MARCH 2021.VOL. 21, NO. 03. PORTLAND, MAINE.
PORTLAND’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER. FREE!
Is This Any Way to Run a WEN survives despite the Newspaper?! Community Newspaper Celebrates 20 Years
decline of print media
Previous WEN publisher Ed King’s recollections from the first 12 years
By Tony Zeli
across this ad – I think it was in the Cas- By Ed King co Bay weekly – looking for somebody When I took over The West End A lot of interesting, exciting, funny, to start a newspaper in the West End. I News in 2014, I’m sure a lot of folks strange, baffling, weird things (remember thought, well, there it is. And so, I basically thought I was being foolish. A common the topless march on Congress Street?!) applied and went from there,” said King. question was, “Why a newspaper?” Print happened in the twelve years that I was news was not exactly a trending industry. Turns out, Ethan Strimling, long be- running the West End NEWS. Here are a Turns out, the same was true for Ed King fore he was mayor, was running a nonprof- few of them: when he began WEN twenty years ago. it in the West End and wanted to publish a community newsletter. Ed King got the Marge Niblock’s Cops-and“I feel like I was getting into the newsjob, sold the ads, wrote, edited, and dis- Robbers paper business just as the newspaper busitributed the inaugural issue of the West ness was dying, but twenty years later I The first issue of the West End End Times in February 2001. But, after the wasn’t totally right on that…” King told NEWS hit the street on St. Patrick’s Day, first and only issue of the Times, there was me during a Zoom interview last month. March 17th, 2001. The front page was a falling out, and King took the paper in his “But that was a time of a lot of upheavfestooned with shamrocks, honoring the own direction. In March 2001, The West al in the newspaper business and a lot of holiday, the history of the Irish communiEnd News was born. newspapers did go out of business. A lot ty in the West End, and my own personal of traditional, especially daily, newspapers “I’d like to say I was being altruistic, or heritage. The front-page story, written by at that time went out of business.” community-minded, or high-minded in any Barbara McGivaren, was about the newway, but the fact is I had to pay the rent … ly-forming Portland Police Review Board. Yet, our community paper has manand there it was looking me in the face.” It was the first of many police-related aged to survive through twenty challengstories that we would publish in the coming years. King attributed much of his sucAnd he did pay the rent, at least often ing years. Although I wrote many of the cess to keeping local news at the heart enough. King partly credits the newspapolice stories at the beginning, Munjoy of the paper, and the same is true today. per’s survival to keeping things small. From Hill’s Marge Niblock eventually became There will always be a need for local, day one he ran the paper out of his living our full-time crime reporter. Of course, neighborhood-level coverage that bigger room and that never changed. Though a publication our size could never afford players cannot deliver. about a dozen people were involved in a a full-time crime reporter, but Marge, a serious way with the paper during those retired artist from Philadelphia, loved the STARTING A NEWSPAPER early years, no one ever took a traditional police beat and spent most of her waking Ed King recalled saying to a friend salary. It was all volunteer. From stuffing hours churning out cops-and-robber stomonths before he started The West End inserts into the newspaper with the com- ries – just for the fun of it! News, “You know what this area really munity police officer to driving around needs is a newspaper.” At that time, he Portland with friends to deliver copies to Liz Looks at the Stars swears he had no intention of starting one. a hundred locations, the community came Many of the best ideas for the West together and helped the News thrive. End NEWS came from our readers them“A couple months later, low and behold, I am looking for a job and a ran Cont'd on Pg. 5 selves. One Sunday morning, I was stand-
Page 5
Covid-19 Vaccination Center opens at Portland Expo
Page 6
Browntail Moth Caterpillar Problem at Western Promenade
Pages 12-13
Contributors Reflect on 20 Years with the West End Community
Ed King’s illustrations were a popular feature during the early years of our community paper.Turn to Page 2 to see his latest which honors WEN’s 20th anniversary. -Ilustration by Ed King ing in front of Paul’s Food Market on Congress Street (our best distribution point) when along came future City Councilor Kevin Donoghue and his friend Liz McMahon. After Kevin introduced me to her, Liz said, “You know what that newspaper needs - a horoscope!” “Why don’t you write one?” I challenged her. “OK, I will,” she took up the challenge, and about a week later she delivered the first “Liz Looks at the Stars” horoscope column. It wasn’t strictly a horoscope column. Sometimes it was a history lesson, or a cooking column, or even advice to the lovelorn. It was whatever Liz
Cont'd on Pg. 2
Pages 16-17
Layne’s Wine Gig Remembers Favorite Spots from Yesteryear
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THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS
Is This Any Way to Run a Newspaper?!
Political Feuds, too!
felt like writing about that week, cleverly disguised as a horoscope. And I didn’t learn until years later that when I dared Liz to come up with a horoscope column, she didn’t even know anything about horoscopes. But she went and bought a couple of books about horoscopes and winged it from there! (And as an added bonus - for me - Liz eventually became my full-time partner in life’s adventures and we’ve now been together for fifteen years.)
Most newspapers have some amount of political coverage, and we certainly had ours. My friend Steven Scharf, who was an early supporter of the paper, took an interest in city government and started writing a column called “Inside/ Outside City Hall.” Steven became a fixture at Portland City Council meetings, and without me realizing it at the time, started making some meaningful political enemies, too. One evening, in the course of one city council meeting, a city councilor stood up and declared, “The only thing the West End NEWS is good for is lining your bird cage!” I was caught off guard by this little feud, but of course, immediately entered the fray on the side of the newspaper. The next issue featured a political cartoon ridiculing the city councilor who had defamed us (and brought great recognition to our little publication). In the middle of the next city council meeting, the offending councilor, who had seen the cartoon mocking him, came out to where I was seated in the audience and said to me, “I’m really sorry for what I said. The West End NEWS is also good for cleaning up after your dog.”
The Dumpster Another great idea for the paper came one night when I was sitting at the bar at Local 188, when it was located in Longfellow Square. The guy sitting next to me, who I didn’t know but who seemed to know me, said “You should have a gossip column in that paper.” “OK,” I replied, and in the next issue “THE DUMPSTER - where we put everything we don’t know what to do with” made its debut. It was definitely the most popular feature in the paper. People were always telling me that it was the first thing they turned to in the paper and how much they loved it. Getting your name mentioned in THE DUMPSTER became a symbol of West End celebrity.
“Do you really want to keep this going?” I asked the Councilor politely.
Readers Around the World One feature in the paper that required some degree of reader participation was something we called “The West End NEWS Around the World.” My friend (and world traveler) Jack Glynn had started sending me photos of himself reading the newspaper at different locations he had visited – Iceland, London, Barcelona, to name a few. After a while, other readers started sending us similar pictures. One woman was sitting in front of the Taj Mahal browsing the classified section. Another reader was standing in front of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris with his nose buried in the WEN. Another adventurous fan was perched on an iceberg in Antarctica catching up on local events. The idea really caught on and not a single issue over the next ten years was without a photo of a West End NEWS reader documenting their travels from every corner of the earth!
Cont'd from Pg. 1
At top is the masthead from the first issue of The West End News. In the oval is a brand-new illustration by Ed King celebrating WEN contributors. And below is Ed King with the king, demonstrating the ‘Around the World’ photo feature at Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley in Memphis, TN, 2013.
-Thank you to “Nooooo...!” he implored. And the Abraham Schechter, feud ended right there. Years later, when Special Collections Librarian & Archivist at he had retired from politics, the councilor the Portland Public Library for providing the archival issue of Vol. 1 No. 1. Cont'd on Pg. 2
Congratulations to The West End News for publishing 20 years of community news!
