Portland Monthly Magazine Winterguide 1999 by portlandmonthlymagazine

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Features 11

African-Americans On The Steamship Portland

A population is decimated when it loses ten percent of its members. But when at least 17 African-American Portlanders were lost with the sinking of the Steamship Portland, it didn't simply decimate our city's landmark Abyssinian Church; it wiped it out. In this special report, we begin the effort to learn who these crewmembers and passengers were and what their loss has meant and means today - to our community. Story by Herbert Adams

Interview: Les Otten

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From The Editor Letters Listings House of the Month Homes & Living

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Imagine how you'd feel if you went to DiMillo's and they slapped twin frozen South American langoustes in front of you. Come to think of it, maybe that's why the Red Lobster franchise isn't at the Maine Mall anymore ... So you can imagine how we felt when we visited a coffee shop a while ago and saw a trivia chalkboard over the fireplace. Our expectations were simple: When you

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introduce trivia questions to your business; you're making a contract with your customers to exchange obscure but fastidiously correct facto ids in the interest of gently learning more about the world around us and provoking convivial conversation.

aybe it's the millennium. Maybe it's having a president who refuses to honor his unwritten contract to behave like a gentleman. But whatever it is, I've been thinking about contracts lately. You know, like Chekhov's contract with a reader: If a writer mentions a gun over a

fireplace at the beginning of a story, that gun must be fired before the story's over. Murder mysteries are full of such implied promises. The murderer must be

among the characters introduced as the story unfolds. Noone wants to read a Dick Francis yarn only to learn on the last page that the murderer was a stranger just passing through town. Here's another one: If a Maine restau-

That's the whole point. So when the server gave as the correct answer to the all-too-Ieading (the shop had just opened) question "What does TIPS stand for?" as "to insure proper service," one wag couldn't help but point out, "But then it would be TEPS," because, of course, the word is ENsure. Unacquainted with the true spirit of trivia, the server flicked his langouste antennae and blurted, "But this is how it's known the world over!" So in the future should we expect trivia questions such as, "The sun revolves around what planet?" In such a world, the murderer's a stranger after all. &

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LETTERS

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JohnCalvin Stevens We'r,e writing to thank you for so beautifully capturing what makes our home (40 Park Avenue, Portland, a brick residence and carriage house facing Deering Oaks and designed by architect John Calvin Stevens) unique as you featured it in your November 1998 issue. Your thoughtful descriptions zeroed in on what we love most about this property - its parkside, intown location, hidden garden, and quality design and construction. Thank you for highlighting our home . . m your magazme. Cheri and Ted Musgrave Portland

From Cheverus I just wanted to take a moment and thank you and your staff for the outstanding work that you have done on the Cheverus High School Alumni Pride Series. The concept is one that has caught the eye of several Cheverus High School graduates and sparked the interest of many young men in Greater Portland. Both graphic designer Karyn Jenkins and publisher's assistant Lyndy Maker played crucial roles in the development of the ad and I would appreciate it if you could extend significant pay increases to each. I was quite pleased to hear that our opening ad in the series, featuring Chilean Ambassador John O'Leary, would appear in the" 10 Most Intriguing People in Maine" edition. I was ecstatic to learn that one of those ten people was none other than Chevems's own Ian Crocker! In one edition of your magazine, people were able to see one of our most respected graduates and someone destined to be. Without a doubt, your magazine has "delivered" beyond our expectations, and I look forward to continuing the series into the new year. Be well and safe and continue the fine work you offer the people of Maine. Gregory P. Bishop Admissions Officer Cheverus High School

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While reading about Phyllis Thaxter . in your November 1998 Most Intriguing People issue, I noticed that something wasn't right. I believe you made a mistake concerning the photo included in the write-up on Phyllis Thaxter. The woman in the photo looking at Van Johnson, with Spencer Tracy looking on, is not Phyllis Thaxter but the late Irene Dunne, also a very fine actress. In fact, the movie isn't 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, but A Guy Named Joe, in which Spencer Tracy dies and comes back as a spirit. My mother took me to my first movie when I was six, and I've been a movie buff all my life. People even call me Mr. Movie. I sawall the war movies during World War II, and I rememberA Guy Named Joe very well. Irene Dunne does look very much like Phyllis Thaxter. L. Everett Hawkes Yarmouth

Does she ever! In a fit of internet exuberance (and thrown off guard by our knowledge that 30 Seconds Over Tokyo stars Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson in Army Air Corps uniforms), we downloaded and printed the top image, which incorrectly brought you Irene Dunne with Tracy and Johnson in A Guy Named Joe (remade into

6 • PORTLAND

MONTHLY MAGAZINE • WINTERGUIDE

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LETTERS

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the movie Always in the 1980s). Below is the photo )'OU deserved all along, starring Phyllis Thaxter, Johnson, and Tracy. It looks as though Van is even wearing the same shirl!- Ed.

Deering High While I was home visiting last summer, I picked up a copy of your magazine and enjoyed it thoroughly. Please send me a year's subscription to the magazine; I am enclosing a check for $29 for this purpose. It is also a pleasure to see the magazine is published by Colin Sargent, whose name has been familiar since the days he was writing at Deering High School. I am eagerly looking forward to my first issue. Janet Slack Hendersonville, North Carolina

10 Most Intriguing

They did: Parker Gray '97 (PG '98), Eastern Junior Downhill Champion Dominic Arsenault '97, Canadian National Freestyle Team Carl Burnett '99, Junior National Champion, United States Disabled Ski Team, Dartmouth College '03 Dana Drummond '97 (PG '98), Rolex Junior Olympics Sportsmanship Award, Middlebury College '02. .. Molly Marancik '00, 3rd place USASA NatIOnal ChampIOnshIps

GouldAcademy P.O. Box 860 • Bethel, ME 04217 (207) 824-7777 • fax 824-2926 .

In my profile of activist Gerald Talbot (November 1998) I incorrectly gave the names of his parents as Charles R. and Pansy Talbot. They were his grandparents. Mr. Talbot's parents were W. Edgerton and Arvella L. Talbot. Sorry for the error.

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Brian Daly Thanks for the personal phone call reminding me that my subscription had lapsed. I definitely won't want to miss an update on the literary wit and talent of fellow Deering High School alum, Brian Daly! Your marketing efforts are much more aligned to my interests versus Sports Illustrated's call offering me a sneak preview of the swimsuit edition!

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Anna Kendrick It is so exciting to see our daughter, Anna, written up as one of "The Ten Most Intriguing People in Maine," especially in such great company a Bishop Knudsen, Gerry Talbot, and the others. We are always proud of

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both our children, and Anna's accomplishments in the last year on Broadway have been a thrill for us all. However, I do need to make a correction to your story, which is that Anna's dance teacher, Cheryl Greeley, is the one who convinced Anna to try out for the littlest orphan in "Annie," her first theater role, and it was there that Anna met her voice teacher, Jaye Churchill. Both women have been extremely important to Anna's theatrical development over the years, and our family is very grateful to them both. They shared the thrill of "High Society" on opening night, and both were with us for the Tony Awards. We know that we could not have given Anna the direction and inspiration that Cheryl and Jaye have provided, and we all want them both to know how special they are to our family. Janice C. Kendrick Portland

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Congratulations on presenting a dose of reality with your Maine 100 list in the October issue. Not to downplay factory and business closings and jobs lost, but it was refreshing to discover there are that many companies making a good living in Maine! Thanks for presenting the other side of the coin. It was truly an eye-opener. Good work. Alice Hellstrom Anderson Managing Editor

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Correction

The tale about Rudy Vallee and the young Portland hoofer in our Best of Portland issue (December 1998) really did happen to PORTIAND Magazine staffer, poet, and drummer Steve Luttrell, who, after winning the local Youth Cavalcade competition in the early 1960s, won a trip to New York, met Vallee, and performed on 'Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour, -Ed, II

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Ptlrlland. Portland Magazine is published by Sargent Publishing, Inc., 578 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101. All correspondence should be addressed to 578 Congress Street, Portland, ~1E 04101. Advertising Office: 578 Conj:ress Street, Portland, ME 04101 (207) 775-4339. Billing !Juestions: If you have questions regarding advertising invoicing and payments, call Brenda Marldey at 775-4339. Newsstmd CO\'er Date: Winterguide 1999, published January 1999, Vol. 13, No. 10, copyright 1999. Po1mJ\ND Magazine is mailed at thinklass mail rates in Portland, ME 04101 (ISSN: 107>-1857). Opinions expressed in articles are those of authors and do not represent editorial positions of PoRlI.'.ND Magazine. Letters to the editor are welcome and will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and as subject to Po1mJ\ND Magazine's unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially. Responsible only for that portion of any am·ertisement which is printed incorrectly. Advertisers are responsible for copyrights of materials they submit. Nothing in this issue may be reprinted in whole or in part without written pennission from the publishers. Submissions welcome, but we i:Ike no responsibility for unsolicited materials.

