. The reason why people maybe didn't eat pigs is it's too much like being a cannibal."
She has enjoyed working creatively with her son. "I came to really appreciate his sensibility as an artist," she said. As if all of these projects were not enough, she's working on a script for their next horror movie, "The Change," loosely based on her novel, "Bloodstream." The story centers on "a small town in Maine where the children become suddenly, inexplicably violent—a horrifying repeat of something that happened 50 years earlier." "My nose is still to the grindstone, but it's because I want it to be there," she said. Finding her place in her age group will play a big role in her next novel. Gerritsen noted that the Camden area is known to be the place where several former CIA operatives have retired. This provides the backdrop for her next thriller. "I love the idea of an older character, maybe someone my age, who's left the company and for some reason has to get back into it. What's it like to be 63 and maybe a little bit arthritic, and can't wear four-inch stilettos anymore, your hair has gone gray and you're raising chickens, and now you have to strap on the gun? "When you're young, everybody pays attention to you, and as you get older and as your hair gets gray, especially for women, you become this invisible creature; they can look right past you on the street and not even know you're there because you're just some old lady, and I thought, what a perfect spy!" She said she has heard before that writing about older characters will not help a book or TV show in the marketplace, but she's interested in writing about her demographic. She said one of the reasons her hit TNT television series "Rizzoli & Isles" was canceled was that its viewers were mostly women over 40. Younger people are the holy grail in the entertainment business, but she disagrees with that thought process. Older female viewers have a lot to offer and often money to spend. Things have changed for Gerritsen. She wrote her first novel SEPTEMBER 2019 • 8
on maternity leave from her work as a medical doctor. Now her two sons are adults, and she has two grandchildren.
She quotes Stephen King as saying the secret to success as an author is to stay married, because once your personal life is a mess, it's very hard to stay focused on your book.
In her spare time she enjoys travel, food and working in her vegetable garden.
The two stay active, walking, rowing and taking part in other activities.
"I'm in the garden thinking about how to kill a character, but I'm still there with my hands in the dirt."
"I'm just focused on staying as able-bodied as I can for as long as I can, like everybody else," she said. "... Right now, I guess, there's a little bit of the sense of frantically living life as much as I can while I can."
She enjoys music, playing the piano and fiddle, and said, for her, it is a family activity and something integral to human education. "Which is why I've already bought my granddaughter three violins and she's only 6," she said, laughing. She has been married to her husband, Jacob, a retired medical doctor and sailboat enthusiast, for 42 years. The couple have found the balance between shared time and the space to follow their separate passions. They walk together up Mount Battie every day.
9 • MAINE SENIORS
She believes seniors have a lot to offer in the community. "Maine is collecting some really interesting seniors," she said, referring to retirees and those still working in numerous fields and the arts. "We all gather here because we feel something special about the place. I think it's that you have that critical mass of people who have all this experience and all this intelligence, and all these things to share, getting together, and there's this cross-fertilization that you're always looking for in all these dot-com things. Well it's right here, it's just that we have grayer hair." MSM
PASSIONS • Tess Gerritsen
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SEPTEMBER 2019 • 1 0
"I am young, I am old, and I am home in Maine"
BY MARY FRANCES BARSTOW
I
am not usually a bucket of tears when I finish an interview, but interviewing artist Mary Bourke of Lincolnville made me feel as if I’d somehow touched greatness. She exudes a purity and emotion that gives one light, just being with her. Mary grew up in Long Island, N.Y. She has an amazing family of good, hard-working parents and eight (count them) siblings — seven brothers and one sister. 11 • MAINE SENIORS
Two of these children were born hearing-impaired, but that sure wasn’t any handicap to their creativity. Her brother Charles Wildbank, who has been deaf since birth, is the person Mary feels has been her greatest influence. He took her along to his art classes and always encouraged her painting. He, too, is a very accomplished painter who travels the world showing his art. In a move that surprised her family, after college, Mary moved to Maine. She says, “I liked the roughness of Maine, and the not-sotidy way of life here.”
PASSIONS • Mary Bourke
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When her feet hit the earth of the state, she knew she was home. As time went on, Mary became a stay-at-home mom. While her son and daughter were at school, she painted every day. She has created more than 1,000 paintings. She shared the story of how she was welcomed to the art world at Wingspread Gallery in Northeast Harbor. When she walked in, there stood Thistle Brown, the gallery owner. Mary had two paintings in her hands. She immediately took her artwork and hung it on the wall. She was instantly a full-fledged artist in a gallery. What is striking about her work is the vivid color. She layers thin acrylic paint and then sands the paint to bring greater color to the surface. When asked what inspires these very relatable paintings, Mary says it all goes back to her youth. Her parents always took the family on vacation to the Adirondacks — yes, all the children and their parents piled into two cars.
“I liked the roughness of Maine, and the not-so-tidy way of life here.” —MARY BOURKE Photos from those vacations are among those that guide her brush, she says, to recreate the emotions of those times. And Mary captures all of this with ease and brilliance. When I ask Mary about her home in Maine, she speaks like a painting. She adores the quiet, the nature, the sound of birds singing. She says three moose have been in her yard over the years. Mary speaks with great emotion when she talks about an injured porcupine putting its head on her husband’s leg for comfort. She talks with pride of how her husband drove more than 40 miles to bring the injured porcupine to an animal rescue facility.
"Dog Walk"
"Big Sky" 13 • MAINE SENIORS
PASSIONS • Mary Bourke
Mary Bourke working
"Sea Birds"
She and her husband have traveled to many places, but she said no matter where they go, they always love home best — home in Maine — Mary’s sanctuary. Asked if she still paints as much since her grandchildren came along, Mary answers,“No. When my children were young, I painted every day … but now — once in a while — I take a day off to babysit.” Then, without any emotional transition, Mary bubbles up about how she loves her family, loves Maine, her home — the place where folks care for one another, where the community is rich with people who have love for one another. Her paintings also give her connection to the earth. She speaks of how she always wanted to find her place in this world. She always wanted to know,“what do I connect to; what gives me comfort?” “Finding my personal purpose,” she says. “The passing of time intrigues me as a painter, particularly how much over time nothing seems to change." SEPTEMBER 2019 • 1 4
"Molly"
“And nostalgia is a powerful state of mind that tugs at our emotions and imaginations. I work mostly from photographs I have collected over my lifetime, from as far back as the 1950s.” Her favorites are those taken on those family trips to the Adirondacks. As Mary has aged, she has intermingled these snapshots with photos of her children and grandchildren growing up here in rural Maine. The images are scattered all over her studio, and Mary says, “when I study them, it feels almost like magic the way all the decades blend together. “In my paintings I have tried to capture the essence of constancy in our long lives, along with the universality of what it is that makes us most happy — using bold, colorful forms, repeated patterns and natural textures. I try to evoke a sense of simplicity, harmony and belonging. “Figures and wildlife fit together like puzzle pieces. It’s the small unnoticed moments that show up in my work ... these small moments in this beautiful place, where I could stay forever.” Asked why the figures in her paintings are void of face detail, she says this is her way to share
15 • MAINE SENIORS
"The Bay"
PASSIONS • Mary Bourke
"Swim"
the beauty of all folks' memories, so they can relate to each painting. Each figure could be anyone a person chooses. “It’s all about what someone sees, and who they see in every painting.” Mary paints with vivid colors, the colors that bounce around in in her soul. View her paintings at Greenhunt Galleries, 146 Middle St., Portland. The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Her paintings range in price from $1,200 to $6,000. MSM
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Do you want more from your Medicare plan? Call me — I can help! Nicole Mackenzie Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield an authorized licensed insurance agent for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine License number: PRR275115 1-207-303-4211 TTY: 711 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday days a week nicole.mackenzie@anthem.com We do not discriminate, exclude people, or treat them differently on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in our health programs and activities. ATTENTION: Si vous parlez français, des services d’aide linguistique vous sont proposés gratuitement. Appelez le 1-888211-9817 (ATS: 711). ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-888-211-9817 (TTY: 711). Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is a Medicare Advantage Organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield depends on contract renewal. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Anthem Health Plans of Maine, Inc. Independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Anthem is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. This policy has exclusions, limitations, and terms under which the policy may be continued in force or discontinued. For costs and complete details of coverage, please contact your agent or the health plan. Y0114_19_35830_U_C_807 10/01/2018
72612MUSENMUB_807
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 1 6
A LOOK BACK
The fleeting quality of
Summer BY BARBARA BEARDSLEY
A
s summer nears its end in New England, always think of the wonderful Michel Legrand song, ”Windmills of Your Mind”, whose lyrics were written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman:“Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?”.
