January Maine Seniors

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DANCING = LONGER LIFE!

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d WickeMEMORIES

Cindy Williams

by Mary Frances Barstow

2 • MAINE SENIORS

PHOTO: COURTESY CINDY WILLIAMS

LAVERNE & SHIRLEY’S

S

he was Shirley from Laverne and Shirley. The iconic Shirley Feeney, cute as a button, played by Cindy Williams. Together, she and Laverne (played by Penny Marshall) brought joy to screens and hearts every Saturday night from 7:00 to 7:30 pm.

What a treat it was to talk with her! As bubbly as she was on the show, Cindy showed herself to be positive, warm, and interesting. In her grand life and career, she has fully embraced the advice of her mother to “keep moving.” Her resumé is as impressive as it is long; she’s performed in many a movie, including American Graffiti, where she worked with Ron Howard (now of Happy Days fame). When Ron went on to Happy Days, she and Penny made appearances on the show as companions of Henry Winkler’s famous Fonzie character.

From there, Cindy’s career took off, as the spin-off Laverne and Shirley grew in popularity. She’s acted in The Conversation, Travels With My Aunt, and much, much more.

Even though she “keeps moving,” she hasn’t left Laverne and Shirley behind. I asked Cindy if she had stayed friends with others involved in the long-running show, and she didn’t hesitate to reply that, yes, they would be friends forever. That made me think.

It’s easy to tell what kind of person she is. Once you’re her friend, you’re her friend forever, and a good one, too. Talking with Cindy was like

Left: Cindy with Penny Marshall Right: Cindy with Ron Howard

gliding smoothly over perfect ice.

She’s caring and engaging, with two grown children, both in the music industry. She’s also an animal lover, and I can attest to her devotion to her pets. During our conversation, she was concerned that her kitty might not make it to the vet in time!

Cindy talked about the early days of Laverne and Shirley. She talked about getting ready to do her show, and about taking the stage with Penny Marshall. The two of them totally recreated the set, telling the producers that “there’s no way Laverne and Shirley would live in this kind of apartment!” It had new furniture and was set up like they had money. But no, they were struggling working girls.

They couldn’t afford stuff like that! So Cindy and Penny remade the set the way they wanted, to eight years of great success as a show.

Cindy and I talked about her youth.

She started out as a waitress and loved waiting on folks and meeting different people. In that, as in every-

thing in her life, she worked with enthusiasm and joy.

And her mother’s advice to “keep moving?” Cindy has turned it into her motto. It encouraged her to go forward and do everything with kindness, not with hate. She says she misses the time when we were able to laugh at ourselves … to just love each other without judgment, of how we could think differently than others. As she spoke, Cindy seemed frustrated at the climate of hate and fear in the world, and how sometimes political correctness can go wild. She expressed her distress over how the humor of some comedic plays has been ruined in order to not offend people.

In a conversation that seemed all too short, Cindy seemed to be someone who can relax, laugh at herself, and give without asking for anything in return. She’s a woman with love in her heart.

For more on Cindy Williams, check out her book Shirley, I Jest!: A Storied Life.

JANUARY 2020 • 3

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

HAPPY 2020!

Laugh, huh?

Early on in the process of creating this issue of Maine Seniors, I wanted the theme to be called “Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘N Roll”.

What a mistake!

Turns out that the m a j o r i t y o f fo l k s around here hated that idea — because “drugs” has taken on such a — justifiably — horrible connotation.

There is so much tragedy connected to drugs in these times. I apologize to everyone for even thinking that the phrase was cute or funny.

I was stupidly blind, and I’m grateful to my partners here who pointed out that “Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘N Roll” just doesn’t work in the 21st century!

Back in the day, “drugs” meant (at least to me) a few puffs. In theory, a few ‘puffs’ were harmless … and then we cruised off to a nap. After all, the leaves and sticks we bought in a small plastic bag way back then would be discarded today as waste products to modern weed. Who knew?

And “sex” was something that we really didn’t talk about, so let’s leave all that to the doctor who writes an article in this month’s issue of Maine Seniors.

Rock ‘n roll was “here to stay” in those days … and few can argue that the best rock music in all history was created during that era.

All that said? The theme of the magazine got back on track – as you’ll see. And to me, the best part is the sign Julia is holding in the cover photo.

“Laugh,” she’s suggesting. In THESE trying times, it’s the best suggestion I can imagine.

What I remember most is that our generation was open to new ideas, and that we laughed … a lot. We’ve always had fun. We’ve always had friends. We’ve always had great music!

I’m gonna make it a point to laugh out loud today.

I’ve always been told that “laughter is the best medicine.” Of course, in an article on page 8, we’re told that dancing is right up there when it comes to health benefits too.

So let’s laugh … maybe even dance. Life is good, right?

4 • MAINE SENIORS

YOUR THOUGHTS

I AM WRITING to thank you for the informative, well-presented article that you printed about our efforts at the Garry Owen House in North Searsmont. Your article saw a rise in donations, and as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we totally rely on the generosity of the public. By including that article in the November 2019 issue of Maine Seniors magazine, you helped make our mission that much more possible.

Seeing more than 30 veterans emerge from their stays at the Garry Owen House to improved, brighter futures is heartening, and proves the value of the House. Still, the need for groups such as ours is great, and ongoing. The work is never done, and every donation makes a difference.

If anyone wants to contribute, they can send tax-deductible donations to: Garry Owen House P.O. Box 34 Liberty, ME 04949

or to

Bangor Savings Bank 7 Belmont Ave Belfast, ME 04915

and they can check out garryowenhouse.org for more information.

Sincerely, Dana Philippi President, Board of Directors, Garry Owen House I JUST READ your November issue. My first reaction was that it was a very nice, richly illustrated edition. As I leafed through it, checking out the names and photos of the veterans, I became rather somber. I graduated from high school in 1966, so many of the Vietnam era veterans were my contemporaries. It felt like looking through my old high school yearbook, but with a growing sadness. It was very touching.

John MacNeil. Rockland/Mass THANK YOU FOR DONATING a copy of your November issue of Maine Seniors to our library. Your tribute to Maine Veterans is an incredible contribution to our library. I plan to display this magazine on the front counter, with the hope that anyone who would like to be able to enjoy reading it from cover to cover has the opportunity to do so. Thank you to all who made this written tribute possible.

Maxine E. Maynard, Presque Isle High School Library Manager GREAT PHOTO of Paul Stookey.

Those eyes. I loved the article.

Pat Chilson

IN THIS ISSUE

|| J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0

EDITOR / PUBLISHER

Jim Kendrick jk@jameskendrick.net ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Mary Frances Barstow mary@maineseniorsmagazine.com

14

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Jacqueline Harjula jackie@maineseniorsmagazine.com Will Stinson wstinson@meseniors.com ART DIRECTOR

38

Sandy Flewelling sandy@truebluedesign.us MARKETING CONSULTANTS

Bob Bird bob@maineseniorsmagazine.com Bill Burrows bburrows@villagesoup.com Carrie Colby carrie@maineseniorsmagazine.com Ann Duddy aduddy@theforecaster.net Randy Nichols randy@maineseniorsmagazine.com Sandra Turner sandra@maineseniorsmagazine.com CLIENT SERVICES/FINANCIAL EXECUTIVE

LeeAnn Gauthier lgauthier@courierpublicationsllc.com HR EXECUTIVE/FINANCIAL

Tricia Johnson tejohnson@villagesoup.com FINANCIAL CLERK

Marion Burns mburns@rfbads.com

2 | WICKED MEMORIES Laverne & Shirley’s Cindy Williams 4 | PUBLISHER’S NOTE 4 | YOUR THOUGHTS 6 | ON THE COVER Plays & Playing: A Life Made for Joy FEATURES 8 | Dancing Keeps Us Young 10 | A Real Geezer’s Musings on Geezer Sex 14 | More Seniors Embracing Medical Cannabis

CLIENT SERVICES EXECUTIVE

Heidi Brown hbrown@courierpublicationsllc.com

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MARKETING

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38 | USS Sequoia Lands in Belfast

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20 | For the Love of His Wife

34 | Noel Paul Stookey Part Two

Jacob S. Smith jsmith@villagesoup.com

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18 | Highbrow A Health Alternative for Seniors

30 | Saco Veteran’s Plaque

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43 | Going Strong Natalie Terry

ON THE COVER Julie Arnold Lisnet, see page 6

GUEST ARTICLES

Cover photo by Jason Paige Smith

47 | The Maine Boatbuilders Show

49 | Best Cars for Seniors

64 | ADVICE FROM JIMMY & MARY

44 | Mobility Made Easy

JANUARY 2020 • 5

PLAYS & PLAYING A LIFE MADE FOR JOY

J

ulie Arnold Lisnet knows how to laugh.

At least, that’s the impression her students get. Julie’s an instructor of theater at the University of Maine’s Orono campus. She says her students often tell her, “You’re always happy!”

