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Hit the Slopes Eight downhill ski areas in our area offer winter fun for the whole family

A Piece of Maine:

Presque Isle Kitchen Confidential Red Sky Restaurant

Swans Island Blankets Eye on Industry

Inside:

Maine’s Wedding Maven athenahealth Seafood Casserole

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January/February 2014

Clowns Send in the

Take a look under the wigs of three Anah Temple Shrine clowns

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January/February 2014

contents

features maine wedding maven / 13 Joan Montgomery makes it her business to market Maine’s wedding professionals.

Managing medicine / 16 athenahealth in Belfast is helping to streamline your doctor’s visits. hit the slopes / 20 With eight places in our region to downhill ski, there’s no reason not to. to be a clown / 28 It’s not easy to be an Anah Temple Shrine clown. We sit down with three of them to find out what it takes.

Photos: (top) eric sherman; (bottom left & right) melanie brooks

A Piece of Maine: Presque Isle / 36 This northern Maine city’s friendly, tight-knit community is the main reason so many call it home. thursday night casserole / 50 Susan Stephenson shares her mother’s recipe for seafood casserole.

20 36

Red Sky Restaurant / 54 James Lindquist‘s Southwest Harbor restaurant serves loyal customers all year long.

50 www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 1

contents

14

columns

TaLk of the Towns / 8 A trip down the Yellow Brick Road, two colleges unite, and online radio.

Metro Wellness / 19 A new twist on New Year’s resolutions.

Biz Buzz & sightings / 10 People and places on the move. eye on industry / 14 Swans Island Blankets Metro sports / 48 Swimming and diving at UMaine and Bangor High School.

Perspectives / 56 The 365 Portraits Project

by Tony Llerena savvy seniors / 59 How to beat the gray days of winter. unsung hero / 64 Bangor police officer Jim Dearing.

2 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

woods & waters / 58 Another winter on the lake. last word / 62 Embracing change in 2014.

Special Section 2014 winter guide / 65 Make the most of Maine’s winter months with our guide to winter events and activities for all to enjoy.

8

Photos: (top) courtesy swans island blankets; (left) couretesy farnsworth art museum

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editor’s note

I

Melanie Brooks, editor

4 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

The Bangor Metro Region

Photo: Kate Crabtree

’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions, but I like the ideas Emilie Brand Manhart shares in this month’s Metro Wellness column. I’ve found her suggestion to find 15 minutes of quiet time each day important. I spend my 15 minutes each morning before I head to the office.

My morning routine is such that I get my son Ian ready for the day while my husband showers and dresses. Once the boys are out of the house, I crawl back in bed with my dog for 15 minutes to check Facebook, read whatever book or magazine I’m working through, or just snuggle up with the chihuahua for some TLC. One resolution I constantly have—no matter the season—is to exercise more.

My job is pretty sedentary. I spend a lot of time in front of two computer screens in order to get each issue of Bangor Metro ready to be published.

Like all working mothers, the end of my workday does not mean my day is over. I rush to daycare to pick up my son before heading home for dinner. I have exactly three hours to spend with Ian before he goes to bed, and I don’t want to spend that time at the gym. Since getting up before the sun is against my nature—and I’d probably forfeit the aforementioned 15 minutes of quiet time— I’ve joined a boot camp program on Saturdays. It starts at the very normal hour of 9 a.m. and lets me start the weekend off on the right foot.

A great way to get exercise, especially during the winter months, is skiing.

Thanks to the eight small ski areas in our region, hitting the slopes is easy. These small nonprofit and family-owned mountains offer a great place for you to learn to ski and for families to ski together. Turn to page 20 and find out which ski area is closest to you, then give it a shot.

If skiing isn’t your thing, you’re in luck. There’s a lot more to winter in Maine than conquering the mountains. Our annual Winter Guide has lots of ideas— from ice fishing, to snowmobiling, to ice skating—so you can enjoy the next few months. There’s no reason to stay inside this winter, but if you do, we hope you’re curled up someplace cozy, reading this issue of Bangor Metro.

As you leaf through the pages of this magazine, you’re sure to notice two new sections: our revamped Eye on Industry feature and our new Unsung Hero story. Eye on Industry will be focusing on products that are made in our region. This month we’re focusing on Swans Island Blankets in Northport. Our Unsung Hero feature profiles everyday heros that deserve a pat on the back.

This month we hear from Jim Dearing, who has been with the Bangor Police Department for the past 22 years. If you have an idea for an Unsung Hero, please feel free to email me at melanie@ bangormetro.com. I’d love to hear from you!

www.bangormetro.com 263 State Street, Suite 1 Bangor, Maine 04401 Phone: 207.941.1300

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

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Bangor Metro Magazine. January/February 2014, Vol. 10, No. 1.

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Opinions expressed in either the editorial or advertisements do not represent the opinions of the staff or publisher of Bangor Metro magazine. Advertisers and event sponsors or their agents are responsible for copyrights and accuracy of all material they submit. Bangor Metro magazine to the best of its ability ensures the acuracy of information printed in the publication.

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talk of the towns

Top: Grinsson, Boris (1907- 1999), Two- Panel Billboard for MGM Film, 65" x 96" (framed); Above: A Gilbert Adrian-designed dress tested by Judy Garland for “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) and the blouse she wore during the first two weeks of filming, together with a shooting script used by Bobby Connolly who staged the dance numbers. Both images from “The Wonderful World of Oz: An Illustrated History of the American Classic” by John Fricke (Down East Books) 8 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

rockland: If you’ve ever wanted to put yourself in Dorothy’s ruby slippers, you’re in luck. On display at the Farnsworth Art Museum are selections from the world’s largest collection of memorabilia depicting the “Wonderful World of Oz.” Willard Carroll and Tom Wilhite, owners of the private collection that includes more than 100,000 items, both work in the entertainment industry and live in Camden.

“Once we were approached with this idea of mounting an exhibition, then it became the case of Farnsworth Art Museum’s chief curator Michael K. Komanecky to go explore what was possible to include in the exhibition, with the great help of Willard Carroll, to come up with something that would really showcase all the various elements,” says David Troup, communications officer for Farnsworth Art Museum.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film “The Wizard of Oz”, starring Judy Garland. Artifacts on display from the film include the Wicked Witch of the West’s hourglass, a dress worn by Dorothy, and the a complete munchkin costume, which is the only surviving costume in its entirety. But the exhibition features much more than film memorabilia. Also on display is a pristine first edition of L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, all of which the films are based; illustrated versions of the same book; movie posters for the first film that came out in 1925; and collectible trinkets that promoted the story’s culture.

The exhibition will be on display through the end of March.

photo: courtesy farnsworth art museum

The Wonderful World of Oz

Joining Forces BANGOR: Husson University and the New England School of Communication (NESCom) will debut as a single institution this fall, after having received approval by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). “We’ve been moving in that direction for a long time,” says Thomas Johnston, president of NESCom. “We had a window to make this happen and make it as seamless as possible, to prevent an inconvenience for the students.”

NESCom, known for its communications and media programs, was built on the Husson University campus. They have shared certain programs and facilities, such as residence halls and dining commons, but the official incorporation will allow easy access for students at all colleges.

“What it means is an opportunity for students to have the breadth of the university in front of them,” Johnston says, citing improved course scheduling and program variety among the benefits.

In addition to receiving approval to consolidate, NEASC granted Husson a 10-year re-accreditation. Over the past 50 years, Husson has been expanding to incorporate a college of

business, a college of health and education, a school of pharmacy, and a school of science and humanities, in addition to their graduate programs. These developments led to Husson’s transition from a college to a university in 2008, and this growth becomes even more comprehensive with the addition of NESCom. “The ability to have some of those courses [from NESCom], as well as to be able to collaborate on majors across the colleges and schools, is a tremendous opportunity to strengthen the offerings that we provide students within the university,” says Lynne Coy-Ogan, provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Husson University.

photos: (top) Larry Ayotte; (top right) matt green-hamman

A New Way to Listen Statewide: Maine Internet Radio, LLC just celebrated its first year in business as one of the only local radio platforms in the country that is based entirely online.

Jeff Solari, president and founder of Maine Internet Radio, always wanted to work in radio and own radio stations. After spending years on air, building connections with fellow radio personalities, Solari left the traditional model and started what he believes is the new radio frontier. “Everything is on the Internet,” he says. “We have taken the traditional radio model of local programming, but instead of buying expensive transmitters and studio space, we’re just streaming it.”

The Internet audience is potentially worldwide, but the news and local programming will be familiar to Mainers living north of Augusta. Solari started with just one station in August of 2012. Five months later, five stations were streaming, and the radio was officially launched. By the end of the year, eight stations were in full swing, including the Comedy Chowdah station that features comedians from New

England. Each station is run by a professional host, who has past experience in traditional radio. Solari oversees each station, but the hosts choose their own programming and audio content, all fully licensed.

