Letters From Away

Great feature:

In 2013, we published our first list of 50 Mainers who have made a difference in our state. This feature story gathered together an assortment of bold thinkers and generous spirits, people who have contributed to their communities in deep and lasting ways. While we remain proud of our inaugural list, we knew that it was far from comprehensive. There are many more remarkable individuals living and working in Maine. Many more to learn from and be inspired by. Many more to honor and thank. Here, we celebrate a fraction of that illustrious population, those who are moving Maine forward through their innovative business practices, commitment to purpose-driven education, lifelong support of the arts, and groundbreaking medical research. We highlight philanthropists who have spent decades improving the inner workings of nonprofits, doctors who have found new ways to combat childhood obesity, and CEOs who are striving to create safer and more community-minded workplaces. We present to you 50 people who have changed our world, improved our lives, and broadened our horizons. 

Read the rest of the story by Katy Kelleher with photography by Greta Rybus.

Nubble Light

More than 800 lighthouses still stand in the United States, and Michigan counts 120 to Maine’s 66, which include the Machias Seal Island Light, maintained by the Canadian Coast Guard. Maine can, however, claim to lead the country in innovative ways of preserving and maintaining these landmarks.

No longer simply photogenic icons, more than a dozen lighthouse stations now invite visitors to clamber up into their tower and/or to explore their keepers’ houses-turned-museums, welcome centers, or lodging.

“In order for lighthouses to survive, they have to speak to people in ways that move them,” observes Bob Trapani, director of the American Lighthouse Foundation. Founded 20 years ago to enable volunteers to restore and sustain their local lights, the group currently maintains 18 light stations, nine of them in Maine.

Read more of this story by Boston Globe correspondent Christina Tree.

You gotta check out these photos:

30 Photos Of Maine That Will Make You Want To Move There – http://ow.ly/y5HeU

In a state where summer is famously unpredictable, you can bet on one thing: every road and hillside and meadow worth its salt from Kittery to Caribou will be aglow with purple spires in mid-June — the ramp-up to the summer solstice — when lupines come into flower.

During the two weeks or so when the great lupine show is going on, you’ll probably feel like the rest of us that this splendid creature deserves to be the Maine state flower, no question. It has every virtue, even apart from the dusky beauty of its blooms. It’s fragrant: sweet with a spicy, peppery edge. It’s tough, thriving in poor, sandy soil and indifferent to environmental insults like drought, insects, and disease. It’s variable enough to avoid monotony — ranging naturally from purple to white, pink, and a bright rosy hue just short of red — but these colors never clash and can even seem tastefully understated compared to, say, the glare of gladioli and geraniums.

Lupines are so much a part of the Maine scene that it’s startling to realize they haven’t always been here. The late Barbara Cooney, author of the children’s classic Miss Rumphius — the tale of the Lupine Lady who scattered seeds everywhere she went — recalled that in her girlhood lupines were not the ubiquitous roadside attraction we know today. “I remember when you first started seeing them, out in fields,” she said. “And that wasn’t that long ago.”

Clearly there’s more to this story than meets the eye.

Yes, there is. Read more of this story by Richard Grant in Down East magazine. The story has lovely photos by Susan Cole Kelly.

Abol Trail, a popular hiking route up Mount Katahdin in Baxter State Park, is closed for the 2014 season due to landslide activity that would make hiking dangerous, park officials announced Thursday.

“We’re most worried about having someone get hurt up there and not being able to help them,” said Baxter State Park Authority Director Jensen Bissell.

Late in the winter, debris began moving on Abol Slide, resulting in a debris field that could continue to shift in months to come. Not just rocks, but large boulders are currently unstable along the trail.

“Hundreds of rocks now — that are the size of your car — they’re gonna move,” Bissell said.

“This is likely to be a longer term closure,” he continued. “We need to evaluate this through the year.”

Hikers found on the trail during this closure will be subject to summons by law enforcement, a $200 fine, and they will be billed for the cost of any search and rescue expenses incurred on their behalf, according to Baxter State Park Authority.

Click here to view a video and read the rest of the story by Aislinn Sarnacki on the Bangor Daily News website.

This looks perfect for someone “from away.” I’ve never dealt with the company, so buyer beware, but I might have to drop $19.95 for a T-shirt that reads “No matter where I am, Maine will always be home.”

Will you always call Maine home, no matter where you are? Then you gotta get this new shirt!!

Normally $29.95, but since you love Wyoming, you can get it today for just $19.95 and have yourself a collectors item!

NOT IN STORES and this limited-edition offer is CLOSING SOON! Order yours now to avoid disappointment. Select your color Tee, V-neck or Hoodie and click on BUY NOW to choose your size.

Here’s a link to order.

The Art of Giving Gala

In celebration of our 60th anniversary, Down East is partnering with 6 Maine artists to raise $60,000 for 6 Maine charities.

JOIN US FOR OUR LARGEST FUNDRAISING EVENT EVER
Thursday, August 14, 2014
5:30-9:00 p.m.
The Portland Company Marine Complex
Plentiful hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine and cocktails
Special performance by Gunther Brown

THE ART OF GIVING FEATURED ARTISTS
Alex Katz, Angela Adams, Barbara Ernst Prey, Eric Hopkins, William Wegman and an up-and-coming artist from Maine College of Art.

Admission ticket includes: hors’ d’oeuvres, beer, wine, and cocktails. Each admission ticket can be exchanged at the event for one (1) Art of Giving raffle ticket entitling you to a chance to win the featured artists’ work. (No more than 1000 tickets will be sold)

Continue reading →

Vacation, Day 1: Nothing accomplished. So far, #vacation is a success!

Greetings! I have not updated this in a while, but I fully intend to in the coming weeks. First, I am no longer with the Central Valley Business Journal. I am now a Media Relations Coordinator for the University of the Pacific, and I’m very pleased about that.

I spent about 25 years in newspapers as a staff writer, copy editor, columnist, assistant news editor, opinion page editor, assistant city editor, and finally editor of the Central Valley Business Journal. It was time to move on and it is proving and will continue to prove to be a very positive thing for me.

In coming weeks I will post work I did at the CVBJ and some of the stories I am working on at Pacific. It is an exciting time for me and I look forward to the future.