But to Julie, it’s simple. “I try to be a positive person,” she said. “And I think theater has just done so much for me that way. Life’s tough, and there’s a lot of sadness it it. But I’ve always learned that even when doing the most gut-wrenching tragedy… well, that’s when you need to laugh more. It breaks the tension.”

And Julie would know. After getting both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in theater, she went on to work as a travel agent. Her daughter got involved in dance in Robinson Ballet in Bangor, and Julie joined on as the group’s managing director. From there, she got a job at the University of Maine’s theater department, and the rest is history.

Specifically, it’s the history of Ten Bucks Theater, a company that Julie and her friends founded around the 6 • MAINE SENIORS

year 2000. In its quest to offer great theater at a low price, Ten Bucks has found a space in the Bangor Mall.

They’ve taken an old empty store and transformed it. “It actually looks like a theater now.” Though it took a lot of time and effort, Ten Bucks’ perseverance has paid off, and they’ve been in the space for about a year now. This past December, they put up Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with Bangor icon Ken Stack as the famously miserly Ebenezer Scrooge. Julie said he’s played the role for 30 years.

Despite her overflowing joy and love for theater, life hasn’t always been perfect for Julie. The daughter of a woman who fled East Germany and an Air Force veteran stationed in West Germany, she originally lived in Montgomery, Alabama. Her father never wanted to move up north until he visited some retired military friends.

“He just took off for several days, then came back and said, ‘we’re buying land in Maine,’” she recounts. The family moved up to the Pine Tree State when Julie was five years old, and then her parents split shortly thereafter.

Her mother lived to be 91, and passed in October of 2017, just a few weeks shy of her 92nd birthday. Julie, wanting to take her mother’s ashes back to Germany, booked a flight and packed the remains. “I didn’t dare check them,” she remembers. She put the crematorium’s box in her backpack and went through airport security in Boston. “Sure enough,” she said, “they pulled me aside.”

The TSA agent asked her what was in her bag, to which she responded, “Gifts. ...And my mother. You can open the box if you want.”

Mercifully, the agent did not want.

He was moved by her story, and after wiping down the outside for dangerous chemicals, gave Julie the allclear. She didn’t let him off the hook so easily, though, asking, “So. My mom’s not a bomb, huh?”

The amazing thing about this story is Julie’s reaction to it. As traumatic or shocking as it could have been, she recounted it with laughter in her voice. That’s what sets her apart.

Julie Arnold Lisnet knows how to laugh.

PHOTO: JASON PAIGE SMITH

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Sharon Gordon performs the Flamenco.

Dancing Keeps You

YOUNG

by Daniel Dunkle

8 • MAINE SENIORS

haron Gordon has danced her way through the dec ades .

Growing up in New Jersey and Long Island, she listened to Latin band leader and Timbales player Tito Puente. Her father taught ballroom, Mambo, and Cha-cha-cha at Arthur Murray’s, a popular dance school franchise. She experienced it all: ballet, tap, jazz.

In the 1970s, she hit the New York City disco clubs.

Now, at age 60, she lives in Damariscotta, Maine, with her husband and two Boston Terriers. She is a licensed, national board-certified acupuncturist with an office in Newcastle.

Sharon travels to Spain and dances Flamenco there, which she also studies with Lindsey Bourassa in Portland. She formed a movement class of her own at the Damariscotta YMCA in 2015 called “Barefoot Boogie.”

According to medical studies in recent years and local health care professionals, she stands a good chance of reaping rich rewards from her many years of dance. “Dancing has multiple and impressive ways to impact our health,” according to Dr. Kendra Emery of Pen Bay Family Medicine and Dr. Matthew Molison of the Donald S. Walker Health Center in Liberty, Maine.

“Dancing contributes to bone health because it is a weight-bearing exercise, it burns calories, helps with balance, contributes to heart health, and increases blood flow to the brain,” they said. “It improves blood sugar regulation.”

“Dancing can improve one’s mood and be enjoyable due to the music, physical activity, and social interactions,” the health care professionals said. “It increases dopamine and endorphins, which helps with every-

PHOTO: KEN WALTZ

S

thing from pain management to depression.

Dancing also involves memorization of patterns and coordination of movements and routines. This complex activity of mind and body impacts overall health. One study notes that perhaps dementia could be decreased via increased blood flow to the brain, brain exercise, and memorization of coordinated body movement.”

If you talk to dancers, they tell you the same things the studies seem to show. “Dancing has added so many benefits to my life,” said Elizabeth Richards, an instructor at Maine Ballroom Dance in Portland. “I started dancing in my 20s, and one thing that I have noticed for years is that no matter how I feel when I get to a class or event (for instance, if I was in a bad mood, felt upset, etc.) I leave with a smile on my face.”

She notes that all of the activities at Maine Ballroom Dance are open to people of all ages.

“I recommend dance to my patients and anyone with depression,” Gordon said. “I suffered with depression as a younger person and use the tools of movement and now Flamenco to help

searches. Your local YMCA often provides programs or can point you in the right direction for a class near you. Lessons in ballroom dancing or Tango are an excellent way to get some exercise, spend some romantic time with your long-term partner, or get you out there meeting new people.

“Movement is the key to longevity

and a balanced life,” said Gordon. “I remember Dance Master, Luigi, used to say to his students during class, ‘You must keep on moving! Never stop moving!’”

Special thanks to Balanced Body Studio in Camden for providing space to us for a photo shoot.

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JANUARY 2020 • 9

A REAL GEEZER’S MUSINGS

10 • MAINE SENIORS

geezer sex

by Ron Feintech, PhD Sex Therapy Diplomate, AASECT Certified Sex Therapy Supervisor, AASECT Certified Geezer

A

PHOTO: ADOBESTOCK / DEAGREEZ

ON

s a 78-year-old certified geezer, I have watched my sexuality change over the years with a mixture of relief, gratitude, and dismay. I feel relief that the fires of desire (mercifully) burn less brightly than in the old days, and gratitude for my existing health and functionality. As for the dismay… let’s just say that I’m not as quick on the draw as I used to be. In other words, I don’t go as often to the O.K. Corral with my gun belt strapped low. Nothing’s gone wrong, but these are just normal changes that are associated with aging.

In the words of folk singer Gordon Bok: When she’s a tight old staver, Then do all you can to save her; When she drops her dear old transom, time to pack your gear and leave her. (“Jericho,” Bok 1982) He is singing of a schooner here, but it could just as well be about our sexuality as we age.

When we can maintain, enhance, and restore our sexual functioning, it’s fine to do so. We can aspire to a lifetime of high-level wellness, be it JANUARY 2020 • 11

emotional, psychological, physical, or spiritual. We can maintain global wellness through nutrition, exercise, meditation, yoga, appropriate supplements, minimal pharmaceuticals, and appropriate medical care. Just like we see doctors when we’re sick, we can seek the services of a certified sex therapist when we encounter sexual challenges. If – and when – we lose the use of our genitals, we can grieve that loss, and focus instead on the pleasure that comes from closeness and intimate touching.

Sex is at the juncture of physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual wellness, and the better our self-care in each of these domains, the longer we can enjoy satisfying sexual functioning... albeit with less vigor and 12 • MAINE SENIORS

frequency than in our youth. There is, however, a cult of youth, and with it comes an unfortunate tendency to compare ourselves to 18-year-olds.

Over the years, change is inevitable. This means longer response times for all genders. Men will experience times when they say “yes,” but it says “no.” Women will experience vaginal changes, like thinness of the walls, dryness, and more.

Check out sexualityresources.com/ vaginal-renewal-program for more info on this.

Many of us, discouraged by the changes that come with aging, just “hang up our spurs” to avoid the embarrassment that may come with what we erroneously perceive as “failure,” sexually.

PHOTO: ADOBESTOCK / DEAGREEZ

Many of us, discouraged by the changes that come with aging, just “hang up our spurs” to avoid the embarrassment that may come with what we erroneously perceive as “failure,” sexually.

As we age, we can do with having less sex, or even none. Still, we never outgrow our need for loving touch. If anything, this need increases with age, and some research says it prevents dementia.

Alas, we tend to be so focused on performance, erections, penetration, and orgasm that we forget the joy that can come from cuddling, massages, making love with a “softon,” or variations of outercourse that don’t include penetration and the “big O.” There’s so much more to loving than that.

For example, there is a little-known form of lovemaking called “Karezza” (from Italian carezza: “to caress”).

Karezza is all about connecting. It is loving touch that doesn’t involve penetration or orgasm. This touching is more about releasing oxytocin than dopamine. For more on this, check out “Cupid’s Poisoned Arrow” by Marnia Robinson, or search for “Bonding Behaviors” or “Karezza” on Google.

I have come to believe that as we age, we need to change our ways of thinking. Men need to transition from being visually aroused to being aroused by touch and emotional intimacy. Women can reclaim their birthright to pleasure and eliminate “duty sex.” This is a shift from thinking in terms of performance to thinking in terms of pleasure, as the quality of the relationship becomes a more important factor in sexual wellness. If we can come to normalize and accept the changes that come with time, we can age with graceful wisdom, instead of raw panic. We can shift our focus from performance, penetration, and orgasms to the mutual intimate exchange of pleasure, to let us move forward with joy and satisfaction.