Solari sees the future of the radio thriving in local programming. He hopes to have the stations offer local sports, local talk shows, and local news. “I’d love to have more people from the area with niche formats, things you’d never hear on the radio,” Solari says. “We don’t have the same restrictions as a regular radio format, so it could really be anything.” www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 9

biz buzz On the Move Katahdin Trust Company in Houlton has promoted two of its employees. JEAN NOYES will serve as vice president and information security officer and ANDREW PUTNAM has been promoted to vice president and chief information officer. Noyes has worked for the company since 1979 and has served as vice president of management information systems for the past eight years. Putnam joined Katahdin Trust Company in 1999. His previous role was the assistant vice president and technology product manager. www.katahdintrust.com

GEORGE F. EATON II, Esquire has joined Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems as associate general council and senior governance advisor. Eaton is a partner with the Bangor firm of Rudman Winchell, where he specializes in business and corporate law. www.emh.org

The General Henry Knox Museum in Thomason has named TOBIN MALONE acting executive director. Malone started working at the museum in February 2011 as assistant to the executive director. Previously, Malone was sales manager for Jaret & Cohn Real Estate. She has also served as artistic director of the Belfast Maskers and stage director at Camden Civic Theater and Northport Music Theater. wwww.knoxmuseum.org

SUSAN HOOVLER , FNP-C

EATON PEABODY received top tier

rankings from the U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers 2014 “Best Law Firm” rankings. The Bangor office received honors for corporate law, land use and zoning law, and mergers and acquisitions law. www.eatonpeabody.com MAINE COAST MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

was named a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accrediting agency of health care organizations in America. The hospital was recognized for its achievement on the following measure sets: heart attack, pneumonia, and surgical care. www.mainehospital.org MANO EN MANO of Milbridge was

has joined Penobscot Community Health Care’s Capehart Community Health Center as the clinical leader. She has more than 30 years of experience in the nursing field, with eight years of experience as a nurse practitioner. She is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the Maine Nurse Practitioner Association. www.pchc.com

SARAH RUDDY has been named the

Attorneys JOHN K. HAMER and F. DAVID WALKER IV have become partners at Rudman Winchell Counselors at Law in Bangor. Prior to joining Rudman Winchell, Hamer served as assistant city solicitor for the City of Bangor. He’s also a past president of the Downtown Bangor Partnership. He regularly advises public sector and private clients on issues including land use and zoning, labor and employment, administrative processes, and constitutional law. Walker spent his first year after law school clerking for the Justice Paul L. Rudman of the Maine Supreme Court. His practice specializes in catastrophic personal injury defense, medical liability, product liability, and commercial litigation. www.rudmanwinchell.com

DAWN DEBOIS of Hermon has joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine as their community based and special events manager. She has held the position of community outreach educator for the Eastern Maine AIDS Network and Penquis Health Services.

She has also worked for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, the Bangor Daily News, and most recently at Verizon Wireless. www.bbbsmidmaine.org

10 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

Awards

executive director of the Strand Theatre in Rockland. Ruddy has been working as the interim executive director for the past six months. Previously, Ruddy worked as the head producer of the Camden International Film Festival and as a project consultant at both Northeast Historic Film and Maine Media Workshops. She also teaches in the English department at the University of Maine. www.rocklandstrand.com

ERIC JACOBSSEN, owner of North

Brooklin Boats, has been hired as the part-time director of the Deer IsleStonington Chamber of Commerce.

Jacobssen also owned his own marketing firm, Jacobssen Promotions. www.deerisle.com

recently honored by The Next Step Domestic Violence Project as their 2013 Community Partner of the year. This award honors an organization or person who shares Next Step’s commitment to support victims of abuse in Hancock and Washington Counties. www.nextstepdvproject.org MELISSA LEYENDECKER , a senior customer service representative at the Bangor Savings Bank branch in Ellsworth, was recently honored with the bank’s Star Award. This award is given to employees who make a significant difference during the fiscal year, specifically in the areas of performance excellence and exceptional customer service. www.bangor.com

The COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC has tied with seven other schools for the top spot on the U.S. News Short List’s 10 Colleges With the Highest Rate of Student Internships. One hundred percent of COA graduates participate in an internship during their college career. www.coa.edu PEN BAY MEDICAL has been honored with an “A” grade in the Fall 2013 update to the Hospital Safety Score, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from accidents, errors, injuries, and infections. The scores are administered

by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national industry watchdog. www.penbayhealthcare.org Four people were recently honored with St. Joseph Healthcare’s Mother Mary Angela Service Award, the highest honor the organization awards. DARCI LANE , BSN, RN; ROSEMARY FORD; STEVEN MILBURN, DO; and PAUL HAMMOND were chosen based on their exemplary dedication and service. www.stjoeshealing.org

Grants THE JACKSON LABORATORY has been

awarded a five-year, $8.2 million grant to research early steps in the formation of sperm and eggs. The funds will allow a multidisciplinary research team to focus on a key protein called PRDM9, which controls the exchange of parts between pairs of chromosomes and is essential for the successful production of sperm and eggs. www.jax.org

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received a $10,000 grant from Healthy Acadia for its Community Dental Center. Slated to open in January 2014, the Community Dental Center will be the first fully nonprofit dental center on Mount Desert Island. Funding from the grant will support a school-linked oral health program that will provide local students with cleanings, sealants, fluoride treatments, and early childhood screenings at school. www.mdihospital.org The Maine Health Access Foundation has awarded several Thriving in Place grants to organizations in our area.

Awards of $40,000 each have been given to the AROOSTOOK AREA ON AGING, INC., CHARLOTTE WHITE CENTER , CHILD AND FAMILIES OPPORTUNITIES, INC., PENOBSCOT COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER , and BUCKSPORT BAY HEALTHY COMMUNITIES COALITION. Funds will

be used to develop programs that will help people with chronic health conditions stay healthy in their homes instead of being hospitalized or institutionalized. www.mehaf.org

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 11

sight ings

2

1

6

1: Wade C. Johnson, Donna DeBlois, Donald Sussman, Rep. Chellie Pingree, Joanne Billington, Rick Bates, Bill Chapman, and Blaine Buck gather as Sussman tours Pen Bay Healthcare’s Hospice House and pledges a generous naming donation.

2: Todd Simcox sells his salsa at the 2013 Maine Harvest Festival, held at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

12 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

4

5

7

3: Abby Freethy and Aurelie Adrien tend the Northwoods Gourmet Girl booth at the 2013 Maine Harvest Festival in Bangor.

6: Buddy and Lily Fryer attend the 2013 Great Gatsby-themed Fusion Extravaganza in Bangor dressed to impress in 1920s attire.

4: Malorie and Ben Sprague at the 2013 Fusion Extravaganza, held at the Union Street Brick Church in Bangor. Ben Sprague was honored with the Leadership and Vision Award.

7: Gary Bellefleur, the Darling’s ice cream ambassador, parks on Central Street for their Have a Heart for Mabel campaign.

5: Amy and Nigel Wilton attend a recent PechaKucha event in Rockland.

Photos: #4 & #5 Jeff Kirlin; #6 steven gray; #7 maggi blue

3

movers & shakers

W

Maine Wedding Maven Joan Montgomery has been the head of the Maine Wedding Association for more than a decade, helping engaged couples find the local wedding vendors to make their dreams a reality.

Photo: melanie brooks

By Cory Robertson

hen Joan Montgomery became a part-time wedding disc jockey in college, she had no idea weddings would be such a large part of her future.

After graduating from the University of Maine in Orono in 1999, Montgomery took a position with Prudential. But she continued to work as a wedding DJ on the weekends and was a frequent exhibitor at the Maine Wedding Association (MWA) wedding shows. Her dedication earned the notice of Jane and Steve Arey, owners of the Maine Wedding Association. After purchasing the Spectacular Events Center in Bangor, they approached Montgomery about taking over the Maine Wedding Association.

She accepted the offer in 2001.

Montgomery describes the transition as “a leap of faith,” yet she couldn’t be more satisfied with her current position. “I love the wedding business, I love marketing, and I have put the two together for the Maine Wedding Association,” she says.

Today, Montgomery is involved with much more than wedding music.

Through the MWA, she hosts five wedding shows each year, between January and March. The shows take place at various locations across the state, bringing together 400 exhibitors and 1,500 engaged couples from January to March of each year.

“The wedding show is where your wedding planning starts,” she says. “You can look at dresses, reception places, discover new ideas, taste samplings of wedding menus, and get advice from the pros.” All of which, Montgomery explains, can lead to ideas you’ve never even thought of.

Though her devotion to Maine might suggest otherwise, Montgomery was born in Virginia, where her father served in the military. After a stint in New Jersey, her father moved his wife and five teenage daughters to Maine in 1974, in pursuit of a better quality of life.

As fate would have it, the Pine Tree State formed the fabric of Montgomery’s adult life. While she is committed to helping engaged couples plan their Maine wedding, her heart is in the small-business community. She sees the MWA as a way of bringing local businesses together and helping them to market themselves.

“I believe in advertising, and I believe people need to promote themselves,”

Montgomery says. Based on her experience working with small-business owners, she can tell you that mom-and-pop businesses are often very good at what they do, but many of them do not know how to market themselves effectively.

Montgomery addresses this knowledge gap by inviting industry experts from across the country to present their knowledge to MWA members.

The results of these sessions are inspiring. For example, after attending one of Montgomery’s trainings, an event designer on the brink of bankruptcy updated her name and logo to better reflect the work she did. “She went from almost no business to being so busy she hired other people,” Montgomery says. This is the kind of growth she strives to inspire in others.

Montgomery’s approach to assisting engaged couples is similarly rooted in a sense of community. It’s no surprise that when discussing her business philosophy she often goes back to the same phrase: “face-to-face marketing.”

She explains that her shows give couples the chance to meet and vet wedding professionals before hiring them.

Weddings express personal style, and each couple has their own set of expectations. “Some people are very salt-ofthe-earth, outdoorsy. They don’t want someone to come marry them that’s in a suit or a tuxedo,” Montgomery says.

“They want the professionals to match their style and reflect who they are as a couple.” Considering the high cost of a wedding—Montgomery estimates an average total price tag of $30,000—it makes sense to invest in the services of likeminded professionals.

Of course, the wedding industry is more than just a business to Montgomery. Her enthusiasm for wedding options available in Maine shines through as she enumerates the state’s many offerings.

“Where else can you get married on the water, on a mountain, in a barn, in a city, or at a lighthouse? There is complete diversity in the state of Maine.”

Montgomery says that Maine is an attractive wedding destination for many people who don’t live here year-round, whether they grew up summering here or got engaged during a weekend getaway. “They just really feel a connection to Maine,” she says. “Maine draws people back in.” www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 13

Swans Island Blankets

These handmade blankets are the epitome of quality and craftsmanship.

By Kaylie Reese

14 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

S

ometime between mid-January and early February, the temperature takes a plunge toward bitter cold. It’s about that time that many Mainers will cozy themselves nearer to the woodstove or grab another blanket to put on their bed. One blanket that is sure to keep you warm is manufactured on the coast of Maine.