We who live in the Northeast have a different relationship with this season than those who live in warm climates. It is somehow at once a passionate love affair, and yet a hesitant relationship; we are the tentative lovers of the sunshine and warmth it brings, always fearful of its abandoning us to the cold, harsh winter we know is ahead. We are afraid to love it too much. We are afraid to miss one moment of its attention. We are afraid of wasting the precious days, knowing the regret we will soon feel if we do. 17 • MAINE SENIORS
It’s complicated; but it wasn’t always this way. When I was a child, as I was in the photo above, Summer was a magical, carefree time that stretched out before me with no limits. When the sun rose early and stayed up late, there was so much time to play. Ride your bike. Swim in your plastic pool. Go to the lake. Have a picnic in the yard. Pick strawberries. Pick blueberries. Jump waves in the ocean. Play hide and seek with your cousins. Watch fireflies light up the nights. It was an unending series of opportunities for fun. School, heavy coats, boots, mittens and staying inside were all forgotten; summer was going to last almost forever. Now that I am a senior citizen (yikes!), it seems that time literally flies by. Everyone over a certain age is sure of that, and most mention it with regularity. Summer has
A LOOK BACK
When I was a child, Summer was a magical, carefree time that stretched out before me with no limits. When the sun rose early and stayed up late, there
was so much time to play.
a particularly fleeting quality now. Autumn usually glides by swiftly, too. Winter seems to hold on with its heels dug in; it never leaves us quickly enough. Spring drags its feet as it inches toward warmth each year. When, at long last, we find summer mornings again— glorious and radiant—we welcome them with open
arms, yet still fearing to hold on too tight. Those who live in warm climates take for granted the warmth and sunshine; they are confident that they can waste the day, because tomorrow they will get another one just like today. They are married to the warmth, and it will not leave them so easily. We in the north must be on our toes. We are the ones so easily seduced by summer; the ones who revel in her charms, and then are inevitably tossed aside. We must never count on her for too long. But, like a love that we may have been lucky enough to have found in the past, we should cherish each moment. Savor it. Breathe it in. Devour it. Carpe diem. All good things must come to an end. Don’t you hate it when that happens? MSM
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Boston Red1,vsSox vs. LA Angels: August Nov. 27–Dec. 2019 • $2,112 pp (dbl occ) BOSTON BRUINS LA KINGS February 9, 2019 | $235 per person Harbor, ME): Gardens Aglow (Boothbay (TD Garden, Boston, MA) August Dec. 7,York 2019 • $111 per person New City: 16-18
Eastport Salmon Festival: September 1 11QUINCY MARKET SHOPPING WAITRESS Trade Center, Boston, MA): Quebec Winter Carnival
May 26,14, 2019 | $232 per person March 2020 • $143 pp Lunch Included (Hanover Theatre, Worcester, MA) Branson: September Myrtle Beach Getaway February 7–10, 2020 • $957 pp (dbl occ) 6-17 PENN DUTCH NEW YORK CITY (4-Day) THE ILLUSIONIST (Myrtle Beach, SC): Tampa Bay Lightning Vs. Boston Lancaster Christmas (Lancaster, PA): May 14-18, 2019 | $1,045pp (dbl occupancy) June 20-23, 20192020 | $1,256pp (dbl occupancy) March 10, 2019 | $246 per person March 15–23, • $1,845pp (dbl occ) Bruins (TD Garden, Boston, MA): Dec. 10–14, 2019 • $985 pp (dbl occ) Cabbage Island (Boothbay Hrbr.) August Castles of New York & (New 1000 September 13-18 (Lancaster, PA) 18 YorkIslands: City, New York) (Emerson Colonial Theatre,Clambake: Boston, MA) Febr. 7–10, 2020 • $957pp (dbl occ) Boston Pops (Boston, MA): GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE! Dec. 1, 2019 • $224 pp April(Quebec 17, 2019 | City, $120 per person QC): (Boston, MA)
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 1 8
Board game designer Bill Eberle, 73, lives in Thomaston, and has worked on beloved titles including Cosmic Encounter, Game of Thrones and Dune.
Game changer
The designer behind iconic titles including Cosmic Encounter and Dune STORY AND PHOTOS BY DANIEL DUNKLE
19 • MAINE SENIORS
PASSIONS • Bill Eberle
In the early 1970s, Bill Eberle and a
group of like-minded creative friends decided they could build a better board game.
N
ow 73 and living in Thomaston, Eberle has become a legend in the field of designing board games with titles including the classics Cosmic Encounter and Dune, as well as the recent Game of Thrones board game. "We wanted games where everyone wasn't the same thing every time they played," he said. For example, in Monopoly, everyone is a real estate tycoon, and in Risk everyone is a general. But the results were predictable. Each gaming experience was the same as the last. He was working as a newspaper reporter in New Bedford and became friends with Peter Olotka. "That led to me and Peter on a beach coming up with an idea where every time everybody is different and every time you play it, it's different," he said. "Infinitely replayable." He and his friends, including Jack Kittredge and Olotka, began working on the next generation of board games. They are revered at gamer conventions, including Gen Con, for their innovative game designs. They changed the rules on how board games work. "You wouldn't hop around a board, you wouldn't have any die," he said. Each character would have individual strengths and weaknesses, special things they could do, and the outcome of the story of the game would be different based on player decisions. In "Cosmic Encounter," there are numerous alien characters and the players can choose as they meet each other in the game whether to negotiate or fight. "Players represent alien races that are seeking to spread themselves onto five foreign worlds," BoardGameGeek.com
explains. "To accomplish this, they make challenges against other players and enlist the aid of interested parties. But alien powers, which are unique to each race, give players ways to bend or outright break some rule in the game." In the '70s they took the game idea to an executive at Milton Bradley. They came into the office with a papiermache mountain and made the pitch for their science fiction game. The executive listened, but said he would pass on the idea. "We said, 'We're going to leave this here, not take it with us. Give it some thought,'" Eberle recalls. "He called me back a week later. 'My staff, they won't leave me alone with this. You've got to come back and tell us how to play the game.'"
"What this game does is allow people to have a really deep experience of a book and get to know each other, and have it be real enough," Eberle explained. The company bought the game, but the victory was shortlived. The game the big company designed was not what the original designers had envisioned. Instead of anything bright and colorful, the company provided little plastic tokens for each alien. Then the marketing people said, "Space doesn't sell," and killed the project altogether. It was about six months before "Star Wars" hit movie theaters in 1977, changing that mindset forever. "But we had our $5,000 advance and that was unrefundable," Eberle said. After that episode, the designers got together over a weekend and vastly expanded the vision of Cosmic Encounter to include more aliens. They began taking their game to science fiction conventions, and the people loved it.
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 2 0
"They played all night," Eberle said. "There weren't any games like that before this," he said. "People were either playing D&D [Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games] or they were playing these large map war games with all these little figures. That's what the market looked like."
"I'm at a peak, but I think I can get even better, so I feel like I'm starting," Eberle said. "And finally I can get through doors that I couldn't before."
Today, walking around Gen Con, many of the games you see were directly influenced by the innovations Eberle and his The designers are credited on the box for the new release of Dune. friends made. One of the other classic games the group is known for is the Dune game, which was released by Avalon Hill in 1979. Eberle, Kittredge and Olotka designed the game based on Frank Herbert's epic 1965 science fiction novel. The novel tells a story set in the far future of a desert planet called Dune (or if you are a fan you would also know it by the name Arrakis), the only place in the universe where the spice melange is found. The spice allows one to quickly travel vast distances through the universe, and also has properties that alter consciousness and lengthen life when ingested. As we fight over fossil fuels in the real world, various noble houses of the feudal government of Dune war over control of the spice. "What this game does is allow people to have a really deep experience of a book and get 21 • MAINE SENIORS
The classic board game Dune will be re-released this fall, to the delight of many science fiction board game enthusiasts.
PASSIONS • Bill Eberle
to know each other, and have it be real enough," Eberle explained. The game allows people to play as various characters and factions in the story including the heroic Atreides, the treacherous Harkonnen, the manipulative sect of the Bene Gesserit, or the courageous natives of Dune, the Fremen. Each has strengths in the games and some are more powerful than others. Eberle said the game is not fair, but people who are weaker characters can work together against the stronger ones. "People don't start getting creative until they have to," he said. This aspect of the game gets at Eberle's larger vision. He sees these games as an opportunity to plumb the depths of human character and to educate and broaden the perspectives of the players.