Ed King
edkingcartoons@gmail.com
Find me on Facebook
Ed King Cartoons
Visit www.patrons.com to find an independent agent near you.
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS
Ed King on WEN's Early Years Cont'd from Pg. 2
THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
Compassionate and Innovative Memory Care
invited Marge and me (but not Steven) to rumbled around town spreading the good his house for dinner, and we had a good (and sometimes not-so-good) news in a variety of vehicles, from the WestEndlaugh about the whole affair. NewsCycle to the WestEndNewsMobile. Aside from fighting with local polThere were challenging times, too: iticians, The West End NEWS was very fortunate to feature the analysis of one of putting together a paper on September the most knowledgable observers of city 11th; the Great Recession of 2008 (which government – former Portland Planning nearly put us out of business for good); Board President, City Councilor, and May- all those all-nighters that preceded almost or Orlando DeLogu. Studying his column every single publication day. (Whenever was an education for me and many other things were going inexplicably bad, Doug regular readers. And some of his writing Emerson always had the right answer to even stirred the city government into ac- the problem: “I’m sure Ethan Strimling has tion on some pressing community issues, something to do with it!” A lot of work, like the removal of the damaging and dan- a lot of fun, so many stories and a lot of gerous abandoned railroad tracks crossing memories. Hey, it’s 4 a.m.! Somebody get me another coffee! Forest Avenue. Ed King is former publisher of The West End News. Contact him at There were so many other people edkingcartoons@gmail.com. and adventures that filled those dozen years: Harlan Baker, interviewing almost everybody who had a part in the making of the West End in his popular column “West End People;” Rosanne Graef keeping us updated on Neighborhood Association events; Michelle Souliere covering “Strange Maine;” Lee Bellavance and Tony Taylor writing features about nature and the environment; Ruth Riddick sending updates from New York and Washington; James Swan’s brilliant and hilarious re-writing of the Hardy Boys Mysteries (something for everybody!); Liz and my clumsy attempt at designing crossword puzzles; Doug Emerson playing (alternaKing, EVERYONE 2017 tively) DeliveryMan and PaperBoy as we DANCE PARTY-EdFOR Join former WEN publisher Ed King and contributor Rosanne Graef in Congress Square Park for a whole lotta shakin’ to 50 years of hits, misses, & dance crazes!
Thanks to the Contributors!
Wednesday, Aug. 22, 6-8 pm, Congress Square Park
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THEWESTENDNEWS.COM
THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
Congratulations WEN for 20 years! From all of us at
Locally Owned & Locally Known Serving the Portland area for over 30 years
PORTLAND, MAINE 295 FOREST AVENUE | 207-774-1260 (BACK COVE, HANNAFORD PLAZA) www.cascobayframes.com
HAPPY
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-from a West End News Reader
FROM THE EDITOR
INSIDE THIS EDITION
Celebrating 20 Years of Community News
Best Worst Trivia.........................................15 Broader Picture.....................................12-13 Climate Justice.............................................14 Crossword....................................................15 Dumpster......................................................19 Food & Drink.........................................16-17 Health & Wellness.........................................7 La Vida Local.................................................13 Layne's Wine Gig...................................16-17 Map Page.................................................10-11 Neighborhood News................................5-6 PelotonPosts...................................................8 Poetry.....................................................12&19 Portland Buy Local........................................9 Sudoku...........................................................15 Travel..............................................................18
We did it! Twenty years of publication. From 2001 to 2013, Ed King edited and published the paper, at first only in print but eventually online as well. Then for a brief period the paper was online only. Until, in 2014 I took over and started printing again, and I plan to keep on printing free community news and entertainment for as long as I can. Learn more about WEN’s early years in Ed King’s feature article, “Is This Any Way to Run a Newspaper?!” Then check out more from Ed and me on community news past and future in “WEN survives despite the decline of print media.” For memories from contributors, check out the Broader Picture section on Pages 12 and 13, where Jenny Anastasoff and Rosanne Graef discuss writing for the community as the neighborhood grew and changed. Also, turn to Pages 16 and 17 to discover Layne Witherell’s favorite establishments of Portland past. And on Page 18, Nancy Dorrans shares memories from her years as our “travel columnist.”
THE WEST END NEWS Published by Zeli Enterprises, LLC 795 Congress Street Portland, Maine 04102 www.thewestendnews.com thewestendnews@gmail.com Tony Zeli, Publisher & Editor Rick Ness, Sales Thank you to Ed King, without whom there would be no WEN. VOLUNTEER CONTRIBUTORS Nancy Dorrans, Travel & Adventure Dr. Oren Gersten, Health Commentary Rosanne Graef, La Vida Local Jenny Anastasoff, Writers' Block Layne Witherell, Layne's Wine Gig
Plus, we have local news and all your Thank you for contributions from favorite features like the cartoon Map and Drs. Bruce Gomberg & The Dumpster. Please enjoy our 20th AnStephen Rodrigue, Northern Light Health niversary Edition! Thank you for reading! Mary Alice Scott, Portland Buy Local S. Kathleen Smith, RSM, Citizens' All the best, Climate Lobby Tony Zeli, Publisher & Editor Ben Taylor, Best Worst Trivia Liz Trice, PelotonLabs & Portland Climate Action Team Printed in Maine by Lincoln County Publishing Co.
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Contact Rick Ness 207-577-7025 rickthewestendnews@gmail.com
SUBMISSIONS WEN is a community newspaper and we need your voice! Share your submissions with thewestendnews@gmail.com or send to: The West End News Attn: Editor 795 Congress Street Portland, Maine 04102 • Letters to the editor should be no more than 300 words. Include your name and town or neighborhood. • Op-eds should be no more than 750 words and include a brief biography of 1-2 sentences. • WEN also accepts poetry, cartoons, and photo submissions. Deadline for publication is the fourth Friday of every month. Our column space is very limited, publication is not guaranteed, and submissions may be edited for length and content. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in our pages belong solely to the authors and not necessarily to the publication. Thank you for reading!
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
WEN Celebrates 20 Years Cont'd from Pg. 1
FUTURE OF COMMUNITY NEWS Talking with Ed King, I couldn’t help but think how things have come full circle. With the Covid-19 pandemic, I am mostly working out of my living room (though I still maintain a coworking membership at PelotonLabs). Because of lost advertising revenue, I have had to make difficult decisions to keep the News going, and opportunities for paid gigs with WEN – such as freelance writing or paid delivery runs – are just not happening. Covid has been a challenge for the News, as it has been for everybody. But the much larger challenge to our community newspaper’s future is the utter dominance of online advertising by literally three companies: Google, Facebook, and Amazon. These monopolies collect over 2/3rds of all online advertising revenue, leaving all others from The New York Times to The West End News and every publisher in-between to slice up the remainder. Advertisers increasing look to the world wide web for cheap and effective advertising, but WEN’s hyperlocal website will not likely be a primary driver of ad revenue. WEN’s future remains in print. Luckily, we have a few things working in our favor. First and foremost, we have remained volunteer centered. The contributions that fill our pages come from your neighbors, and they take no pay for their words. They are the engine that keeps the
News steaming ahead. My gratitude for their creativity – and willingness to make deadline – is immense.
THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
CITY NEWS BRIEFS
Independent Firm Asks Public for Info on June Protest
Another point in our favor, as Ed King put it, “To some degree all news is local. You can get all the news you need or want about congress, or Donald Trump, or men The City of Portland has hired an inlanding on mars, or whatever they did dependent firm, Clifton Larson Allen, LLP there. But you can only get in The West (CLA), to conduct an internal affairs invesEnd News a story about what happened tigation related to the Portland Police Deon Bracket Street last night.” partment’s response to a June 2020 proFurther in our favor, increasingly few- test. CLA is now soliciting feedback from er and fewer users trust Facebook, one of the public. Members of the public may the most widely used social media sites submit information in a variety of ways, when it comes to getting political and including anonymously. election news. According to Pew Research Frank E. Rudewicz of CLA is conductCenter’s American News Pathways proj- ing the internal investigation, and ways to ect, Facebook is distrusted by about six- contact him are listed below. While the in-ten U.S. adults (59%). preference is to communicate directAnd the greatest advantage of all for ly with those who have information, Mr. print news is our community of readers, Rudewicz acknowledges that some may who like to read the news in print. They be reluctant to do so and CLA maintains have remained loyal to their long-trusted that identities will be kept confidential news sources. And so, to you, loyal read- to the extent possible, depending on the ers, I promise to continue the News in information. The objective is to obtain all print and for free. And I will keep these necessary information. The email addresses below will be words from Ed King in mind: monitored only by Mr. Rudewicz and his “The best thing I could do is supply team. Anyone who believes that they may community news… That was the heart of have relevant information to this inquiry it. Everything else went from there – the can provide it through any of the following cartoons, The Dumpster, the horoscope, means: and everything else went from there. But Contact: Frank Rudewicz the heart of the newspaper in my mind Phone: 617-221-1978 was reporting what I perceived as the Email: frank.rudewicz@claconnect.com most important story affecting people Confidential Email: PortlandPoliceInquiry who lived in the West End particularly.” @comcast.net.
Covid-19 vaccination center opens at Portland Expo
Beginning March 2nd, Northern Light Mercy Hospital in partnership with the city of Portland and state of Maine, began offering community vaccinations to those 70 and over at the Portland Expo.The new site offers appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As with other vaccination sites, people must register ahead of time to receive a vaccination appointment. Community members over the age of 70 can currently register online or through the Northern Light Health call center (207-204-8551). While most new appointments are released on Mondays, some may also become available on Wednesdays. People with appointments should show up no more than ten (10) minutes prior to their scheduled time to reduce the potential for lines outside the facility, especially during these colder months.
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NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
Browntail Moth Reaches Western Promenade By Tony Zeli The city’s forestry crews first discovered browntail moth webs on the mainland in Portland in 2018, though the insect was spreading just north of Portland and on nearby islands for some time. Over the past few years, residents and city crews have spotted browntail nests on Munjoy Hill and in East Deering, but the epicenter has been Deering Oaks Park. And now, Portland City Arborist Jeff Tarling said crews have spotted webs on the Western Promenade. The browntail moth builds its nest at the ends of branches in what look like shrink-wrapped webs. When they hatch, the caterpillars have tiny poisonous hairs that can be carried on the wind and may cause a rash on the skin or respiratory problems for some. The favorite hosts for this pest include Hawthorn, Amelanchier, Apple, and Oak trees.
Get 10% Off Your 1st Order Remove webs by clipping branches and placing the branches and webs in plastic bags. -Courtesy of ME Forestry Service about 1½ inches and are active during May and June as temperatures rise and foliage becomes available to feed on. That is why it is important to remove webs before the foliage arrives and the caterpillars become a problem. Portland forestry crews fought to control the issue in previous years, including spraying in Deering Oaks Park during the early morning hours. The City considers the browntail moth to be a public health risk. The browntail can also harm the health of city trees over time.
The city urges residents to remove webs by clipping branches and placing the branches and webs in plastic bags. Then throw them out with the trash. Do so immediately before the spring foliage arrives Portland residents can contact the and the insects start feeding. Portland parks office to report browntail moth activity at 207-808-5400. The browntail moth caterpillar has prickly hairs covering its body. It has two For more information on browntail broken white lines on each side of its moths, visit the Maine Forest Service: brown body and two orangey-red spots https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_ on the end of its back. These dots are one health/invasive_threats/browntail_moth_ behind the other. The caterpillars grow to info.htm.
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Knee Pain and Osteoarthritis
HEALTH & WELLNESS
By Bruce Gomberg, MD FAAOS and Stephen Rodrigue, MD FAAOS Osteoarthritis, which is the most common form of arthritis, impacts over 25 million people in the United States each year. It is a chronic disease that impacts the joint surface with varying degrees of severity. It typically affects people over the many report increased pain with weather age of 50, but it may be seen in younger changes. people as well. The diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis Commonly known as “wear and tear” is made by a qualified medical provider arthritis, osteoarthritis results in the cardoing an examination of the knee joint tilage on the ends of bones wearing away. along with x-rays. X-rays will demonstrate These cartilage surfaces are normally exdeterioration of the knee joint by showtremely smooth and result in pain-free ing narrowing of the cartilage space and joint motion. As the surfaces degenerate changes in the bones, including spurs. the joint becomes inflamed and motion may become rough, causing pain and stiffWhile osteoarthritis can’t be reness. versed, treatments can reduce pain and help you move better.
Symptoms of osteoarthritis of Non-surgical treatments the knee Typical symptoms of knee osteoarthritis are pain and swelling. Since the pain is activity-related, it becomes worse with increased motion. Movements that cause arthritic knee pain include walking, squatting, twisting, using stairs, and transitioning from a seated to standing position. The knee joint may even lock or get stuck during certain movements. It may also begin to make a grinding noise due to the roughness of the joint surfaces. Some people report that their knee buckles and
If you are diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee, there are several modes of treatment you can choose to help you with the pain. Several are non-surgical and non-invasive. Initially, these include activity modification, like limiting high-impact activities and weight loss. Others include taking medicine like acetaminophen (Tylenol) or an anti-inflammatory medicine like ibuprofen (Motrin). Of course, you must discuss taking any additional medicine with your doctor, as there are always ad-
THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
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Drs. Gomberg and Rodrigue are board-certified joint replacement experts who are Diplomates of the American Association of Hip & Knee Surgeons. They practice at Northern Light Mercy Orthopedics, which is located at 20 Northbrook Drive in Falmouth. Content provided by Northern Light Mercy Hospital.
verse effects and interactions with other the damaged cartilage and bone of the medicines that a professional will need to joint surface and positioning new metal or plastic surfaces to restore knee function. monitor. Projections are that over a million knee Other treatments include physical replacements were performed in 2020 in therapy, which is often good for flexibil- the United States alone. ity and stabilization of the knee. Other After knee replacement surgery, modes of non-surgical treatment include there is a period of healing that requires injections. While these are often helpful, physical therapy, pain and swelling control, their benefit is almost always time-limited. and home exercises. Often, patients are There are many different types of injeccomfortable several weeks after surgery tions, which you should discuss with your and gains are made over the entire next doctor or health care provider. year. Knee replacement surgery now has a very strong track record of pain relief, Surgical treatments having been performed and refined over If non-surgical treatment is not effec- 40 years. Patients can reliably expect to tive and you continue to have pain with return to most activities without pain afactivities of daily living, you may want to ter a successful knee replacement. talk with your doctor about surgery. For Just as every person and every situaadvanced knee osteoarthritis that does tion is different, so too can be the propnot respond to medicine or injections, er treatment. But if knee pain becomes a knee replacement is often very helpful. pattern and impacts your life, it’s time to While all surgical procedures carry risks, seek advice. If you or someone you know knee replacement surgery has become may be experiencing symptoms of osteoextremely common with a low risk of arthritis, a primary care provider could complications. help you weigh options tailored to your Knee replacement includes removing specific needs.