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by Your Wellness Connection Team

14 • MAINE SENIORS

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annabis is quickly becoming known for its natural health benefits among senior citizens. A study conducted by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed that an increasing number of older Americans are using cannabis for a variety of health benefits. Almost one quarter of Americans over 65 in a 2016 survey who had used marijuana in the previous year said they have received the go-ahead from their doctors.

The cannabis plant is comprised of more than 100 naturally occurring compounds called cannabinoids. The

most dominant cannabinoids are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and cannabidiol (CBD). Both cannabinoids have shown to provide profound benefits in the human body.

However, THC induces psychoactive effects (gets the user “high”) while pure CBD does not. Both THC and CBD can help with a variety of medical conditions and taken together, the effect can even become enhanced.

Some of the well-known symptoms cannabis can help with include: Pain: Whatever the root cause – arthritis, neuropathy, migraine or surgery – chronic pain is by far the

PHOTOS: COURTESY WELLNESS CONNECTION OF MAINE

More Seniors Embracing Medical Cannabis

most common reason that people turn to cannabis. Research shows that several of the active compounds in cannabis have analgesic (painreducing) and anti-inflammatory effects. And compared to prescription painkillers, cannabis is generally safer.

Loss of appetite: This is a problem for many seniors, whether it is a side effect of illness or of the treatment of illness (such as cancer). Cannabis can effectively stimulate appetite and help us maintain or put on the weight we need.

Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia: Whatever the stressor that’s causing

you to be anxious or depressed, medical cannabis may be able to help.

Cannabis plants come in many different strains and each has a range of effects on humans, from relaxing us to helping us fall asleep. Ask your dispensary staff for guidance about which variety of cannabis might be best for you.

Vaporizing: When acute pain strikes, you need immediate relief.

Vaporizing whole-flower or extracted cannabis can help within minutes.

Vaporizing means heating cannabis to a temperature at which the cannabinoids turn to vapor, while the leaf

Top left: Blue Dream live plant Top middle: Blue Dream vape cartridges Top right: Tinctures are taken under the tongue and are one of the most concentrated forms of medical cannabis.

Above: Bud bars allow patients to view and smell cannabis strains before purchasing.

JANUARY 2020 • 15

material does not combust.

Edibles: Eating a food or drinking a liquid infused with cannabis will not have immediate effects. In fact, you may not feel relief for an hour or two after consuming, so it’s important to start low and go slow.

Topicals: Balms and salves are another way to use cannabis. Because they do not enter the bloodstream, these products provide localized relief with no risk of a euphoric “high.” Topicals are a great place to start for those with arthritis or neuropathic pain.

At the Wellness Connection of Maine, we require a medical card for the purchase of cannabis products.

We recommend discussing your health needs with your physician and discover how cannabis can benefit you!

16 • MAINE SENIORS

PHOTOS: COURTESY WELLNESS CONNECTION OF MAINE

This photo: Bite-sized candy makes medicating discreet and easy.

Right: Wellness Connection salve Below: Nutritional capsules Bottom: Lime soft candy edibles

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Highbrow

A HEALT H ALTER NATIV E FOR SENIO RS

ichelle Stacy is the business manager at Highbrow, a cannabis and CBD brand with stores in Maine. When asked what she would say to anyone considering CBD products for health benefits, she has one simple message: “be open.”

Doctors and scientists have made wonderful advances in medicine to help ease the aches and pains of aging. But until the miracle pill is finally invented, nature has provided a drug to make life little bit easier: CBD. Most cannabis plants are known for two natural chemicals: THC and CBD. Recreational users of marijuana often take advantage of the THC chemical, which is the one that gets you stoned. CBD, while not the ingredient that gets you high, offers a different set of benefits; it’s been shown in studies to have anti-inflammatory and painrelieving qualities, among others. Different vari18 • MAINE SENIORS

eties of cannabis provide different amounts of THC and CBD. Hemp is a type of cannabis that contains little to no THC, but a lot of CBD. Because it doesn’t get you high, the government restricts it way less than “classic” marijuana. Despite how relatively unrestricted CBD is, in order to draw on its countless benefits, you still need a way to buy and use it.

That’s where Highbrow comes in.

Highbrow is a brand of CBD products that aims to be as helpful and transparent as possible. From maintaining a steady relationship with a reliable farmer, to refinement, to retail sales, Highbrow is vertically-integrated. That means they take care of their own production, and are involved at every step of the process. They even plan to start growing their own hemp in the near future.

Highbrow’s wide variety of products are made from a CBD isolate that contains 0% THC, which

PHOTO: ADOBESTOCK / ROMOLO TAVANI

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We are located in beautiful, rural Downeast Maine and we have expanded our Orthopedic Team.

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To make an appointment, call 207-255-0404.

11 Hospital Drive Machias, ME 04654 207-255-3356 • dech.org

means they shouldn’t get you high. They can help with any number of ailments, from muscle aches, to tremors, to just general stress. Currently, their offerings include rubs and creams to sooth muscle pain, bath bombs and soap for skin health, and tinctures and candies for all-around relaxation. They also make every product themselves (with the exception of their edibles, which are made by Pot & Pan Kitchen, a commercially-licensed kitchen in Portland).

Highbrow has stores in Manchester, Topsham, and Waldoboro, but aims to have more branches, like one in Rockland, which should open in early 2020. They’re open every day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., but even if you can’t make it in person, they can ship their products to you. For more information, visit highbrowmaine.com.

As more and more seniors begin to realize how much CBD can help them, the demand for Highbrow’s products grows. Don’t be the last to take advantage of this exciting new health option!

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JANUARY 2020 • 19

FO R T H E

Love of His Wife

by Kendra Caruso

S

Left: King sits in front of a window December 4 in his new Belfast shop while he gets ready for its opening Opposite page: Large jars of marijuana buds sit in King’s new shop December 4 above Nautilus along the Harbor Walk in Belfast 20 • MAINE SENIORS

PHOTOS: KENDRA CARUSO

itting in King Bishop’s windowless lab, the air is fresh with the earthy aroma of marijuana. There are no plants allowed in the room; it’s only a place for extracting cannabis oil from cleaned parts of the plant.

His son, who shares the same name, makes his edible candies in the lab with the extracted oil, using an assortment of thermostats and pots over the stove.

King always imagined he would retire from building and selling mobile homes. When the housing market crashed in 2008, he went from building 20 homes a year to building none. And to top it off, his wife developed a serious medical issue that left her on debilitating pain medications. He would soon find the answer to both of these issues in growing medical marijuana, a substance which he had given up 15 years earlier, when he became active in a local church.

“There’s a purpose for it,” he said.

“I think it’s a medical purpose. But I don’t want to rule out the recreational user, because I believe that it provides great mental health and wellness.

And it’s far safer for us to medicate or

self-medicate with cannabis than to be self-medicating with alcohol.

We’ve seen the harm alcohol causes in this country. We don’t see that coming from cannabis.”

He started growing the plant when his wife got a legal medical marijuana card. It was not until he talked to someone at the Common Ground Fair that he thought about becoming a caregiver: someone licensed to grow medical marijuana for a number of patients. He originally thought all patients grew for themselves.

“I didn’t know that there were licensed caregivers that could do that for the patient,” King said. “That could be turned into a career. And I was at a point in my life where I was looking for a new career.”

As marijuana eased his wife’s pain and introduced him to his new career, not all of his friends embraced this

As marijuana eased his wife’s pain and introduced him to his new career, not all of his friends embraced this new calling. new calling, especially not the church.

Many people he knew through the church stopped talking to him. But he holds no ill will for the people who did not accept his new career and ended their friendship over it.

Becoming a caregiver sparked his political activism. He wanted to broaden its availability to people who suffer multiple pain afflictions. Sitting on a metal stool, he talks passionately about how the substance has improved the quality of life for many of his patients, including his wife. He knows of people who use it to combat their substance abuse.

“The oil that we extract is very

effective for people that are on opiates,” he said. “I have numerous friends who have opened their homes as caregivers to those with opiate addiction, allowing them to live with them while they’re treated with cannabis.”

Not replacing the earth’s nutrients Miracle-Gro has no place in King’s plants. There are no chemical enhancements in the soil he uses. He tries to stick to the best organic guidelines and grows most of his crop outside. The idea of growing plants under lights doesn’t sit well with him. He thinks JANUARY 2020 • 21

22 • MAINE SENIORS

plants are best nourished by the sun.

“I’m not a big indoor guy,” he said. “I’m not going to try to replace the earth’s nutrients.

And I’m not going to try to replace the sun and grow it indoors. I think growing cannabis indoors is bad for our carbon footprint.”