Gearworld: The Borderlands, a fantasy-based board game. "I'm at a peak, but I think I can get even better, so I feel like I'm starting," Eberle said. "And finally I can get through doors that I couldn't before. I'm ready. I'm hungry to do lots more." Eberle lives in Thomaston with his wife, Dagney Ernest. While he spends much of his time thinking about and designing games, he is also a poet and part of a local poetry group. He is a member of the Thomaston Historical Society and has in the past volunteered a great deal of time teaching at the Maine State Prison. He has had many jobs over the years to pay the bills while pursuing his passion for gaming, including teaching, reporting, writing, computer programming and database work. He is currently a partner in the Future Pastimes game company. MSM
"Primarily a game needs to be fun and make people feel good," he said. "When you play it, it's fun, it's challenging, it gets you outside yourself, it allows you to do things you didn't even know were in you. It challenges parts of your mind you don't normally challenge, and to do that with other people." Over time the original Dune game disappeared as licensing and rights changed hands and as public interest in the story waned following the failure of the 1984 David Lynch movie adaptation. However, it remained popular as a cult hit among serious board gamers. Now Gale Force 9 is re-releasing an updated version of the Dune game this fall. It will be available in Barnes & Noble and online through Amazon. This development is being celebrated with buzz in the gaming community. And those mentioned above are only a few of the games and types of games Eberle has designed and collaborated with others to design. In another game, Wordsmith, players create words using not full letters, but parts of letters. The game was at one point called Runes, but the name was later sold to another product. He was also a designer for
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 2 2
A TRAIL LESS TRAVELED
FINDING ROOM
to Roam
Maine is predominantly made up of privately owned land. Outdoor enthusiasts rely largely on the generosity of strangers for access to outdoor pursuits. STORY AND ILLUSTRATION BY BRAD EDEN
T
his can be a sobering time of year for those who favor wild, uncivilized places, as opposed to manicured golf courses and cedar chip-carpeted trails. With continuous new development and land changing hands, the plight of the Maine outdoorsperson, no matter what age, is a relentless search for new areas to hunt, forage for fiddleheads or mushrooms, pick berries or just stretch their legs without a lot of other people around.
Those with more than a few fall seasons under their belts know that owning a “back 40” isn’t nearly enough space to pursue the wide range of wild game and outdoor recreation found in Maine. We rely on the kindness of strangers to supply us with acreage to roam. That is what makes Maine such a wonderful state for lovers of the outdoors — we enjoy legal access to unposted private property. This comes as a surprise to those from away and 23 • MAINE SENIORS
even some natives. This arrangement is important, given that Maine is 94 percent privately owned, leaving just a sliver of public lands. Private landowners are protected by what is known as the "landowner liability" law, or the "recreational use” statute. In essence that law ensures that if someone uses your land or passes through your land for outdoor recreation or harvesting, you assume no responsibility and incur no liability for injuries to that person or that person's property. That's the written law. The unwritten law is that a person should always try to find the owner of a property and ask permission to be on their land, regardless of whether it is posted or not. A drive through the many back roads of Maine illustrates our need to seek out new stomping grounds every year. Trees and fence posts are adorned with “No Trespassing” or“No Hunting” signs, and woodlots and fields are scarred with new construction. But all is not lost; there is a method to the madness of acquiring new areas to roam. Sure, the availability of accurate topographical maps — both paper and digital — along with GPS technology, have made scouting much more effective and easy. But all the maps
A TRAIL LESS TRAVELED
and GPS devices in the world won’t replace woodsmanship, a compass and exercising the soles on a pair of boots. When I moved here “from away” 30 years ago, I was at a distinct disadvantage, so I had to get creative. We had barely finished unloading the U-Haul truck when a local stopped by and inquired whether I wanted to be rid of a small barn on my property that had fallen off its posts. My farmhouse had another large barn and a plethora of dilapidated sheds, so one less old building wasn’t a problem. I made a trade: my barn for some tips on good hunting areas. So, after the first snow, he arrived with his two sons, and they jacked up the building, hitched two huge log runners underneath, chained the building to a logging skidder and twitched it out of my yard and down the street to his property. It was quite an operation and quite the spectacle. He got a useful building and I got tips on some good bird covers and deer hunting areas. That swap alone saved me years of scouting. In the meantime, I became acquainted with the local postman. This fellow drove every stretch of town road delivering mail, and was an ardent deer hunter to boot. He found out that I did graphic design work out of my home office, and asked if I would print off lettering for some wooden signs he was making. A deal was struck, and he spent half a day driving me through the most remote and rugged areas in town, pointing out spots to explore. I was returned home with hunting spots that I frequent to this day.
That is what makes Maine such a wonderful state for lovers of the outdoors — we enjoy legal access to unposted private property. leave my contact information, and ask where I could park so I’m not in their way, and whether they would like any game or forage I am fortunate enough to take from their land. Many a bag of fiddleheads, partridge breast, and package of venison have been delivered to generous landowners. Don’t let the scourge of “No Trespassing” signs and the rash of development discourage you from getting outdoors. With a little creativity and respect for landowners, you can be following your bird dog into old orchards, stalking bucks on the beech ridges and foraging for wild edibles for years to come. MSM
Of course there are more traditional methods of gaining access to private land, like asking permission. Knocking on the doors of landowners who post their property — and those who don’t — has become a necessity nowadays. Having an eager hunting dog bouncing on the front seat of your truck or a young grandkid in tow increases the odds considerably. Many landowners have posted their property to keep out firearm deer hunters, so the bow hunter and bird hunter or hiker or forager stand a very good chance of gaining access. If I get turned away, I politely thank them for their time and ask if I might inquire again in the future. If I am welcomed, then I SEPTEMBER 2019 • 2 4
Matters of law Detective Steven Edmondson's commitment to justice. PHOTO AND STORY BY JASON PAIGE SMITH
25 • MAINE SENIORS
PASSIONS • Steven Edmondson
T
his is Detective Steven Edmondson, 63, of Topsham. At a time when Maine is struggling to find young people who want to become police officers, Edmondson continues to work as a full-time law enforcement officer, something he’s done in Maine now for 42 years.
He began his career at the Topsham Police Department, where he worked for 26 years. For the past 16 years, he has served as a domestic violence investigator for the Sagadahoc County District Attorney’s Office. “I’ve remained in law enforcement for so long because I truly believe it has been a calling for me,” he said.“Although the subject matter of my current position is highly objectionable, I do take pleasure in assisting victims of abuse and seeing offenders held accountable.” Edmondson has lived in Maine since he was 8 years old, and has ancestral roots that go back 300 years in the Midcoast area of Maine. MSM
Memorable Entertainment Television WBGR, serving Bangor for the past 20 23 years.
Call 207-947-3300 for more information on WBGR
WWW.WBGR.COM
PHOTOGRAPHER PROFILE BY MARY FRANCES BARSTOW Jason Paige Smith is the author of The Oldest State Project, a book focusing on the extraordinary seniors of Maine. Maine has the oldest population of seniors by percentage of all 50 states. Smith has photographed many seniors from Maine, such as Gillian Rose, 88, of Orono, who estimates she logged approximately 1,000 miles biking last year; and third-generation miner and geologist Frank Perham, whose works grace the halls of the Smithsonian library in Washington, D.C. Through Smith’s photos, he captures the spirit of Maine. Along with being an adjunct professor at Husson University, his success as a photojournalist includes a front-page photo in The Wall Street Journal USA and Europe. This was a photo of a World War II hero from Maine who survived Pearl Harbor. Smith lives in Orono with his wife and twin teenage sons. His work can be viewed at the Gracie Theatre at Husson University in Bangor. You can also purchase his book, The Oldest State, at his website, jasonpaigesmith.com.
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oceanviewrc.com/falmouthhouse 32 Blueberry Lane, Falmouth, Maine 04105 SEPTEMBER 2019 • 2 6
SIMPLE, SENSATIONAL RECIPE! PRIME MOVER
Featured Recipe TOMATO SPINACH PIE (FOR TWO OR MORE) INGREDIENTS: 5 Tomatoes, I use Ugly, but you can use any kind. Peeled and cut into small chunks. 1 Sweet onion (Vadalia are great in season) ten leaves of baby spinach 1 tab butter 1 9-nine pre-baked pie crust 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese ¾ cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese salt and pepper INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Preheat over to 350 degrees 2. Cut tomatoes and keep them draining in a colander while preparing the dish. 3. Pat dry your tomatoes, making sure excess juice and water are well-drained. (Wet juicy tomatoes will make for a soggy pie) 4. Cut onion into very small pieces, carmelized them in a tab of butter with one shake of salt and pepper. 5. Put onions in bottom of the cooked pie shell, then put tomatoes chunks on top, then add the 10 leaves of fresh baby spinach 6. Combine the shredded mozzarella cheese and the shredded cheddar cheese and the mayonnaise together. 7. Spread mayonnaise cheese mixture on top of the pie, spread evenly. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top 8. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Let the pie sit for 15 minutes before cutting and serving. YUM YUM This makes an amazing tasty pie for two. Just add MSM a salad, and a perfect meal you will have.