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THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
BUSINESS & COMMUNITY
Kate Sykes: Seeking diverse
voices for a new city charter
Every Month PelotonLabs founder Liz Trice interviews a community member for The West End News. This month Liz caught up with Kate Sykes (right), a community organizer with People First Portland. What is the city charter commis- a powerful city manager leaves the counsion? Why does it matter? cilors without much power. How much access you have to decision-making at A municipal charter is the basic docthe city level is directly controlled by the ument that defines the organization, powcharter. ers, functions, and essential procedures of the city government. It is comparable to Lack of influence makes people feel the Constitution of the United States or a disenfranchised, which leads to frustrastate’s constitution. tion, unrest, and violence, and that’s what we saw on January 6th. We need to reThe charter commission is a group build trust in government. We can address of people elected to rewrite the city’s that locally. charter. From now until the end of March, anyone can take out papers from the city The last charter commission was clerk’s office and collect between 75 and looking at only a few issues. What’s 300 signatures to qualify for district or at- different this time? large positions, respectively. The charter can take up any issue. In June, you’ll have the opportunity There are people who will want to limto vote for nine people who will literally it the conversation, because it’s scary to write the document that determines how discuss things that haven’t been discussed decisions will be made in the city for the before. But Portland has an opportunity next decade. It’s an incredible opportuni- to be a real leader by acknowledging the ty. The charter determines how our city voices and rights of the people who live makes decisions on your behalf, spends here. There are people who are afraid to your money, and tells you what to do. If say what they want because they’ve been you’re a renter and your front steps are shut down their whole lives, or because broken, or you’ve tripped and fallen on they’re not a lawyer, or because they come ice, if you don’t like that you can be fined from a different culture. One of our goals for not shoveling in front of your house, if is to keep those horizons open, because you have a concern about the schools, if incredible things can happen when we feel you care about homelessness, or housing, safe to bring our hopes and dreams to the or traffic, or parks, the charter dictates table. Here we are in this amazing mulhow decisions will be made. We want to ticultural city, so let’s listen to all people. encourage people who have never considered politics or government to run for You created an online tool to engage charter [commission], and for as many a wide range of voices in the future people as possible to be involved. Because of Portland.Tell me about that. the more regular people we have at the We saw a lack of two-way commutable, the more equitable our charter can nication between the city and people, so be. we found a tool called Consider.it that Right now, most people don’t feel like could open up real discussions about real they have influence over issues that affect policies and create a safe space for those them. There aren’t easy ways for people conversations.We’d like to see the elected without access to money and power to charter commission members use it as a even bring up issues they think should be tool to engage the public throughout the discussed. The public comment period at commission. The people most impacted city council isn’t much, and the system of by city decisions have opinions and they
PelotonLabs is a coworking space in the West End of Portland, Maine with a mission to connect and encourage people working on their own to manifest their visions without fear.
have good ideas about solutions. We want those voices to be heard by the charter commission, and we want the charter commission to have meaningful discuscause we all need to understand each othsions with those people directly. er. The platform is neutral – anyone can How can people share their ideas for add an idea and can share how strongly they support or oppose other ideas and the city? why. We may not agree on everything, but Go to https://peoplescharter.consid- this is how we come to consensus-based er.it. Create a free account and login. You decisions. do have to put your name in there, which The world has shades of gray and we is important: we shouldn’t be deciding polhave to be able to talk to each other about icy anonymously! Post a cheerful photo what we think and how we came to think of yourself. Then you can add your own that way. Maybe you’ll see a viewpoint you policy ideas, you can comment on existnever thought about before, and it will ing ideas, read others’ comments, and say affect how you think! When you start to how much you agree or disagree. hear people’s voices and hear how somePeople First Portland organized the thing is really affecting someone… it can progressive referendums last fall. soften your opinion. This is what humans Are you really looking to engage the do, and it’s why we’ve survived for so long: because we’re cooperative! (laughs) full political spectrum? Share your thoughts for Portland Yes. We are looking to hear everyone’s points of view. It’s important be- here: https://peoplescharter.consider.it.
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HOW IT WORKS 1. Call Rick Ness of WEN Sales with the local business(es) you would like to donate advertising space to. 2. Rick will contact the business on your behalf to create the ad to run in a select issue in 2020.
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BUY LOCAL
THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
9
Look forward to better days. But for now, stay the course. By Mary Alice Scott
SUPPORT THESE BUY LOCAL BUSINESSES!
As March arrives in Maine, we often have occasional days of warmer weather – a glimpse into the future that spring holds. During the day, the sun melts the remaining snow piles, and at night, cold weather freezes it up again. The freeze/ thaw cycle feels a bit like the outlook of Covid right now. Snow is thawing, and case counts are dropping — but another big storm (or increased transmission from a Covid variant) could be just around the corner. Those of us with an ounce of optimism look to the vaccine schedule and decreasing case counts and can begin to imagine the possibility of reuniting with loved ones we haven’t seen or hugged in more than a year. For local businesses, that optimism may be hard to come by these days, but it is also needed more than ever. This month, businesses will be moving past the one year mark of having to close for the lockdown. For many, moving past that date may be easier because we are now getting glimpses into a future in which we are able to connect with our community once again. It’s no secret that summer and fall are the busiest times of year for many businesses in Maine. The possibility of having some of those months feel more typical than they did last year is a ray of hope for many businesses.
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year, local business owners and workers have been in public-facing jobs, at higher risk than those who can work from home. They’re relying on the community to do their part to keep them safe for the next Though we know that this possibility few months. is not guaranteed. In order to get there, Hopefully this month’s warm weathvaccines must be deployed readily, and er days bring us all a sense of optimism people must continue wearing their masks and really are the harbinger of better days and socially distancing. ahead. With the news that Maine will be vaccinating residents on an age-based system, it’s more important than ever that com- Mary Alice Scott is Portland Buy Local munity members wear masks and socially (PBL) Executive Director.The West End distance, especially if you’re visiting a lo- News (WEN) is a PBL member and mecal business in person. For more than a dia partner.
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THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
THE BROADER PICTURE
Jenny from the Writer’s Block
Writing for a community paper as the neighborhood reinvents itself By Jenny Anastasoff Twenty years ago, Portland was reinventing itself, not unlike today’s boom. In 2001, when The West End News began, I lived on Brackett Street in Portland, near the Fresh Approach Market. The West End neighborhood was in the throes of a makeover with the New Neighbors program, preserving our historical aesthetic while rehabbing. I loved The West End News from the get-go. It was scrappy, it had heart, it was literally my neighborhood paper! The West End News’ original editor Ed King is a local personality. Everyone knows Ed. He went to all the neighborhood association meetings, he went for walks with his dog Ruby, you saw him at the Nickelodeon movies, the Portland Public Library, the Congress Street CVS. Ed always stopped for a sidewalk chat, if anything, you had to interrupt a chat to get your own session in! Ed used these neighborly updates to populate The Daily Dumpster (now The Dumpster). The Daily Dumpster was like famed San Franciscan Herb Caen’s column, tasty bits of gossipy news interrupted with an ellipsis… ‘three-dot journalism’ … not enough for an article, just enough for a mention. I had the unique honor of regularly being featured in The Dumpster for shenanigans. When the paper’s distribution increased beyond Portland, Falmouth
friends would mention they saw me in The Dumpster, and I just had to laugh. How could living on one West End block, à la Jenny from the Block, endow me with such local notoriety? Years later, Ed gave me a Dumpster Hall of Fame honor, one of my proudest moments as a Portlander.