Walking through his Morrill facility, which used to be a rope factory, there are several small rooms connected to one long hallway where he conducts small grow operations. It is a fairly large facility for only two people to operate. State regulations only allow caregivers to hire one employee. To get around having limited assistance, he invented his own machine called the “bud tugger,” which trims buds from the stalk. This compresses what would take hours of hand trimming with scissors into a task that only takes minutes. Still, there are many limitations on the business side of his operation.

King says he has a hard time banking much

of his money because the federal government has the authority to conduct investigations into grow operations, legal through the state but not under federal law. He thinks banks are afraid of being implicated as accomplices in federal cases against caregivers. “Banking has always been an issue,” King said. “And that’s where part of the problem is. We should be able to bank the cannabis money and the hemp money.

There’s no reason we shouldn’t. But the government is all worried about the black market, so they won’t let us legally bank our money.”

Even supplying growers with manure for their marijuana plants can put people at risk of a federal crime, unbeknownst to King’s neighbor, a police officer who was supplying him with the stuff for a while.

His son has a culinary background and left his career as head chef in a Portland restau-

PHOTOS: KENDRA CARUSO

Above: King’s son, who has the same name as him, gets ready to package his cannabis candies in King’s lab November 23 for delivery to several coastal Maine dispensaries Opposite top: Cannabis oil is separated during a process that looks like the use of a moonshine still Opposite bottom: Alcohol is evaporated in a round glass casing in King’s lab, separating it from pure cannabis oil

JANUARY 2020 • 23

rant to make edible candies with cannabis extract. He acquired his caregiver license through the state and started Candy King. His edibles can be found in shops along up and down Maine’s coast.

“I’m enjoying doing this because it’s different from what I was doing before. If anything, I would want to do something different with the THC and the CBD. It will be interesting to see where the law goes.”

Rustic wood beams and old signs decorate King’s new Belfast shop atop Nautilus, a downtown restaurant. Its large windows overlook the harbor full of boats, docks and moorings. It is a classic Maine scene, where he can 24 • MAINE SENIORS

watch all four seasons unfold and peek at the people whose work or play is impacted by the yearly cycle.

King will have more work once recreational licenses become available in 2020. He hopes to sell recreational marijuana, but is concerned with the wording in the license application, which could violate the holder’s privacy.

“To get this new adult license, you’re going to have to give up your privacy rights – all of them. Even a pharmacist doesn’t have to do that.

The law that the people of Maine voted in was a background check and a fingerprint.” He is concerned the marijuana industry will be subjected to unfair treatment that tobacco and

alcohol license holders do not have to comply with.

For now, King will stock the shelves behind the counter with giant jars of fat marijuana buds. His son’s candies will be arranged under the glass counter with small displays of locally made CBD oil and smoking pipes from vendors who are his friends.

“He already has great support in the community,” King’s son said. “He’s taught a lot of people things. He’s helped a lot of people with their first grows, on how to do things. He’s always the first person to give people advice. I don’t see how people wouldn’t want to come out to the store to see what he’s doing. I do think it’s going to be very successful.

PHOTOS: KENDRA CARUSO

King leans against the counter in his new Belfast shop

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PHOTO: DANIEL DUNKLE

In the Groov

26 • MAINE SENIORS

H

e

VINYL: NOT GONE, NOT FORGOTTEN

by Daniel Dunkle

ymie Gulak doesn’t understand why I’m interested in him. At 71, he’s certainly accomplished, currently working as a high-end business consultant, and having served in the past as an assistant attorney general, a restaurant owner, and a political campaign operative.

But my story is about vinyl, as in records or LPs. Hymie demurs. He’s not a true audiophile, able to name every band or recite the year of release for seminal albums. He’s not a feverish collector, determined to own a specific set, up to and including the point of bootlegs, nor does he see his waxing and waning collection of records as a financial investment.

Many have much larger collections than he, and they are far more worthy of a place in the story.

Then he puts Queen’s Greatest Hits on the turntable, and we sit in his beautifully decorated living room in Harpswell, a room with no television, and we listen. The sound is not the sterile perfection of the digital era.

There are hisses and crackles as the needle drags along the grooves.

Freddie Mercury sings “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The sound is warm, tactile, human.

Hymie keeps the records in long drawers under the counter along one

The records aren’t really organized, so you have to flip through them….Warren Zevon, Bob Seger, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Tom Jones. Most of it dates back to the ’60s and ’70s.

This is what vinyl is all about, and it has survived the test of time. While CD sales are plummeting, revenue from U.S. vinyl sales is reaching its highest peak since 1988, according to The Recording Industry Association of America as reported by TheVinylFactory.com. Dave Hunt, 69, argues that vinyl never went away, even as people turned to cassettes, CDs, and eventually online.

His perspective is somewhat unique, as he has been selling records in Maine since 1976. Stepping into his store, Finestkind Vinyl Haven on Main Street in Brunswick, is like traveling through time. It is a store with wall-to-wall records, hand-printed signs, dusty racks of eight-tracks, and shelves of old turntables.

“Customers are getting more interested in vinyl by the day.” He said the upswing is driven by teenagers, who dig through their parents’ collections, look at the cover art, and say, “Hey, this is pretty cool!”

“There’s a social psychology aspect to it,” he said. “This is something you can hold onto.” The digital music through the internet is convenient,

The upswing is driven by teenagers, who dig through their parents’ collections, look at the cover art, and say, “Hey, this is pretty cool!”

LPs with familiar covers fill the racks at Finestkind in Brunswick.

wall. When he cooks for his guests, he tells them, “Pick out a record and put it on, fix yourself a drink, relax, and listen.”

but it’s less tangible. People want to touch the music, hold it in their hands.

Dave’s shop has the quality of a museum. He can take you through JANUARY 2020 • 27

the history of recording music, picking up items at hand including phonograph cylinders introduced by Thomas Edison. He moves on to talk about the 78 rpm Shellac records that preceded the arrival of the 33 1/3 rpm records and the 45s. Eventually Columbia brought us the LP (long play) format, with 20 minutes of music per side. These arrived

Right: Dave Hunt, owner of Finestkind in Brunswick, will tell you that vinyl never went away.

Far right: Strange Maine record store in Portland.

28 • MAINE SENIORS

around 1948, just in time for the Rock n’ Roll era.

Then came the Ed Sullivan show in 1964 with The Beatles, and Dave was hooked. He said he started out as a long-haired hippie kid fixing radios in his parents’ basement. He mailordered a guitar and learned to play.

His customers today range in age and interest. He sells classic rock

including new reprints of the big albums. Records are still pressed and produced today, though the pressing plants are out-of-state. He also caters to rabid jazz collectors and had, at one point, 8,000 classical recordings.

“The real payback comes when someone cradles that record out the door,” he said.

He plays music out in front of his

PHOTOS: (ABOVE & FAR LEFTDANIEL DUNKLE; (LEFT) BRENDAN EVANS

Finestkind Vinyl Haven offers records to customers of all ages on Main Street in Brunswick.

shop, where there is a little patch of sidewalk. Local high school and Bowdoin College kids will gather out there in good weather, dancing or singing along.

“It’s all very satisfying,” he said.

“It’s not just hipster or retro or nostalgia,” said Brendan Evans, owner of Strange Maine on Congress Street in Portland. Brendan points out that small independent record labels based in Portland put out new vinyl LPs. Obscure artists just breaking into the scene today are putting out their own records. New pressing plants are opening in other parts of the country, and more people are making all-new vinyl albums.

For record-store shoppers, vinyl means deliberately picking out what you plan to listen to, rather than leaving it up to an algorithm on a website. “People who have their music on their phones or computers sometimes don’t even know what they are listening to,” he said.

His shop sells mostly Top 40 rock from the 1960s to the 1980s. He agrees that listeners are turning back to vinyl because they want something they can hold in their hands, a physical medium. “It’s that experience, looking at the artwork, the liner notes, putting the needle down, choosing a favorite song,” he said.

He continues, saying those songs were always intended to be listened to on vinyl. There was nothing else when many of the classics were recorded. “They were recorded with analog technology, pressed with analog technology. That’s the way it sounds best.”

Freddie Mercury may have agreed with the turntable aficionados. Analog exists in real life, whereas digital is just fantasy.

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A

plaque memorializing Saco veterans is back in its rightful place after a decades-long disappearance. The plaque was originally installed on Nov. 11, 1953, on a fence near the tennis courts at the city’s Memorial Field recreation area to honor all Saco residents who served in the armed forces.

Stories vary — some say the plaque was set aside on the ground while the fence was being replaced in the 1970s and was lifted off the ground and stolen. Others say vandals pried the sign off the fence. One thing is for certain: more than 40 years ago, the plaque disappeared.

Over time, the plaque became a distant memory to many, but it was on 30 • MAINE SENIORS

the mind of one Connecticut man, Ron Kendall, now 63 and a retired prison guard and postal worker. He began frequenting a local watering hole in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in the early 1990s after he and his wife, Mary, moved to the town.

As he sat at the bar and socialized with friends, he couldn’t help but notice hanging on the wall a plaque from Saco, Maine, honoring veterans.

It seemed a strange thing to see in a bar in Connecticut.