Swans Island Blankets was founded about 20 years ago by two Boston attorneys, John and Carolyn Grace, who moved to Swans Island to live out their dream of the Maine island lifestyle.

They brought with them several old woven blankets that were handed down in John’s family for generations. Curious whether anyone was still making these heritage blankets, the couple decided to try their hands at the craft, taking on a new challenge they knew nothing about.

Because they were starting from the

ground up, they chose to make blankets of the highest quality as precedence.

Current company president William Laurita was with the company near its start. As a craftsman, Laurita is dedicated to practicality, creativity, and the processes that bring the two together.

“The first thing we care about is, how do we make this the best way,” Laurita says.

“We’re a company that cares about producing the highest quality.”

Laurita and his wife moved to a 200year-old farmhouse in Northport, which they renovated. They built an addition on the farmhouse for looms and converted the porch into a dye house with the intention of relocating the business, as it was becoming more difficult to manage the growing industry on an island that’s only accessible by ferry. In 2003, the company moved to the mainland and settled in Northport.

Fleece for the blankets is sent to Swans Island Blankets in its raw form, unwashed and un-dyed. Once it arrives at the facility, the fleece is washed in organic soap so that some of the lanolin— the natural wax produced by sheep that protects the fibers—stays in the wool.

It’s then spun into a woolen-spun yarn, hand-dyed with all-natural dyes, and woven with handlooms. “It’s one person working on that product, making the blanket for you,” Laurita says of the handloom process. “All their attention and skill, all their spirit, is in that product. Every single weft is laid down by somebody, paying attention to how that row went down or whether the edges are loose or tight.”

Once the blanket has been woven and comes off the loom, it is sent to the finishers. Because some of the chaff remains in the weave, the finishers remove it, using surgical tweezers and a lot of patience. Laurita recounts this painstaking task to emphasize the time and care spent on the product. “My interest is in making the best,” he says. “It needs to go through this process—no shortcuts.”

The company has received many accolades that recognize the meticulous care to achieve the highest quality.

In 1996 Swans Island Blankets received the Smithsonian Blue Ribbon for Craft.

The blankets have also been featured in many magazines, including Vogue, The New York Times Magazine, and several times in Martha Stewart Living.

photo: courtesy swans island blankets

eye on industry

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Instant messages, tweets and online chats are great, but nothing can substitute for celebrating your closeness in person. So pick up that smart phone and do a smart thing: go to FlyBangor.com, book online, and this time - send yourself.

Scan for BGR Online Booking

Nonstops, connecting flights, competitive fares and friendly customer service.

Bgr_Metro_SendYourself.indd 3

Brewer —

8/9/11 10:54 AM

we’re anything but business as usual “Brewer means business! The city officials are terrific—from the City Manager to Public Safety, everyone has a friendly, hometown attitude. We feel it and so do our customers. Folks come to Brewer to buy, knowing we are easy to find and can exceed their expectations.

Customers from Calais, Portland or Houlton can get here through just 2 traffic lights! Our customers and our business have benefited greatly by being in Brewer.”—Geoff Battick of Winterport Boot

Pictured L-to-R: Mike Allen & Geoff Battick

Contact D’arcy Main-Boyington, Supplied Original Economic Development Director 989-7500 • www.brewermaine.gov dmain-boyington@brewermaine.gov www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 15

metro health

As more medical providers enter the electronic world, athenahealth helps them streamline the process. By Joy Hollowell

16 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

S

photos: Kevin Kratka

Managing Medicine

tepping inside athenahealth in Belfast feels a bit like being outside. A large glass atrium spans the length of the more than 250foot lobby. The sense of transparency certainly seems appropriate, considering that’s the mission this global company prides itself on.

“We’re a cloud-based electronic health records service,” explains Todd Haedrich, vice president of operations. “Because we’re in the cloud, our clients don’t need to worry about putting a server in their back office or be concerned whether

A view of the lobby at athenahealth’s Belfast facility.

they’ve backed up files or not. We take care of all that.” athenahealth also provides cloud-based practice management, a patient portal, and population health management services, as well as a mobile application for physicians.

“We’re completely integrated,” adds David Tassoni, senior vice president of operations. “athenaNet is all one platform, you just buy the different models.”

From the moment someone enters his or her doctor’s office for a medical appointment, athenaNet’s programs are put into action. “When the patient checks in,

we provide services to the front office as to who that person is, whether they need to collect payment, and whether their insurance is accepted by the doctor,” Haedrich says. “Moving into the exam room, we provide the doctor with all the information they need about that patient. And once the exam is done, we again help the front office to check that patient out. We will then submit that claim on behalf of the doctor to the insurance provider. And if the patient needs to see a specialist or go to the hospital, we can coordinate that care as well. That backbone, all that in-

formation that’s needed, that’s what we specialize in.” athenahealth was co-founded in 1997

by Jonathan Bush and Todd Park, who owned women’s health and birthing practices in California and Rhode Island, respectively. “They began to realize that they were losing money because nobody did practice management systems well,” Tassoni explains. “So they built their own practice management system, calling it athenaNet.” It wasn’t long before the two men realized there was a need for their programs. athenahealth, headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, has offices in six states, as well as in India. The Belfast facility opened in the former MBNA building in 2008. Six hundred fifty employees work in four pods that branch out from the glass lobby. Enrollment and client support, claims resolution, remittance and image processing, and credentialing are just some of the services provided by the Maine office. Plans are in place to open a fifth pod, which could bring the workforce up to 1,000 by the middle of 2014.

The new Affordable Health Care Act is a welcome shot in the arm for the company. Through the program, the federal government is offering incentives for providers that use electronic medical record (EMR) technology. They can receive up to $44,000 through the Medicare Electronic Health Records Incentive Program. “If doctors don’t switch to EMR over time, the amount that Medicare is going to pay them starts to diminish. So there is a forcing function there,” Haedrich says. athenahealth services more than 47,000 medical providers across its network. “We were their first client in Maine,” says Dr. Lawrence Piazza, founder of Coastal Eye Care in Ellsworth.

“We’ve been running a practice for 20plus years now. Until three years ago, we were doing our own billing.”

Things continued to become more complicated, with the constant changes in rules and regulations by the insurance companies and the government, Piazza says. “And that’s about the time athenahealth came up on our radar. We had a chance to visit their facility and watched how they processed the claims in an efficient manner—more than Dr. so Carey Fisterwe andcould one of ever do with five peopleher in pediatric our billing ofpatients. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 17

metro health

David Tassoni at athenahealth’s office.

fice. And we thought we were ahead of the curve.”

Before athenahealth, Piazza says he would typically wait up to 70 days for payments. “athenahealth was able to get that down to 23 days, which is amazing.”

That time trim also translates to insurance forms. “They’re so complicated.

If your staff happens to submit a claim with one box unchecked, it could delay a claim by as much as two months,” explains Piazza. “athenahealth’s software has the capacity to learn from previ-

Tassoni is well aware that some medical providers are hesitant to turn over control of their billing services to an outside company, while others aren’t ready to navigate the ever-changing world of technology. “There are plenty of doctors out there who will never have a smartphone,” he says. “And there are plenty of doctors out there who don’t feel comfortable typing. When we built our electronic health records service, we did it knowing how vital the connection was between the provider and the patient. We’ve cre-

“athenahealth has allowed us to spend more time taking care of patients, which is what we love doing. It has allowed us to focus more on our mission.” —Dr. Lawrence Piazza ous insurance claim submission trouble spots. Their system is able to identify glitches in insurance forms and allow us to correct before submitting directly to third-party payers.”

18 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

ated programs that any doctor, under any sort of technology spectrum, can function with.”

“If they know how to use a Web browser, we can teach them how to use

athenaNet,” Haedrich adds. Last spring, athenahealth won a national award for best usability for its electronic health records system. The primary complaint of providers, Haedrich says, is that the systems are too difficult to use and that they slow the physicians down. “Winning this award proves our programs can actually work faster.”

“That’s probably been the biggest benefit of all,” Piazza says. “athenahealth has allowed us to spend more time taking care of patients, which is what we love doing. It has allowed us to focus more on our mission.”

As for confusion sometimes associated with athenahealth, both Tassoni and Haedrich say they’ve heard it all. “No, we don’t sell health insurance,” Tassoni says.

“And no, we’re not Aetna Insurance,” Haedrich adds, smiling. “We’re a cloudbased, software-powered service. We want medical providers to care for a patient across the continuum and we want to be thesystem that enables them to do that, by not needing to focus on the other stuff,” Tassoni says.

metro wellness

Simplicity by the Numbers A new twist on New Year’s resolutions.

By Emilie Brand Manhart

photo: Elena Elisseeva/thinkstock.com

W

e begin January, a month full of hope, promise, crisp air, and pink evening skies, with a new motivation to sweep away the clutter and actualize our very best selves. The holidays are behind us, and the new year is ahead of us.

We get all excited and eager to commit to exercise plans, to imagine organized closets, sparkling clean homes, and to talk a big game about all the changes we will make. But sometimes our overambitious dreams aren’t realistic, amid our busy lives. Gym memberships spike at the start of January, while actual use of the gym begins to decline before the month is even over.

I myself have been known to create a list of New Year’s resolutions that read like this: run a marathon, reorganize all the closets in the house, develop big arm muscles, learn Italian, get another master’s degree, start quilting, and write a book. Easy, girl. Not only did I choose too many resolutions; I believe I chose the wrong type.

Maybe our resolutions tend to be too focused on ourselves. Maybe we make too many, or maybe we don’t know how to begin because the goals are too vague.

My New Year’s gift to you are these small, specific, and manageable suggestions for resolutions that put the focus on creating peace and gratitude. The following ideas aim for simple and generous gestures

that offer surprising paybacks.