RELOCATION By James Fereira
Memorial Day, Boston moving the final drive up a small space open on the passenger seat cat carrier last piece to load except for uncertainty.
forward. Nostalgia is quicksand, it sucks you down. How do we grow as citizens, as a community, to flourish and evolve, acknowledging and grieving the people and the institutions we’ve lost, while also embracing and welcoming what is to become Scott died last autumn over the next twenty years? bawling my eyes out It’s a big ask. Yet a small part of that under the shower evolution involves communication, a free scalding water washing over grief press, and community papers. Here’s not nearly as painful. where the underdog story comes in! Despite many other papers closing, our lo- Starting over is never easy. cal paper remains a constant, and it’s not just covering the West End of Portland Summer came just in time anymore. It now distributes an impres- a lettered love affair sive 12,000 newspapers in Portland, South Portland to Searsport Portland, Falmouth, Scarborough, West- Italianate sea captain’s house brook, and Brunswick. I appreciate the drafty many voices that have imbued the News walls painted mustard with its unique sensibilities and commend the smell of old wood its volunteer contributors. Congratula- masculine tions! inflexibly Yankee.
Ed turned the paper over to Tony Zeli in 2014. I already knew Tony through neighborhood activism and was impressed by his demeanor; he is a kind, fair listener, with the civic heart of a Mainer. Tony invited me to write a monthly column as a volunteer contributor. Despite chronic writer’s block and a cutesy title (“Newsy Musings”), I loved writing for The West End News. Being a Mainer living in downtown Portland, though no longer on the same block, I had the perspective of a longtime local. But gentrification was beginning its extreme creep, and instead of news, I wrote tributes to the institutions and communities (Videoport, Paul’s) we Longtime readers, newer area folks, were losing. come forward, get involved, write a column, publicize an event, advertise your As the city changed character, I small business. Being a part of The West could have called the column, Poshland, End News has enriched my life for twenand become snarky about the shiny new ty years, and I encourage others to enjoy blocks. I feel we’re bland-ing our rugged those benefits. Thank you, Ed and Tony, for Brick City with sleek Disney uniformity including me in this legacy. Readers, lead and upscale everything. Fast-forward to an interesting life – jump into The Dump2020/2021, and quirky places that make ster! Portland homey are pandemic-shuttered or compromised (the cinemas, the library, Jenny Anastasoff is a Portland resident. thrift stores, dancefloors). These sentenc- She wishes to leave readers with the es again sound like an elegy, but nostalgia motto of her dear friend Peggy, the for a bygone time is not helpful to move Duchess of Deering Street, "Onward!"
Cocktails in slippers dinner and conversation bedtime vintage silk yellow robe generous attention from an older man. It turned out to be nothing. I needed community perusing Casco Bay Weekly ads “for hire” “professional services offered” “forming gay men’s chorus.” What?!
COMMENTARY
MMC Nurses Organize: Democracy in Action By Dr. Oren Gersten We often think of democracy as something that happens every two to four years when we go to the polls to cast our ballots for elected officials. The truth is that smaller forms of democracy happen around us much more frequently than that. A remarkable democratic process is taking place in our own community right now. Nurses at Maine Medical Center are organizing in preparation for a vote on March 29th that will decide whether they will form a local nurses’ union. If the vote is in favor of a union, they will gain collective bargaining power which, proponents say, will allow them to take better care of their patients and themselves. If the vote does not pass, Maine Medical Center will maintain its authority to unilaterally determine nurses’ wages, hours, and working conditions. As in any democratic process there is more than one view. The hospital has been on the public record as being against the formation of a union. They cite the interference with communication as a major reason, though it is not clear how the democratic process of forming a union is contrary to the ability of the employer to communicate with its employees. To spread this message, they have hired a prolific consulting organization called Reliant.
Walking through church doors fragile a roomful of strangers mind racing unsettled stomach unmemorable audition. Inaugural concert singing illuminated beautifully our stage activism collective flight from oppression applause suffused the sanctuary an occasional spate of wolf whistles flared from the pews.
The next month will be critical in how this story plays out. Like all good democratic efforts, organizing is bringing a needed spotlight to some of the deficiencies in current nursing policy at the hospital. Whether the formation of a union will embolden real change remains to be seen. Lifelong friendships linger that I hadn’t expected If you would like to support the nurs- nor asked for. es’ right to organize, you can sign the community petition and share it with oth- Landing a job ers: https://tinyurl.com/59cjytwx. with the Catholic diocese how good to get something useful Consider joining the Facebook group from part of the past Unfortunately, there are reports that the mood at the hospital has become hos- Friends of Maine Med Nurses and follow which had been tile. Some nurses feel nervous about open- them on Instagram. so damaging. ly supporting a union for fear that they To read more about the hospital’s How differently it might have turned out may be retaliated against by management anti-union perspective, visit https://getthe- had I stayed (even though this would be against the factsmmc.org. unfastened law). Organizing efforts within the hospital imploded are limited by hospital policy which tends given up. to favor the Reliant consultants’ efforts over pro-union organizing. Citing Covid Isn’t it brave concerns, management has barred nurses and peculiar Oren Gersten, MD is a boardfrom coming into the hospital when not how we come to know what we know certified family doctor who brings on their shift, which substantially limits orwithout proof of evidence his passion for connecting and ganizing efforts. caring for people to his private or a blueprint Despite opposition, the grass roots practice, Portland Direct Prima- or a hand to hold. pro-union efforts have persevered outside ry Care in South Portland. Reach the walls of the hospital. Online communi- him at (207) 618-9792 or visit Faith the temporal kind ty organizing and local efforts have started PortlandDirectCare.com. is what you embrace to take off. Nurses are asking colleagues when you’ve got nothing to lose. to wear red in support of the nurses right to organize. On the other side, a grassroots movement composed of nurses, workers’ rights advocates, and community members has come out on the side of the nurses’ right to organize. The union sponsoring the campaign is the Maine State Nurses Association, the largest union of Registered Nurses in Maine. The proponents’ view is that there are many benefits to forming a union, including nurses’ ability to bargain as equals with their employer over wages, benefits, and working conditions.