27 • MAINE SENIORS
So Delicio
us!
The Betsy Ann Ross House of Hope - Presents -
A High Tea & Purse Auction Friday, September 27, 2019 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM The Viles House 71 Stone St., Augusta, Maine $30 per person Please contact Martha@BARHH.org to purchase tickets Brought to you by: The League of Extraordinary Gentlewomen
To Benefit: The Betsy Ann Ross House of Hope
About The Betsy Ann Ross House of Hope The Betsy Ann Ross House of Hope is a home for in-need, homeless, or in-transition female veterans. Our mission is to assist women veterans achieve self-sufficiency in a safe, home-like atmosphere. To learn more, visit www.betsyannrosshouseofhope.com SEPTEMBER 2019 • 2 8
A Child's
Perspective
BY MARY FRANCES BARSTOW
Harley Watts and lessons learned from model trains.
Today, in a space of 1,200-plus square feet (his entire basement), Watts has created a spectacular world with trains. 29 • MAINE SENIORS
It’s a world where the trains are surrounded by buildings and folks stopping to observe the trains as they pass by. What’s especially unique is that Watts has created something few have ever seen. His train country is not on a low surface. He has built it more than five feet off the floor. He built it from a perspective similar to how he watched it all as a young boy — looking up, seeing the world around the train from that angle.
PHOTO BY JASON PAIGE SMITH
H
e loved trains, even as a small child. His father would bring Harley and his siblings to the train station in Flint, Mich., on Sundays. Harley Watts said he was so fascinated with trains — always looking up at them from his small stature — and viewing the world around the train.
PASSIONS • Harley Watts
chose to recognize those who have touched his life in a positive way with a place in his village by naming structures after them, taking a picture and sending the image to the honoree. Watts said he takes his time when adding a new building or theme in his railroad world. He said, “I need to think and look at it for a long time, to be sure it’s right. Sometimes I can take a year or two to complete a building exactly the way it should be. “A man needs time to think and ponder. He must not miss something because he is rushing.”
PHOTOS BY PIERCE PHOTOGRAPHY
Watts’ journey to the Pine Tree State was filled with twists and turns, but Maine is his home, and where he loves to be.
Why so high? He said, “because it forces people to see things I want them to see. Not just the trains, but the life around the trains, the tall buildings, the small buildings.” He said he purposely minimizes the trains and focuses on the surrounding landscapes. But nothing is random in the world Watts has created. He said all of his buildings and towns have special meanings — he even has a building with his doctor’s name on it. Watts
Watts graduated from high school in Flint and continued to college at Alma University. His first two years there were successful, but he was drawn to do something else — something to bring more meaning to who Harley Watts is. He joined the Peace Corps after his second year of college, in 1966. He trained in California and learned the engineering necessary to bring water to parts of India. He spent two years working there, creating water wells for the poor. He was working with the Lions Clubs of the USA to provide diesel water pumps, and said he found this work very gratifying. SEPTEMBER 2019 • 3 0
As fate would have it, he met the love of his life — a beautiful young girl from Maine. It wasn’t long after meeting his wife, Jean, that Watts was drafted. So off to the service he went, but with a gold ring on his finger. He now had his Maine bride. However, after two years of service, he said, it was time to return to Flint and finish his college education.
31 • MAINE SENIORS
When his duty to our country ended, Watts finished his education at University of Maine at Orono, and was delighted to live in Maine and start his new family.
PHOTO BY JASON PAIGE SMITH
“[The height] forces people to see things I want them to see. Not just the trains, but the life around the trains, the tall buildings, the small buildings.” — HARLEY WATTS
PASSIONS • Harley Watts
Watts spoke about how he loved Maine from the moment his feet hit its good earth. It created a sense of comfort for him, a sense of knowing he was home, he said. After a successful 20-year career with GE in Maine, Watts retired in 2008. Well, he didn’t exactly retire — he had bigger things in mind.
PHOTOS BY PIERCE PHOTOGRAPHY
That’s when he began creating his train country. Watts is not without humor. He has a car wash in his village that displays a shiny blue car entering the car wash to be cleaned. He then created another blue car coming out of the car wash on the other side. But, gee, not without losing its doors and looking very beaten up after going through the wash! Thirty-five industries and 11 cities are represented, many from his own youth. Now, many classrooms in Maine have come to share in Watts’ creations.
Watts and his wife of nearly 50 years have four children and six grandchildren, and, yes, each child has a building representing their chosen career. One is a professional dancer, another a program director at HBO, another a writer, and another a building superintendent. When I asked Watts what the state gives him for inspiration, without hesitation, he spoke of the people. “I ran off the road one winter,” he said,“and before I knew, it four men were there helping me. I did not know them, but they are all my neighbors here in Maine. Yes, it is the good in the folks of Maine.” So if you're near Glenburn and you hear a distant “Choo, MSM choo!” — it just may be Watts!
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 3 2
HEALTH
Outrunning Alzheimers BY STEPHANIE GRINNELL
33 • MAINE SENIORS
HEALTH
Fred Kilfoil is “painfully familiar” with Alzheimer’s disease.
H
e said there is a strong history of the disease in his family and when he heard about research being done at Jackson Laboratory to reverse it, he felt compelled to help. To that end, Kilfoil began a fundraising run — Outrunning Alzheirmer's — from Fort Kent to Kittery on Route 1 at the beginning of June. As of late July, he'd reached Buckport, about halfway. Kilfoil chose running, he said, “because I can run. I can’t do research.” In speaking with researchers at Jackson Lab, Kilfoil realized they shared many of the same experiences and ideas about the disease that affects more than 44 million people worldwide. “We both believe there are things we can do to slow the progression and actually reverse Alzheimer’s,” he said.
FRED KILFOIL PHOTO BY STEPHANIE GRINNELL
He said factors such as diet, exercise and lifestyle all are contributors to the disease. Family members seek out doctors, who offer medication to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, but those current medication options often have side effects, Kilfoil said, that are worse than the disease itself. “If you’re living with them and see that it does, it just tears you apart,” he said. Kilfoil, of Westbrook, has had plenty of time to think while he runs between 10 and 15 miles per day. While he said most of his journey to date has been “very humdrum” along the tree-lined section of Route 1 between Fort Kent and Calais, he did take note of the many small towns along
the way that are economically depressed as well as the lack of internet in many populated locations. Kilfoil said he knew of the situations of the towns but seeing them in person really drove home the reality. Even the nearly empty Bangor Mall seemed “surreal,” he said. At the same time, Kilfoil said, the contrast between those towns and Jackson Lab, which employs hundreds, strengthened his resolve to raise money for Alzheimer’s research. “I want to make sure they get lots more money,” he said. “We’re not far from actually having something in the stores. Most of this is, we’ve got to change our ways.” Now in his 70s, Kilfoil himself began changing the way he exercises when he was in his 40s. An avid gym-goer, he decided at that stage in his life to take up running "as something different." His original plan for the fundraiser was to run every other day to let his body adjust to the new routine, but the route proved longer than originally expected and he's stepped up his pace. Burning all of those calories each day, Kilfoil said he hasn't changed his diet much and, in fact, might be eating less. His water intake has significantly increased, though. He also is mostly on his own. Kilfoil drives his own car and runs measured distances away from his car, and back, to wrack up mileage every day. But, along the way, he has been able to stay with friends and family and he touches base as often as possible with those following his efforts. Follow his progress on Facebook by searching Outrunning Alzheimer’s. To donate to Kilfoil’s cause, go to his GoFundMe page for Outrunning Alzheimer’s. MSM
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 3 4
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Honored
for a life of service!
For the past 17 years, the Maine Health Care Association has honored some of the many accomplished residents in Maine’s long-term care facilities.