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rthur Johnson, seaman, stood on the steps of his Fore Street boarding house in the fading evening light, watching Portland Harbor come alive before him. The November sunset caught the sails of inbound fishing schooners; the whistles of outgoing steamers echoed across the wharves. Locomotives rumbled through

10 • PORTLAND

MONTHLY MAGAZINE • WINfERGUIDE

the railyard across the street below the towering Grand Trunk grain elevators standing dark against the sky. Smoke, steam, the smell of coal, filled the air. Long ago, Johnson's home had been a sea captain's mansion beside a lonely, sandy beach - the birthplace, in fact, of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Now it was a sailor's lodging house by the city

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train tracks, and Jqhnson, an AfricanAmerican cook and watchman aboard the steamer 55 Portland, was one of hundreds of mariners of all colors and callings who made their homes along Portland's busy waterfront. erhaps as Johnson strolled down bustling Commercial Street, he fell in with fellow crewman John Jones, the third cook on the Portland, who boarded at 30 North Street in the shadow of the Portland Observatory. Perhaps both, as they crossed Franklin Wharf and boarded the waiting steamer, nodded to Francis Eben Hellston, the ship's Sec-

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lhe tendency for society to overlook people 01 color is poignantly illustrated in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. But is the 'invisibility' any less profound today? In studying the 194-minute epic film Titanic, we found non-whites were accorded less than one

second of screen time.

ond Steward, who watched the long line of passengers making their way aboard. It was a special day for Heuston: Exactly one year earlier he had married Margaret Ann Ball, a sailor's widow, and brought her home to live with his sister and widowed mother in the Lafayette Street home on Munjoy Hill he had proudly bought with his seaman's wages. Anniversaries or not, there was a schedule to be kept, and promptly at 7 p.m., the lines were cast away, the engines rumbled to life, and amid a wail of whistles, ablaze with electric lights,the 55 Portland churned out into the dark harbor, Boston-bound. It was November 25, 1898, and neither Johnson, Jones, Heuston, nor any of their fellow crewmen would ever see their families, homes, or Portland Harbor again. Exactly 24 hours later the 55 Portland, homeward bound to Maine, would sail into legend in one of the worst recorded storms in New England history, known ever since as the "Great Portland Gale." Somewhere off Cape Cod, she went to the bottom with all 192 souls aboard, at least 17 (by some reports, at least nineteen) of them members of Portland's black community and supporters of the Abyssinian Church. Even today, 100 years

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later, the tragedy still "stirs the public's morbid imagination as no other storm has ever done, " says one account, "Elor never have so many New England travelers disappeared so quickly with such mystery surrounding their fate." Bath-built and launched in 1889, the 28 I-foot Portland was one of the grandest ocean-going sidewheel steamers of her day. A gilded eagle perched atop her white wheelhouse; great staircases swept below decks to a Grand Salon 200 feet long, where mahogany sofas in,red plush velvet matched the embroidered carpets. Here passengers could sip cooling drinks below a glass-domed skylight and electric chandeliers. "To my childish eyes, the very gangplank to this fairy palace was a promise," one boy later recalled. "The grand staircases, the carpeted floors, the plush chairs, the forward saloon with gallery above, and the staterooms with those interesting bunks, one smaller over a larger beneath, and the people coming and going: all these experiences for a boy were foretastes of a sort of heaven." A heaven kept bright, of course, by the work of many hands - many of them African-Americans from Portland and Boston. f the Portland's 65 known officers and crew, perhaps three dozen were black mariners like Johnson, Jones, and Heuston, plying family trades time-honored since the Revolution. In the days of sail, many Portland blacks worked on the waterfront as steve-

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the telegraphs. ((Notifyrailroad and transportation interests." n Portland the evening sky turned to lurid yellow, and Capt. Dennison of the steamer Bay State, sister ship to the Portland, rang up Boston on a crackling telescope with the warning. Usually the two steamers passed each other mid-route, but tonight the Bay State stayed put, and Dennison urged the Portland to do the same. Later, John Liscomb, manager of the Portland Steamship Co., called with further orders for the Portland to watch the weather until 9 p.m. and if it looked bad not to sail at all. ('But Capt. Blanchard," says one account, ((could not

In 1829 the US Census reported 220 AfricanAmericans in Portland. In 1879 there were 334. In 1900 (2 years after the SS Portland sank and at least 17 were lost) the number dropped to 291 (total city population 50,145). At last count (1990), Portland's population wvas 84,335, including 720 African-Americans.

by then be found." Blanchard had, in fact, been at the Boston weather bureau much of the day, perhaps worried about his family back in Deering, Maine, and promptly at 7 p.m. the Portland pulled away into Boston Harbor with a blast of whistles. "Watch for me," Blanchard called to the wharf watchman, "I may be back!" The inbound steamer Kennebec blew a warning about the lowering skies and rising seas ahead, but with an answering toot the Portland swept by, ablaze with light, outward into the gathering dark - and eternity. And with that, the story of the Portland leaves fact and enters legend. Only a few ships ever saw her again, and no one survived to explain why she sailed at all, or to tell the tale of the 26 hours of horror ahead as she steamed into the teeth of ((one of the fiercest winds that ever swallowed New England." ((The gale struck suddenly, with a violence that was appalling," one mariner remembered. ((First a squall, then snow, then an increasing wind that quickly reached gale proportions. The snow was so thick one could not see a boatlength between the bows, and the gales lashed the ocean into a hissing gale of coppling seas, mast high." Over 300 ships and 400 lives were lost as the gale shrieked on, tearing up trees,

washing away homes, changing the course of coastal rivers, and flooding out the Boston subway system. At Highland Light on Cape Cod the winds hit 90 mph before the instruments were swept away; 20-foot snowdrifts blockaded entire freight trains and cut down telegraph lines to the north and south. Somehow the Portland struggled on with its I40O-horsepower engine, perhaps hoping to make Gloucester Harbor or ride out the storm at sea. At 9:45 p.m. she was glimpsed passing Thatcher's Island, 30 miles north of Boston. But at 11 p.m. that night the Portland nearly ran down the schooner Grayling, 12 miles out into the Atlantic, and at 11:45 she passed the schooner Edgar Randall, far to the east, her superstructure broken and all lights gone. At 5 a.m. Sunday the Race Point Life Station on the very tip of Cape Cod heard four ghostly blasts of a steamboat whistle, and later, through a tear in the rolling clouds, the schooner Ruth M. Martin glimpsed a dark ship, still struggling toward the open sea, before the snow and shrieking winds closed around it at last. No one saw the Portland again. istory can only imagine the steamer's final, awful hours. Perhaps, as the Portland struggled vainly northwards, the shrieking storm blew her ever back'Wards,outward toward the arm of Cape Cod, where Blanchard turned her bow into the thundering wind and waves. Somewhere here fate claimed ,her, perhaps as families clutched their loved ones in the heaving grand salon, with Blanchard struggling at the helm above Heuston and crew shouting in the hold below, heaving furniture, baggage, everything burnable, into the roaring boilers to keep the engines alive - until the great sidewheels shuddered to a halt, the $hip swung broadside to the booming seas, and the storm closed around her at last. At 7 p.m. that evening Surfman John Johnson of the Race Point Lifesaving Station, plodding on patrol down the beach, noticed a tattered object in the waves: a life belt marked "Str. Portland." By 11 p.m. odd items came ashore, first by ones then in waves: creamery cans, cabin chairs, barrels of lard labeled for a Commercial Street concern, nightshirts, piano keys, door panels - and corpses. "Everything bore evidence of a terrible grinding," wrote one witness. "Not a spar washed up as long as a man's arm."

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MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

WINTERGUIDE

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Many bodies wore watches stopped around 9: 30 - histbrians still debate whether a.m. or p.m. - and many were in nightclothes; others were fully dressed down to diamond rings, with faces as strangely peaceful "as if passing to eternal slumber from a scene of horror worthy of the pen of Poe." Meanwhile for 30 hours "snow heavy and wet covered, slowed, and then stopped everything" wrote one Boston paper. "No man, no message, moved for days." At the mercy of rumors, the Portland newspapers did the best they could. 'The Waterfront Swept By Worst Gale in Recent Years" headlined the Eastern Argus on Monday morning, November 28, "At Her Dock - The Steamer Portland Did Not Sail." By November 29 the Argus was not so sure: "No News Is Good News; it is hoped such will be the case with the Portland ... word from Provincetown may show she put in there." Meanwhile, for two days a Cape Cod reporter struggled toward snowbound Boston, first by train, then horse, and finally by foot, and three days later Portland papers' printed their first threadbare but accurate ac-counts, lifted bodily from the papers printed their first threadbare but accurate ac- counts, lifted bodily from the Boston Herald. "Steamer Portland Surely Lost" headlined the Evening Express on November 30. "Went Down Sunday in Sight of Land - Gloom Cast Over Portland." The Argus grimly agreed: "Not One Saved. Yesterday was one of the most mournful days this city has ever known ... over a hundred persons (were) swept out of existence at one fell swoop." Only 40 bodies were ever found on Cape Cod, but obituaries for the lost, great and small, black and white alike, filled Maine papers until mid-December, side by side in the grim democracy of death. Among the first was the body of John Jones, the Portland's black cook from Fore Street, found in an undertaker's parlor in Orleans, Mass., not far from the body of former State Sen. E. Dudley Freeman of Yarmouth. "Sadness and gloom pervade the State House" read his notice; "The Governor and Executive Council much depressed." Who mourned for Jones it did not say. Nearby was the notice of Miss Emily Cobb, who had embarked on the Portland Saturday night "in season to take her place Sunday as a member of the choir of the

First Parish Church." Roman Jaures De Pinna, a Portugese cabinman from the Cape Verde Islands, was listed near the notice for Miss Madge Ingraham, "a Mulatto lady," who had been on her way to work for the Bailey family at Woodfords. The Portland Advertiser took sad note of the passing of Miss Emma L. Safford, an employee of the paper itself, "where her services and cheery disposition were much appreciated." And near the lengthy obituary of Roen Hooper, the Congress Street businessman, appeared the heartbreakingly brief notice for an "unknown girl, about 18 or 20, with a tiny gold watch and chain entangled in her flowing hair." either Capt. Hollis Blanchard nor Second Steward Francis Eben' Heuston was ever found. At the Heuston home on Lafayette Street, his wife of one year and one day, Margaret, widowed twice by the sea in two years, would never marry again. Lawsuits and accusations began at once, and modern historians must still sort through a mass of evidence as imposing as the shifting sand dunes of Cape Cod. "The captain of the Portland took chances which no man in his position has a right to take" declared the New York Times on December I, 1898. "He knew his steamer was better designed for shallow harbors than winter gales on as dangerous a coast as there is in the world. Despite all this ... he steamed out into the gathering tempest. Why?" Why, indeed? Maine writers Mason Phillip Smith and Peter Dow Bachelder, authors of an authoritative new book on the Portland, Four Short Blasts (Provincial Press, 1998) weighed the evidence for years and still have no final answer. Blanchard was not a reckless man; indeed his bosses claimed he was "too cautious." Did he miss Manager Liscomb's order? Did he misjudge the weather? The authors cite an account by the late Edward Rowe Snow, the New England chronicler and romancer, who interviewed Capt. Blanchard's granddaughter in 1966. "'Grandfather Blanchard said to my father, "I have my orders to sail, and I am going!" she said. 'Those were the last words ever spoken by my grandfather to a member of our £amI'1'" y. But in the end Capt. Blanchard's reasons for getting out to sea that night "must remain one of conjechue," say Smith and Bachelder. "It was a decision he apparent-