“We’re in the bar and I’m like: ‘Why is this thing here?’” said Ron. He was told that a local softball team stole the sign from a recreation field after a game in Maine and brought it back home. This didn’t sit well with Ron,

by Liz Gotthelf

who served in the Air Force from 1974 to 1978 as a Senior Airman E-4.

He said, “We’ve got to get this back where it belongs.” He spoke to the owner of the bar several times about returning the sign to its rightful place, but the owner wouldn’t relinquish it.

Despite Ron’s relentlessness, the pub owner wouldn’t budge.

“If I weren’t a veteran, maybe I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Probably just being a veteran is why it bothered me so much,” he said.

Fast forward to early this year. The local pub in Wethersfield, Connecticut, is under new ownership. Ron made the same old pitch, but this time, it didn’t fall on deaf ears. The

PHOTO: LIZ GOTTHELF

Saco Veteran’s Plaque

new owner agreed with him that the plaque needed to go back to its origin in Saco, Maine.

Ron contacted Saco city officials and told them the story. He enlisted his friend and fellow veteran Marty Feery to take the nearly 200-mile trip to the Maine city in late January to return the plaque.

Once in Saco, the two received a hero’s welcome from city staff, who were grateful for their thoughtfulness.

“They really treated us well,” said Ron. He and Marty like to sport their official Saco sweatshirts given to them by city officials as a gesture of gratitude.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department had the sign professionally cleaned and restored. It’s been put back on Memorial Field, except this time, instead of being placed on a fence, it’s been embedded in a large piece of solid granite. Transporting the plaque now would take a Herculean effort.

“That is staying there. That is not moving,” said Parks and Recreation Director Ryan Sommer.

The plaque is now in a place of prominence, in a newly landscaped area in front of the park. Next to the plaque is a flagpole with solar light and nearby is a new gazebo with a picnic table. Sommer said he hopes people will use the area as a place to take a moment of reflection and to remember that freedom isn’t free.

Sommer, who took on the position of recreation director in 2018, was unaware of the plaque’s original existence in the field. So were many other city staff members.

“It’s amazing that someone who’s not from Saco would have that kind of passion to get this returned,” he said.

“It’s a wonderful thing to have it back.”

Ron and his wife took a trip to Saco

in November to see the plaque on display in its new home in Memorial Field. Both were a bit taken aback when they first set eyes on the newly restored memorial sign. “I said to myself, ‘Wow, try to hold it together,’” said Ron. “It looks gorgeous now.

They did a nice job. I was just thrilled when I saw it.”

Kendall said he’s spoken to the COMFORT

QUALITY

present owner of the bar, who is glad to see the plaque back at its original location. He’s also spoken to those who stole the sign decades ago, and said, “They’ve all matured now.”

Kendall took several pictures of the plaque on his recent visit. He said he would like to see a photograph of the restored sign on the wall of the bar in Wethersfield.

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32 • MAINE SENIORS

Oh, Those Cars!

MAINE CLASSIC CAR MUSEUM Story and photos by Buddy Doyle

T

he Maine Classic Car Museum in Arundel is to the automobile as The Louvre in Paris is to fine art, as Dom Perignon is to champagne – and its collection of classic cars truly deserves a toast.

Visitors arriving at the museum are met with a brick courtyard featuring (in favorable weather) a small sampling of cars. The courtyard opens into a spacious 10,000 square foot showroom. The entire collection is the property of Miles Prentice III, who partnered with Tim Stentiford and Tom Marshall of Motorland on Route 1 in Arundel. Only about a third of the entire collection of 175 automobiles can fit at a time, with cars occasionally rotating.

Almost all of the cars have a story behind them. A very rare 1948 Tucker, the “car of the future,” was the subject of the 1988 film starring Jeff Bridges.

The Tucker on display is the very one that also starred in the original filmed commercial, which plays on a continuous loop on a vintage TV set next to the car.

Next to Jack Benny’s impeccably restored Packard sits an open touring car that once belonged to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This automobile has a fascinating detail: the inside rear door conceals a leather holster for weapons belonging to the Secret Service detail assigned to the President. Be sure to check this out!

Maine Classic Car Museum curator

Karen Sigler is clearly proud to oversee this superb, world-class exhibit. Her enthusiasm is tangible.

She makes a deliberate point of stressing the significance of the museum’s educational quality. What visitors see is one thing, but what they learn – and take away – is quite another.

Museum co-director Bob Randall, the museum’s “docent,” leads visitors through the exhibits with unmatched mechanical authority. Bob fondly recalls dismantling his first car at age 12, and putting it all back together.

That’s not only a mechanical skill and Yankee ingenuity; it’s passion. Bob has spent his entire career in automotive technology, and this lifetime of experience shows.

Working with Karen is the museum’s assistant manager, Spencer Thiboutot, a font of information about virtually every car, and a proud army veteran.

The museum has recently opened, but already has a slate of activities planned. In addition to educational school tours, the site will be made available for weddings, and private and corporate gatherings for the community.

There are other automotive exhibits to see, but this is one not to miss. Visit the Maine Classic Car Museum from Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Once again, start your engines — and see it soon!

JANUARY 2020 • 33

PART TWO OF AN INTIMATE INTERVIEW WITH ONE OF MAINE’S GREAT TALENTS.

by Mary Frances Barstow

34 • MAINE SENIORS

Editor’s note: In the first installment of this interview, we incorrectly spelled Peter Yarrow’s last name as “Yarborough.” We apologize for this mistake.

What did it feel like to be a kid in high school in Michigan, then to suddenly have all this fame?

It was weird. It was unsettling, unnerving, and made me feel very entitled. You can never be innocent again.

But when you feel that you’ve been reinvested with love, it’s like starting over again. I mean, that’s what being “born again” is. So, to have the veil taken from your eyes and you go “whoa, I see! I’ve been really stupid!” and then to live your life accordingly there on out, it’s really just a second chance.

You had a number of hits, like “The Wedding Song.” What can you tell me about writing that?

I asked a very good question. I said (to God) “How would You manifest Yourself at Peter Yarrow’s wedding?”

It was capital Y, you understand. And the lyrics came. That was one where the lyrics and the melody arrived at the same time.

PHOTO: JASON PAIGE SMITH

How many years was the trio (of Peter, Paul, and Mary) together?

Well, we started in ‘60. So, you know, it’s been 59 years since then. We abused ourselves in the first ten years.

I mean, you would not believe. We were either on the road, doing an album, or TV shows, like 360 days a year.

You started in ‘60, and the Beatles had a world tour in ‘64.

What did you think about that?

I loved the Beatles. I didn’t really

“I really liked the Beatles, and then James Taylor broke through and began to expand the concept of folk attitude, musically...

And then, I really like Bruno Mars.” pay them any attention until I heard “Please Please Me.” Their choice of subject material was brilliant. And Paul McCartney’s melodies were just outstanding. We did get a chance to meet, but I was so tongue-tied! This was during the making of Hard Day’s Night. That was a brilliant time in their career. We actually met them on the set, and then they came for a photo op. You’ve probably seen the poster picture with Ed Sullivan, the Beatles, and us.

Are there any other artists or styles of music you enjoy?

Like I said, I really liked the Beatles, and then James Taylor broke through and began to expand the concept of folk attitude, musically. Every once in a while I celebrate when pop music goes back to its essence again. Like, I celebrated punk. Had trouble with heavy metal. And then, I really like Bruno Mars.

It must have been hard for you when Mary passed.

Yeah, 2009. Ten years ago. She was able to extract three more years from doing a bone marrow transplant, and never did die of the leukemia, but she did die of the complications. And Peter and I still work together. Matter of fact, we’re working in a couple of weeks down in South Orange, then in Plymouth, Massachusetts. We’ll do a

half-dozen events a year. I think the handwriting’s on the wall, though. It’s getting harder to travel.

Is retirement on your radar?

The criterion so far has been “am I still writing?” If I’m writing, then I need a venue or a platform to deliver the words and the songs. And as long as people are enjoying them, then I’ll continue to do them. But I won’t do a 30-day tour.

Let’s shift gears to talk about you, personally. When did you meet your wife?

High school. She was a year behind me, and I think we had a double date together, but I never dated her. I had high visibility because of the Birds of Paradise, so she knew about me, and she liked my cartooning, but then I went to Michigan State, and she went to Columbia. Then we happened to meet at the subway in NYC, randomly in a city of six million people….

I said “Betty?” She said “Noel Stookey?” And her date said “you know, we really should be getting on….” So, I accompanied her and her date to the Half Note Club. We caught up a little bit, then we said goodbye, but I knew we would get together after that. But I didn’t really think we were gonna get married until a year later.

She went away to France, came back, and then we started dating seriously.

JANUARY 2020 • 35

Before that, she was living in Boston, while I was commuting from Greenwich Village up to Club 47, which is a folk club in the Boston area.

While she was in Europe, Peter, Paul, and Mary happened. I mean, within a year. By the time Betty came back, we were performing in the O’Keefe Center in Toronto to 2000, 3000 people at a time. Astounding numbers in those days.