P
eople whose lives and contributions might sometimes feel forgotten get a day to feel special at the annual Remember ME photography exhibit and awards event. This year, 67 Maine seniors were nominated for awards; 35 were chosen, with the rest getting an honorable mention in a“yearbook” of sorts that is printed as a keepsake for event attendees and family members. I was fortunate to be invited to attend by one of this year’s recipients, and a dear friend, Betty Ellis, 79, who resides at Hibbard Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Dover-Foxcroft. Hibbard Administrator Aaron Thomas drove our group down to the Augusta Civic Center April 9 for the event. Also along for the ride were Betty’s daughter, Kristie McLeod, and Betty’s CNA, Crystal Landry. 35 • MAINE SENIORS
BY SHEILA D. GRANT
Award recipients were greeted with a corsage, and an archway created out of black and white balloons. “It’s like going to prom,” exclaimed one arrival. In the meeting room, reserved tables waited for each group. Large portraits and write-ups about award recipients were displayed on easels around the room. Two long tables seemed to groan under the bounty of breakfast foods and beverages. A trio of musicians played softly in one corner as guests greeted each other, collected food and found their seats. “This is the day when we come together from all corners of the state and across all walks of life for the common purpose of honoring you – our state’s elders,” said Nadine Grosso, vice president and director of communications for MHCA. “It doesn’t matter how old we are, where we’re from or what we do for a living, we all know someone like you: an older adult who has had a positive impact on our lives. At Maine Health Care Association, we can identify with each of you in this room today who is here to celebrate that older person in your life. We all have someone to be thankful for: a parent, spouse, teacher, mentor or confidante who has made all the difference.” I have always been impressed by Betty, who worked as
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 3 6
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Aime Morin
Betty Ellis
a radiologist, raised two children and has been a lifelong volunteer despite an MS diagnosis in 1991. Betty volunteered at many hospitals, including the Hope Haven Children’s Burn Center in Jacksonville, Fla., while traveling with her former husband, who was in the Navy. After moving to Sebec, Betty became the co-founder of the Dover-Foxcroft Area Literacy Volunteers affiliate, which in 1991was recognized by President George H. W. Bush as the 968th of the Thousand Points of Light. In 1992, Betty and I (I was the affiliate’s executive director at that time) traveled to D.C. to represent all of the Points of Light from Maine at a ceremony at the White House – a trip that Betty still considers one of the high points of her long and interesting life. Betty also ran the Sebec Museum for two decades, and volunteered for the Piscataquis Public Health Council well into her senior years. These days, she collects buttons and does genealogy research. The other 34 honorees are no less impressive. Mary-Ann Jean Louis, 71, who resides at DLTC Healthcare/Bella Point in Freeport, grew up in Auburn. She studied child psychology and became a teacher, and later, a missionary. Mary-Ann has served in Kenya, Zaire and Uganda, as well as living in Haiti for 13 years to teach children and conduct Bible studies. She recalls the January 2009 earthquake (magnitude 7.0) and the two tsunamis that followed as the scariest day of her life. Aime Morin, 87, a resident of Schooner Estates Senior Living Community in Auburn, grew up in Lewiston. At St. Dominic 37 • MAINE SENIORS
Barry Smith
Academy, Aime was a standout basketball, football and baseball athlete. In 1948, the 112-pound sophomore, with a whole two weeks of training, tried his hand at boxing and won the Maine Golden Gloves Championship. The next year, he won the New Hamp-shire Golden Gloves title. Aime went on to serve in the Navy and to be a member of the USO boxing team, then a professional boxer until age 25; and again at age 35, when he won 12 consecutive matches before hanging up his gloves for good. He was an officer with the Lewiston Police Department for 10 years, and was instrumental in creating a gym at a local fire station, where he taught amateur boxing to local youths. Aime has served on many boards over the years. He also helped form a hockey “cardiac league,” in which he played from ages 50 to 60. In 2002, he was inducted into the Lewiston/Auburn Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2009, received the St. Dominic Regional High School Athletic Hall of Fame award. James Perkins, 55, a Massachusetts native who moved to Maine in 1979, now resides at the Market Square Health Care Center in South Paris. Jim majored in culinary arts, and did a brief stint in the Navy before being diagnosed with hydrocephalus. In the 1980s, Jim and a group of friends started Santa Visits Oxford, a community group that continues to bring cheer and gifts to children in the area. He joined the Oxford Fire Department in 1982; and the Oxford Fire Rescue as an EMT in 2002. He retired from the fire service after 29 years, having been
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Robert Taylor
Mary-Ann Jean Louis
diagnosed with MS. Jim has served as resident council president at Market Square for the past two years. He was also instrumental in creation of a vegetable garden for residents, from which he harvests and uses his culinary background to can and sell the goods at an annual craft fair. Jim also completed ServSafe training and helps with prep work at the facility, as well as baking treats for fellow residents to enjoy during social activities. Barry Smith, 81, who attended Hamden Academy and then the University of Maine at Orono, now resides at Seventy Five State Street in Portland. After studying speech pathology in Iowa and working in that field in New Jersey, Barry returned to Maine, working with the state’s Easter Seal Society. Barry and his wife helped launch the first speech therapy program in Maine’s public schools, traveling the state to conduct screenings, workshops and demonstrations.These days, Barry has discovered a love of painting, and has sold his works at art shows, as well as reproductions of his work on note cards. He is the secretary of the facility’s resident council, and during his year chairing its fundraising committee, led the group in raising $6,000 for the resident escrow fund. Robert “Stub” Taylor, who grew up in the Kingfield area, now resides at the Sandy River Center in Farmington. Stub’s “career” began at age 11, when he and some other local boys took up skiing on Bigelow Mountain. When access to that area was blocked by development and the flooding of Flagstaff Lake, the “Bigelow Boys” and a local store owner, Amos Winter, explored nearby Sugarloaf
Jim Perkins
for skiing options. In 1950, the group worked with the Sugarloaf Ski Club to cut the Sugarloaf access road and the first trail, Western Way. When the first lift was installed in 1953, Stub, then 19, became the first attendant, taking care of anyone who was injured. That evolved into a lifelong career as Sugarloaf Mountain Ski Patrol director, and earned him the nickname, “Mr. Sugarloaf.” Stub was a certified instructor for the National Ski Patrol and Professional Ski Patrol Association. He received the Man of the Year Award, was inducted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame, and remains a Sugarloaf legend. Even after his retirement in 1996, Stub worked for several more years in the Sugarloaf Clinic, using his skills to triage injured skiers. Richard Erb, president and CEO, took the stage to hand out the awards. Erb shared with the group that during the inaugural event, the organization thought this would just be a photographic exhibit, but it did plan a small gathering. Seeing the attendance, the interest and the response, MHCA staff realized,“We’ve got something bigger here.” Over the past 17 years, the Maine Health Care Association has recognized 602 outstanding Maine seniors. In addition to the award ceremony, the photographic exhibit was displayed at the State House April 25. Following that, individual portraits are given to recipients to display at their various facilities. For more about the MHCA Remember ME program, visit mehca.org. MSM
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 3 8
FACT SHEET
Maine's top 10 cities Retirement can present a chance for Americans to meet new people and enjoy new experiences. A recent study ranked a number of Maine's cities and towns according to their suitability for retirement. The analysis, by New York City-based financial technology company SmartAsset, found the cities with the most recreational and social
opportunities for retirees. SmartAsset’s study factors in the number of recreation centers and retirement centers available to seniors as well as the percentage of the city’s population they represent. The top 10 cities and towns in Maine on SmartAsset’s index are listed below:
Doctors' Recreation Retirement Offices per Centers per Centers per 1,000 People 1,000 People 1,000 people
% of Seniors
Recreation & Social Index
0.7
25.8%
47.18
1.8
0.4
35.5%
44.42
1.5
1.2
0.4
25.0%
36.29
14.7%
1.9
0.8
0.5
23.4%
35.27
Old Town
14.7%
0.9
1.1
0.5
15.5%
31.21
6
Skowhegan
14.7%
2.2
0.9
0.2
23.6%
26.48
7
Waterville
14.7%
3.5
0.9
0.2
19.9%
25.92
8
Saco
14.7%
1.3
0.9
0.3
17.0%
25.66
9
Yarmouth
14.7%
5.6
0.9
0.2
21.8%
25.53
10
Brunswick
14.7%
3.1
1.6
0.1
21.2%
25.20
Rank
City
Tax
1
Belfast
14.7%
3.1
1.3
2
Kennebunk
14.7%
5.3
3
Rockland
14.7%
4
Topsham
5
These rankings functioned as a portion of SmartAsset’s overarching study on the best cities to retire in the U.S., which was released earlier this year. For a full look at the methodology and interactive map, visit the website: smartasset.com/retirement/retirement-calculator 39 • MAINE SENIORS
FACT SHEET
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SEPTEMBER 2019 • 4 0
PRIME MOVER
Septuagenarian cycles
for childhood cancer
Thousands of riders across the country took part
in the Great Cycle Challenge for the month of June, racking up miles ridden while raising money and awareness for childhood cancer.
J
ohn Strassenreiter, a retired social studies teacher from Long Island and a Searsmont summer resident for over 70 years, has taken the challenge every summer since the effort began in 2015 and has raised close to $7,000.