Do 12 nice little things, one per month. If you have ever been on the receiving end of a “random act of kindness,” having a stranger pay for your coffee, your toll, or offer a compliment, you know how it can shift the perspective of the world around you. You can create the same feeling of wistful gratitude for all the goodness in the world by becoming the giver yourself. Make a deliberate decision to pay for the coffee in the drive thru of the car behind you, leave a small bouquet of flowers on someone’s front porch, drop off some homemade cookies at your local fire department, or just do something really simple, such as letting a busy parent cut in front of you at the grocery store.

Donate five bags of clothes out of your closets. Instead of the lofty goal to reorganize every closet, top-to-bottom, try thinking of it this way. Look through your clothes, and if you haven’t worn an item in the last year, let someone else have it.

Dropping off bags of clothes at the Salvation Army or Goodwill means your clothing will be put to new use. The fact that your closets are also cleaner is a bonus.

Write two letters. If a common theme for the New Year is to declutter your life, think of saying “Thank you” and “I’m sorry” as a way to declutter your mind. We all have people who have helped, taught, or inspired us whom we have not properly

thanked. We all have people we have hurt or disappointed, with whom we have not yet made peace. These unresolved feelings take up space in our heads and hearts, and they add clutter to our lives.

Tidy up loose ends by writing two letters, one of thanks and one of apology. The process of writing these thoughts down is cathartic, in and of itself. Then mail or deliver the letters. You will make someone’s day and may even open a door to a new beginning.

Find 15 minutes of quiet a day. Be more present and attentive to people in your life by remembering to take time for yourself, too. There are many easy ways to carve out just a little bit of quiet time in your day, during which you can just think clearly and focus on positive thoughts.

Can you wake up 15 minutes earlier to have some morning time to yourself?

Can you turn off the radio on your commute to work? Can you take a short walk alone, without music or your phone? Yes, you can. You don’t need a strict meditation regimen in order to benefit. Create space to breathe and reflect on the goodness in your life, and everyone around you will benefit.

Emilie Brand Manhart is a mom, runner, and triathlete who co-chairs the English Department at Bangor High School and writes the blog One Mom in Maine. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 19

feature story

hit the

By Kaylie Reese

R

egardless of whether you’ve lived in Maine your entire life or if this is your first winter here, there is something truly special about the first fall of snow. The bitter cold temperatures are one thing, but the winter season doesn’t feel official until the ground is covered with a blanket of crisp, white snow, making any street corner look as if it were the inspiration for a Norman Rockwell illustration. Sure, winters in Maine can be long and harsh, but Mainers have learned to adapt and thrive by taking advantage of the snow and the terrain. Maine is worldrenowned for its winter sports culture and the tight-knit communities that come together to support winter activities are second to none.

This season, eight downhill ski centers are open for business in the Bangor Metro region. Many of these small-town slopes have been serving their commu-

nities for generations. More and more, the ski areas depend on the support of their communities, and their communities rely on them to help boost the economy and spirits during the cold winter months. This year, there is a lot to celebrate, including the 50th anniversary of three ski areas in our region.

Quoggy Jo Ski Center Presque Isle Perhaps the recipe for long lasting success is found by sticking to the basics.

Quoggy Jo Ski Center has done just that, and the simplicity brings a unique charm to the small mountain. The ski center is owned and operated by the Quoggy Jo Ski Club, a nonprofit organization that started back in 1932. The slope was originally located at the present site of Aroostook State Park. In 1957, the organization relocated the facility to Fort Fairfield, where it remains in operation today. The

PHoto: Mackenzie Pinette

You don’t need to travel far or spend a ton of money to have a downhill ski experience. There are eight small mountains right in the Bangor Metro that cater to skiers of all ages and skill levels. If you’ve always wanted to give downhill skiing a shot—here’s your chance.

Violet Gregg and Jadeyn Cain at Quoggy Jo Ski Center in Presque Isle.

slopes

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 21

The chairlift at Bigrock Mountain in Mars Hill.

22 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

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PHotos: (left) courtesy bigrock mountain; (above) Kelly Vicneire

Baker Mountain in Moscow.

mountain is perfect for beginning skiers, and the club works hard to develop programs to bring children from the community to the mountain.

“The ski center is unique for the community, in that it has been here for so many years,” says Gene Cronin, president of Quoggy Jo Ski Club. “Multiple generations have learned here.” And they keep coming back. Cronin says that the majority of volunteers learned to ski at Quoggy Jo when they were young.

Now they are bringing their children and grandchildren to the mountain so they can learn.

In 2000, a few big changes occurred at Quoggy Jo. That year, a T-bar was installed to replace the rope tow. A big change happened behind the scenes, too. The board of directors for Quoggy Jo Ski Center entered a 99-year lease with the Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC), a nonprofit organization that aims to promote winter sports in Maine.

According to Cronin, the reason for this was two-fold. MWSC needed some of the land at the top of the ski center to square off the property they purchased to build the Nordic Heritage Center and cross-

country ski trails. The partnership also provides financial assistance for operating expenses, which alleviates some of the financial strain on the club and keeps ticket prices low.

Bigrock Mountain Mars Hill Bigrock is another mountain that has recently been impacted by the MWSC. MWSC purchased the mountain in 2000 with funding provided by the Libra Foundation, with the intent of improving the facility and its place in the community.

During the 13 years of ownership, MWSC invested $6 million in improvements, adding a triple chairlift, expanding the beginner area, installing a carpet lift, upgrading their snowmaking capacity, and building a tubing park. On August 6, 2013, MWSC announced that it would be turning the mountain over to the community.

The departure of MWSC was abrupt and required Bigrock’s managers to act quickly. A four-person team known as the Friends of Bigrock formed almost immediately after the announcement.

According to Bigrock general manager

Bill Getman, the community has really stepped have been working to ensure that the mountain would be able to open by winter and sustainable for years to come. Donations of all sizes poured in from the community, allowing the more than 50-year-old mountain to continue operations this season.

Baker Mountain Ski Area Moscow Baker Mountain, one of the oldest ski centers in the state, is among the many slopes managed by a nonprofit ski club.

The history of the mountain dates back to the early 1930s, when the Allen Quimby Veneer Co. in Bingham drew workers to the area. The community began to grow as people moved into town for work, and some brought their love for skiing. In 1937, a couple of ambitious, ski-loving residents who learned to ski in college cleared a trail on Baker Mountain and installed a rope tow.

The mountain closed during World War II, due to the shortage of gasoline.

But the slope was such a staple to the community that its absence was felt. In 1959, the Baker Mountain Ski Tow Club, www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 23

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a nonprofit organization, formed and purchased the mountain with the aim of getting it back in operation. The mountain began to thrive again and required a few updates to its aging equipment. Ten years after it was purchased by the club, the rope tow was removed and a T-bar was installed. Some of the original T-bars are still in service.

According to the mission of the Baker Mountain Ski Tow Club, the aim is provide a safe, inexpensive place for winter sports enthusiasts to get out and enjoy the best the season can offer. The mountain is perfect for families and those learning to ski.

While there has been virtually no shortage of volunteers to help run the mountain, it has taken a bit more effort to raise funds to replace the T-bars. For the past three years, Baker Mountain Ski Tow Club has hosted a fundraising event that brings the community together and raises money for operations and Tbar replacement. According to Rachel 24 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

Tremblay, club director, they have taken to social media to keep the mountain in conversation. “We’re trying to get more people involved,” Tremblay says. In addition to making improvements on the trails and replacing aging T-bars, there is a lot of maintenance done throughout the year that can be forgotten. “We’re trying to make people more aware of the projects. People in the community are aware, but you still need to let them know what we’re doing and how much actually goes into it.”

Big Squaw Mountain Greenville One mountain that has experienced its share of difficulties is finally gaining momentum. Big Squaw Mountain has been a winter staple to the Greenville region since it opened in 1963. The mountain could use a celebration right about now. Not only have they recovered from financial difficulties, they have also been dealing with vandalism, poor weather conditions,

and aging equipment. The mountain has been closed for nearly three years, but this year it’s back up and running, thanks to support from the community.

“We’re seeing a pattern with communities supporting their mountains,” says Amy Lane, president of Friends of Squaw Mountain, a nonprofit organization that aims to keep the community mountain in operation. “We’re all in it together and we’re all fighting our battles, but people are really stepping up. People are seeing what they had to begin with, and the enthusiasm is amazing. We’ve always been a ski community, so we have definitely been feeling the absence without the mountain.”

In January 2013, Friends of Squaw Mountain signed a three-year lease, for $1 per year, with the owner of the mountain.

Since the signing, there has been an outpouring of support from volunteers who have been working hard to get the mountain running again. While a majority of the equipment needs to be serviced, repaired,

PHoto: (above) Eric Sherman; (right) lindsay harmon

A view of the chairlift at Big Squaw Mountain in Greenville.

or replaced, the spirit of the mountain is ready to move forward this season.

With safety as priority, they have been putting their efforts into the lower lodge.

The upper chairlift that goes to the summit is in need of repairs and has been closed since 2004. Also, the upper lodge, located about halfway up the mountain, has been vandalized several times, with the majority of the damage occurring in 2011. “We all have the same dream to get to the top,” Lane says. “We’re not quite ready to get up there and start fixing it, but the momentum is building.”

Hermon Mountain Ski Area Hermon “I guess it’s really a family thing,” says Bill Whitcomb, owner of Hermon Mountain Ski Area, regarding the workers who return to the mountain year after year.

“They feel like family, and they are family.” The ski area that serves the Greater Bangor region has been owned and operated by the Whitcomb family for nearly three decades. The mountain had a rough beginning, when it opened in the late 1960s, but it gained its momentum after Whitcomb purchased it.

During the past 20 years, the mountain has undergone significant renovations. In 1999 a chairlift was installed.

The new chairlift brought more people out, which created the need for a lodge, which was built in 2000. That same year, they installed a tubing park. As the mountain continued to grow and thrive, the need for a bigger lodge became evident. In 2005, they premiered a new, much larger lodge that serves the needs of the bundled-up crowds.