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ly shared with no one." Sometimes, notes Smith, who lost kin on that long-ago voyage, even history must end with a question. As the sea gave up its dead, grief swept over Portland like a gray December stonn. The scope of the tragedy unfolded slowly in the papers the first week of December, 1898, climaxing in city-wide sorrow on Sunday, December 4, 1898. Virtually every church in Portland had an empty pew that day, stark reminders of the loved ones lost. "In Memoriam: References to Loss of the Portland in all the Churches" headlined the Eastern Argus. "Special Services at the Abyssinian Church." n a sense this small congregation of Newbury Street symbolized the city's. larger loss. Steward Francis Eben Heuston had worshipped here, and had sailed beneath this church's very windows on the Portland's last passage out of the harbor. Some 19 members of the church, including two deacons, had gone down beside him on the steamer, and the Rev. Theobald A. Smythe's powerful sermon, the singing of the choir, and "the allusion to those who perished brought those near to them into tears, and but few at times could be seen with dry eyes," . wrote the Argus. "The close of the sermon was delivered with a will sent forth from the living to those noble heroes who perished, while in the discharge of their duties." The blow was too much to bear; within a decade the Abyssinian Church was down to seven remaining members, and soon closed its doors for good, in a real sense the last victim of the sinking of the

Portland. Over the busy years since 1898, the tale of the 55 Portland has lost none of its haunting sadness nor sense of enduring mystery. For many years, families of the Portland's passengers sailed out into Cape Cod Bay to throw flowers on the sea, and in 1956 the elderly members of the "Sons and Daughters of the Portland" association dedicated a marker at Race Point Coast Guard Station bearing the names of all known passengers who had sailed on the steamer 60 years before. Even this was conjectural, for the only known list of Portland passengers went down on the ship itself. Yet the memory lived on, and in December 1998, Portlanders both black and white gathered in front of the shuttered Abyssinian Church for a candlelight

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ceremony in memory of their long-ago townsmen. As each of the 192 names of passengers and crew were read, a ship's bell was struck, its echo reaching back across the years. And the lost ship itself still makes modern day news. In November 1989, researchers with the Historic Maritime Group of Bourne, Mass., using the latest electronic equipment, believed they located the possible wreck of the Portland, 20 miles north of Provincetown, and 400 feet down on the bottom of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. She lies too deep for divers to visit her, her iron remains sunk deep in the sand, her identity uncertain, and sleeps undisturbed .. And so, after a century, the sea still keeps its secrets about the 55 Portland, a ship that sailed into tragedy forever wrapped in mystery. eonard Cummings sits in a circle of light on the steps of Portland's weather-beaten Abyssinian Church, surrounded by technicians and camera crews. A cold wind blows hard through the windowless building, showering paint chips and plaster. Cummings shivers in his thin suit and white shirt, but sits patiently while workers adjust the lights in the gathering dusk. "I just had to wear a suit and tie to read this," he says, holding up a thick sheaf of papers. "Otherwise it just wouldn't seem right, not in this building." And with that the cameras roll and Cummings reads aloud the words of a fiery sermon by Rev. Amos Freeman, the first pastor of this very church. Although 150 years old, the words have lost none of their bite: "How long shall it be before the black man shall stand up?" reads Cummings, the words echoing in the empty room, "How long before he is treated not as a brute, but as a man?" Cummings, 63, chairs the building committee of the Committee to Restore the Abyssinian church, a group of volunteers who hope to bring this once-busy place of worship back to life as a community center and a teaching memorial to the history of diversity in the Pine Tree State. A Public Television film crew is making a documentary about that effort, which Cummings says embraces more than just a plan to restore a historic building. "For African-Americans in slavery days, this building represented hope," says Cummings, a former president of the

Portland NAACP. "For African-Americans today, it represents how far we've come - and how far we still have to go." For Portland's Abyssinian Church, that trail began in 1827 when Mainer Reuben Ruby, an outspoken black coachman and trader, bought this lot at 73-75 Newbury Street, near the Portland waterfront, for $250. The church was built the next year and became the center of worship for Portland African-Americans who, like Ruby, were tired of being relegated to the back pews and galleriesof the city'swhite churches. oday it may be the third oldest Mrican-American meeting house still standing in America, with a history that parallels that of the nation itself.. The church quickly became the center for the Portland Anti-Slavery Society, of which Ruby was a founder. The city government rented it as a segregated "Abyssinian School" for black children. Abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass may well have spoken here - and, legend says, escaping slaves fleeing northward to Canada made it a safe stop on the fabled "Underground Railroad. " After so many parishioners were lost on the tragic sinking of the Portland in 1898, the church entered a long decline. by 1912 there were only 7 active members left, and the building was sold in 1916. In later years it served as a stable and a tenement house, stripped of its original interior, before being seized by the city for back "taxesin 1991. In 1998 the city sold the battered, vacant building to the Committee to Restore the Abyssinian Church for the symbolic sum of $250, the same amount paid by Reuben Ruby for the site 170 years before. The sum was paid over by Eugene Jackson of Marshfield, Mass. - the proud great-great-grandson of Reuben Ruby. The restoration may cost $1.2 million, says Deborah Cummings Kadraoui, Leonard Cummings's daughter and Executive Director of the fund drive and restoration effort. Plans call for rebuilding the original church meeting hall, with a museum on the first floor and meeting space for cultural programs and special events featuring the ever-expanding multicultural population of Maine, she says. "This is not just a black building - it will serve the entire community, both as a tourist attraction and a community resource." .&

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oIatility in the stock market doesn't ruffle Leslie B. Otten, 49, a man

If you were to take. the same dynamic approaches to making the city of Portland more of a destination resort that you have at your American Skiing Company resorts, what changes would you make?

who knows how to keep his priorities straight. From his family, he knows how to achieve against long odds: His father, whose business was seized by the Nazis in 1937, fled to Canada and then became a successful scrap steel industrialist in New Jersey. Les caught the bug for developing ski areas while studying business at Ithaca College and working parttime as a ski instructor. He joined Sunday River in 1972 as assistant to the general manager and bought the resort in 1980. That year, the resort posted a $235,000 loss against total sales of$541,000. In 1989, Otten was recognized as Inc. Magazine's Turnaround Entrepreneur of the Year. He subsequently purchased many more resorts across the U.S. In 1997 ASC began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

LO: Well, any marketing program needs to be carefully thought out and funded. And that's where it would be focused, because there's not much about what Portland offers to visitors that warrants change. Sometimes I wonder if Portland realizes what an amazing place it really is. Take the current slogan: "a lot of fun for a little city." It's a nice slogan, but I think it sells Portland short; Portland is one of the most interesting and attractive cities in the country, regardless of size. In Portland, you have a real working city - with a healthy economy and a vibrant quality all its own. It's a real place, and you can't say that about some cities that are more trendy. Portland has a fantastic art museum, an excellent symphony, great restaurants and shopping, and genuinely nice people of incredible cultural diversity. It's got Casco Bay, a huge asset, and proximity to things like great skiing and golf.All 1'd do is make sure people can find that out.

What are the gross reported FY 97 revenues of ASC-Maine?

LO: We don't calculate it that way. I think that Maine can be proud that it has another financially stable, NYSE-listed company within its borders. And while some of those revenues are generated out of state, that doesn't alter the fact that the revenues generated across the nation are part of a Maine-based company. Our gross revenues last fiscal year, on a pro forma basis, were $344 million. That includes revenues from skiing and real estate.

This year at Sunday River, you've added snowmaking to Jordan Bowl and Aurora Peak; 150 snow guns have been added to Sunday River's 8 interconnected mountaintops for a total arsenal of 1,200. You make between 4,000 and 5,000 acre feet of snow each year at Sunday River and 2,000 at Sugarloaf. Where does the water come from?

LO: At Sunday River, it comes primarily from an aquifer that runs through the valley and feeds a large reservoir. At Sugarloaf, it comes from the Carrabassett River.

Sunday River lifts can move 32,000 skiers per hour. What's the peak population?

LO: Twelve thousand is a big day. That's roughly half again as many as the Cumberland County Civic Center holds.

Can you describe the most deluxe weekend a skier could purchase at Sunday River?

LO: Check in at the Jordan Grand, let the valet park your car, have a soak in the hot tub, a nice dinner at the hotel, then

24 • PORTLAND

MONTHLY MAGAZINE • WINTERGUIDE

Where do you like to go in Portland?

LO: If! have the leisure to choose, it's the Old Port or the Museum. Unfortunately, these days, it's mostly the airport. When I'm in Maine, I like to spend as much time as possible at home with my family. It's an increasingly precious thing to me.

What is the most frustrating event in your life?

LO: Not being able to help when my ski out the door the next morning. Come back for a massage and a sauna, another nice dinner featuring the item you almost ordered last night, a nightcap, then get set to do it all again the next day.

With your new Adventure Center, Sunday River claims it's the premier summer destination resort in New England. We realize that you can ski at Sunday River from mid-October to late May. But are summer attractions a new emphasis?

daughter was born placenta previa. She and my wife, Chris, were completely in the hands of others.

What obstacle are you proudest to have overcome?

LO: Learning to float when I was a skinny kid with absolutely no positive buoyancy. I would sink like a stone. I really wanted to learn to water ski, and I could-n't do that until I could pass the float test. I stuck with it, and finally passed the test.