Is there anybody you would like to sing with?

Yeah! Matter of fact, I got a chance to sing harmony with Theresa Thomason. She’s a blues singer. I know that Paul Winter has been hosting winter solstice celebrations at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City for over 20 years. I’ve never attended it, but this year he invited me to participate, and one of the

other performers was Theresa. So that’s probably the most exciting, most challenging opportunity I have had in the past 10 years, to sing with her. She’s a powerhouse.

And of all the instruments at my disposal, my voice is the one I’m most comfortable with. I mean, I’m not a good guitarist. I give the appearance of being a good guitarist by virtue of spending that 10,000 hours that Malcolm Gladwell talks about.

I don’t know what can be heard anymore, but I know that if a piece of music can be seen, it stands a better chance. Everything’s YouTube now.

Everything’s visual. That’s the new radio station. The old radio station’s been cut up into thousands of radio stations, and you can only get so much air play. Unless you do something drastic like put a nail through your head. Or, you know, be garish.

“We drove into downtown Blue Hill, and there was a quintessential New England town. Without knowing anybody, we said ‘this is the place.’”

Loud. Preposterous. That’s why I think so much has turned dark in our culture. Because it’s the way of getting noticed.

How did you pick Maine?

My encounter with God in 1970 was really important. It refocused me on my family, and what the day-today of life ought to be. And that’s when Betty and I started talking about moving to the country, ‘cause we were living in the suburbs of New York.

As part of the process of re-learning what life really should be about, we read The Good Life, by Helen and Scott Nearing. We thought, “They’re in Maine. Let’s go look in Maine!” We had tried New Hampshire a little bit. We had a place in Lyndeborough (New Hampshire), near Wilton.

Yeah, and matter of fact my good friend was in Lyndeborough, so we checked that out. We liked the country, but we didn’t like New Hampshire all that much. So when we visited Gordon Bok (a musician, and friend of Noel’s) up here in Maine, he said “oh, yeah, there are still places here but you won’t find anything here in Camden or south of here.” He said

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR NOEL’S NEW BOOK!

“My life really is kind of in four parts. Growing up, coming to Greenwich Village, Peter, Paul, and Mary, and then post-Peter, Paul, and Mary.”

36 • MAINE SENIORS

PHOTO: SALLY FARR

“It’s in process! I just got reflective about my life. I decided that my book would be nice if it had a “time machine” at the top of every chapter. There’s my voice, then there’s the author’s voice, with insets of my responses in some instances.

At the end of the chapter there’s one of the songs that’s very reflective of that period of time. Then, every six chapters, there’s a Q&A about the stuff that didn’t get covered in the previous six chapters.

“just go north and check out the water.” So we drove down every inlet, from Eastport, all the way down through Corea and Hancock. Then we drove into downtown Blue Hill, and there was a quintessential New England town. Without knowing anybody, we said “this is the place.”

And even if we had doubted it, when we got back to New York and started looking actively through all the real estate ads, up came an ad for Blue Hill. And you know how when something happens, and then suddenly it’s in your mind and suddenly it’s in this magazine, it’s everywhere. So we sent for the pictures, and when we got the pictures back we thought “we saw this place!” It was a four-story henhouse across the street from the ocean. 27 acres for $27,000.

In 1973, we bought it and moved into a house close to town. Betty went immediately to work to try to find a nursery school for our daughters, and for the other kids in the neighborhood. I did my first benefit concert in Blue Hill to raise money for the nursery school. At the end of the concert, I’m packing up. Everybody else has left, but the man who built my house, who happened to live next door to it is standing there, watching me pack up the guitar. And I figured, you know, he’s bound to say “enjoyed your show” or whatever, something like that. But he didn’t say anything.

The guitar case gets closed up. I’m heading off, and finally he says “Yup. There’s a lot worse ways to get to know your neighbors.”

And it took me a while to figure out that that was a compliment. That I had made the right choice. It’s a “prove yourself” culture, and there ain’t nothing bad about that.

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U S S S E Q U O IA

Lands in Belfast

Story & photos by Fran Gonzalez

T

he USS Sequoia, a historic presidential yacht, cruised into Belfast Harbor on top of a barge the afternoon of Oct. 21, 2019, in preparation for a complete stern-to-bow restoration.

A tugboat gently “pushed” the barge into place over the course of several hours and when the ship glided past the rock wall, throngs of onlookers broke into cheers. The yacht was secured to a steel beam platform with large wheels. Once the steel ramps were unloaded with the aid of a large crane, the Sequoia was pulled off the barge and onto dry land.

In darkness at 6:30 p.m., the yacht was still being moved. According to Belmont Boatworks owner Dan Miller, the crew wrapped up around 11 p.m. after landing the yacht and leaving it in the Nautilus parking lot. His team was out first thing Tuesday morning, ready to move the boat a few hundred feet to an area behind the French & Webb building on Front Street.

A source at French & Webb, the Belfast boat builders who won the bid for the project, told The Republican Journal they anticipate the job will

38 • MAINE SENIORS

The 94-year-old USS Sequoia at the Belfast boat launch Oct. 21. Designed by John Trumpy, famous wooden-yacht designer, the ship was launched in 1925.

JANUARY 2020 • 39

Above: A crowd converges at the Belfast boat launch to see the barge transporting the USS Sequoia arrive in Belfast Oct. 21. French & Webb will do a complete restoration, anticipated to take four years.

Right: Members of Belfast Area High School band prepare to play for the crowd at the arrival of the USS Sequoia Oct. 21.

PHOTOS: FRAN GONZALEZ

Opposite page: A 70-ton crane with a 127-foot reach unloads heavy steel ramps in preparation to unload the USS Sequoia Oct. 21 at the Belfast boat launch.

40 • MAINE SENIORS

The U.S. Bureau of Navigation purchased Sequoia and used her to patrol the Chesapeake and Delaware bays as a decoy vessel to attract would-be bootleggers.

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take about four years to complete, saying they are replacing “almost everything.�

An area behind the French & Webb building on Front Street will be the Sequoia’s new home for the next several years, with a clear enclosure planned to allow the public to see the work being performed.

After a six-year legal battle over ownership, the 94-year-old yacht will have extensive work done. It has fallen into disrepair over the years. A 2016 dailymail. co.uk article noted that the 104-foot Sequoia was overrun with “raccoons and trash as it rusts away in a dockyard in Deltaville, Virginia.� Michael Cantor, managing partner of Equator Capital Group, which owns the ship, said in a press release, “This past weekend, we began carefully transporting the Sequoia by barge from Cambridge, Maryland, to Belfast, Maine, where a team of talented boat builders and craftsmen will restore it plank by plank.�

The yacht traveled up the Chesapeake Bay, around Cape May at the southern tip of New Jersey, past the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, and on to the New England coast before reaching Belfast.

The U.S. Bureau of Navigation purchased the Sequoia in 1931 and used her to patrol the Chesapeake and Delaware bays as a decoy vessel to attract would-be bootleg-

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Above: The Sequoia, on a steel platform with wheels, about ready to roll off the barge transporting it Oct. 21.

42 • MAINE SENIORS

gers. President Herbert Hoover brought the yacht into presidential service later that year and used it for meetings and pleasure cruises.

The Sequoia has served every president from Hoover to Ford as a “floating White House” and relaxing retreat. President Kennedy celebrated his 46th and final birthday

PHOTO: FRAN GONZALEZ

Top: Front Street Shipyard helped guide the large barge with the recently completed futuristic-looking Navatek boat Oct. 21. The 94-year-old presidential yacht, the USS Sequoia, will have extensive work done by French & Webb and they anticipate the job will take about four years to complete.

party on the Sequoia. President Nixon held a summit with Soviet General Secretary Brezhnev and decided to resign the presidency while on the yacht. President Eisenhower developed his “New Look” defensive policy there, and President Johnson lobbied for civil rights legislation and made decisions about escalating the Vietnam War while aboard.

After 46 years of government service, the Sequoia was sold at auction under orders from President Jimmy Carter.

Michael Cantor said that once restored, the Sequoia will head back to Washington, D.C., where “she will serve as a venue to teach presidential history and promote conservation and ocean causes.”

French & Webb said they beat out several bids for the job and it has taken over a year of hard work to secure. The company anticipates hiring more technical people to complete the work.

GOING STRONG

PHOTO: JASON PAIGE SMITH

by Jason Paige Smith

NATALIE TERRY, 95, of Waterville, is gearing up for her 51st consecutive year of teaching skiing lessons at Sugarloaf Ski Resort. Natalie began her career 50 years ago, a milestone for which the resort created a commemorative pin which she wears with pride. They had to create the pin for her because it didn’t exist­—no one has ever reached this milestone at Sugarloaf.

Natalie, a Level III Certified Instructor with the Professional Ski Instructors of America, has been recognized by SKI Magazine as one of the “Top 100 Most Effective Ski Teachers in North America.”