“We own the mountain, but the mountain belongs to the community,” Whitcomb says. “ If it didn’t, it wouldn’t work. It’s a part of the community, and it feels awful good.”

can’t say enough about how incredible it is to have over-the-top volunteerism every year. “It blows my mind,” Martin says of the volunteerism. “People through the years who see the good it has done for the community still come out and help.”

One of the volunteers she cites is a woman who has organized the ski sale for 40 years. Another learned how to ski just so he could help keep the ski team running.

Many of the community members who come out and give their time and services have had a deep-rooted connection to the slope, having grown up in the region or learned to ski.

Lonesome Pine Trails is located adjacent to 10th Mountain Trail, a trail network for cross-country skiers that hosted the International Biathlon Union

World Cup several years ago. Both facilities meet at the top of the mountain and several of the trails overlap. While they are not co-affiliated, they work together to provide the best winter sports experience possible for the community. “Our take on it is that there isn’t a lot of funding for these places,” Martin says. ‘If we all go out and promote winter recreation, we’re all better for it.”

Mount Jefferson Ski Area Lee Mount Jefferson Ski Area is another family-owned business that has close ties to the community. In 1963, six community members came together to purchase the land for a ski area. They cleared the land for trails and installed a rope tow that

Lonesome Pine Trails Fort Kent Lonesome Pine Trails is turning 50 this year! The mountain is owned by membership and run by volunteers. Since its premiere in 1964, the mission of the mountain is to provide affordable outdoor recreation for families and children, and they have striven to uphold that integrity.

Kelly Martin, president of the Lonesome Pine Trails’ nonprofit organization,

Leah Harmon of Hampden learns to ski at Hermon Mountain.

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 25

feature story

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brought the community outside during the cold winter days.

Then, in the early 1970s, Byron Delano, one of the founders, bought out the other five owners. The ownership of the mountain is still shared by seven members of the Delano family. But the sense of family extends past the Delano family and into the community, who return with their families year after year to enjoy the best the season has to offer, right in their back yard.

One of the draws to the mountain is a bit more homemade. Byron passed away a few years ago, but that hasn’t stopped his wife from continuing to make special treats for mountain visitors who have worked up an appetite from a day of winter fun. “A lot of people come just for my mother’s homemade doughnuts,” says Randy Delano, Byron’s son. “They’ll get here before the lifts even open.”

Camden Snow Bowl Camden One of the most exhilarating moments when skiing or snowboarding is getting

to the top of the mountain and looking at the expanded horizon. More often than not, you’ll see several other mountains and small lakes. But the view from the top of Ragged Mountain in Camden is a bit more vast. Here you can truly view “where the mountains meet the sea.”

The mountain first opened in the 1936, in the midst of the Great Depression. It has since evolved into a year-round recreation center and remains a true success story for community support and involvement.

One of the key ties between the mountain and its community is through the Town of Camden, which houses its parks and recreation department at Camden Snow Bowl. As a result, the mountain is supported in part by taxpayers. This, in addition to ticket sales, keeps the mountain financially secure and ensures community involvement.

And it is evident that the community is invested in the mountain’s future. For the past few years, Camden Snow Bowl has been working to raise $6.5 million for upgrades and improvements to the

Photo: Courtesy of Camden Snow Bowl

area. Their plan to raise $4.5 million in private money was met this fall, and Camden residents voted on whether to approve a $2 million bond that would meet the intended budget. The referendum passed by a landslide.

Major improvements will be made with a new triple chairlift, which will replace the double chairlift and two T-bars.

But one of the biggest changes will be the addition of a new lodge. The current A-frame lodge is 4,000 square feet and quickly becomes cramped during peak season. The added lodge is designed to have more than twice the square footage and will be better equipped for hosting events.

“It will have somewhat of a campus feel,” says Andrew Dailey, marketing director for Camden Snow Bowl. “The mountain has come a long way, and the community realizes that. I think that’s why we’ve had so much community support. And it’s the perfect family atmosphere: Every trail comes back to the same spot, and the prices are affordable.”

A look at one of the trails at the Camden Snow Bowl.

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 27

feature story

to be a

Clown Three Anah Temple Shrine Clowns show us what’s under their wigs. By Henry Garfield photos by mark mccall

B

o-Bo, Spiffy, and Piggy may have funny monikers, but they’re serious about being clowns. Every year, they attend Clown College, where Piggy is an instructor. The three men are members of the Anah Shrine in Bangor. Most weekends, clowns from the Anah Shrine are out at a community event somewhere, be it a parade, a fair, a circus, or a fundraising dinner to support the Shrine’s primary mission of providing funds for its orthopedic and burn treatment hospitals for children.

Shriners Hospitals for Children is a nationwide system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, research, and teaching programs, with a focus on burns and orthopedic conditions.

The nearest Shrine Hospital is located in Boston.

Local Shrine clow ns raise

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 29

feature story Tom Vanchieri

Bo-Bo

Kerry Spofford

30 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

Piggy

Donald Young

spiffy

Kerry Spofford, Tom Vanchieri, and Donald Young.

money for the hospitals, but they also fundraise for transportation and other assistance for families with ailing kids.

The Shrine is an international organization. The formal name is The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Founded in New York in 1872, it is an outgrowth of the Masons. The Shrine is famous for colorful parades, the red fez worn by its members, and the Shriners Hospitals for Children. There are two Shrines in Maine: the Kora Shrine in Lewiston and the Anah Shrine in Bangor. A separate clown unit, under the auspices of the Anah Temple, is based in Presque Isle.

They attend events in Aroostook County.

It’s a Calling To be a clown, you need to want to be a clown. You need to genuinely like people, especially kids and the elderly. “The best thing possible for someone like me is to be a clown,” says Piggy, whose real name is Tom Vanchieri. “To see the wonder in the eyes of a child and the twinkle in the eyes of the aged, it’s changed my whole attitude of who I am. Without a doubt, it’s

the best thing I’ve ever done.”

But Vanchieri is not just any old clown.

At present, he’s Boss Clown. It’s his job to send in the clowns when the Shrine receives a request for their services at an event. His job rotates. All three men have served as Boss Clown in previous years.

The Anah Shrine has 36 active clowns.

“We work all year long doing events,” Vanchieri says. “We have something going on every weekend. Not everybody works every weekend, but there’s always something to send a few clowns to, whether it be a parade or a dinner or a fundraising kick-off.”

“Not many weekends go by where some of us aren’t doing a parade somewhere,” says Bo-Bo, Donald Young in real life. He has been in the business of clowning for 28 years. In Shrine parlance, “to clown” is a verb that means to engage in the craft of clowning, as opposed to the more colloquial sense of clowning around.

“We get requested all the time,” adds Spiffy, aka Kerry Spofford. “There are several annual events, like the summer

ceremonial and the circus. But every year the schedule is different.”

One regular event is the children’s workshop at the Home Depot in Bangor on the first Saturday of every month.

“They have a wooden project the kids can put together or paint, such as a bird house or a napkin holder or a model airplane,” Spofford says. “We usually have four or five clowns there from 9 a.m. to noon to help out.”

A Cast of Characters To be a clown is to be committed to your community. All three men are longtime residents of the greater Bangor area.

Vanchieri, from Eddington, is a locksmith and security administrator for the access control camera system for Eastern Maine Medical Center. Young is a senior mechanical supervisor for Lane Construction Corporation, where he has worked for the past 43 years, and a former fire chief for the town of Hudson. Spofford has worked for Motion Industries for 37 years.

Getting into character requires time. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 31

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“I’m an hour getting into costume, including makeup,” Young says. “But when I was starting out, it was closer to two hours.”

“I plan two hours, just in case something happens,” Vanchieri says.

The Anah clowns do not use go-karts or any other motorized vehicles, though many other Shrine outfits do. But they usually drive to events in full costume— except for the shoes. “We get a lot of strange looks going down the Interstate,” Spofford says.

This can occasionally lead to problems. Vanchieri recalls an incident a few years ago when several Shrine clowns were stopped near Skowhegan. “They’d 32 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

either been to an event or were going to an event, and the state cops stopped them,” he says. “They pulled them over, with guns drawn, the whole nine yards.

Apparently there was a robbery in Newport where the robbers had been dressed as clowns. And here come our guys.

What saved them was the Anah Shrine Clowns license plate. The cop who pulled them over is looking at that and looking at them, saying, ‘I don’t think these are the guys we want.’”

To be a clown, you need to be willing to take one for the team. “Kids are a little on the funny side,” Young says. “What makes them laugh the most is when a clown gets hurt. If clowns fall, trip, get a

pie in the face, or if someone hits them with a baseball bat, they think it’s funny.

I don’t know what it is. We’re always hitting each other with foam bats. I had a collapsing chair I used to use. It’s sad to say, but that’s what the kids like.”

Performances are energetic and physically demanding. Parades can be several miles long, and, Vanchieri notes, once you put on the costume, you are on stage until you take it off. “I am soaked and completely spent by the end of a parade and need a long hot shower,” he says. “It’s very hot in costume and makeup.”

Clowning entails verbal as well as physical insult. “You need to be able to make fun of yourself,” Spofford says.

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David and Audrey Trask bring their son Dominyk Towle to the Bangor Shrine Hall to visit with Bo-Bo.

“Anyone who might be, shall we say, a little bit of a stuffed shirt, they don’t go far.”

“We cut each other down, bad,” Young agrees.

Sometimes a clown can be the butt of a joke within his own family. “I’ve got more makeup than my kids do,” Vanchieri says. “I’ll ask my daughter if she has anything for removing eye makeup. And that still bothers them, to this day.”

Clown Education To be a clown, an education in clowning is required. All three men—and all Anah Shrine clowns—belong to the Northeast Clown Institute, which hosts

207-217-7904

Experience the sought-after quality of

feature story Kerry Spofford, clowning around.

an annual Clown College in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

“Clown College teaches you how to craft yourself to be a clown,” Vanchieri says. “It’s not as easy as just putting on makeup, going in there, and acting silly. You need to be able to interact with the kids.”