LO: Summer activities are a pretty hot trend in the ski business right now. Sunday River offered the first lift-served mountain biking in the East; now, most of our resorts have big mountain bike programs. Golf is big; there's a Robert Trent Jones Jr. course under construction at Sunday River. Conference business is also big.

Will you be doing this in 20 years?

LO: By then, I'll be 69. I can envision myself in many different roles. I was raised to believe that when life gives you something good, you owe something back that makes other lives better. But exactly what role that would be, I can't say. &-

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in Maine may turn into one of your favorite seasons. In short, twelve ways to love your winter:

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ou know the drill. It gets dark early. Cold. Then really cold. You find yourself eating more. You look through the cookbook under "toddy." All thoughts turn to home and comfort. Like Ratty and Mole, hibernation becomes a lifestyle. My job is to convince you that winter recreation makes

you a better person. It's cheaper than therapy and lots more fun. Winter can be lived with a sense of adventure and style. Here are some winter adventure suggestions arranged somewhat chronologically. Following an order of events through the coming months will definitely make your winter pass more quickly. In fact, winter

his is the year you learn to ski. No, you are not too old or too out of shape. No, cross country doesn't count unless you're racing. Yes, you can snowboard if you prefer sitting around and adjusting your bindings a lot, but we are doing this for the exercise, remember? You need to down. hill ski for reasons which are best known to you. You have young kids and you want to get back into shape. You want a quality activity to participate in with your older kids. Your friends ski and you are left behind. You are fearful and lack self confidence, or you are retired and ready for a new challenge. You are in luck. You live in a state which has perfected the art of friendly ski instruction. Choices exist to fit your circumstances, from cozy backyard to big mountain resort. The 14 SkiMaine areas cover the state, from Mars Hill south, WINTERGUIDE • PORTLAND MONTHLY MAGAZINE •

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28 •

PORTI.AND MONTHLY MAGAZINE • WINfERGUIDE

with skiing available close to every population center. Skiing can change your life, but you need to make the first step. First, a little self analysis is in order. If you can free up one midweek day to ski every week you will establish a routine that will carry you all winter, and by March you will have mastered a life sport. Midweek days at most Maine areas are friendly, uncrowded and cheap with by far the best snow conditions. ne special deal warrants mention. If you are in fifth grade, life is good. SkiMaine is again offering their learn to ski free promotion. With this passport, available by calling 207-761-3774, Maine fifth graders with a paying adult ski free up to three times each at all participating Maine areas; each area has different offers in terms of lessons and rental equipment so check the fine print. Fifth grade is an ideal time to learn skiing, and the Maine ski areas are betting that a significant percentage 9f these new students will stay with it. Many people prefer to do their practicing at a'local mountain before heading up to the bigger areas. Lost Valley in Auburn (784-1561) is an example of an area convenient to Portland that has trained generations of skiers. They specialize in affordable, accessible instruction for all ages. Their Mighty Mite program for kids 4-5 meets six Tuesdays from 1-5 p.m. beginning in January. Older kids of all abilities receive a similar lesson for six weeks for only $45. Adult instruction is conveniently scheduled from 7 to 10 at night; the student commits to one weekday night for six weeks. Pre-registration is required. Or, if you prefer, meet Wednesday mornings from 10-1 p.m. The entire program including rentals and some other goodies is only $146! Adult snowboarding is also offered but only on Thursday nights. Shawnee Peak (647-8444) has the advantage of proximity to Portland (one hour from downtown) with much more mountain to ski on. This means that friend skiers can be amusing themselves while you toil on the Bunny slope. A learn to ski guaranteed program is $39, which includes rentals and a two hour lesson. Daycare is available so you can ski the afternoon alone for $23, or else kids under six ski free. The day/night ticket is $40 this year, which is a long day for anyone. A program for the younger kids is Skiwee, which includes a full day with rentals for $62. New this year at Shawnee is lodging

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at the neighboring Shawnee Peak House. Great deals are availaqle like the midweek getaway - two days and nights for $49 per person per day. The big mountain resort approach to learning is typified by the American Skiing Company mountains of Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine, Attitash Bear Peak in New Hampshire, and Killington, Mt. Snow and Sugarbush in Vermont. Here, you stay at a luxury trailside hotel or condo, with skiing one of many choices available for activity. The areas have a common approach to learning which they call Perfect Tum, which supposedly concentrates the lesson by focusing on the skier's natural abilities. This year, the instruction at Sunday River will be based at a brand new Discovery Center located at the South Ridge Lodge. Under the Perfect Turn system, the student chooses the appropriate skill level of the class by viewing short videos. Sidecut skis are employed, which are easier to maneuver, and there are special groups for kids and women. Sugarloaf is offering women's Perfect Turn week February 8-12 with women's oriented instruction and events. Under ASC's Guaranteed Learn to Ski offer, $44 buys rental equipment, limited lift ticket and instruction enough to ski independently, guaranteed. Enroll a friend over 13 and you get a free lift ticket!

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30 • PORTLAND MONTHLY

MAGAZINE • WINTERGUIDE

arly in the season is the time to ski Bethel. The unbelievable snowmaking and grooming make the conditions as close to guaranteed •••••• as it's possible to get. The audacious size of the snowmaking operation is unreal - reaching 92 percent of the resort's 654 acres of land; they have the ability to pump 9,000 gallons of water a minute up the mountain. This investment and commitment is the foundation of the Sunday River story. You are all familiar with the story of the little local mountain that under the leadership of Les Otten evolved into the American Skiing Company, one of America's best known chains of ski resorts. Fifteen years along and Sunday River continues to grow. Now eight separate peaks encompassing 126 trails are open, served by 18 lifts that can transport up to 32,000 people an hour. It is hard to think of a resort category in which Sunday River is not an industry leader. With last year's opening of the Jordan Grand Resort Hotel Sunday River operates 6,000 beds

on the mountain, more than anyone in New England. For after dark fun there's a new lighted snowboard park and tubing area. You can choose a range of ski & stay packages and book it online, and even get bonus frequent skier points using The Edge card. And the best touch is that the town of Bethel is one of Maine's most interesting in its own right. Plenty of lodging and restaurant choices exist off the mountain now as well. Call 800-442-5826 for area information and reservations.

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his is the year to become more in touch with this fine organization which has been providing free downhill and other winter sports . instruction since 1982 from its base at Sunday River. Their volunteers provide a quality recreational outlet to persons who suffer from a range of conditions including blindness, amputation, brain injury and cerebral palsy. Students learn to use special equipment like outrigger skis which in many cases greatly adds to their independence and quality of life. Classes begin January 4 and run seven days a week at Sunday River and weekends at Sugarloaf. They need your assistance on several fronts. First, volunteer ski and snowboard instructors over eighteen and of intermediate or better ability are requested to apply; other skills are needed at all levels of commitment. Second, team captains are needed to help organize the organization's major fund raiser, the MHS Ski-a-Thon March 20th at Sunday River. Teams of five need to raise $600 in pledges each to earn free skiing for the day with an awards party that evening. For information on either of these points, please call MHS at 207-824-2440.

4.mftBlJ •• aine offers the convenience and fun of night skiing at several local areas; a mild winter night on the slopes is the place to be. The lights allow you, the consumer, more choice, and flexibility in planning your day. First with the lights was Lost Valley, and night skiing is a big part of the Lost Valley package, with tickets priced by the hour for the ultimate in . convenience. The largest night skiing terrain around is found at Shawnee. Again, midweeks are the best deals. Tuesdays are two for one - just $26, and singles ski for $15 on Mondays and Tuesdays all season.

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That's 4-10 PM. Goqd deal! Leave work and ski for hours. The Blizzard's Pub is a fun spot to meet friends, old or new. Night skiing is also featured now at Mt. Abram, and at all the local areas like Camden and New Mt. Hennan in Bangor.

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his is the one Maine mountain that has probably been hit harder by the success of Sunday River than any other. At one time the areas were equivalent in business, and Mt. Abram has trained its share of Maine skiers, but operating under the shadow of its bigger neighbor has been difficult. In truth, the two areas are as different as they could be. At Locke Mills you will find good skiing, good conditions, and a good ticket price; you will not find condos, hotels, and endless terrain. Some people actually like it here better. New owners, the Dunnegans, take over knowing the last three owners have failed to make a go of it. Their first year investments are moStly confined to snowmaking improvements and maintenance, but plans exist to cut more expert trails to join Rocky's Run, a very challenging Black Diamond. Weekend adult lift price this winter is a reasonable $31, which is a good bargain when you consider that the lights extend the day to 9 p.m. (7 on weeknights). And on Tuesdays two ski for the price of one-$20, This, my cheap friend, is absolutely 'the best deal in Maine this winter. Good, uncrowded family fun for all. Call 875-5003.

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32 •

POIm.AND MONTHLY MAGAZINE • WINTERGUIDE

TIBJGGAN

As soon as there's enough natural snow and cold to freeze the lake, it's time to head to Camden for the unique winter wonderland of the Camden Snow Bowl. Situated on Penobscot Bay, the views from the top are unbelievable on a snowy, sunny winter day. The tempering effects of the water can really play havoc with conditions however. The area has suffered with rain and ice the last five years or so and last year's ninety days of skiing is about all you really can expect, but a quality day here is as good as it gets in Maine skiing. Snowmaking and lights extend the days into nights. The runs are intennediate and fun for all. The Bowl is owned by the town, and learning to ski becomes a right for all the locals. And of course, that toboggan chute. This is a blast. Rent a toboggan or bring your own, for a nominal fee. Weather is critical here too, as the

lake needs to be frozen as people shoot off the mountain. Tubing and skating too .. Call ahead to check conditions (2363438) but make sure and do it. The Camden area is a shopping, dining and overnight excursion in its own right. As a ski town it has everything, including an ocean. The grand resort feel is maintained at the Samoset (594-2511) in Rockport; their midweek overnight Great Escape includes dinner at Marcel's fine restaurant for $62 per person. They have an indoor pool and health club, and indoor video golf for a rainy day. Downtown Camden boasts a wide variety of lodging, from the Town Motel (236-3377) at about $60 a night, to your choice of bed and breakfasts. Call the Chamber of Commerce. (236-4404) for reservation information.