She has received multiple awards, and been inducted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

Natalie has been known to teach seven days a week throughout the season. She regularly receives the highest number of requested private and group lessons of any staff member at Sugarloaf, to the point that each year, the second-most requested instructor receives an award named “the Natalie Terry Award.”

Natalie jokes “I’m safer and happier on skis than I am walking.”

JANUARY 2020 • 43

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A DEEP RESPECT AND PASSION FOR BOATS

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he Maine Boatbuilders Show is a home to any who love boats and want to share that love with others. For 34 years, Portland Yacht Services has opened its doors to everyone passionate for the art and craft of boats. The show brings together real equipment, real boats, and real “boat people” in a three-day celebration of quality, joy, and commitment to the craft. It focuses on bringing the maritime industry

together, and preparing for the upcoming boating season. The exhibits are hosted by both graying experts and fresh, next generation.

The show’s aisles are a meeting place of the passionate in the industry. Boaters and buyers alike can pose questions to experts, purchase custom-made watercraft, or simply meet with exhibitors and lecturers to satisfy their curiosity. By combining in-depth discussions and

sharing of opinions with the reveal of new gadgets, paints, or engines, the Maine Boatbuilders Show sets the tone for the new season each year.

Old friends meet, and new friends are made, as the lines between attendee and exhibitor fade. People come together to contemplate their boats and upcoming adventures, make commitments, share challenges, and make purchases. The show makes it its mission to foster JANUARY 2020 • 47

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the passion in the younger generation, and to offer clear career paths and encouragement to sharp youngsters who are developing their skills.

Boats are complicated blends of art and technology. Modern yachts almost seem like spaceships when compared to previous-generation boats. The addition of new, complex technology has made it harder for an owner or captain to be self-sufficient.

The development of new technology has created significant ser vice industry opportunities for the next generation in boating.

But all is not lost for the old guard!

As long as you can boat from Christmas Cove to East Boothbay faster than you can drive a car, the marine industry will be well-represented, and a safe career opportunity for the next generation!

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THE YANKEE CHEF

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THE BOUNTIES OF THE PRODUCE AISLE OR FROM YOUR GARDEN THAN BY MAKING YOUR OWN VERSION OF ALL-FRUIT? THESE DELICIOUSLY SWEET SPREADABLES ARE INTENSELY FRUITY, AND LACK THE CITRIC

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For each dish, purée all ingredients in a food processor or blender until as chunky or smooth as desired.

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ACID, LEMON JUICE, OR SUGAR OFTEN ADDED TO STOREBOUGHT JAMS AND JELLIES.

by Jim Bailey

Blackberry All-Fruit 2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, thawed 1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed 2 Tbsp No Sugar Needed Pectin (half of a 1.75 oz package) Note: Whatever their reasons, many people cannot tolerate seeds. There’s really no surefire way to take them out of this, except to run it through a strainer after boiling. By doing so, you remove the bulk of the berry as well, giving you more of a jelly than an All-Fruit. Still, that’s not such a bad thing either!

50 • MAINE SENIORS

Mango All-Fruit

2 cups chopped mangoes (about 2 small mangoes) 6 Tbsp mango nectar or juice 2 Tbsp No Sugar Needed Pectin (half of a 1.75 oz package) Strawberry All-Fruit 2 cups chopped strawberries 6 Tbsp frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed 2 Tbsp No Sugar Needed Pectin (half of a 1.75 oz package) Blueberry All-Fruit 2 cups frozen blueberries, thawed 1/4 cup dried cranberries Note: this one does not use pectin Peach All-Fruit Use any blend of juice with peaches, as long as it is 100% juice 2 cups chopped, fresh peaches (about 4 peaches) 6 Tbsp peach nectar or juice 2 Tbsp No Sugar Needed Pectin (half of a 1.75 oz package)

PHOTOS: COURTESY THE YANKEE CHEF

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IN THE GARDEN

F

or good luck and prosperity in the new year, we eat 12 grapes, one TO ALL THINGS, AND for each stroke until midnight is A RESOLUTION FOR tolled. Our first words of the first day OUR TIMES of the New Year are “rabbit, rabbit.”

by Lynette L. Walther We take note of the first bird sighted on January 1st, as its behavior will predict the coming year. We note that the first person to walk through our front door and all the rooms in the house should be a tall, dark-haired male. We enjoy black-eyed peas and greens for prosperity and more.

All are New Year traditions, but this year it is important to initiate a

THERE IS A SEASON

52 • MAINE SENIORS

new one. We can begin to take control of at least a tiny part of our future by doing our part to lessen climate change.

And how do we do that? We’ve seen how nations often cannot even decide how to approach this issue, but we also know that grassroots efforts often produce some of the best results. That’s where “we” come into the picture. Each one of us can make an important impact. We just want to help ensure that it is a positive one.

Of course, one of the most influen-

PHOTOS: LYNETTE L. WALTHER

Rabbit, rabbit

tial and effective ways we can combat climate change is by our vote. We should put in power those whom we know will strive to turn the tide. But individuals throughout history have rallied when a crisis looms by doing their own part. Think of the victory gardens of World War II, when some 20 million of them produced fruits and vegetables during a food crisis.

Today the Green America (greenamerica.org) has geared up to promote “Climate Victory Gardens” to encourage us all to do our part in lowering our carbon “footprints” and Left: “Rabbit, rabbit,” the first words spoken in the New Year, represent one of many traditions to promote a happy and fruitful year to come.

Below: A little corner of the back yard is fenced in to serve as a compost area.

Kitchen scraps and yard waste are kept out of landfills and put back into the landscape from which they came to provide essential nutrients. It’s just one of several ways we can begin to take control of climate change.

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Just as Americans did their part in World War II with victory gardens, we can do ours in the fight against climate change.

54 • MAINE SENIORS

lessening our impact on the planet.

Certainly, buying locally-grown foods and products is one method. But one of the best things anyone can do is to grow more of their own food.

Look at it this way: corporate agriculture gobbles up enormous resources and often includes environment-damaging chemicals.

Harvesting and transporting those products hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles eats up even more precious resources.

Not only will your choice be impacting our environment, but it could also improve your health.

Concerns are increasing about agri-

cultural chemicals and geneticallymodified crops. Many more people are discovering that growing their own food can eliminate those concerns when best practices are used.

While we are working those gardens, by adding compost made with those items that might have otherwise gone into a landfill, we are improving the soil itself. Healthier soil produces healthier food. It becomes one of those “gifts that keeps on giving.” A garden can be anything from an in-ground expanse or series of raised beds, to a collection of large pots that can produce an amazing

PHOTO: LYNETTE L. WALTHER

IN THE GARDEN

Left: Growing more of your own food is a revolutionary way to do your part to take control of climate change.

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amount of fresh greens, herbs and vegetables — not to mention tomatoes in the summer.

A few berry bushes (even grown in a container if space is an issue) and a fruit tree or two can yield delicious crops. And I have to admit, there is nothing as tasty, as convenient, as being able to walk out the door and harvest a handful of herbs and a head of leaf lettuce or several stalks of kale to whip into a true gourmet dinner.

When planning a Climate Victory Garden, don’t forget to include the flowers. Blooms not only attract beneficial insects; they also help to bring in pollinators for better crop yields. Get the free “Bee Smart” app, which gives you a comprehensive guide to selecting plants for pollinators specific to this area. You’ll not only be helping your own garden, but you will be helping to create a better environment for essential insect pollinators. (https://www.pollinator.org/ bee-smart-app) Just as Americans did their part in World War II with victory gardens, we can do ours in the fight against climate change. Globally, agriculture accounts for 11 percent of greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

Green America has created a “Climate Victory Garden” map to pinpoint these gardens across the country, and hundreds are already listed. Now you can add your garden to the list. (https://www.greenamerica.org/food-climate/climate-

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victory-gardens/add-your-climatevictory-garden-map-1) and what a better way to start a new year than to pledge to make our world a better one.

Here’s wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous new year — and one filled with a bounty of fresh food, berries and fruits you’ve grown yourself.

Lynette L. Walther is the 2019 GardenComm Gold Award winner for writing and a four-time recipient of the GardenComm Silver Award of Achievement, the National Garden Bureau’s Exemplary Journalism Award. Her gardens are in Camden, Maine.

JANUARY 2020 • 55

SENIORS NOT ACTING THEIR AGE

SERENDIPITOUS ESCAPADES

on Norumbega Mountain

O

n the first full day of the Penobscot Paddle and Chowder Society fall outdoor weekend on Mount Desert Island, I was scheduled to lead a bike trip on the Carriage Trails. The problem was rain, fog, and wind. No one was interested in biking in those conditions except one truculent hold out - me.

Someone mentioned a short hike instead. Concerned with the prospect of losing a day playing in paradise and the realization that our remaining time on planet earth was fleeting, a group of us old folks responded with 56 • MAINE SENIORS

guarded enthusiasm. Another wannabee hiker suggested Norumbega Mountain. An epiphany‌none of us had climbed it in years. A new plan was in place.