The Clown College was originally run by the Shrine, but the Northeast Clown Institute is a separate entity. It is open to clowns from all organizations, even female clowns—of which there are none in the Shrine. “Clowns come from all over the Northeast, Canada, as far away as Florida,” Young says. “As you get older and keep going to these clown colleges, you can still get tips and pointers from your fellow clowns.”

Clown College conducts classes and competitions in such disciplines as bal34 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

loon technique, skits, and makeup. “The makeup competition is like a beauty contest,” Young says. “Are your lines straight?

Is your makeup blended? Is your bowtie straight? What about your shoelaces? It can be pretty elaborate criticism from the judges.”

“When I started as a clown in August 2007, I had a goatee and mustache. I had it since ever since I was able to grow it,” Vanchieri says. “So I became a hobo clown. But every time I put on makeup, it got smaller and smaller. It finally came off for good for a competition, which of course I didn’t win.”

Young explains that there are four basic types of clown. There is the whitefaced clown of European tradition; the hobo; the character clown; and the Auguste, or fool, clown. Bo-Bo falls into the last category. He’s the one taking the chair

over the head or the pie in the face. The character clown is often a cowboy, a bank robber, or some other readily identifiable type. The hobo clown originated in New York City during the Great Depression.

When you join the Anah Clown Unit you also become a member of the International Shrine Clown Association (ISCA). The organization has a series of awards earned by hours of service in clown makeup. A clown who completes 150 or more service hours in a year earns a red nose award; after five years, a clown can earn a gold nose award; and a system of points allows one to become a Master Clown. “You get points for all kinds of different things: parade ability, makeup contests, people’s choice awards, hours of service in costume,” Young says.

To be a clown in Bangor is to invite comparison to Stephen King’s 1984 novel, It, as well as any number of subsequent horror movies. Some kids find clowns to be just plain scary. The Clown College has a class for that. “There’s a whole class on how to take care of kids who are scared of clowns,” Vanchieri says. “One thing is, I’m 6 feet tall, and if you’re a kid who’s 3-foot-something, and I come in and tower over you, you’re going to be scared. But if I come down to your level, it’s a whole different story.”

An important part of the Clown College curriculum involves clown etiquette. Clowns are not allowed to smoke or drink while in full or partial costume. There are guidelines for behavior around children and women, or, as Young puts it, “what you can say and what you can’t say.”

Another piece of clown etiquette dictates that clowns keep their hands visible. This is done to avoid any appearance of impropriety and also to reassure nervous kids that a clown isn’t hiding any unpleasant surprises behind his back. Rules of clown etiquette prohibit subjecting spectators to physical humiliation jokes such as squirting or shocking with a hand buzzer. Throwing of any objects, including candy, is also out; though clowns are permitted to hand out items like candy and balloons at parades and other functions.

Touching women is also prohibited.

“You’re representing four thousand people in the Anah Shrine,” Spofford says. “You need to be careful. It can be as simple a thing as hugging my wife at

the circus. People wouldn’t know she’s my wife; all they would see is a clown hugging a woman.”

An Emotional Job To be a clown is to witness both sadness and joy. The tears of a clown can be real. “You have a lot of people come up to you with stories of their kid’s operation at one of the hospitals,” Young says. “It’ll bring tears to a grown man’s eyes.”

He and Spofford recount the story of a local girl born with club feet. “Her feet were backwards when she was born,” Spofford says.

“She’s had many operations,” Young says. “She was in a cast when she was three weeks old.” The girl, now 5 years old, “was in here the other day, running and laughing.”

“Her mother was crying, we were crying,” Spofford says. “They were so grateful.”

“I was at a cerebral palsy Christmas party with another clown named FlipFlop,” Vanchieri recalls. “We were making balloons in the back of the room. This kid came over and grabbed Flip-Flop by the leg and yelled, ‘Mama, a clown!’ A lot of people started screaming and crying, and we couldn’t figure out what was going on. What did he do? What did we do?

Apparently the kid was an 8-year-old autistic boy, and those were the first words he ever spoke.”

One of the Shrine’s most successful programs is the Sneaker Fund, which raises money for research on burn injuries at Shriners hospitals. The Sneaker Fund was established in 1973 to provide sneakers for burn victims, which doctors recommend for their comfort and sturdiness. Donations were originally collected in a giant sneaker, but the clowns now use oversized red-and-white canvas sneakers to collect funds during performances. To date, the Sneaker Fund has raised more than $5 million for research aimed to develop and improve treatments for children with burn injuries.

newer clowns are in their 30s. “I actually started clowning back in the 1980s, when I joined the Shrine,” Spofford says, “I had young kids back then and didn’t have a lot of time. Since they’ve been grown, I’ve gotten back into it.”

Bo-Bo, Spiffy, and Piggy all carry cards. They’re about the same size as a baseball card and feature a colorful picture of the clown on the front and biographical information and a favorite

quote on the back. They each hand out more than a thousand cards a year.

Piggy’s contains a quote from Red Skelton: “I personally believe we were put here to build and not to destroy. So if by chance some day you’re not feeling well and you should remember some silly little thing I’ve said or done and it brings back a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled.”

Tradition To be a clown is to be part of an ongoing tradition. Inside the Anah temple is a “clown wall” that features the names and pictures of the active clowns, as well as the 30 or so emeritus clowns. And younger clowns are coming up through the system. Bo-Bo, Spiffy, and Piggy are all around 60 years old. A few of the www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 35

a piece of maine: presque Isle

Northern Star

M

aine is just more than 35,000 square miles, making it smaller than 38 of the 50 states in the U.S. Despite this fact, when hearing about Maine from strangers met on airplanes or busses, the state becomes smaller still.

People talk about the wonderful summer they spent in Bar Harbor or the food36 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

ie weekend they had in Portland. These same accolades are given to Camden, Blue Hill, and Freeport. Rarely do they talk about the great trip they made to northern Maine, to cities like Presque Isle.

This means their memories of the state will not include some of its most amazing views and scenery. This means they won’t get to stroll Presque Isle’s busy

Photo: melanie brooks

If you’ve never been to Presque Isle, then what are you waiting for? The largest city in Aroostook County has it all: picturesque views, outdoor adventure, and fun-filled events that everyone can enjoy. By Tom Avila-Beck

Photos: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, [8a34564u, 8c03330u, 8c03323u]

One of the many farms that are located in Presque Isle.

Main Street, stopping in at the Irish Setter Pub or Bread of Life Bulk Food, or experience the ingenuity of community leaders who are conjuring fantastic projects and dynamic events, almost out of thin air. It means they’ll miss out on the chance to travel the solar system without leaving Route 1.

But just because they’re missing out doesn’t mean you should. If you’ve not yet made the journey north, now is a great time to put the Star City on your list of destinations.

HISTORY Dennis Fairbanks was the original settler of what would become Presque Isle. He was among a pioneer class that pushed northward. The migration unknowingly set into motion the boundary dispute that would culminate in the “bloodless”

Top: October 1940 annual barrel rolling contest. Each barrel has two hundred pounds of potatoes in it. Middle: Getting ready for the boys’ barrel rolling contest. Bottom: This giant “potato” was supposed to open and reveal an elaborate girls band. The mechanism kept getting stuck. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 37

a piece of maine: presque isle

Aroostook State Park 38 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

Photos: melanie Brooks

Potato fields dot the landscape in northern Maine.

This photo was taken in August before harvest.

Aroostook War of 1838.

But this was 1828, and Fairbanks was not thinking of border wrangling; rather, he was seeking his fortune. He was granted 640 acres of land. In addition to establishing a saw mill and a grist mill, Fairbanks also began to plot what he dreamed would become the settlement of Fairbanks Mills. He mapped out half-acre parcels for future residents and even determined where streets should be placed.

Unfortunately, Fairbanks wasn’t able to exert the kind of control such managed growth required. New settlers arrived in 1835, and new opportunities made it easier and cheaper for property to be acquired, with the goal of helping northern Maine flourish as quickly as possible. Established residents meant the land would be harder for enemies to attack, and new infrastructure would help tie places such as Fairbanks Mills to its southern neighbors.

By the 1840s, the lumber industry

drove most sectors of the economy. Men either worked by cutting and clearing timber, or they farmed to supply the produce and staples that fueled the massive logging camps. Some did both, alternating their profession based on the season.

This small, closely knit economic circle was beneficial for all involved, allowing the area to grow at a slow but steady pace. By the time Presque Isle was incorporated on April 4, 1859—the name deriving from the French “presqu’île” which translates to “peninsula”—the burgeoning town had a hotel, school, stores, churches, and mail delivery.

In the late 1830s, the editor of the Maine Farmer, Ezekiel Holmes, began to promote the potato as the ideal crop for securing the future of Northern Maine.

The goal was to ensure that young, strong men would continue to bring their families north, not west, to stake their claims. The climate and soil were perfectly suited and, if the issue of isolation could be resolved, he was sure it

“Every turn has a new view. There are open, flat fields; rolling hills; and little streams.

That’s what gives me a real feeling of calm living here.”

—Theresa Fowler

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 39

a piece of maine: presque isle

Main Street

presque isle stats Incorporated: As a town: April 4, 1859; as a city: January 1, 1940 Mil Rate: 23.5 Median Age: 40 Median Household Income: $36,927 Median Home Value: $116,719 40 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

Largest Employer: The Aroostook Medical Center Schools: • Mapleton Elementary School • Pine Street Elementary School • Zippel Elementary School • Presque Isle Middle School • Presque Isle High School • Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center

• Northern Maine Community College • University of Maine at Presque Isle Natural Resources: • Aroostook State Park • Presque Isle Stream • Nordic Heritage Center • Quoggy Jo Ski Center • Trails for snowmobiling, hiking, bicycling, cross country skiing, and ATV riding.

Photo: melanie Brooks

Population: 9,500

could become an economic driver.

During the 1870s, as the U.S. was still mending from the trauma of the Civil War, Holmes’s prediction gained real momentum. Presque Isle began to play a leading role in northern Maine’s growing starch industry. Large quantities of potatoes grown in the region were sold to local starch factories, including one owned by Presque Isle’s Thomas Phair, Aroostook County’s “Starch King.” The potato-derived starch was sent to southern Maine’s textile mills, where it was used as sizing.