THE BROADER PICTURE
THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
La Vida Local: Irregular Notes on West End Life
13
By Rosanne Graef
Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking Who would have thought that in the midst of a pandemic, with the death knell for print media constantly tolling, we’d be saluting the milestone of twenty years of The West End News—the source of positive community news? Well, we are, and forthwith some comments on my experiences with the News over the years. Like most people, my first engagement with our community paper came through picking up a print copy. It had a fun sort of Dr. Bronner’s feel to it that made me think that there was so much packed into so little space, I’d really be negligent not to give it a read. At the time, the paper was owned, published, and edited by its founder, Ed King, whose observant and pertinent cartoons lifted the paper to a higher plateau than your average free local. Meetings of the West End Neighborhood Association (WENA), which served as a fertile source of neighborhood news, were where I first came to know Ed. He gave us much needed publicity for our events and provided residents with information about our on-going concerns. Then 2009 marked a turning point for my association with Ed and the beginning of my relationship with Tony Zeli, current owner-publisher-editor of The West End News. That was my first year as president of WENA, the year WENA made the World’s Longest Lobster Roll at the Old Port Festival, and the year Tony Zeli
Above: West Fest illustration by previous WEN publisher Ed King. To right: The -WEN file photo World's Longest Lobster Roll at the 2009 Old Port Fest. knocked on my door as the Green candi- forward to buy it. date for the District 2 spot on the PortLongtime fans are grateful that two land School Board. of the paper’s most popular features, “A WENA’s experience at the Old Daffy Gull’s Eye View of the City of PortPort Festival evolved into West Fest, our land” and “The Dumpster… Where We fund-raising event to provide swimming Throw Everything That Did Not Fit” have lessons for Reiche students. During an been retained and colorized. These brief afternoon session at St. Louis Church snippets of what locals are really thinking stuffing West Fest advertising inserts into and doing paint a truer picture of Portnewspapers, Ed and I discovered that our land’s atmosphere than its rankings on top paths had possibly crossed over forty ten lists. You know you’ve arrived when years before when we were students at your name’s in The Dumpster and figurHofstra University. Later, in 2012, the road ing out who said one of the anonymous got rocky for the News with Ed’s move quotes in the conversation balloons on to Volgograd and his subsequent “little the cartoon map is uncommonly satisfying. dance” with life-threatening illness. Ed deEd recovered, still does cartoons, and cided to sell the paper, and Tony stepped
grows his mustache. Tony abandoned his political ambitions (I hope) and makes the paper run. The West End News survived the bumps in the road and continues to do its part to make Portland a better place. Congratulations, Ed and Tony, and here’s to another 20 years! Rosanne Graef lives in the West End and is a regular volunteer contributor. Email: lavidalocalwen@gmail.com.
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THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
CLIMATE JUSTICE
We’re All in This Together Climate Solutions Beyond Your Backyard
Faith, Stewardship and Climate Justice By S. Kathleen Smith, RSM What does it mean to be stewards of the earth and what is my part in stewardship? These are questions that I ask myself when thinking about climate change and as I hear about more severe weather events on television and the radio. I compost my garbage scraps, I recycle, and I even pick up litter on the streets (lots of face coverings these days). Isn’t that enough? Yet I understand that the problem is a global one and requires a global response. My faith leader, Pope Francis has called on all people of goodwill to come together to work towards mitigating the effects of climate change for future generations. But imagine an opportunity to engage in a group effort to enact policy at the national level, to mitigate global warming through stimulating a shift in the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. Imagine your own personal effort being magnified by the voice of your community, being sent to your members of Congress, and resulting in transformational national policy. Simply put, it’s time to cut our carbon loading of the atmosphere. Top economists and climate experts agree that charging a fee for the carbon pollution generated by fossil fuels is an important part of the strategy to do so. Charging for this pollution is called “carbon pricing.” Carbon pricing is being practiced in over 40 other countries — though not yet in the worst per capita CO2 offender, the
USA. But now, due to the efforts of thousands of volunteers with the national Citizens’ Climate Lobby, there is a bill before Congress called the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act that proposes cash-back carbon pricing. This involves levying a fee on all fossil fuels at their source and returning all revenues from this fee directly to American households on an equal per capita basis through monthly dividend checks. This cash-back feature makes the policy equitable, benefiting low-income households proportionately more than wealthy households. This is the hope I have right now, and this hope is echoed by US Catholic Bishops Conference: “this proposal is expected to result in significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. ‘It is encouraging that initial analyses suggest that low-income individuals will overwhelmingly benefit from this policy.’”
GROW A CIRCULAR ECONOMY “C
hange is coming one way or another. Our choice is whether we try to shape that change to the maximum benefit of all or wait passively as the forces of climate disaster, scarcity, and fear of the ‘other’ fundamentally reshape us.” -Naomi Klein Can we wean ourselves from the old unsustainable linear model for economic growth: take resources, make products, and discard waste? That’s the question the fourth Big Move in the One Climate Future plan. A “circular economy” extends the lifespan of environmentally friendly materials and products while discouraging the use of others. Organic wastes are used to replenish soils. Marketplaces are expanded to accommodate recycled materials. Industrial wastes become source materials for other products.
Since I have accepted the inevitability of extreme weather events in the future, I support measures that will mitigate these effects with a special care for those persons who are at risk, and I invite all persons of faith to join in this effort. Not for ourselves alone but for the children being Our ancestors practiced circular born into our world right now and for the economies in which little is wasted. Prodfuture of all Earth’s inhabitants.That’s what ucts are designed for extended use with stewardship looks like. possibilities for repair and reuse. People S. Kathleen Smith, RSM is a member of borrow tools and bargain in exchange for Citizens’ Climate Lobby. services. Things “circulate.” Bright ideas in this regard abound:
• Foster community spaces like community kitchens, community centers, community gardens, makerspaces, and tool libraries.
Keep products, equipment and infrastructure “circulating” to improve productivity. Design them to be safe for human health and the environment. Conserve “natural capital” (soil, air, water, and all living things) as a priority.
Reused pallets manage a compost pile. Just one small example of a larger circular economy that could be a Big Move for our One Climate Future. -WEN file photo by Christian Torp
• Support “repair fairs” by hosting With radical changes in design, prothem in public spaces. duction, and technology, natural resources may last longer and their benefits go • Expand access to open spaces for farther. Consider, for instance, how food community gardens and food forests, waste and increased organic recycling may and support food recovery programs ensure that excess food is better used to that redistribute surplus. nourish people, animals, industries, and soils. Also consider how industry could recover and restore products rather than throwing them away. It’s all a matter of forethought and design.
ECOMAINE’S UPCYCLE CHALLENGE!
Want to win $500 for your school’s Green Team, STEM Club, or Project Graduation? Submit your design using upcycled materials and let us know how it works.
Such a huge systemic shift builds long-term resilience and generates new opportunities. Our ancestors did this. We can too!
BRIGHT IDEA: Learn more about how the linear economy creates waste by watching The Story of Stuff movie. Then see what bright ideas this sparks Last year, we saw hair scrunchies for you.
made from old clothing, furniture made from old tires, and movie projectors made from all kinds of would-be-junk materials. Access the full draft of the O.C.F. Find items that would normally be thrown plan at www.oneclimatefuture.org away and create an all-new, super-useful under “Reports.” invention from them. Bright Ideas is brought to you by Students will have until March 19, Portland Climate Action Team which, 2021 to submit their upcycled inventions during the pandemic, meets online the via the form at https://www.ecomaine.org/ 4th Thursday of the month, 6-7:30 p.m. about-ecomaine/news/2021/01/the-re- All are welcome to join in. FMI: portlandclimateaction@gmail.com. turn-of-ecomaines-upcycle-challenge.
PUZZLE PAGE many words can you make from the Words In How letters in the phrase below? Words must have at least 4 letters. Plurals don’t count, nor do proper Words nouns, abbreviations, or foreign words not comBy Rosanne Graef
monly used in English.
“When fishes flew and forests walked” -from The Donkey by G.K. Chesterton GOLD = 150 words | SILVER = 125 words | BRONZE = 100 words
BONUS= How many words with a double “f ” can you make? February’s bonus: A word denoting an unattractive trait in a child, sometimes admired in an adult and found in, “Silent, soft, and slow descends the snow”: Sassiness.
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THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
15
2001 Trivia
Congratulations on 20 years of the West End News! Here are some of the other things going on 20 years ago. 1. Time Warner completed it’s purchase of what online service provider famous for mailing out free CDs?
2. Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger launched what publicly edited information website? 3. The album Discovery was released by what French electronic music duo?
Mondays @ Lazzari Find out more on Facebook and Instagram: @bestworsttrivia
4. Apple announced the first iPod, declaring it could fit how many songs in your pocket? Find the answers online at thewestendnews.com/puzzle-solutions!