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ad River Glen (802-496-3551) is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary as truly the most unique ski area in New England. Located on General Starck Mountain near Waitsfield, Vermont (next door to Sugarbush, an American Skiing Company resort), Mad River has always been known as a mountain with the character of an earlier era of skiing. The interesting original cut of the trail system, combined with the bowl shape, northern exposure and heavy natural snowfall make the area renowned for its terrain. Their single person lift, left over from the area's founding in 1948, is the last of its kind anywhere. ,There is minimal snowmaking; that is truly remarkable in this day and age of guaranteed conditions, but Mad River makes do on an average snowfall of 250 inches. And in a campaign that would succeed at very few other places the mountain has been bought by a cooperative association of skiers. The story is a fascinating example of how a group of people working together can accomplish a goal, namely preserving the character of a special place. To date about 1700 people have paid $1750 apiece; shares can be bought on a thirty month plan so they are readily affordable, and a total of two thousand will be sold. Mad River is now owned outright by its customers. For the first time in years capital improvements are being made in . the form of a new chairlift which, typically, will have exactly the same uphill capacity as the old one. Mad River is consciously non-commercial in its approach. Snowboarding is banned, the only major

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area in the East to have such a policy; there is a staff naturalist, and a slate of environmental educational programs. The mountain is family oriented; the director of daycare has been leading the program for twenty five years. Children ski together in supervised groups, and there is a Junior Race program. . Wholesome food is served in the cafeteria, and prices are fair-adult weekday tickets are $29, weekends $36. A Sunday afternoon ticket is $15, and every Tuesday parents get daycare and an all day ticket for $50, half day $30. It is a good haul to get here (four and a half hours from Portland) and you pass a lot of ski areas on the way, but this is worth a drive just to see that there is a different way of doing the ski business.

8lfR1 10 1IlBtWIK o you say you're tired of downhill skiing, the crowds, the expense, but you do love getting out there and working up a good sweat. Well, maybe this is the winter you give telemarking a try.You've seen telemarkersthey ski with a cable binding that frees up the heel with a technique that involves these elegant kneeling turns. Many telemarkers were serious downhill skiers who become revitalized through learning a new approach. Telemarking technique is valuable for mountaineering and other back country adventures, where you need to ski in to your destination cross country style, then deal with downhill conditions. Feed your interest at the Mt. Abram telemark festival January 9-10. Free lessons and clinics, and rental and demo equipment make this the perfect introduction to the sport. Call Jay York at 774.9600 for more information. Not surprisingly, Mad River Glen is recognized as one of the centers of the sport. Mark the calendar: March 6-7 there is billed as North American Telemark festival weekend, which is the biggest event of its kind. All kinds of racing, clinics, and good clean fun.

8. H lB.EMARKM nd speaking of telemarking, for a unique getaway consider this historic farm near the White Mountain National Forest west of Bethel. The Telemark (836-2703) is home to miles of cross country ski trails, llamas, skating, and fine food. For access to the solitude of the great forest in winter, this is the place. Their low volume, high qual-

34 •

PORTLAND MONTHLY MAGAZINE • WMERGUIDE

ity all-inclusive weekend package includes wholesome meals and lodging from Friday night to Sunday afternoon, trail passes, sleigh rides and their wood fired sauna. They even have sled dogs that will pull you on your cross country skis in a sport called skijoring; in a truly unique touch, owner Steve Crone encourages guests to bring their own dogs to harness up. The weekend package is $220 per person; kids are $150. Day passes for the groomed cross country trails are $15. Check out the web page at telemarkinn.com and writeups in the Cross Country Skier '95 Destination Guide or Outside magazines. The Inn itself is a historic Adirondack-style lodge built at the turn of the century by Leon Blanchard, founder of Prudential· Insurance. The six guest rooms are each unique, and the interior of the building is fully paneled in Norway pine. A striking fireplace is constructed of local granite with exposed mica. The Telemark Inn offers wholesome luxury in a close to wilderness experience that would be a memorable family or personal retreat.

1D.1lANGB.EY1 ow why would anyone pass the turnoff to Sugarloaf and drive an extra half hour to ski a mountain that hasn't had major improvements in maybe ten years? It's that unaccountable Rangeley thing, that magnetism radiating from a local fisstlfe in the earth's crust that causes otherwise somewhat normal people to love this place like {:razy. There is just this wild west fun absurd beauty here, and you either get it or you don't. There is also serious cold and isolation, which makes a great old barn like the Rangeley Inn (I-800-MOMENTS) so welcoming and so worth the trip. The Inn is divided into the old (rooms are $69) and the new motor lodge, which offers the luxury of a private two person Jacuzzi with fireplace for $119. A meal plan is available and the restaurant is good, located in the elegant turn of the century dining room. Saddleback Ski Area (864.5671) is definitely the least known of Maine's larger mountains. Its 1830 feet of vertical is longer than any area outside of the Big Two and contains beginner, intermediate and challenging terrain. The atmosphere is friendly, uncrowded, and laid back, the views are spectacular, and when the conditions are good (call 864-SNOW) you can have a GREAT day. There's daycare and ski WINTERGUIDE • PORTLAND MONIllLY MAGAZINE •

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school, and nice trailside condos. Where Saddleback falls behind the others is in its lifts and snowmaking; this is the result of an ownership decision not to capitalize the mountain until the ongoing dispute over the Appalachian Trail is settled. Years later Rangeley watches as nearby Sugarloaf cards nine out of ten winter visitors to the area; of course, many locals prefer it this way. So be aware there is a choice in the region. And if you are a buff skier type, the annual Bronco Buster challenge at Saddleback is a highlight of the .year - if you can ski it without falling, you win a lift ticket.

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ou're up for some goofy fun with the kids and there's not enough time or ambition to ski. What to do? Tubing! You rent this big inner tube thing, take it up a lift and swoosh, bump, crash, flip and generally laugh yourself stupid. The new guy in the Portland area is Seacoast Snow Park on Rt. 302 in Windham, and this playground will be a winner! Tubing and snowboarding on five acres of open terrain fifteen minutes from downtown; general admittance tickets for twelve bucks allow unlimited indoor skating, tubing, and ski and snowboarding. Season's passes for $98! Good deal. Great for kids' birthday parties. Open under the lights too. Other ski areas offering tubing are Shawnee, Sunday River, Mt. Abram, and Camden with one of the state's best runs at Black Mountain in Rumford. Go crazy.

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The best is yet to come. Sugarloaf comes into its own in March with its combination of unbeatable big mountain terrain and tons of snow. The condos are big and roomy, the hotel and Sugarloaf Inn are trailside; when the weather warms up, there is no better skiing experience in this state. Sugarloaf is about the variety only a big mountain can provide. Since acquisition by the ASC the mountain's lifts and snowmaking have been improved to the point that experts can regularly ski the Snowfields, essentially opening up a lot of new terrain without cutting a trail. With the new Timberline lift to the top, intermediates have four different three mile cruising trails to choose from. A secret entrance off Cruiser leads to Moose Alley for kids only! The famous center of the mountain trails like Narrow Gauge com-

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bine with new favorite glade trails Max Headroom and Cant Hook. The King Pine Bowl offers a distraction that turns into hours. The West Mountain is for cruising. And as many times as you ski these trails you always come back. This is a great tribute to the original design and the contour and character of the moun~ tain itself. Sugarloaf also operates an outdoor center with 100 km of Nordic trails, skating and snowshoeing, with their famous family spaghetti supper every Saturday night. Several package deals are worth mentioning. The Classic midweek includes five days oflifts and lodging, with health club and Perfect Turn clinics included for $299. Good deal! Sugarloafs White White World Carnival is January 25-29 with packages as low as $59.95. During Family Fling Weeks kids are half price everything. With midweek specials and value weekends the price is right. Sugarloaf is the kind of place you really need to stay overnight to get your money's worth. And do not miss Reggae Weekend, April 9-11; live, authentic bands perform outdoors in the sunshine. The ultimate Sugarloaf experience awaits you. &

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LISTINGS

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'flbea1lell' Portland Stage Company, Portland Perfonning Arts Center, 27 Forest Avenue, Portland. The PSC continues to celebrate its 25th Anniversary Season. From January 12 through the 31st, Nora, an adaptation of Ibsen's A Doll's House by Ingmar Bergman, tells the story of a woman's triumph over repression in searing psychological detail. Performances are Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Brian Silbennan's Manifest, winner of the 1998 Cluder Competition for playwriting, is staged February 16 through March 7. Explore courage, pathos, and love against the stark background of the Holocaust in this important play. Ticket prices are $18 to $30. Call 774-0465 for details. Mad Horse Theatre Company, 92 Oak Street, Portland. ArtIwr Kapil's The Road to Nirvana presents a satire of American pop culture and its intrinsic emptiness. 4 runs from January 7 to February7. Tickets for the Thursday night preview are $10. Thereafter they are $18 on Thursdays and Fridays and $20 on Saturdays (less $2 for students $ seniors). 775-5103. Oak Street Tbe8tre, 92 Oak Street, P.O. Box 5201, Port1&nd.AI Hawkes performs January 20 as the music series cootinues. Show starts 8 p.m., tickets are $6. Ongoing.events at Oak Street include a series of open poetry readings hosted by Steve Luttrell of Cafe Review magazine at 8 p.m. on the last Monday of every month. Admission is $2. Ca11775-5I03.