The demands of the textile industry

brought greater attention to the potato crop, which in turn led to an increased desire to connect the cities of northern Maine to manufacturing cities located elsewhere. The New Brunswick Railway System connected farmers and their products with an increasing, and increasingly appreciative audience. Between 1890 and 1900 some 1,000 farms were established in the Presque Isle area and land values skyrocketed. The value potato crop was viewed with such high regard that a group of Presque Isle businessmen arranged for the state legislature to purchase a farm to be used as a lab for experimenting with newer, more modern means of potato production.

Presque Isle continued to flourish.

There was town water and electrical generation. New factories sprung to life and telephone service was established. Unfortunately, the region stumbled during the Great Depression. Economic vitality returned in the 1940s, when Presque Isle became the first official city in Aroostook County. Presque Isle’s airport was turned into an Army base in 1941, which led to the arrival of new residents. Many soldiers and their families decided Geno Murray outside of CA Dean Memorial Hospital. to stay in Presque Isle and the surround-

ing towns, even after the base was closed in the 1960s. They did so, at least in part, because of the area’s phenomenal beauty and outstanding sense of community.

A WAY OF LIFE There’s always the worry that using words such as “simple” or “peaceful” to describe your city will lead people to read it as “boring.” Simple and peaceful are, however, hard words to avoid when discussing Presque Isle and the country that surrounds it.

“It’s just beautiful up in this part of the County,” says Theresa Fowler, executive director of the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce. “Every turn has a new view. There are open, flat fields; rolling hills; and little streams. That’s what gives me a real feeling of calm living here. It’s the beautiful scenery and the constantly changing vistas.”

That landscape forms the perfect four-season backdrop for Presque Isle’s abundance of events.

The wide-open country surrounding the city made it the perfect place for Dena Winslow and Bill Whelan to start The Crown of Maine Balloon Fest. When the festival’s hot-air balloons take to the www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 41

a piece of maine: presque isle

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sky between August 21–24 in 2014, it will mark the festival’s 10th year anniversary.

Presque Isle’s December Holiday Light Parade is not only the most popular parade held in the Star City; it’s one of the largest light parades in the state of Maine.

The Presque Isle Inn and Convention Center boasts more than 100 guest rooms, and its spacious meeting rooms are ready accommodate business travelers, while the Nordic Heritage Sport Club serves as a kind of one-stop shop for outdoor enthusiasts. Sitting just five miles east of Presque Isle on Route 167, the club’s center boasts 20 kilometers of ski trails, 20 miles of marked mountain bike trails, a terrain park for mountain biking, and a visitor’s center with ski rentals.

Like so many Maine communities, Presque Isle also hosts an annual county fair. The first Northern Maine Fair took place in 1851, and the mid-summer event has been growing and changing ever since. If you’re wondering how excited folks get about what’s now the Northern Maine Fair and Music Festival, just visit

their website. A ticker is already counting down till opening day on July 25th.

“I think the thing that sets this community apart is the willingness to work together,” Fowler says. “People help each other. There’s friendly competition, but at the end of the day, everyone wants to see their neighbor to succeed.”

EDUCATION For some, the first steps for success are found at Northern Maine Community College (NMCC). With 48 full-time instructors and a population of 2,000 students participating in a range of programs, NMCC has been a vibrant part of Presque Isle since its first class in 1963.

Its impact is about to increase, thanks to the approval of a November 2013 ballot measure to support the upgrade of classrooms and labs at all seven of Maine’s community colleges.

Another academic community playing a big role in Presque Isle is the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI).

Founded as the Aroostook State Normal School in 1903, UMPI began as a

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A scaled replica of Jupiter can be found along Route One in Presque Isle.

Photo: melanie Brooks

teacher’s college. Several name changes later, it officially joined the University of Maine system in 1968. Today, some 1,300 students are pursuing coursework that can lead to 23 different undergraduate degrees, seven associate degrees, and 35 minor programs.

They are also learning what it is to play a leadership role in their community. “We recently had a distinguished lecturer on campus,” says Rachel Rice, director of community and media relations at UMPI. “We had about 150 people attend. We want to be sure that not just our students but our faculty and staff are able to be involved with the community.

It’s a way of helping our students stay grounded and see a bigger picture, rather than just the individual classes they are taking.”

THE PLANETS Dr. Kevin McCartney is a professor of geology at UMPI and has served as the director of the nearly 20 year old Northern Maine Museum of Science (NMMS), which officially opened its doors on October 5, 1996.

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 43

The University of Maine at Presque Isle.

44 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

Although items from its collection have been on display since 1992, the founding artifacts in the museum’s collection were donated to the university from the former Portland Museum of Natural History and the collection of Aroostook County naturalist Leroy Norton.

McCartney is the instigator behind the creation of The Maine Solar System Model, which gives new meaning to his vision of seeing the “bigger picture.” Running from Topsfield to Presque Isle, the Maine Solar System Model depicts nine planets, seven moons, the sun, and three dwarf planets at a scale that is absolutely remarkable. It’s the largest solar system model in the Northern Hemisphere.

But talk with McCartney about the solar system and you quickly realize something else. The model is not simply a means of depicting our corner of the universe; it’s a demonstration of what makes Presque Isle and northern Maine such a great place to live.

“This was done by the community of northern Maine,” McCartney says. “It took 700 people working together over

four years to build this. We had no formal organization for this. We had no grant money. We had no money at all, actually.

Instead, we said, ‘Here’s a school that has a welding program.’ ‘Here’s a school that has a fiberglass program.’ We have artists here, and we have someone that does masonry work and we pulled all these people together. The landowner agreements were all handshake agreements.

Up here in the County, there isn’t always a lot of money, but there’s a lot of pride.

You see it everywhere.”

THE EYES OF THE WORLD That sense of pride will certainly be on display when the eyes of the world turn their attention to the city of Presque Isle this winter. From February 28 to March 7, 2014, Presque Isle will host the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth /Junior World Championships.

Among the most popular of winter sports in European countries, biathlon doesn’t get the same kind of attention here in the U.S. But if there’s someone who might change that, it’s IBU Youth/

Photo: courtesy of the university of maine at presque isle

a piece of maine: presque isle

a piece of maine: presque isle Junior World Championships Event Director Jane Towle.

“Biathlon is a combination of Nordic skiing and rifle marksmanship. You Nordic ski a set course and then stop several times during the race in the range to hit biathlon targets,” Towle explains. “The difficulty of the sport is that you’re racing Nordic, the highest amount of cardiovascular energy that you can use on the

trail. Then when you get into the range, everything has to stop. You have to bring your heart rate down to a point where you can effectively hit a target that can be the size of a 50-cent piece from a long distance.”

Presque Isle is one of just three locations in North America with an “A” license for hosting biathlon, which means its course can host Olympic-level com-

petitions. The others are Fort Kent and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Some of the young athletes, from the more than 30 countries, who will com-

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pete in February will travel directly from the Olympics in Sochi, Russia to Presque Isle, Towle says. This seems fitting, given the Olympian task to make an event like this take place.

“There are 400 volunteers who are willing to give us their time and talent to host this event. Everybody does it for a different reason, whether it’s the economic benefits to the community or the excitement of the event. It’s the biggest sporting event and biggest volunteer organization around a sporting event in the state of Maine,” Towle says.

Even with all the time and energy that goes into an event of this scale and at this level, even with the possibility of Presque Isle taking on biathlon’s international World Cup in 2016, any nervousness is completely overshadowed by excitement.

“It’s magical,” Towle says. “It transforms our area into an international community overnight. If you’re part of it as a volunteer or attendee, you’ll want to be a part of it again.”

Photo: melanie Brooks

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Perfect Form Jaret Lizzotte‘s years of experience both in and out of the pool helps him instill confidence in his student athletes. By Kaylie Reese

B

angor High School divers coached

by Jaret Lizzotte have been taking home awards for years. But they’re earning another prize that will help them make a splash out of the pool: confidence. Lizzotte coaches alongside swim coach Phil Emery, and together they work to inspire the students whose performances in and out of the water depend on 48 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

poise and deliberation.

“You can be afraid of something, but you need to get up there confidently and know you’re going to do it with the best of your ability,” Lizzotte says. “I tell divers that every year.”

Lizzotte began diving at seven years old, when his best friend’s father was starting a program at Old Town High School.

The father wanted his son to participate, and the friend recruited Lizzotte.

Lizzotte attended the University of Maine on a diving scholarship. It was on the team where he met his wife, Susan Lizzotte, who is the head coach for UMaine’s swimming and diving teams. During his final year at UMaine, Lizzotte was asked to assist the coaching staff. After he graduated in 1999, he continued coaching at the university for another 10 years.

He left UMaine to begin coaching at Bangor High School and teach physical education at Glenburn Elementary School. What surprised him the most between coaching college students and high school students was the difference in time. Not only do high school students have limited pool time for practice, they have a shorter season than college students. This necessitates Lizzotte to be creative with practice schedules. One way he keeps them busy is through regular strength training and stretching exercises, which are critical to developing good diving technique.

“You can compare diving to gymnastics,” Lizzotte says. “You’re not looking for the fastest time; you’re not looking for somebody to jump the highest. It’s what the judge sees in you. If you look like you don’t know what you’re doing, the judges’ expectation of the performance is going to be lower. If you stand nice and tall, nice and straight, with good body lines, they will see it as a good performance.”

Competing against one’s own teammates is not unique to swimming and diving, but it creates an interesting predicament for coaches. “I want them to compete within themselves, but I want to compete within their team,” Lizzotte says. “If you see your teammate do a great dive, you want to do a great dive— you want to one-up them. That’s what can push you to the top.”

One thing he learned from his former coaches is the power of simplification.

Instead of having his divers work on mastering the perfect dive all at once, he will recommend one small fix at a time.

