Mamie Louise Anderzohn grew up on a small farm in the Midwest. How she ever landed at the small state school in western Pennsylvania which I attended is beyond me. She taught a “methods” course in…
Columns
Hello Islanders – Wow, what a summer! It's that time of year when we should be relaxing, but every relative, friend and distant acquaintance wants to come visit us. Make the most of it, and come…
With today’s tight real estate market there is often pressure to act quickly when you find that perfect place. Scammers know this and are waiting to pounce. Here are three things to be aware of…
Where It’s At
When I was a kid holiday movies played once a year right in your living room, they weren’t rented, bought for home watching, or on YouTube. You watched them with your family, the big, old-…
Where It’s At
When I first saw David Dupree’s colorful, detailed paintings at Studio 53, I was blown away. The energy produced by the techniques this self-taught artist used including pointillism (painting…
A Bird’s Tale
We may have a recent preoccupation with swifts. They seem to have been finding their way into these columns a disproportionate number of times lately as compared to other birds. But we make no…
Joe’s Journal
We all dodged a bullet Saturday night.
Yes, we watched in horror as the leading Republican presidential candidate escaped an assassination attempt.
Yes, even the most diehard…
’Round Town
According to some local history, the Bridge House, located at the center of Boothbay Harbor’s famous Footbridge, was built in 1902 by bridge tender William F. Foster. At that time, my guess is,…
Boothbay Region YMCA Community Catalyst for Good
Here at the Y, we love celebrating our members, our children, and the spirit of reciprocity that supports all our initiatives. There are countless volunteers who lend their time and…
Community of Hope
The topic of domestic abuse often evokes images of violence between young or middle-aged partners, however, abuse is frequently used against people of all ages including elders. All of the forms…
Last year the Federal Trade Commission recorded $10 billion in reported fraud from U.S. consumers. Because fraud is underreported, we know that actual losses are much higher.
While…
A Bird’s Tale
June in Maine is when the miracle of new life abounds in birds. Most of the birds that breed in Maine—build nests, lay eggs, nurture their young—do so in June. This year, we have been happy to see…
Where it (was) at
The breeze was as strong as the sun during 2024’s Windjammer Days’ Artists Alley down to Whale Park June 27 and 28. Coordinating this event the past two years, is Friends of Windjammer Days member…
’Round Town
During our luxury cruise with Captain Mark Stover as we watched boats arriving in the harbor for the Windjammer Days Festival, I noticed a lot of barrels. There were barrels stacked in dories,…
Joe’s Journal
For most of the political season, the focus has been more on the two old geezers, Grandpa Don, who is 78, and Grandpa Joe, who is 81.
The younger grandpa saw his business hauled into court…
Salt ’n Spar
This time last year I wrote a column asking whether there might be any takers for Wiscasset’s Boston Post Cane. You know, the time-honored tradition of passing a ceremonial walking stick to the…
Criminals love to impersonate big businesses and the bigger the better. One of the largest targets of impostor scams last year was Amazon. According to the Federal Trade Commission, 44,000 reports…
A Bird’s Tale
There are two birds in particular that are so striking, so tropical-looking, that most people think they’re rare here in Maine.
But they aren’t.
In fact they’re quite widespread…
’Round Town
Clive Farrin grew up in Boothbay Harbor. His best friends from childhood are legendary – Charlie Begin, Conneth Murray and Butch Cressey. They were such good friends that all through their early…
Joe’s Journal
Last Thursday evening, I joined a few million Americans who poured an adult beverage, sat on the couch, and watched a pair of old dudes argue.
Supposedly, they were on stage trying to…
Salt ’n Spar
As the saying goes, one picture is worth a thousand words. Since I first picked up a camera 50 years ago I’ve probably taken 10,000 or more pictures, many of them for the newspapers in the…
A Bird’s Tale
It may have been an unconscious reaction to last week’s excessive heat, but over the weekend we were drawn to local lakes and marshes to look for birds. It is hard for us to believe, but some of…
’Round Town
Did you ever go to the grocery store without a list? Not intentionally, but by accident leaving the list on the kitchen table after laboring over what to buy? Items listed so the resulting…
Joe’s Journal
Well, here we go.