L/A Arts, 49 Lisbon Street, Lewiston. Wallace and Gronunit, the tinkering British scientist and his intrepid pooch, are revolutionary achievements in the field of

38 • PORTLAND MONTHLY

MAGAZINE • WINTERGUIDE

I-

LISTINGS

-I

clay (or, more properly, plasticine) animation. On Saturday, January 16 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, January 17 at two p.m. dispel the winter blahs with a nine-part film series featuring the Oscar-winning shorts A Close Shave and Creature Comfom. Tickets are only $5. On Friday, February 12 at 8 p.m., come see Independence Jazz Reunion and celebrate Valentine's day a little early. Tickets range between $10 and $18. For more information contact UA Arts at 782-7228.

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Portland Players, 420 Cottage Road, South Portland. If you think a musical about a chess match is implausible, what if I told you it was co-authored by Bjorn and Benny from ABBA? This rock opera. which uses chess and the cold war as its narrative structures, appears from January L9 to February 13. Call 767-6208. Lyric Theater, 176 Sawyer Street, South Portland. The musical The Pajama Game begins its run on February 19. It win be perfonned Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays until March 7. Call 799-1421.

Mllll§RC Portland Symphony Orchestra, 477 Congress Street Mezzanine, Box 3573, Portland. Majestic Creations lights up January 12 at 7:30 p.m. Featuring works from Sibelius, Viextemps, Lutoslawski, and Joan Tower, this event brings four momentous musical creations to life. Ray Comils is featured on the harpsichord in Events of /899 on Sunday, January 24, at 2:30 p.m. Selections are from Johann Strauss (died 1899) and Carlos Cllavez and Francis Poulenc (born 1899). On Tuesday, February 2, The Sea of Tranquility explores the different ways music has been used for its meditative effects through pieces by Messiaen, Beethoven, Massenet, and Schumann. A Symphonic Night at the Movies promises to be so popular its been scheduled for two nights. On Saturday, February 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, February 14 at 2:30 p.m. see timeless, Oscar-winning scenes projected on the big screen as PSO provides the score. Merrill Auditorium, 842-0800. peA Great Performances, Merrill Auditorium, Portland. Three stellar shows are planned for the months of January and February. First, Emanuel Ax takes the stage on January 21 at 7:30 p.m. Universally acclaimed as one of the premiere pianists in the world, Ax is admired for his poetic lyricism and brilliant technique. On February 18, the Philharmonia Quartett Berlin comes to Portland from Germany, bringing their virtuosity to pieces by Mozart, Bartok, and Beethoven. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Finally, on February 27 at 8p.m., see Shakespeare via Verdi as the Italian National Opera comes to town to perform Otello. Call PortTix at 842-0800 for ordering and information. Portland Conservatory of Music, 44 Oak Street, Portland. The series of free noonday concerts, Thursdays from 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m., continues this winter. Featured performers include the Portland String Quartet on January 14, Tom Snow (jazz piano) on January 21, Ray Comils (organ) on January 28, Betty Rines and Judith Quimby (trumpet and piano, respectively) on February 4, David Goulet (tenor) on February II, Albert Melton (organ) on February 18, and Eugene Carinci and the Saxophone Quartet on February 25. All performances are at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church at 425 Congress Street. Call 775-3356 for details. Portland Performing Arts, 25A Forest A venue, Portland International events for early 1999 include a Vietnamese Tet Festival, a traditional new year celebration, with Phong Nguyen on January 17. On February 27 see Tesfaye Lemme and his African drumming and dance troupe the Nile Ethiopian Ensemble. Call PPA's Box Office at 761 1545. -Compiled by Michael Miliard

Opening this winter, Chancellor Gardens of Cape Elizabeth will be Southern Maine's newest and most gracious assisted living community where warm residential comforts will combine with the highest levels of hospitality and personal care services anywhere. Enjoy: • Three restaurant-style meals per day • Housekeeping and linen service • Fitness and wellness programs • Diverse activities and cultural programs

• 24-hour emergency call and response system • Assistance with personal care, including bathing, grooming, dressing, and medication reminders

And, because Chancellor Gardens is a rental community, there is no long-term financial commitment or large endowment fee. To learn more about Chancellor Gardens of Cape Elizabeth, please visit our onsite Information Center or call 207-799-7332 or 888-860-6914 toll-free.

i CHANCELLOR OF CAPE

GARDENS

ELIZABETH

78 Scott Dyer Road • Cape Elizabeth, Maine 04107 Chancellor Gardens of Cape Elizabeth is a CareMatrix premier senior living community.

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We're in the Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages 256 Read St., Portland Co> 207-797-0100' 1-800-833-6679 (IN MEl • FAX 797-4194

WINfERGUIDE • POIULAND MONllfLY MAGAZINE •

A Portland

Dining Guide

**** I

and flambes. The Broad Arrow Tavern offers an open kitchen, V«lOdfired oven and griM.AAAZ8goI and WIl9 SpecIs/Dr Awards of Excellence. 84 rooms, indoor pool, extended stay condos. Open 365 days, major crecit cards. www.stayheeport.com. Harraseeke@aoI.com. 800-342-6423. Fax 207-865-1684. Hugo'S Portland Bistro, accessibly located at the intersection of Middle Street and Franklin Artery, was Portland Dining Guide's 1996 Gold MedaJ Winner. The innovative menu changes monIHy and features fresh seafood and interesting vegetarian dishes. Crab cakes are a house speciafty, and parking is available! Serving dinner only Tuesday-5aturday, with live piano music nigrtly. For reservations call n4-8538. . Jameson Tavern. Consists of two welcaning parts, a casual bar and lounge and a more formal dining room each offering a comfortable place for easy dining. The building is the site of the signing of the constitution for the state of Maine when it broke away from Massachusetts, the room being preserved and available for viewing at the Tavern. Classic preparations served in a graceful and elegant setting make the Jameson Tavern a fine retreat from frenzied outlet shopping. 115 Main St, Freeport, 8654196. Credit cards accepted; reservations recommended.

SELECT

AREA

At the Armory Restaurant in the Portland Regency Hotel, spectacular cuisine, Old Port charm, and impeccable service come together in an elegant yet casual atmosphere. Along with fresh dinner specials featuring foods from land and sea, the Armory chefs prepare unforgettable house specialties like Seafood Fettuccine with lobster, shrimp, crab, and mussels; Steak Diane, and 8Iack Angus Sirloin. The Armory Restaurant is also open for breakfast and lunch. Reservations recommended. n4-4200. David and Elizabeth Grant opened Aubergine Bistro-Wine Bar in November of 1996 and within 2 weeks received stunning local reviews and have since garnered national acclaim. Cui siner David Grant and Chef de Cuisine Gordon Cameron prepare French Bistro dishes such as Two-Texture Duck with Cassis, Sweetbreads with Port and Cepes and Crispy Salmon with Spinach and Pernod and Portland's only traditional French Cheese Course. Menu changes daily; all wines available by the glass. Dioner Tues-5at 5:30-10; French Sun Bn.nch 11-2. 8740680. The Audubon Room at the Inn by the Sea on Route n in Cape Elizabeth combines breathtaking views of the Atlantic ocean with culinary masterpieces that feature fresh local produce, native seafood specialties, and exceptional handmade breads and desserts. House favorites include grilled crab and macadamia encrusted swordfish with ora(lQ8 pepper basil couIis and saute of Maine lobster and veal on fresh angel hair with roasted tomato beurre blanc. Patio dining and off premise catering available. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. 767-0888. Benkay Restaurant's loyal following enjoys its "visual and culinary works of art" prepared by professionally trained chefs from Japan, its "knowledgable and enthusiastic wait staff" and "over-the-top taste experience"-Maine Sunday Telegram. Treat yourself to the ~ sushi bar or an elaborate dinner cooked at the table. Try the NY Strip; Shabu-Shabu; Sukiyaki and tofu. Or tempura, teriyaki. A wide selection of appetizers, soups, salad, noodles, chicken and vegetarian selections. Full bar, sake and wine tist. 2 Incia Street, free parking. 773-5555. Owned and operated by Roger BinUiff, Bintliffs American cafe is Portland's only a11-day-everyday Jazz Brunch House. Greek revival structure, charming antiques and detail make breakfast, lunch or business meeting a special occasion. Signature items include crab and asparagus stuffed filet mignon, garden scampi with Pemod, seasonal vegetable Ie primavera, and a wide anay of homemade a:com-paniments, including desserts. Unique wine list, full bar. Brunch 7-3 daily; dinner 5:30-9 Fri and Sat only. 98 Portland Street (across from the post office). n4-QOO5. Bray's Brewpub and Eatery, the Lake Region's only brew pW serving the freshest ales and hearty New England lunches, dinners and pub fair. Offerings range from burgers and ribs to petit filets and Tuscan style seafood on pasta. Bray's occupies a charming VICtorian farmhouse only 45 minutes from Portland on Route 302 at Route 35 in Naples. The seasonal outdoor beer garden features acoustic entertainment on weekends, a super barbecue menu and a great place to relax. Open year-round. 693-6806.

