In his peak seasons, Ken Elowe would build as many as 22 toboggans a year. In recent weeks, however, he’s been focused on construction oversight of three new wooden downhill racers—a project sponsored by the Carpenter’s Boat Shop and two groups of six students from Great Sale Bay School (GSB).

For Elowe and Carpenter’s it’s the second time around using tobacco-building as a teamwork-building program: A year ago, a small group of students at Maine Academy of Natural Sciences (MANS) trekked 70 miles from their Fairfield campus for the initial engagement.

To celebrate our first year, we will be holding an Ocean Trivia Night on Thursday, Feb. 20, starting at 6 p.m. at Footbridge Brewery. The trivia will cover a variety of topics centered on the ocean and highlight topics discussed throughout the year. Should be a fun time to expand your fun-fact list and test your ocean knowledge!  

The Donald E. Davey Bridge that carries Route One over the Sheepscot River between Wiscasset and Edgecomb will be down to one traffic lane on Wednesday, Feb. 5, beginning at 6 p.m. to install a new fiber optic cable. Please plan; you might experience delays, so prepare to stop and obey all flaggers and signs for your safety and that of the contractors.

Discover the fascinating hobby of beekeeping! Join us for a seven-week interactive, in person course, presented by experienced beekeepers from the Knox-Lincoln County Beekeepers (KLCB) and Maine’s State Bee Inspector.

Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission (LCRPC) and Midcoast Council of Governments will host a Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) Catalyst Program Grant workshop in collaboration with Maine's Department of Community and Economic Development on Thursday, Feb. 6 from 3 to 4 p.m. This workshop will be hybrid via Zoom and in LCRPC’s conference room at 297 Bath Road in Wiscasset.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section approved for public comment, Draft Amendment 4 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Northern Shrimp. The Draft Amendment considers options for setting multi-year moratoria and implementing management triggers. Management trigger options include biologic and environmental triggers comprised of indicators that would signal improvement in stock conditions and the potential to re-open the fishery. 

Join Jessie Batchelder from Manomet Conservation Sciences in a conversation about blue crabs and their future in Maine water, on Thursday, Jan. 23 from 6 to 7 p.m.  

As the Gulf of Maine is warming (faster than 99% of the rest of the world’s), many species are expanding their range - including blue crabs. Manomet and the Maine Department of Marine Fisheries have called on fishermen to track and report their observations through an online survey. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director Rhiannon Hampson announced Friday, the USDA is awarding 16 grants and one loan to help increase access to solar energy in Maine. Businesses in nine counties (Cumberland, Hancock, Lincoln, Oxford, Penobscot, Somerset, Waldo, Washington and York) will receive grants to cover up to half the cost of projects to install on-site solar panels. Rural Development will also provide a loan of $5.025 million to Alna Community Solar. The grants and loan come through the agency’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

Evan Goodkowsy of Wiscasset snapped the picture he called “88% Chance of Rain” and submitted it to the Maine Lottery’s 50th Anniversary photo competition. And it won.

The picture of the rocky Maine coast was voted number one among 123 submissions.

See if nuclear power made with "small modular reactors" (SMRs) could be an industry in town, past Wiscasset selectman and recent legislator Ed Polewarczyk suggested to selectmen Jan. 7. If it can be, that could mean "a bunch of property tax revenue," Polewarczyk said. 

He was concerned housing — one of the uses being eyed for former Maine Yankee acreage the town owns near Old Ferry Road — could cost the town more in education dollars than it would contribute to the tax base.

Discover the fascinating hobby of beekeeping! Join us for a seven-week interactive, in-person course, presented by experienced beekeepers from the Knox-Lincoln County Beekeepers (KLCB) and Maine’s State Bee Inspector. Whether you have an interest in becoming a backyard beekeeper for your gardening passion, wish to consider keeping hives for a honey crop, or simply desire to learn more about the intriguing community of honey bees, attending a local bee school will provide you with a basic foundation to get started. This course is designed for first and second year beekeepers.

Hopefully mid to late January, Maine Department of Environmental Protection will approve Tucker Chevrolet’s proposed dealership and service center on Bath Road, a project representative told Wiscasset’s planning board Dec. 23. The board went on to OK having Chair Karl Olson sign its approval of the plan after the applicant has met the board's remaining asks, including setting boundary pins.

The board and Priority Real Estate Group have been meeting since October.

Cranberry Lime Snowballs, Gingerbread, Hot Cocoa Cookies, Molasses & Ginger. Just the names of the cookies are swoon worthy and lucky were the judges who got to taste every single flavor! At the end of the judging during Marketfest’s Christmas Cookie Challenge on Dec. 7, the winning cookie was the Double Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookie baked by Becca Thayer of Wiscasset.

The Maine real estate market is beginning to see a shift to a more balanced market. Maine Listings reported Dec. 19 a 6.81 percent increase in sales of single-family existing homes during the month of November compared to November 2023. The median sales price (MSP) increased 8.45 percent to $385,000. The MSP indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.

Wiscasset Yacht Club got its OK Monday night to fix riprap that took storm damage last January. Wiscasset planning board's Jackie Lowell said via email later, everything on the night's agenda passed. Chair Karl Olson said he could not get Zoom going in the town office's meeting room.

The Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop in downtown Damariscotta is offering a half-price sale on all children’s books, starting on Tuesday, Dec. 10, and continuing through Christmas Eve.

Rosie Bensen, co-manager of the shop, said, “We’ve recently received many donations of wonderful children’s books for all ages, from board books for the little ones, to fiction and non-fiction for young adults. This would be a great time for customers to stock up on gifts and for winter reading.”

The book shop, located at 17 Backstreet Landing, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

The next Ocean on Tap event will take place on Thursday, Dec. 12 from 6 to 7 p.m. at Footbridge Brewery, 25 Granary Way in Boothbay Harbor.

Megan Shapiro, a marine resource specialist, will be speaking about tips and information on making smarter seafood choices that help support our ocean, seafood economy, and local fishermen. It should be very interesting about how the seafood industries work, even if you're not a huge seafood eater! The Facebook event link is at: https://shorturl.at/tJups.

Holiday gift shopping is a pleasurable experience during Wiscasset Holiday Marketfest weekend in the Village, from Dec. 6 through Dec. 8. A fine collection of unique shops offers a vast array of gift possibilities and the pop-up Holiday Gift Shop, in the historic Nickels-Sortwell House barn, is chock full of one-of-a-kind artisan-made items for sale.

Lincoln County Registry of Deeds provided the following information on property transfers recorded in November:

Alna: Moon, Noelle Catherine to Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum, Waterville Farmington & Wiscasset Railway Museum and Farmington Wiscasset & Waterville Railway Museum; Newrez LLC and Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing to Boynton, Madison E and Alexander, Samuel D.; Flanagan, Gerald and Flanagan, Virginia to Cooper, R. Christopher.