I don’t know what to make of the promised presidential debate scheduled for 9 p.m. this Thursday. If you want to watch, it will be all over the networks if you can stay…
Where It’s At
Boothbay Harbor’s First Friday Art Tours kicked off on June 7 and the turnout was fantastic – as was the art! Participating with receptions, some including artists with a new show opening, were…
We’ve all been there; you reach for your wallet and find nothing in your pocket or purse. The panic we feel in that moment is real because our wallet can be a treasure trove for criminals, who can…
A Bird’s Tale
Sister-in-law Nina called, breathless, a few weeks ago. While walking the dogs along a quiet road in Georgetown, she was astonished to find a tiny, newly fledged saw-whet owl sitting on the back…
Joe’s Journal
For months, MaineDOT has promised this is the year they would repave Route 27 from U.S. 1 to Boothbay, and from Boothbay to the intersection of Route 96.
In English, that translates from…
’Round Town
It’s just about time for some special boats to arrive in Boothbay Harbor and surrounding coastal communities. The sailing cruise ships are back on the high seas and with fingers crossed we hope…
The next public supper will be June 19. The menu will consist of lentil soup, herb rolls, salad, roast turkey, mashed p…
Where It’s At
Maine State Music Theater’s 2024 season opener “South Pacific” brings the south seas to Maine, if only for a short while. Riding on the breezes that blow are themes of war, racial prejudice,…
A Bird’s Tale
We’ve recently had the opportunity to spend some time in the Big Apple, otherwise known as New York City. There’s a lot going on down in that place – people streaming by on sidewalks everywhere.…
’Round Town
How often, on our walk to pick up the mail, do we think about the means of delivery? The person who delivers? The people who sort? The people who load? For the most part, I think, we just take for…
Joe’s Journal
Over the last week, our phones, TV sets, and newspapers brought us photos of world leaders standing on the cliffs overlooking Normandy’s beaches.
With the placid sea in the background,…
The next public supper will be June 19. The menu will consist of lentil soup, herb rolls, salad, roast turkey, mashed potato, stuffing,…
Salt ’n Spar
Let’s talk worms, marine worms that is – “blood” and “sand” – prized bait for saltwater sports fishermen and that fetch between $12 and $15 a dozen on the Jersey shore. Once upon a time Wiscasset…
Each year, the U.S. draws attention to the pernicious crime of elder abuse in our country. Elder financial exploitation – generally involving a known person who is deceiving and manipulating an…
For this o-fish-al update, we introduce you to the new name for our educational facilities at the Dept. of Marine Resources’ Boothbay Lab – the Gulf of Maine Discovery…
A Bird’s Tale
Imagine a place on the Maine coast where your dinner conversation might range from talking with an Indigenous Guardian about the experience of living and working in a remote First Nation in…
’Round Town
This time of year always makes me think of my visits with Barbara Cooney of “Miss Rumphius” fame, at her home in Damariscotta. The lupine plants are hitting high clover now in what seems to be a…
Joe’s Journal
I was all set to tell you how town officials and the USPS are trying to find a new location to serve the 500 or so postal customers in East Boothbay. I was all set to let you know that the paving…
The next public supper will be June 19. The menu will consist of lentil soup, herb…
Salt ’n Spar
It never ceases to amaze me what you can find online as was the case the other day when I was searching for one thing and came up with something else altogether – a 20-page eulogy delivered in…
Where It’s At
Alison Brown and her Band are returning to the Opera House Friday, June 7 and no one, I repeat, no one should miss this concert. Sure, you may have seen her there…
A Bird’s Tale
There is no doubt that the sight of an all-white, chicken-sized bird with feathered feet walking around on the ground somewhere here on the coast of Maine in spring would make just about anyone…