41 • MAINE SENIORS
BY FRAN GONZALEZ
This year alone, he bicycled 812 miles on 90 rides, raising $1,250 for the campaign. In the four years since the challenge began, the group has ridden 12 million miles and together raised over $16 million. "I do this for the kids with cancer," Strassenreiter said. "You hear these stories and it just breaks your heart." His own niece, Kelly, was diagnosed with kidney cancer at age four. She survived her battle with the disease, and is now engaged, Strassenreiter said.
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John Strassenreiter at his summer home on the shores of Quantabacook Lake in Searsmont July 31, near where his great-uncle operated camp Wah-Nah-Gee-Sha, a boys' outdoor summer retreat, from 1917 to 1951. The original sign hangs on his three-season porch. Photo by: Fran Gonzalez
"Even with Kelly, as a teenager she had to go back again for more treatment," he said. Strassenreiter, a two time cancer survivor himself, wondered, "What can I do?" When he found out about the Great Cycle Challenge, he felt it would be the perfect vehicle for raising funds and awareness for the cause. Strassenreiter discovered bicycling after having both hips replaced and developing bursitis. His doctor encouraged
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Strassenreiter discovered bicycling after
having both hips replaced and developing bursitis. His doctor encouraged him to stop running and try an exercise bike, something he felt was boring.
An undated photograph shows campers at the main building on camp WahNah-Gee-Sha on the shore of Quantabacook Lake in Searsmont. Photo courtesy of: John Strassenreiter
him to stop running and try an exercise bike, something he felt was boring. He said he finally caught the cycling bug after his daughterin-law from Florida challenged him to a triathlon the next time he was in the state, and he accepted. He swam 300 meters, ran one mile and biked six miles, one event right after the other. Now, 27,000 miles later and 40 pounds lighter, Strassenreiter said, "I got addicted." Also a regular competitor in the Maine Senior Games held annually in Portland, he developed a "running camaraderie" with other like-minded athletes and has attended every year since 2014. This year he competed in four events and won them all: the 50-yard dash, a mile power-walk, the shot put and the javelin throw. "Power-walking is still new to me," he said. "I did qualify for the national competition this year, won the 5K in Florida and finished in fourth place at a 5K in Portland last week. It's been a good year." Strassenreiter and his wife of 50 years, Noreen, spend the winter months in Madeira Beach, Florida, then return to their beloved home in Searsmont for the summers. Sitting in his three-season porch with breezes off Quantabacook Lake, he says he has the best of both worlds, but Maine is where his heart is. "This morning, I went fishing with an eagle!" he said by way of illustration. Strassenreiter figures he has been coming to the lake since he was 6 months old, when his great-uncle owned 43 • MAINE SENIORS
and operated camp Wah-Nah-Gee-Sha on the shores of Quantabacook, not far from where his house now sits. "Mom was a teacher and we would spend our summers here," he said. The camp eventually was passed on to Strassenreiter's mother and aunt after the uncle died in 1951 and they continued to run it as a family camp until it was sold in 2001. In its early days, boys from New York City would travel north by steamship to Belfast to attend the camp, Strassenreiter said. He remembers playing in the fourseater outhouse, their "clubhouse" at the time, and on the large wooden tent platforms. The camp originally was called Camp Quantabacook, but his uncle — being a clever schoolteacher from the 1920s, Strassenreiter said — made up the Penobscot-sounding name after he took it over in 1917. "There is a lot of good history here," he said, pointing out a plaque on the wall with the names of all campers who attended that first year. MSM
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SEPTEMBER 2019 • 4 4
PRIME MOVER Alan Baker. Photo by Sarah Rice / Pine Tree Watch
Alan
Baker
Hard work, a prepared mind and serendipity lead to great success BY SHEILA D. GRANT
Alan Baker’s life story is a classic tale
of a young man growing up in Maine, going into the world to find success, and then returning to his hometown.
T
he Orrington native and current resident, now 90, learned accounting, advertising and advertising management at General Electric in New York. He worked for several years at The Philadelphia Inquirer before joining Macmillan Inc. and climbing to the top of the corporate ladder.
45 • MAINE SENIORS
Since returning to Maine nearly four decades ago, Baker has served in the Maine Legislature, owned two newspapers, and has served Orrington’s cemetery committee, Planning Board and historical society in various capacities, as well as being involved with the Rotary Club of Ellsworth and the Maine Seacoast Mission. Those who know him well describe Baker as kind, modest, a loyal friend and a gentleman. By any measure, he has also been incredibly hard-working, forward thinking and successful. Baker attributes his success, in part, to thinking ahead. “Louis Pasteur once said,‘Chance favors the prepared mind.’
Gladyce and Alan Baker grew up in Orrington. Photo courtesy of The Ellsworth American.
Once I heard that expression, I adopted it as one of my own and I’ve preached that ever since,” he said.“If you think about what you’d like to do, if you ever had the chance, and along the way, suddenly an opportunity presents itself that is heading in that direction, if you learn to seize those opportunities when they present themselves, it’s a good way to move ahead.” A strong work ethic
A strong work ethic runs in the family. His father, Victor Baker, was an automobile mechanic who was promoted to service manager, and was involved from the ground up as Owen Darling started his automobile dealership. Ethel Baker was town clerk while raising Alan and his younger sister, Gladyce, and also served 12 years on the school board. Clerking duties were done from home, said Baker, who stepped in when his mother was away to issue hunting, fishing and dog licenses, carefully adding an 'A' under the signature to indicate that he, rather than his mother, had issued the document. SEPTEMBER 2019 • 4 6
PRIME MOVER
A hard-working youth, Baker’s jobs included mowing lawns, picking crops, reading electrical meters and employment at an ice cream factory and a wholesale hardware store. He also spent a good bit of time in a lookout tower during World War II, when Dow Field was considered a prime target for enemy attack. Because the winter lookout was a perch at the top of the Town Hall next door to his home, Baker was often called to fill extra shifts. He was recognized for having spent more than 1,000 hours watching the skies. “It was somewhat tedious, but you felt you were participating in the war,” he said. “It was your own little personal contribution to the defense of the country.”
Baker in 1961 on a mountain top in Stowe, Vt. Photo courtesy of Alan Baker.
After graduation from Bowdoin College, Baker worked for GE in Schenectady, N.Y. “That was a wonderful experience,” he said. “GE was one of the great companies of the world in those days. They had training programs for
During the first real vacation of his life, at age 29, Baker sailed Lake Huron. Photo courtesy of The Ellsworth American.
47 • MAINE SENIORS
PRIME MOVER • Alan Baker
accounting and advertising, and manufacturing training programs. Some of my dearest friends were people I met while working there.” In 1960, Baker took a management consulting job with The Philadelphia Inquirer, and in 1968, he was recruited as marketing vice president of This Week, a Sunday supplement owned by Macmillan Inc. in New York City. A year later, Macmillan appointed Baker president of the Katharine Gibbs secretarial school, which had about 1,200 students. He soon created a profitable eight-week crash course for college graduates, with 1,000 students enrolling during the second year of the program. This success was rocket fuel for Baker’s Macmillan career, launching a series of promotions that saw him working in both the U.S. and London, and eventually, as vice chairman of the Fortune 500 company. In that capacity, he supervised 19 companies employing some 12,000 people in 23 countries.
However, a few months before his 50th birthday, Baker felt done with corporate life. He wanted to return to Maine, but first, took a year to travel. Then that “prepared mind” came into play again. “A friend who was president of Bass Shoe Co. was complaining about a marketing service he was buying,” Baker said. He saw this as an opportunity to move back to Maine and open a company to provide better service. A native son comes home
Baker served a term in the Maine Legislature, then had the opportunity to realize another dream, to finally own a newspaper. Baker doesn’t recall a childhood love of reading, but,“I followed the war very carefully each day in the Bangor Daily News,” he said.“So I’ve been a newspaper junkie since I can remember!” Hearing that The Ellsworth American might be on the market, Baker paid the publisher a visit in August 1986.
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James Russell Wiggins denied that he was ready to sell. Baker asked if he could at least share a bit about himself. Wiggins shrugged his shoulders. As he rolled out his professional experiences, Baker gained the seasoned newsman's attention. Two days later, Wiggins invited Baker to lunch, and offered him the job as publisher with an option to purchase the paper at some point in the future. Baker accepted on the condition that he come on board as general manager and be promoted to publisher when Wiggins considered him ready. On Baker’s 60th birthday, 49 • MAINE SENIORS
in 1989, Wiggins named him publisher. Wiggins sold the paper to Baker in January of 1991, and stayed on as editor for nine more years. “We had an incredible relationship,” Baker said. He is deservedly proud that the Mount Desert Islander, begun from scratch in 2011, has been named the Best Small Weekly in New England several times. Both newspapers have been frequent recipients of recognition from the Maine, New England and National press associations.