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THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
FOOD & DRINK
LAYNE'S WINE GIG PRESENTS
WEN AT 20: Thoughts on food and wine “T
he tourist is led; the traveler seeks.” -Todd Kliman, food critic
The Master Knight of the Vine, Layne V. Witherell with his wife Judy at the Merry Table. -Photos courtesy of L.Witherell
THE MERRY TABLE
(discovered in 2005, permanently closed), formerly 43 Wharf St.
(discovered in 2005, permanently closed), The one word that described this formerly 129 Spring St. little unpretentious bistro on the cobbleI never quite understood how a place stones of Wharf Street was authenticity. with a handful of bar seats, six communal Savoring the food and washing it down tables, and a single chef, could be called a with a bottle of Louis Jadot Macon or “food factory,” but a coveted seat at the Clos Siguier Cahors (malbec) French wine bar was one of my fondest ever in many were magical moments during a Sunday decades of sushi experiences. Those who lunch when you were transported to a discovered it loved it. The fact that they small town in France. were a B.Y.O.B. without an alcohol license meant a world of adventure. The West End Deli next door suddenly had a remarkable collection of sake. Our favorite to this day remains Karatomba. Our most memorable evening occurred while slurping and digging out little bits of uni from urchin shells. The door burst open and a diminutive Japanese fisherman appeared with a small box of his most recent catch. Out tumbled dozens of lively tiny crabs. Masa Miyake scooped them up, threw them in hot oil, and passed them around. Freshness is all. Such are the moments that great sushi restaurants are made of.
By Layne V. Witherell We have lived in the West End long enough to try and restrain an eye roll when we hear: “We just moved here because it’s a cool little foodie city,” or my personal favorite, “Portland just needs a (fill in the blank) new style restaurant, and we were thinking of starting it.” The story of our arrival was that I promised Judy, my eternally patient wife, 20 years ago, to move back to the place of her birth; a little like the salmon returning upstream. As to the cost savings from our last home in Richmond, Virginia, you need just pull up your smart phone to compare and see that we got whacked. EVERYTHING here is more expensive. So, is that why they become snowbirds? The big bonus was that I finally got to settle down after thirty-plus years of buying, selling, teaching, writing, creating, and moving from place to place in the wine biz.We are pleased to call this place home. Despite these little details, we love the West End, and Portland, and do not envision moving any time soon. Somebody must write irreverent stuff about food and wine. Our earliest discoveries in Portland were serendipitous. These are our early favorites.
MIYAKE FOOD FACTORY
Masa went on to open two grander, highly rated restaurants in Portland. For us, the Food Factory was the classic in disJean Claude, proprietor and chef, ex- covery and spontaneity. celled in the bistro classics, while Myriam, manager and front of the house hostess, PORT CITY BLUE exuded French charm. If you stumbled in (discovered in 2006, local music shows cura little tipsy during the non-English speak- rently on Zoom), 650A Congress St. ing French Night, you really thought you were in Lyon. After your boeuf bourMore than Bar-b-Que, Hoppin’ John guignon, cassoulet, glasses of house Cotes or grits, the first thing that we actively du Rhone, and a refreshing St. Germaine sought after moving from Richmond was martini you could travel mere steps next real blues. Live music was an integral part door to the Rogues Gallery store (perof our cultural life for which there could manently closed) and catch yourself inside be no compromise. Enter Blue, our local the replicated version of an 18th century sanctuary for American blues, jazz, and captain’s cabin of a pirate ship. Articles of roots music. Meantone, a.k.a. Graveyard clothing bearing their unique designs do Blues, a.k.a. Fat Knuckle Freddy was our show up. first find, followed by gritty bluesman SamWharf Street has not been the same uel James, Frank Fotusky, Matt Meyer and the Gumption Junction, Okbari, Dark Holsince.
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low Bottling Company, Gunther Brown, and an abundance of talented musicians of local and national renown. Look at their Facebook page – the acts are endless. It has been our home away from home for fifteen years. Little known perhaps, is that Terez, the owner, has long been into discovering exciting, scarcely seen wines sourced from the world: Mencia, primitivo, monastrell, picpoul, grillo, and many more grapes, have all made guest appearances at reasonable prices. On February 2019 I was invited to do an onstage event with wine. An audition. When asked, I referred to it as a “gig.” Reppen’ is when someone tries to sell you something. A gig is an improvised event. The key is to try wines on the spottaste unknown and weave them around a lifetime of stories. This month marks the 20th gig at Blue, albeit now on Zoom.That stage is as remarkable to me in its own way as was the Kennedy Center when I was awarded The Master Knight of the Vine.
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Layne and Judy. Layne is wearing his Rogues Gallery Octopus Tshirt (see the inking plate on Pg. 17). One of many establishments Layne fondly remembers from 20 years of life in the West End.
207-767-5900
904B Broadway, South Portland
Tu, We, Fr: 7:30am - 4pm | Sa: 8am - 1pm
Also available at these local stores: Micucci Grocery 45 India St, Portland Free Range Fish & Lobster 450 Commercial St, Portland Pat’s Meat Market
484 Stevens Ave, Portland
FOOD & DRINK
THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
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Thoughts on food & wine past Cont'd from Pg.16
CLOAK AND DAGGER DINNER CLUB
(discovered in 2013, permanently relocated to Brooklyn), formerly held at a private residence at 24 State St. Erika Joyce, a Waynflete alum, conducted a series of improv pop-ups in her apartment years before we became an acclaimed foodie destination.This is a partial menu from January 28th, 2013 (the wines were all BYOB brought by guests): Cloak and Dagger does: Iconic dishes
Octopus inking plate from Rogues Gallery store, formery of Wharf Street but now permanently closed.
-Photos courtesy of Layne Witherell
Char cornets - French Laundry - Durrell Vineyard Chardonnay Truffled Eggs - Chez Panisse - Cotes du Rhone Blanc Vegetable Field with malt soil - Noma - Arwen sauvignon blanc from Denmark Momofuko pork buns - David Chang - Larmandier - Bernier Grand Cru Champagne Gourmet Pizza - Wolfgang Puck - We passed around and shared two wines with this dish: Valdiplatta Vino Nobile de Montepulciano and Weinbach Pinot Noir.
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Take out & curbside service available Please see our website for a current menu and hours
White chocolate and caviar with scallop mouse - The Fat Duck - Weinbach Pinot Gris Parisienne macaron - Pierre Herme - Elk Cove Ultima late harvest Riesling
103 Ocean St. South Portland, Maine www.verbenaonline.com
207.767.2011
Glasses of Ramonet Chassagne Montrachet peerless White Burgundy This article shows several things. First, the food scene was a tad bit earlier than our new arrivals realize. Second, I never throw away anything, even stashing old menus and wine lists; this can be both good and bad, especially when your filing system is called “just digging around.” Third, I never hesitate to bring out one-ofa-kind wines, the last two were our contribution.We have been searching diligently for Ramonet White Burgundy wines ever since. No one seems to know how to bring them into this market. Maybe I will just have to look Ms. Joyce up in Brooklyn and see what she is up to these days.
ESPRESSO BAR
KITCHENS MATRESSES LAUNDRY REFRIGERATION Layne has been a professional in the wine business for many decades as a teacher, importer, writer, competition judge, and winery CEO. He was awarded the Master Knight of the Vine for his pioneering work in the Oregon wine industry. He can be reached at lvwitherell@gmail.com. His website is http://winemaniacs. wordpress.com.