RESTAURANTS ratatouille-that make this dining experience like no other in Portland. In addition to a spectacular, Grand Sunday Brunch, Cafe Stroudwater serves breakfast, luncheon and dinner daily. The Cafe also offers Portland's only Chef's Table, and an innovative selection of wines & locally brewed beers. located in the Embassy Suites Hotel, reservations suggested n5-0032. Crickets Restaurant in Freeport. Delicious food at reasonable prices. Featuring fresh local seafood, lobster, weekend prime rib, steaks, fajitas, pasta, salads, specialty sandwiches, vegetarian selections, daily blackboard specials. Private function room. Full service lounge - Maine microbrews on tap. Easy, convenient parking only 1/2 mile south of l.l. Bean. Open for breakfast Saturday & Sunday; Sunday Brunch menu from 11-3. Main Street, Freeport. 865-4005. Reservations/major credit cards accepted; smoking & non-smoking sections. In the downstairs at David's Restaurant you can sample fourstar entrees featuring farm-fresh produce and native prodt..cts like seafood sausage, pepper crusted tuna, or goat cheese packets with grilled vegetables (773-4340). David's, set in a converted open-air market building, boasts an abundant raw bar, 20 varieties of seafood, lobster, fresh pasta, microbrews, and Maine's largest single malt scotches list (n3-4340). Turino's Stone Oven Pizzeria combines wild mushrooms, prosciutto, artichoke hearts, and fresh herbs to create authentic gourmet pizza from old Naples (780-6600). All three restaurants are located at 164 Mickie Street. You can't beat the location of DiMillo's Floating Restaurant at 25 long Wharf off Commercial Street for fabulous water views of Portland Hart:>or.Escape from the hustle and bustle of the city by watching the boats go by as you enjoy fresh Maine lobster served year-round, steak, seafood dishes, and more. Open 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., with a children's menu available. For drinks and a lighter menu, try their Portside lounge. n22216. Welcome to F. Parker Reidy'S, site of the original Portland Savings Bank built in 1866 at 83 Exchange Street. Established in 1976 during the renaissance of the Old Port area, F. Parker ~eidy's has become a Portland fine dining tradtion, specializing In steaks and fresh seafood, but also offering pasta, chicken, and salads, with prime rib featured on weekends. Tum-of-the-<:entury decor, personalized service, and great food create a warm and congenial atmosphere popular for both business and intimate dining. n3-4731. Deep in the heart of the mysterious Woodfords area at 540 Forest Avenue is the Great Lost where you'll find a full bar featuring over 50 (that's right, five-a) draught beers, predominanUy from local m\Cro-breweries. Accompanying them is an enormous menu with .everything from soups, salads, and sandwiches to steaks and ribs, as well as a large vegetarian selection and the best nachos and buffalo wings in town. Discover where the natives go when they're restless! Serving from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. seven days a week. n2-Q300. Visit us on-line at: http://www.greatlostbear.com

ae.,

The cannery. On the banks of the Royal River the Cannery offers a variety of dining experiences from our outdoor covered deck to the loft over1ooking the dning room below and the river. The menu includes traditional "Coast of Maine" fare such as lobster, clams, crabcakes and chowder as well as a selection of creative pasta, chicken, steak and fish specialties. Function room available. lower Falls landing, Yarmouth. Major credit cardslreservations a::cepted. 846-1226.

Hanson Bros seafood cafe mixes an extraordinary seafood retail business with an outstanding restaurant space in Portland's invigorating new Public Markel Diners can choose frOm a classic menu of seafood choices (plus some chicken and beef) and a raw bar guaranteed to please the most persnickety oyster eater. Open 7 days, 11-7 (Sun 12-5) with Maine microbrews a house specialty and Fridays, 5-8, a free selected seafood appetizer happy hour & beer special. Try their award winning lobster Bisque with chunks of fresh picked lobster meat! Preble St., 2282010.

cafe Stroudwater, specializes in American bistro style cuisine with an emphasis on native Maine seafood & prime cuts of beef. It is five-star award winning chef William Boutwell's creative touches--such as pine nut encrusted rack of lamb with fresh

Freeport-Harraseeket Inn, 2 blocks north of l.l. Bean, is one great country inn with two great restaurants. Enjoy breakfast, lunch, doner, afternoon tea or Sunday Brunch in an elegant main dining room which features classic cuisine, table side service,

40 • PORTLAND

MONfHLY MAGAZINE • WINTERGUIDE

Katahdin, at Spring and High, opposite the art museum, specializes in comfort: comfortable food across a tantalizing culinary range, comfortable atmosphere and wait staff, and comfortable prices. Its identifiably loyal clientele establishes its credibility and popularity. Try the fish chowder ($2.9513.95), crabcakes ($13.95), grilled sea scallops with spicy lime & vegetable vinaigrette ($14.95) or the chef's Blue Plate SpeciaJ ($10.95). All homemade desserts including their own ice cream & sorbets. Tues-Thurs, 5-9:~; Fri & Sat 5-10:30. Tel: n4-7140. It's "Mex to the Max!" at Margaritas Mexican Restaurants & Watering Hole! With two great locations in Portland, others in lewiston, Augusta, Orono and Portsmouth, Margaritas serves up "oversized" meals and delicious colossaJ-sized drinks! There's always free hot chips and salsa, the rnargaritas are downright legendary, and the house specialty is the sizzling fajita! Happy hour M-F, 4-7pm, free hot appetizers. In Portland at 242 St John St, Union Station Plaza, 874-6444 and 11 Brown St near the Ovic Center, n4-9398. Lunch at Brown St, Wed-Fri. Maria's Ristorante, est. 1960 by owner/chef Anthony Napolitano,offersexquisite Italian cuisine plus a large variety of Italian wines by the glass. Spacious, beautiful, Italian decorated dining rooms. Private rooms available for large parties. SpecialtieS: veal saltimboca, lobster alfredo or fra diavolo and fried roasted garlic calamari. Desserts: panna cotta, chocolate amaretto fudge cake, and Napolitano's own pistachio gelato. lunch: $5-$8, Tues-Fri, 11:30am-2 pm. Dinner: $10-$19, Tues-5at from 5 pm. 337 CumbertMd Ave., on-site parking. Tel: 772-9232. Real Jerk Chicken? In a hidden corner behind Shaw's Mill Creek? Hard to believe, but a whole range of "Jamaican Experience" can be yours for $5 or $6 at the Millcreek cafe owned and operated by Caribbean native Stone McFarquer. Breakfast specialties include "funky omelets" with innovative spice and seasoning mixes; dinner specialties may include Oxtail Stew and chicken curry. Breakfast-lunch seven dayS starting at 7 am; dinner, Wed-Sat, 5-10 pm. 9 Street in South Portland's Waterfront Market. Tel: 767-0B87.

Natasha's. Portland's newest restaurant featuring New American-style menus for brunch, lunch & dinner prepared with the freshest ingredients, inclucing pastas, local fish, grilled meats, & many vegetarian selections. lunch T~ri, 11-2:30; DiMer Tues-Thurs, 5-9; Fri-Sat, 5-10; Brunch Sat-Sun, 8-3. 40 Portland St., n4-4004. Handicapped accessible. The 0Ide House, the oldest house (c.1790) in Raymond sitting alongside Panther Run on Rt 85, offers a classic, European based cuisine (Beef Wellington Borde/aise, Steak au Poivre) with the best Maine touches (chowder, Lobster Grand Mamier, Baked Stuffed Haddock). Elegant and comfortable, the Olde House caters to all ages. Recipient of the Gourmet Diner Club of North America Golden Fork Award (98). Dinner served 5-10 pm nightly; 5-9 pm Tues-Sun after labor Day. Visa/MC, casual dress, reservations a::cepted; special parties by request. 655-7841. The Pepperc!ub is a prize-winning restaurant ("Best Vegetarian" and "Best Value" in Fromrr.er's Guide to New Eng/and) featuring creative world cuisine. Its blackboard menu typically lists five vegetarian, three fish, and three meat entrees, incIucing a superb organic beef burger. Pepperclub offers relaxed, colorful, unusually affordable dining on the edge of the Old Port with easy, free parking and good wines and beers. Open nightly at 5 p.m.; credit cards accepted. 78 Middle Street, near Franklin Artery. n2-Q531. Ricetta's Brick Oven Pizzeria, voted "Best Pizza in Maine" since 1990 by the PPH and CBW, Ricetta's is trUY a taste of the old country. M. E. Curly of the PPH raves: "Ricelta's is arguably the best pizza west of Rome." Dine-in, take-out, delivery, and catering are available. The aJl-you-can-eat gourmet lunch btlfet includes pizza, pasta, soup, and salad. Kids eat FREE during Sunday lunch buffet and Mondays from 3 p.m. until closing. located at 29 Western Avenue, South Portland. n5-7400. Saigon Thinh Thanh, 608 Congress Street, Portland. "Of the 137 restaurants listed in the 1996-97 edition, Saigon Thin Thanh is a four-star restaurant ranked first in value. Saigon Thin Thanh is Maine's~ probably New England's-finest Vietnamese