PRIME MOVER • Alan Baker
get used to the idea. All 60 employees stayed on when the sale was completed Aug. 31, 2018. Half the proceeds from the transaction were donated to the Woodlawn Museum in Ellsworth to move its capital campaign for a new community center closer to completion. The Maine State Library received a grant to digitize newspaper archives. He has been assisting the library in the process of digitizing microfilm issues of The Ellsworth American dating all the way back into the 1850s. “This project is very important, because if we are able to complete this digitalization, more than 160 years of The Ellsworth American could be fully searchable online, a marvelous historic document,” said Baker. This might be enough to keep most people busy, but not this nonagenarian. “I’ve got a book or two that I would like to work on, so we’ll MSM see,” Baker said.
Baker, last August, celebrating his retirement with friends and colleagues. Photo courtesy of The Ellsworth American.
Baker himself is no stranger to accolades, including an honorary degree from Husson College; Citizen of the Year from the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce; Orrington Old Home Week Citizen of the Year; induction into the Newspaper Hall of Fame, both in both Maine and New England; and the James O. Amos Award from the National Press Association. Baker said he is most proud of the way the transition was handled when he sold the newspapers. Staff was advised a month in advance, and had time to ask questions and SEPTEMBER 2019 • 5 0
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51 • MAINE SENIORS
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SEPTEMBER 2019 • 5 2
Capt. Clive Farrin talks to passengers, explaining the life cycle of the lobster and Maine regulations to protect the species from over-fishing
captain
Clive
The authentic Maine lobstering experience BY DANIEL DUNKLE
Buoys mark the locations of lobster traps in the area around Mouse and Burnt islands. 53 • MAINE SENIORS
PASSIONS • Clive Farrin Capt. Clive Farrin offers visitors a dry smile as he discusses the life and work of a Maine lobsterman.
"I've been told people don't believe I'm as old as I am," said lobster fisherman Capt. Clive
Farrin of Boothbay Harbor. "If my mother was here, she would say I haven't grown up yet."
O
n an August morning at the dock, Farrin, age 72, helps a group of tourists onto his 36-foot lobster boat.
Farrin does not travel the watery part of the world as a passenger, nor does he merely offer a scenic harbor tour. Four days a week, he takes those who are interested out to see the actual work of the lobsterman. He maintains 400 traps. He has had multiple careers and remains active. He got his first lobster fishing license when he was 12 years old, and taught high school and junior high school industrial arts for about 30 years, in addition to building houses and boats. Now he continues to fish and provide these trips. "He's a force of nature," said 15-year-old grandson and crew member Isaac Wyer. With help from Wyer and Jake Kelley, also 15, Farrin pulls up traps on a hydraulic hauler and uses the lobsters and other creatures he finds inside to explain the business to visitors. The boat is a working fishing vessel and the only accommodation for guests is a narrow wooden bench along one side. They are warned once the hauling begins to stay on that side, too, lest they get a foot tangled in the rope and go into the drink. Despite this, or in fact because of it, the tour is a lot of fun. People come because they want to see an authentic lobsterman at work. Farrin explains that when he started 13 years ago, a woman from Texas who owns a drive-in restaurant came on the tour. He asked her if she had considered some of the larger passenger vessels offering purely scenic tours of the harbor.
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Isaac Wyer, left, and Jake Kelley, both 15, serve as the crew on Capt. Clive Farrin's lobster boat, the Sea Swallow.
One of the jobs on a lobster boat is breaking up the fish, in this case, pogies, to fill bait bags that go in the lobster traps.
55 • MAINE SENIORS
PASSIONS • Clive Farrin
Wyer often takes the helm, noting that he has been driving the lobster boat since before he could talk. However, that does not prevent his grandfather from commenting on his driving. "I didn't come all this way from Texas to ride a #$@! tour bus," she told him. These days, interest has only increased, as more and more people are taking a greater interest in where their food comes from. He said they want to know the story of the lobster from the trap to the plate. The trip also goes a long way to explaining why lobster costs as much as it does. Throughout the tour, Farrin explains the life cycle of the lobsters. He shows his passengers the difference between males and females, explains the rules Maine has in place to protect the species from over-fishing, and provides details on how they shed their shells, mate and continue growing. He notes that a one-pound hard-shell lobster has 600 pounds per square inch of strength in its claws. Larger lobsters can break bones and bend the metal in lobster traps. If one gets hold of you, he said, it will make you say all kinds of things except "God bless America." At that point you have the choice of trying to get a tool under the claw and pry it loose or holding your hand with the lobster in a bucket of salt water and seeing if it will let go of its own accord. While he talks, the two teenagers pull in the traps and show him what they have found. Each boy carries a small, very sharp,serrated knife in a sheath on the shoulder strap of his oil pants. The knives are made for quick access in the event they become tangled in the line while the hauler is running. They have a good chance of cutting themselves free of the ropes. Wyer said he replaces his knife every month and a half or so because they rust out quickly. Farrin anticipates the passengers' questions. "I'm getting to that in a minute, don't steal my thunder," he says. SEPTEMBER 2019 • 5 6
A seagull visits the Sea Swallow, attracted by the wonderful things to eat ranging from bins of bait fish to crabs and lobsters being hauled up in traps. The bird, however, is destined for disappointment, quickly chased away from the stern.
On the way out to Mouse and Burnt islands, the boys load up the bait bags for the traps with "pogies," or menhaden. Wyer often takes the helm, noting that he has been driving the lobster boat since before he could talk. However, that does not prevent his grandfather from commenting on his driving. Farrin will pause in the process of explaining something about the fishery to tell Wyer to steer the bow into a swell or give a wider berth to a group of pleasure boats. Asked why he hasn't retired, Farrin says, "I like it. The boat doubles as a Winnebego in the summer." He used to travel a lot by boat, following the lobster races around the state. Now he likes to take it to the nearby Damariscove Island. There, he and his friends sit out on a group of floats enjoying a fire pit in a 55-gallon drum. "We sit around, eat and consume adult beverages," he said. "We
The 36-foot lobster boat the Sea Swallow serves Clive Farrin and those who take his tours in Boothbay Harbor.
57 • MAINE SENIORS
Jake Kelley holds a beautiful Maine lobster with its claws banded. This is what the trip is all about.
PASSIONS • Clive Farrin
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All you have to
Captain Clive Farrin of Boothbay Harbor offers tourists a chance to see the work of a lobsterman.
The easiest way to find him is on TripAdvisor, where he has a five-star rating and certificate of excellence.
including many Maine magazines on the fishing industry and National Geographic. He does the crosswords, word searches, and jumbles he finds in newspapers and other publications. He also enjoys cooking, including his own special chicken and sausage recipe for chop suey that his grandchildren refer to as "Atomic Goo."
watch the pleasure boats go by trying to act like they know what they're doing."
He has three grown children and five grandchildren. His ex-wife passed away about three years ago.
"I feel pretty fortunate," he said.
He is one of the few who does what he does in Maine waters. His company is called, simply, Go Lobstering, and he started it with the help of his longtime friend and fellow captain Cage Zipperer, origionally of Savannah, Ga.
Farrin hunts every fall, lugs his own firewood and takes pride in still working with a chainsaw. He lives alone, but can call Wyer if he needs help with something, as he did when he threw his back out. "I kind of watch my diet, but if I feel like having a steak for dinner, I have it," he said. He feels keeping active, not only physically but mentally, helps him stay fit. He subscribes to numerous publications, 59 • MAINE SENIORS
He does not always operate out of the same dock. He will pick people up at various locations around the harbor. The easiest way to find him is on TripAdvisor, where he has a five-star rating and certificate of excellence.You can also learn more at golobstering.com or call him at 380-7677. MSM
PASSIONS • Clive Farrin
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OUTDOORS He splashes it almost empty every day, the catbird who calls my garden his own.
In the garden STORY AND PHOTOS BY LYNETTE L. WALTHER
Fishermen — go figure! They will spend buckets of cash on rods and reels — probably more, if we knew the truth, not to mention the boats — even if it is just one of those hi-tech fishing kayaks.
A
nd bait! Have you checked the price of bait lately? It’s not just a can of worms anymore, oh no. There is special live bait to be kept vibrant in air-infused special chambers, or exotic frozen stuff or pricey flies and lures. And what is the result?