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TRAVEL & ADVENTURE
THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
My Adventure Travel Scrapbook By Nancy Dorrans Tony Zeli and I met sometime in 2015 at Peloton Labs, the West End co-working space in Bramhall Square. We came regularly to “work” but didn’t work together. Tony had recently purchased and became editor of The West End News. I had recently ventured out on my own as an independent travel advisor launching Adventure Marketplace. The co-working space allowed us to connect with each other and with many other entrepreneurs from different fields. Members became friends and we often gathered to toss around ideas, discuss problems, and support each other. One day I overheard Tony say that he needed to diversify his contributors. I said, “Hey Tony, maybe I could write articles for your paper!” And so it began. Since the 2015 May edition of The West End News, I have not missed one month writing for Tony. I guess he would say I’m a travel columnist. However, the process does not come naturally to me. It is more like a monthly term paper. These articles often have a mind of their own. The words, ideas, and stories brew in my head, then purge onto the page and I’m spent. My first article was titled “‘From Away’ Comes to Visit: Day Trip Advice in Maine.” “When I’m away traveling and I tell people I live in Portland, Maine, the reaction is dreamy: ‘Ah, Maine… I love Maine,’ or ‘Wow, you live there? I’ve always wanted to visit Maine…’” I shared some of my favorite off the beaten path places in the state, beyond Acadia, and secrets in and around and “off the Peninsula” in Portland.
values and service, “Hillary Clinton on Travel Agents,” and have wrote that my love of travel started with my Grandma Dorrans. Adventure Marketplace has been navigating travelers on authentic, nurturing global In the spring of 2016, Nancy organized and local adventures since 2014. In 2016, Nancy Dorrans at The Guinness and traveled to Southern Africa with I organized and escorted The Maine Fes- Academy in Dublin, Ireland. Nancy a small group of adventurous friends. tival Chorus to sing at Carnegie Hall and is currently working as a DedicatAbove we see them at the Cape of the following year I set up a two night moed (in school) Substitute Teacher at Good Hope, the most south-western tor coach adventure from “Maine to the Deering High School. She figured point of the African continent. Women’s March in DC” with fifty-three she could do something meaningful -Photos courtesy of Nancy Dorrans women, one husband, and two teenage while we wait for travel to be safe Seems there have been about seventy boys. The women that met on this tour again. months since May of 2015! Seventy term went on to form the Trump resistance group March Forth Maine! culture of Vietnam and Cambodia. There’s papers and trips down memory lane. much more to share and as I flip back over I covered “Airfare Facts and Lore,” these months of columns, I’m happy. “Adventurous Traveler Safety Tips,” the These articles are now my Adven“Mystique of the Travel Agent,” “Fermenture Marketplace scrapbook, a chronicle tation Adventure Destinations,” “Why you of travel memories, stories, experiences, should use a Travel Advisor,” and how “My and industry knowledge. I’ve shared years Sense of Adventure Took Me to Africa” in of Adventure Marketplace’s successes and 1994. blessings in these articles. Anniversaries I’ve shared how I was “Enchanted remind us of our connections, successes, by the Emerald Isle,” in awe of “Colomand blessings. While it has only been sevbia not Columbia,” discovered “Bermuda en years for me, I feel blessed to belong Maine group heading out of the DC Beyond the Beach,” and feasted on goose to The West End News extended family. subway to the Capitol for the peaceful and croissants in Poland. I also know that Thank you for believing in me! Women's March in January 2017. “Travel and Skiing can Change your Life!” Congratulations to Tony and Rick and I’ve wondered about how far our food travels in “Mexico Mango and Travelling Global adventures took us to the everyone that came before them on celFruits,” shared where “Romantic Travel archipelago of volcanic islands that is the ebrating 20 years of community news! I Plans” will take you, and shared precious Galapagos, the warmth in Iceland, the celebrate with you and all our West End “Arts and Crafts ‘From Away.’” I was in- amazing vistas, trails, beaches, and wine in neighborhood businesses, contributors, spired by Anna Eleanor Roosevelt on Portugal, and to discover the history and advertisers, and readers.
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THE WEST END NEWS
THE DUMPSTER… WHERE WE PUT EVERYTHING WE DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH… Legion Square Market wins the 2020 South Portland Keeping Us Safe Business Award for creating safe ways to stay open for employees and customers… Dumpster Hall-of-Famer Jenny Anastasoff considers a regular column in the News but hints that she would need an Ed King original caricature for her bio pic… In news related to the circular economy, Ecomaine is offering a Mater Recycler course modeled after master gardener programs that will train recycling ambassadors across the state… In transportation, Portland International Jetport is again named Best Airport in North America for the 2-5 million passenger category… Soon you will be able to go farther with your EV in Maine, as Lisbon Falls is building car-charging stations in a downtown municipal lot… In food news, Nestle has created a 100% vegan candy bar called the KitKat V but it is not expected to reach stores in Maine for some time… Pineland Farms and Dairy Farmers of America donate 12,000 pounds of cheese to Good Shepherd food banks… In excessive list news, Maine is named the 7th Least Sinful State based on data from violent crimes, excessive drinking, and gambling disorders… And two people who know how to have wholesome fun, Rosanne Graef and Ed King still plan to organize community dance parties but not likely until summer 2022…
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THE WEST END NEWS | MARCH 2021
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I Went Down Just to Make the Coffee This morning I went down just to make the coffee, then shuffle quietly back up the stairs to my Sanctuary. Sanctuary by day, bedroom by night. I meant to make the coffee, the way I always do. Then back up to light the morning candle, close my eyes, watch my breath, fifteen minutes. The wise ones say It will change your life. This is what it takes to untether a soul. I went down just to make the coffee, but out the kitchen window the sun gave off its early soft light, filtering through giant trees, shimmering in suspended dewdrops, reflecting gently off the narrow stream. I would have gone back upstairs, sat lotus-style like the sages teach and let the thoughts drift by. But I opened the porch door and the air was fresh and cool, relieved overnight of yesterday’s steamy stifle. I meant to just make the coffee, and come back up to light the morning candle. But today the air was cool, and I wondered, if I sit stone quiet on the porch, will the birds dare to perch on the feeder? And if I watch them in perfect stillness, synchronize my breath with their wings, Could the morning sun be my candle, and the porch swing my prayer mat? -Jan King West End, Portland
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Send to thewestendnews@gmail.com. Deadline for publication is the 4th Friday of every month. Our column space is very limited, publication is not guaranteed.
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THE WEST END NEWS
MARCH EDITION 2021
el corazÓn mexican restaurant
delicious authentic mexican food from the heart prepared fresh daily to order
Open Tues.-Thurs. 11am-9pm Fri.-Sat. 11am-10pm 190 State Street, Portland, Maine | Across from Longfellow Square
muchas gracias!
On behalf of Laura, Joe, and the rest of ´ family we want to thank all the El Corazon of you out there in newspaper land for all your continued support with your take-out and delivery orders during this difficult time. We truly appreciate it from the ´ bottom of our hearts (Corazon). Together we will re(Maine) strong.
FULL MENU AVAILABLE FOR TAKEOUT INCLUDING ICE COLD MEXICAN BEERS: DOS EQUIS, MODELO, SOL, TECATE... Tacos – Burritos – Quesadillas – Enchiladas – Sopes – Pozole – Goat Birria – Fajitas – Cocteles de Marisco – Chile Rellenos – Carne Asada – Lamb Shanks in Adobo & much more.
www.elcorazonportland.com (207) 536-1354 “To know how to eat is to know enough”
Salud!
Our famous House Margarita Mix is available for take-out NOW with alcohol!