How Norumbega Mountain acquired its unusual name piqued my interest. According to Steve Pinkham in his book, Mountains of Maine: Intriguing Stories Behind Their Names, Norumbega was a mythological city of gold sought by early European explorers and reputed to be situated near what is now Down East Maine. While Norumbega was origi-

PHOTOS: COURTESY RON CHASE

by Ron Chase

nally called Brown’s Mountain, George Dorr, known as the father of Acadia National Park, changed its name to honor the fabled location.

The first time I hiked Norumbega was about thirty-five years ago with my wife Nancy and our two young sons. The boys were quite small and a brief, uncomplicated hike seemed preferable. What we didn’t anticipate was a Columbus Day weekend snow squall at the summit. Wearing low cut hiking shoes, our feet were soaked by the heavy wet snow. Determined to make lemonade out of a lemon, we

built a snowman and engaged in a spirited snowball fight.

While I’d returned to Norumbega a couple of times since, my recollection was sufficiently obscured, so the trek was almost new except the expectation of encountering snow at high elevations. At my age, even week-old memories are often murky. Six of us met at a trailhead for Goat Trail on Route 3, just north of Upper Hadlock Pond. An ancient group, our median age qualified us for full Social Security benefits. The good news was that rain had diminished. However, a

“We’re too old for injuries; no time for recovery.”

Left: Hikers ascend Goat Trail on Norumbega Mountain Above: Hikers approach the summit of Norumbega Mountain JANUARY 2020 • 57

Top: Hikers explore the summit of Norumbega Mountain in fog, mist and clouds.

Above: Hikers arrive at the southern terminus of Lower Hadlock Pond for a second time on a recent Norumbega Mountain hike 58 • MAINE SENIORS

gloomy day of light precipitation, fog, and wind was the prospect.

Whoever named Goat Trail clearly had mountain goats in mind. Climbing steeply for .6 miles to the 832-foot summit, slippery rocks and several precipitous ledge scrambles made for mildly treacherous conditions, necessitating caution. A recurring conversation among my senior friends during outdoor activities was, “We’re too old for injuries; no time for recovery.”

A surprise for me: no snow on the summit! Fog impeded views of Somes Sound below in the west and the surrounding peaks of Acadia National Park were shrouded in clouds. Stormy

PHOTOS: COURTESY RON CHASE

HIKING IN MAINE

conditions have their own peculiar allure in the mountains. Exploring the huge unusual boulders dominating the crest, amidst swirling clouds, mist and fog, provided unique exhilarating entertainment.

Our itinerary was rather confusing, and our group of seniors managed to make it mystifying. We completed an unexpected circumnavigation of Lower Hadlock Pond. We had acquired what a group of us who hiked in the Alps several years ago termed “free mileage.” Our excursion

Author of “The Great Mars Hill Bank Robbery” and “Mountains for Mortals – New England,” Ron Chase resides in Topsham. Visit his website at www.ronchaseoutdoors. com or he can be reached at ronchaseoutdoors@comcast.net.

had evolved from a 3-mile loop to a 5-mile double loop.

In retrospect, I’m still not sure of the cause. Perhaps the continuous lively conversation was a distraction.

We elderly trekkers occasionally talk about something besides our countless health issues, but not usually. Or maybe we were thoroughly lost in the

outdoor moment.

There are no bad days in paradise.

Filling them with exciting adventures seemed a prerequisite. Rain-free after completing our extended journey, several of us finished the day with a bike ride on the Carriage Trails. Sea kayaking was scheduled for the following day.

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59

FEATURED RECIPES

Low-Carb Chicken �� Two

by Mary Frances Barstow

60 • MAINE SENIORS

1 Boneless, skinless chicken breast, split and pounded thin 2 Tbsp of light olive oil 2 cups fresh spinach leaves 2 beaten eggs 2 large slices of mozzarella cheese 2 lemons

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2 Tbsp of heavy cream

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PHOTO: MARY FRANCES BARSTOW

Great low carb meal for two.

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ACROSS 1 Brit. Virgin Islands (abbr.)

4 Viking 8 External covering 12 Belonging to (suf.)

13 End (pref.)

14 Mississippi bridge 15 Compass direction 16 Maenad 18 Broad structural basin 20 Water nymph 21 Abdominal (abbr.)

23 Stair post 27 Sp. Instrument 32 Annoy 33 Insect 34 Misrepresent 36 You (Ger.) 37 Hindu month 39 Female noble 41 Bird 43 Eur. Economic Community (abbr.)

44 Trespass for game 48 Gamin

51 55 56 57 58 59 60 61

Puce (2 words) Shoe size “Uncle Remus” rabbit 7th incarnation of Vishnu Cathode-ray tube (abbr.)

Convey Black Kilometers per hour (abbr.)

DOWN 1 Conquer 2 Anatomical duct 3 Limp 4 Off-track betting (abbr.)

5 Compact 6 Razor-billed auk 7 Central points 8 Dive 9 John, Gaelic 10 Banned pesticide 11 Compass direction 17 Chin. Dynasty 19 Dance company (abbr.)

22 Cotillion attendee 24 Jab

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 35 38 40 42 45 46 47 49 50 51 52 53 54

Ancient Gr. City Dregs Heddles of a loom Handle Beak Guido’s note (2 words) Shooting match Equal opportunity employer (abbr.)

Household linen Nat’l Endowment for the Arts (abbr.)

Chin. Pan Rhine tributary Crustacean Blood (pref.)

Amer. Assn. of Retired Persons (abbr.)

Eng. Spa Abate Yorkshire river Race the motor Israelite tribe

Answers on page 61

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JANUARY 2020 • 63

Ad�iceFROM MARY & JIMMY fall in love with you all over again.

JIMMY’S ADVICE: Call 911, Lisa … now.

JIMMY’S ADVICE:

Mary & Jimmy QUESTION: I just turned 59 ½.

I’m considering retiring. I can start taking money from my 401K without penalty. Financially I think I can do this, but my wife refuses to retire with me. She’s 64.

I want to travel and and do other things you can’t do when you’re tied up with work. This is really causing friction between us.

I don’t want to retire and spend my days waiting for her to come home from work, but I am ready to be done! — Harry MARY’S ADVICE: Dear Harry, I think it is lovely that you want to retire with your wife by your side. However, she sounds like she is just not ready to make this move.

Many folks never retire. But what a grand time for you! You certainly should never sit around waiting for her to come home.

Celebrate her choices! Spend your day creating a wonderful meal for her, or spend some time doing day trips and enjoying the sights around you.

We tend to never visit the wonderful sights in our own local area. Enjoy your surroundings, Harry. Make her 64 • MAINE SENIORS

Harry — get a grip! Sure, cook her a nicey-nice meal … and when you’re done, clean the kitchen … Oh, and dig out the vacuum cleaner too, okay?

Don’t forget to clear out the dish washer … and scrub the toilets with that special cleanser.

Oh, and remember her drycleaning in scenic downtown? Afterwards, the windowsills need a good scrubbing and the oven is a holy mess, not to mention taking a trip to Hannaford. And remember, it’s skin-on chicken breasts and the thinsliced pork chops, okay Harry? Thinsliced chops. Don’t forget!

QUESTION: Something strange is going on here and I need to ask somebody about it. My boyfriend of fifteen years knows that I have serious food allergies. We are both 65 and still working. Over the last two weeks he’s been putting regular milk in my cereal. He knows I am lactose intolerant, big time! I get deathly sick from milk.

And then two nights ago he made me a snack and I noticed that he had ground up some peanuts and put them in my pudding. I mentioned it and he went crazy with apologies that he had forgotten that peanuts can kill me. I believe his apology, but I am concerned. — Lisa MARY’S ADVICE: Lisa, I would be very concerned. You should make sure that you do not have anything in the house that could cause you harm. You might consider fixing your own food. Maybe he’s developing some memory issues.

QUESTION: We just returned from a trip to Italy. My husband and I had the time of our lives. We have only been retired two months, so this was a great start to our new life together. While we were in Italy, the incident happened that bothers me. My husband was flirting big time with the maids, who seemed to like his kidding around.

I went down for some breakfast and when I got back to the room, my husband was wrestling with one of the maids on our bed! They said they were wrestling ... and laughed it off, but I was like, “Why are you wrestling with the maid?”

What do you think? I’ve never known my husband to be the wrestling type! — Susan MARY’S ADVICE: Well, Susan, I think it is time for some marriage counseling. You and hubby should talk about this with a third party. I am sure this behavior hurts you. Your feelings need to be vented with a counselor. Good luck to you!

JIMMY’S ADVICE: Yeah, I’ll give you some lengthy counseling, Susan, but first, I have to ask if your husband has any serious food allergies, huh? Talk to Lisa (above) about this. Second, I gotta ask just what exactly do YOU think the ‘wrestling type’ IS that he isn’t? Huh? Third … oh never mind. Dump old Hulk Hogan and move away before your life gets really weird!

Do You Have a Problem? Ask MaryandJimmy@maineseniors magazine.com

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