Well, sometimes fishermen (or women) catch a fish or two, maybe more. If you were to price out the cost per pound of those fillets they put on the dinner table, you’d
61 • MAINE SENIORS
we are never alone be flabbergasted. Of course, if you know anything about fishing, it is that fish for the table is not necessarily the object of that pastime. I may be wrong, but what I’ve heard about fishing is that the very act of being out there, immersed in nature, observing the wind and tides, the seasons and times of day plays an important part in what for some is pursuit of art. Never mind the fish themselves. Indeed, passing time for the sake of it plays into the act of fishing, as well. It’s the idea of just being in the moment. So, too, it is with a garden. In my “retirement” years, I have the luxury of unlimited time pursuing whatever strikes my fancy. In my case, it is my garden, and I intend to take the full measure of its pleasures, its demands and its rewards. Often I am driven by the seasonal task at hand — starting seeds, turning the earth or compost, weeding, planting,
OUTDOORS
As I monitor the growth of the plants, watch the sun travel through the garden, I can now count the years that this or that perennial or flowering shrub has
occupied its station in my garden..
trimming or harvesting or whatever must be done that day. Early in the season there is little time to do anything else but keep in step. It goes so quickly! Hurry. Those days pass like a blur, ending with dirt under the fingernails, sore muscles and especially grimy garden clothes that must be dried first, then shaken out thoroughly with special attention being paid to the pants cuffs so that not too much debris goes through the laundry. But with those days attended to, I am often in the garden to soak up what a wise gardening friend of mind calls “a moment in the garden.” Those are the singular times when the palest pink of an early dawn-dewy rosebud is framed by a frill of deepest blue salvia. Perhaps a hummingbird adds to the scene, sipping nectar from the indigo bells. Turn away, or come back tomorrow, and that moment is long gone. The rose has opened, flushed with the heat of the day, and has already started to fade. That hummer is after the mosquitoes that hatched out overnight. All gone. But wait! There is more and new vistas open up every day if you linger long enough in the garden to discover them. As I monitor the growth of the plants, watch the sun travel through the garden, I can now count the years that this or that perennial or flowering shrub has occupied its station in my garden. My garden calendar includes when this or that perennial comes into bloom, when to cut them back and when they should be divided. My plants move around my garden too, an act that to this day confounds my spouse. Constant rearrangement is the rule in the garden. Because a garden is a living, growing thing so unlike a living room or kitchen or bedroom, where pictures hang on walls never to be moved and never multiplying, no matter how we
A moment in the garden — a blink of the eye and it is gone.
It takes years to grow a tree like this one, and we can be thankful someone who came before planted this one. SEPTEMBER 2019 • 6 2
OUTDOORS
Who planted the old tree that provides these apples? Perhaps some long-gone gardener, but with my harvest we are connected.
love their content, furniture never expands to outgrow its confines — a garden must constantly be brought into check or expanded to accommodate rampant growth or newcomers. Many of those plants are now old friends of mine after decades in my garden. In the garden nothing is static, and thankfully so! Shrubs grow and need to be trimmed, perennials expand to the point of explosion or intrusion. Some shy fellows need to be given more room to shine or common sense demands they be moved to where they can. So up they are dug and over they go. I heard once that a perennial garden needs a decade to come into its own glory. But once it does, the garden musical chairs must come into play. Take, for instance, a little plant in a pot from the garden center. The tag in the pot indicates its mature height and breadth. Great. But depending on what that particular plant happens to be, that ultimate growth could take years, or it could occur in a single growing season. This is where the real gardeners and old hands are separated from the 63 • MAINE SENIORS
newbies. Problem is that at one point every gardener is a newbie, and every gardener makes a lot of mistakes along the way to professorship and their gardening master’s degrees. So that little plant that started out at a foot or so tall that is a slow grower eventually reaches its zenith in, oh, say, five years. And that’s the point where it often has to be divided or even moved to a new location because it has outgrown its space. It is just the unwritten law of the garden. Ever-changing, ever-growing (if I am lucky and the heavens and stars align and cooperate), a garden is an alluring and dynamic situation. And you should see the animals my garden attracts! There’s a saucy catbird who lets me know the birdbath needs refilling with a series of staccato cries, and then scolds even louder as I am so bold as to harvest some of the berries I have grown. He assumes those are his own. There are the pesky squirrels that I am always trying to outwit with cages of chicken wire to protect seedlings from being rooted out or do-dads to shoo them away from the apple trees. The rascals will pick every last apple before they are
satisfied, taking little more than one bite out of each fruit. Unwelcome? Well, yes, but I have to admit the place would be that much less lively without them and their furry and feathered brethren. Heck, I even welcome those slender fellows and their amphibious cousins. And I see ghosts. OK, not real ghosts, but the work of those who were here long before me. Those snowdrops that light up the spring. When did they arrive? Who put them there? I can envision someone committing those tiny bulbs to the soil some long ago autumn, an act of faith that they would sprout come spring. And they bloomed and they continue to do so. The trees that give welcome shade on hot summer afternoons, the flowering shrub there that never fails to deliver a mass of blooms each summer — all put there, planted by someone unknown to me. Yet we are linked even now through our garden. I have assumed the responsibility of what they planted, and as I enjoy the fruits or flowers of their labors, they and I become one. Long after I am gone, my hope is that my garden touches some unknown hand in the distant future, and gives them pause and gratitude as it does for me. "It was who planted those daffodils, apple trees and blueberry bushes and flowering shrubs," I will whisper. As much enjoyment, as many rewards as my garden gives to me, that thought of someone unknown to me who might also take pleasure in those things, makes my labors all the more rewarding. So, like those fishermen out on the water for the day, any time in the garden provides me with more than a few fish — or appropriately, more than just flowers or apples or green beans. It provides an escape from the worries of the world. It grants me a wealth of experiences, a bit of exercise, contact with wildlife, wafts of fragrance, a link to the past and the future as well — oh, yeah — and tomatoes, too. Care to join me on this special voyage? Lynette L. Walther is a four-time recipient of GardenComm’s Silver Award of Achievement and also the National Garden Bureau’s Exemplary Journalism Award. Her gardens are in Camden. MSM SEPTEMBER 2019 • 6 4
ADVICE FROM MARY & JIMMY
Do you have a problem? QUESTION 1: I am 77-years-old. I lost my wife two years ago. It has been very difficult and I was feeling lost until I met a lovely woman. We have become very close. She is a bit younger, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. We have decided to get married, which I am very happy about. My concern is her 25-year-old daughter. She’s been very nice and we do get along well, but she has suggested that I adopt her. Do you think that’s a good idea? —Bruce
JIMMY SAYS: Steve! You need to ignore what Mary is saying and stop writing to us! Dreaming about pickles is too strange for even me to think about. Get some help, man! And lay off the pickles.
MARY SAYS: Bruce, I am so sorry to hear of your loss. With that said, it must be a very exciting time for you to find love again.
QUESTION 3: I have this neighbor who has lived next store to me for the last 20 years. Every week she hangs out her laundry which includes her husband’s underclothes, old and kinda ripped up.
But, sometimes when "love is in the air", we tend to forget the part of the brain that makes good decisions.
It’s terrible!
Your close relationship with her daughter is lovely, however, you must consider that if your new wife dies before you, this girl could end up making decisions concerning your health and well-being. I’d suggest you let her know you can love her like a daughter, but the need to adopt her at this age would just not be necessary. Good luck! JIMMY SAYS: If you or your bride-to-be have any serious money, you should see a lawyer before you do anything else. More importantly, though, is this question: Does the daughter have any money? Huh? If she does, consider either adopting her … or … consider introducing her to me! QUESTION 2: I've been eating a lot of pickles lately. Dill and the like. I've noticed I'm dreaming about pickles when I'm not eating them. What is this all about? —Steve MARY SAYS: Oh my! Well Steve, I think you’re enjoying the pickles a lot. Possibly during your sleep you’re craving the pickles and it is turning your dreams into a pickle fest, so to speak. I think it’s reasonably normal. Nothing for you to worry about. 65 • MAINE SENIORS
Should I drop off a new pair or two to her secretly at their front door? Something has to be done for this man. They are well-to-do folks as well. They can’t afford new underwear for poor man? —Shirley MARY SAYS: Hi Shirley. No. I do not think you should drop off new underwear. Everyone has the right to live however they wish. I am afraid you might offend them, and it just would not be worth losing a friendly neighbor. JIMMY SAYS: Ah … Shirley? Send ‘em a jar of pickles! QUESTION 4: My uncle Biff has just moved in with my husband and I. He is 84 and still gets around pretty well. He’s more than welcome in our home, but I have noticed he has a strange habit of licking things, even though he tries to be discreet about it. He even licks the tables and chairs! I am not sure how to handle this. Help! —Susan MARY SAYS: I’ve never heard of this. I suggest you take Uncle Biff to a doctor, and maybe you could let the doctor know about his behavior. I’m sure he would be helpful. JIMMY SAYS: Give him a pickle.
MSM
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