restaurant. "-Portland DinkJg Guide. "F<XM'stars for food, service, and value for money. With good, healthy, fIavoIfuI food and quick service in a pleasant, clean atmosphere, Saigon Thin Thanh is worth investigaling."-Press Herald. 773-2932. sebago Brewing Comp8ny. A great raw bar, boating motif decor and its own beer (you can watch it being made here) are some of the feat~ of ttls unique micro-brewery restaurant nestled in the urd<eIy environs of Maile Mall next to FlIene's Basement. Try the Lobster QuesadiIIa, Native Mussels steamed in house brewed ale or Maine's'l Pastrami Sandwich. Entrees feature daily fresh catch, perfectly grilled NY Sirloin, chicken, hearty pastas and arJl)Ie inventiw salads. Single malt scotch, good wines. Serving 11am-1am, happy hour Mon-Fri 4-7 & lo-c1ose. 879-ALES(2537). 5ev8nah's. Come and eat "Somelhing Different." Our authentic cuisine is sure to spicen up your taste buds. Maine Sunday Telegram reports SevMah's is Portland's newest four star exotic food elCp9rience.Caribbecwl and Cajun-creole cooIdng at its best, serll9d in a bright and friendly atmosphere. Selective four star dishes include Roti, Curry Shrimp, Jerk Chicken, Jambalaya, Gumbo, Homemade PecM Pie and more. Dinner (Tue-Fri 5-10 pm), Lunch (Thur & Fri 11:30 am -2:30 pm). Fridays Happy H<XM' 5-7pm, Sat 11:30 am-10 pm. Su11-8 pm. 144 Cunbertand Ave. 761-7654. Me,V, AMEX. Silly's. The restaurant that defies description. They have ewrything from charbroiled burgers and shish kabob, hand cut fries, B8Q and jeri< chicken, to a wilq variety d pizza, vegetarian plates, milkshakes, desserts, and lheir famous rolled up abdUlahs - all made with fresh ingredients daily. A lively and funky atmosphere with a patio out back. Beer, wine and occasionally live music. Free deliwry to Portland and At lIRt 88 Falmouth. Man • Sat 10-10. 40 Washington Ave., Portland. Credit cards accepIed. m-0360. Snow Squall, known for great Maine seafood and lobster, also serves steaks, chicken, veal, filet of beef and vegetarian selections. Offering casual dining as well as lull dinners, luncheon in the patio or dining room, Mon-Fri, 11:30-9:30. Happy hour daily~, double drinks single priced, wine and beer specials, free munchies. Early dinners $7.95: Mon-Sat, 4:3<H5 and Sun, 2--{). Famous Sunday brunch bullet, 11-2. Located in South Portland waterfront market at 18 Ocean Street, ample parking. 799-2232 or 800-568-3260. Stone Coast Brewing Company is a major micro operation offering lull restaurant facilities as well as fantastic brews on its substantial premises in the Old Port. Its restaurant, open from 11:30 am daily, offers ewrything from steak to lobster, and you don't need to leave the building to enjoy some of the best live music in Portland - it's just upstairs. At 14 York, the junction of PIeasart, York and Fore Streets, with plenty of free par1<ing.Call 773-BEER. Tamarind Tree Cookery offers a daily changing lunch menu of traditional & creative multi-<:tJtural rosine for take away feasting, featuring foods from the Middle East, India, South America, and Europe. Everything is made from scratch using all-natural ingredients. Special orders for suppers, sweets, and small gatherings are welcome with advance notice and are discussed on an individual basis with owner Shameem Mohiuddin. Located at 151 Newbury St, PortIcrd -just off the Franklin Arterial and Miclde 51. intersection, between India & Hampshire Streets. Open weekdays 8-5. (207)7~9607. the Lobster Cooker Restaurant is located in the heart of Freeport's shopping district just a block from L.L. Bean. Fast, friendly service featuring lobster, crabmeat, scallops, shrimp, award-winning hearty chowders, sandwiches, beer, wine, and takeout. Open every day, year round. Elloya Maine tradition in lheir historic 1860 bam or bask on the sun drenched garden patio. Their fish chowder has won 1st place in the anruaI Freeport Great Cho\Wah Challenge in '96, '97, and '96, as wei as Best Overall Chowder in 1998.865-4349. Tony Roma's "Famous For Ribs" is conveniently located at the end of Exit 7 of the Maine Tumpike, adjacent to the Howard Johnson's in South Portland end just mirutes from the Maine Mall. Tony Roma's across the country specialize in the best barbecue ribs with our original sauce. The grill is always fired up for a lull menu d chicken, prime rib, steaks. seafood, and sandwiches. No visit is complete without our famous loaf of onion rings. The breakfast buffet opens at 7 A.M., followed by lunch and dinner. 7 days a week. Enjoy the cast.Jaatmosphere of Tony Roma's. Tortilla Flat has been serving New Englanders fine Mexican food and drink for over 25 years. At 1871 Forest Avenue in Portland you can find favorites like nachos, fajitas, chimichangas, tamales. burritos, tacos, enchiladas, and frozen margaritas seven days a week, as well as seafood, steak, pori<,and chicken cooked with a Mexican flair. With Iu1ch specials starling at $3.95, a children's menu, nightly specials, a Chi~ Happy Hour, a screened-in deck, and take-oul, Tortilla Flat is a memorable Mexican experience you can alford any time. 797-8729. Valle's. Serving trawlers and local residents since 1933, great food at reasonable prices: fresh Maine lobster; their own thick hand cut sirloins; juicy prime ribs; tender giant shrimp and much more. Family owned and operated for three generations. Visit the Generations 3 lounge for dancing and live entertainment every Friday and saturday evening. Discover for yourself why this most popular restaurant is a "Maine Tradition." 1140 Brighton Ave, Route 25 At Exit 8, Maine Tumpike. All major credits cards, ample ' par1<ing.Open 7 days a week. n4-4551.

-REVIEW-I

MiJbellIle'

1he combination

of German and French cuisine with abstract art? For the adventurous, Michelle's Restaurnnt, 144Water Street, HalI • lowell, is more than worth a try it's worth the 45 minute drive from the Portland area, especially when you add Hallowell's other attraction as a mecca for antique hunters. Now, Hallowell isn't just a two-restaurant town anymore. Eponymous owner-chefMichelle Le Mans (who is half French, halfGennan) moved here from Germany to be near her daughter and grandchildren. She took her love for art and cooking and opened this unusual bistro. The small room is cozy with tapered candles, linens, and colorful artwork. Fresh bread with chive butter and sliced melon are brought to the table by Michele, who also cooks or supervises all kitchen activities. I selected the soup of the day, hearty Lentil ($2.99). Thick with lentils, cubed potatos, and sliced onions, this soup was distinguished by the addition of vinegar and fresh thyme. The subtlety of the beans and piquant stock mixed perfectly to excite the taste buds. My guest chose the Onion Soup ($4.99). It was a bit disappointing in that the onions were not caramelized and overall more salty than preferred, but the melted Gruyere cheese was a welcome treat. For dinner we chose Crepe Le Mans ($9.95) and Pork Chop with Sauerkraut ($8.95). The crepe was thicker than traditional to complement its filling of smoked salmon, onions, Swiss cheese, and bechamel sauce. Served with cold corn salad with a vinegar dressing and carrot, bean, and potato salad, it was a knockout. Talk about your mix of flavors. The pork chop was hearty and the sauerkraut a nice accompaniment as well as the fantastic pan-fried potato wedges. Do not miss the dessert crepes! These traditional French crep~s, with everything from fresh fruit to maple syrup and cream, are delicious to the point of ecstasy. Reservations suggested. 629-9151. 6-Phil Rogers

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141lBeac((J)lIJl S~ree~• $215,000 hile this may not be a listed John Calvin Stevens house (we couldn't find it on the project list of the Stevens Collection at Maine Historical Society), it's hard to believe his work isn't somewhere beneath this coat of vinyl siding, especially given the trademark dentilwork outside; tiled and beaded fireplaces inside; pleasing "vista" effect on the second floor hall where several rooms may be viewed from one spot; and location on the corner of Beacon and Lincoln Streets in Deering Highlands, one of Stevens's stomping grounds. In fact, this corner is in one of the loveliest parts of the Highlands, with Fairmount, the mansion Stevens built for Charles Foss of Schlotterbeck & Foss, glowing across the streetthrough 141 Beacon Street's lovely bay windows. Presently, 141 Beacon is operating as two apartments, one on the first floor ($725/month) and one on the second ($1,ODD/month),but the original floor plan could easily be restored. The lower unit has a paneled foyer with gutta percha walls; salon with stained glass windows and fireplace with columns and mirror; new kitchen with wainscoting and a central island; and original coffered ceilings in the dining Toom and bedroom. The upstairs unit has a new deck off the second floor with distant water views and a modern third-floor studio with exposed beams. Both units have hardwood floors. The full basement surprises with a partially finished room with hardwood floor; outside there's a fine detached two-car garage with pitched roof, as well as a lovely patio. Listed by Deborah Swan Blackburn of Mulkerin Associates, 141 Beacon enjoys gas heat and property taxes of $3,512. &-

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WINTERGUIDE • PORTLAND MONTHLY MAGAZINE •

A New Face, A Tradition of Care

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FAME?

producing the life story of the world's biggest superstar may be a little too high. A scathing

satire of the excesses and emptiness of American pop

By Stepan Chapman

culture. JANUARY

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PORlUND

MONTHLY MAGAZINE • WlNTERGUIDE

man and his wife were standing in line at the Biological Vehicle Bureau. They were waiting to apply for an extinction certificate, on behalf of the human race. They couldn't go anywhere else, until they were issued that certificate. The vast lobby of the bureau had fluorescent ceiling lights overhead, a worn, linoleum floor underfoot, and no visible walls. The fat, middle-aged man and his fat, middle-aged wife waited there for what seemed like weeks. During that time, only three applicants were processed at the clerk's window. Finally the man lost patience. He told his wife to save their place in line. Then he began to walk toward the head of the line. He walked past pairs of extinct mammals, all of them patiently waiting, standing on their flippers or crouching on their paws or shuffling their hoofs. Whether the mammals were mastodons or squirrels, they all seemed to be five feet tall, the same height as the man. And they were all making eye contact with the man, in a way that was distinctly hostile.

-I

The man walked pat extinct fish and extinct ferns. Some of them hissed at him or made rude gestures. He walked past pairs of extinct crustaceans and mosses. A five-foot-tallshrimp tried to trip him with his tail. Still, the man walked on, past extinct species of sponges and seaweeds, past extinct rotifers and vanished algae. At the head of the line, a five-foot-tall diatom, greenish and translucent, was standing in front of a Formica shelf,· where there was a small oval window in a tall plate of glass. The man tried to look into the clerk's station, but the glare on the dusty glass obscured his vision. The diatom was holding a short, blunt pencil with its cilia and slowly filling out a form. Gathering his courage, the man strode up to the window, shouldering aside the . diatom. "Excuse me," he said. But how long are my wife' and I expected to ... " The man wasn't able to finish this question. ehind the window was a cavern even more vast than the waiting room, filled mostly with gargantuan stalagmites. There was also a colossal dryad in a white tunic, who sat at a gigantic, etheric workstation, typing into an enormous, etheric computer terminal. The dryad's huge eyes were just at the level of the waiting room. She leaned forward and interrupted the man's question, addressing him softly, in a voice so large that it came close to doing permanent damage to the man's eardrums. The whole room shook, as she spoke to him. "Sir?" she said. 'Will you please stay ih · Ime.7" The rotifers and algae began to snicker at the man. The fish and the ferns started tittering. The crustaceans and mosses laughed aloud. Iguanadons chuckled, and dodos honked. Pill-bugs rolled on their backs and kicked their legs in the air. Soon, every creature in the place was weeping or choking or snorting with hilarity. The man trudged back to his place in line. He stood beside his wife, with a sour look on his face. Even the mammals were laughing at him. Even his wife. &

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Portland Monthly Magazine Winterguide 1999

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