This is especially important for new divers, who have a lot to learn in a short amount of time. “You need to have them focus on trying to change one thing at a time,” Lizzotte says. “Tell them to focus on just one thing, then build in sequence to that. Everything in progression, even in life.”

Photo: Melanie Brooks

metro sports: high school

metro sports: college

Lauren Dwyer and Cody Lachance

Leading by Example Black Bear swim school allows University of Maine student athletes pass the swimming tradition to the next generation.

By Sarah MacDonald

Photo: Courtesy the uniiversity of maine

E

ach fall and spring, the hallways of the University of Maine’s Memorial Gym come alive with little voices and hustling feet.

They are all headed to Wallace Pool for swimming lessons, taught by members of the UMaine swimming and diving programs.

Maine senior captain Lauren Dwyer developed her swim skills as a student in the Black Bear swim school directed by then head coach Jeff Wren. Dwyer, who races freestyle, backstroke, and fly, draws from her experience as a swim student in the swimming lesson program when teaching the children in her classes.

“It’s full circle for me,” Dwyer says.

“This is where I started, so I want to make it fun for every kid and really encourage them.”

Maine’s learn to swim program is unique in design, according to head coach Susan Lizzotte, who oversees the program.

Each collegiate swimmer who teaches in the program is assigned to teach a small group of children. At times, there is one

teacher per student. Seven levels of instruction are offered, with students ranging in age from 4 to 13 years old.

“It is amazing how much my daughter learned with individualized and focused instruction,” said Krista Todd, who has two young daughters that have both attended the Black Bear swim school. “Not only do they learn to swim, but they look to their swim instructors as role models.”

Senior Cody Lachance has also recognized the impact of the swim lesson program. “It impacts the community by giving back to the kids and helping them improve their skills,” he says. “It’s nice because we see them at our meets. They look up to us.”

The earnings from the Black Bear swim school helps defray the cost of the semester break Florida training trip, an important period in the Black Bear training cycle.

“It’s the perfect time to train hard, without classes and homework,” Lizzotte says.

During the fall 2013 semester, Maine has raced against quality opponents, in-

cluding Brown University. While Maine has competed and recorded impressive performances, Lizzotte continues to prioritize fundamentals.

Among the impressive performances for the Maine women are Naja Harvey in the breaststroke events and Erica Smrcina in the butterfly.

Harvey’s 1 minute, 5.7 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke is the fourth fastest time thus far in this year’s America East Conference (AEC), a fraction of a second off the AEC fastest time of 1:05. Harvey also has the fifth fastest time in the 200yard breaststroke at 2:25.3. Teammate Erica Smrcina, a senior, ranks sixth in the 100-yard fly at 58.5.

Diver Kara Capossela, undefeated this season, leads America East divers in 1-meter points 258.37 and in 3-meter points 257.95.

On the men’s team, sophomore Matt England consistently swims well in his races this season including a 52.92 finish in the 100-yard backstroke against Brown and 1:51.6 against Boston College.

In the freestyle events, junior David Vittori has covered distance from 50 to 500 yards and earned first place.

While the Black Bears are giving indications that they will be fast races when championship season opens in February, they also continue the tradition of teaching area children to swim. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 49

food file

Thursday Night

Casserole

Susan Stephenson uses organizational tricks and her mother’s tried-and-true recipes to feed her family all week long. By Melanie Brooks

50 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

Photos: melanie brooks

S

usan Stephenson’s house is a buzz of activity. Her dining room is still half decorated from her daughter’s mermaid birthday party from a few days ago. Pink, blue, and green paper pomanders hang from the chandeliers, and the blue-sequined shell chair covers that gave the party an “under the sea” experience are neatly stacked on the table. Georgie, the 4-year-old birthday girl and her 6-year-old brother, Teddy are playing in the basement with the leftover helium-filled balloons from the party while their mom assembles her ingredients for the evening meal in the kitchen.

“This is my mom’s recipe,” Stephenson explains. “She’s a great cook. What I like about a lot of her recipes is that you can make them ahead of time.” Stephenson’s parents, Gabby and Mary Price, are fixtures in the Bangor community and live less than a mile away. In fact, it was her parents that brought Stephenson and her husband, Andy, back to the Bangor area from southern Maine.

“We moved back here about five years ago from Portland, when we bought a convenience store in Cape Hart from my dad,” Stephenson says. Since then, the couple has purchased two more convenience stores—Court Street Market and Mt. Hope Variety.

While her husband manages the family business, Stephenson, a graduate of Bowdoin College, works part-time as a buyer for the boutique at Anthony John’s Salon and Spa in Bangor. The Well to Do Boutique offers trendy jewelry, scarves, bags, wallets, and sunglasses at affordable prices. “You don’t have to spend a lot of money to look good,” she says. The name Well to Do comes from Stephenson’s fashion blog, which she started in 2010.

Effortless and affordable style comes easy to Stephenson, who works hard to balance work and family obligations.

She cooks dinner every night, except for Friday, which is pizza night. Stephenson has created meal themes for each night of the week, which helps her stay organized. Monday night is usually leftovers from Sunday's dinner, Tuesday is Mexican night, Thursday is Italian or casserole night, and on Saturday she makes something in the crock pot. “I love the smell of a meal slow-cooking all day long,” Stephenson says. “Especially in the winter.”

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Stephenson takes on Wednesday afternoons, to Andy’s hockey games—this family is busy! The refrigerator calendar, an organizational must, is jam-packed with notes, reminders, and appointments. The rest of the fridge is plastered with family photos—many of which Stephenson took herself.

“I love photography!” she says excitedly. “I’m not a professional, but I love taking photos and editing them in Photoshop. I love finding new Photoshop actions—they make my photos look so much better.” Photography is just another one of Stephenson’s creative outlets.

But tonight she’s wielding kitchen scissors and a wooden spoon instead of a camera. It’s Thursday and, true to her word, Stephenson is making a casserole—a delicious seafood casserole with fresh haddock and scallops.

“I love to cook, to try new things,” Stephenson says. “I think everyone should have a signature dish. You don’t have to be a great cook to have something you cook well.”

The peppers, celery, and onions sizzle in the skillet while Stephenson slices the fish and scallops into bite-sized pieces.

The kids, who are used to eating earlier in the evening, complain that they’re hungry. Crackers and jello are doled out to pacify. “The hours between when they come home from school and dinner are crazy,” Stephenson says. “They just want to play and get out their pent-up energy.”

She encourages their play, and offers up card game ideas to pass the time. A video

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food file is a last resort when she’s trying to get dinner on the table.

She mixes the fish with the cottage cheese while the spaghetti is boiling on the stove. Once all of the ingredients are assembled, the casserole goes into the oven to bake. After 20 minutes, Stephenson takes the dish out of the oven and sprinkles Ritz cracker crumbs over the top. The buttery smell is delightful and

it’s hard to believe we have to wait another 20 minutes before tasting the bubbling hot meal.

Stephenson sets the kids place settings at the table and feeds them before Andy gets home. Teddy and Georgie gobble up the seafood casserole without a hint of protest. And after small bowls of our own, we understood. We were too busy eating to say anything but, “Mmmmmmm!”

recipe

Seafood Casserole 1 16 oz. box linguine 1 green pepper, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 5 stalks celery, chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 6 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese 1 16 oz. container sour cream 1 16 oz. container cottage cheese 1/2 cup cream 2 lbs. haddock 1 lb. scallops 1 stick butter, cut into pieces Crumb Topping: 1 stick butter 2 sleeves Ritz crackers In a large, pot cook linguine and set aside. In frying pan, sauté finely chopped green pepper, onion, celery, and garlic. In a large bowl, mix sour cream, cottage cheese, shredded cheese, and sautéed vegetables.

Next, add small pieces of haddock and scallops. Add butter and the cream and mix together. Add linguine.

Put into casserole dish(es) and bake at 375° for 45 to 60 minutes. Make the crumb topping by melting the stick of butter in a frying pan and adding crumbled sleeves of Ritz crackers. Mix. After 20 minutes of baking, take casserole out and sprinkle on the crumb topping.

52 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

kitchen confidential Where are you from?

I was born and raised in Westchester County, New York. My family would drive to Seal Harbor, Maine every summer. After college I lived in Connecticut; New York City; Aspen, Colorado. I worked in the restaurant business at all of these locations.

What is your first food memory?

In the seventh grade I attended North Country School in Lake Placid, New York.

I remember sneaking out of the dorm one night after “lights out” and going into the chicken house and stealing a goose egg.

I had a Coleman single-burner stove under my bed, and I used it to cook a goose egg omelet for my friends. We had some butter left over from a camping trip and some salt. It was good.

What are some of your early cooking experiences?

When I was 4 or 5 years old I was the official pepperer of the coleslaw. I also went clamming and fishing with my father. Everything we got would be cooked fresh that night.

Any family influences on your style and taste?

I come from a pretty big family. By necessity, everything was fresh and from scratch every night.

James Lindquist’s interest in food started at an early age. His penchant for learning on the job has paid off, and diners at Red Sky Restaurant will revel at his artistry. By Melanie Brooks 54 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

When did you realize you were a chef?

I never thought of myself as a chef. I always thought of myself as a cook.

What do you consider to be your pivotal career move?

Opening Red Sky Restaurant.

When did Red Sky Restaurant open?

How did it happen?

Red Sky Restaurant opened in June 2003, but its start happened over Christ-

Photos: donna just

Red Sky Restaurant

Where did you study/apprentice?

I’ve learned everything on the job. I got a job dishwashing at a restaurant in Stonington, Connecticut. One day the boss was in a terrible car accident, and I was immediately promoted to the only cook.

The manager took over running the restaurant and taught me how to prepare the whole menu, really fast. When I worked as a waiter, I always worked at places where I was welcomed in the kitchen.

Eastern Maine Community College Opposite page: James Lindquist.

This photo: Lobster Risotto.

mas dinner in 2001. My brother Brian announced, “Jimmy is going to open a restaurant,” to most of my extended family and my new wife Elizabeth. So, I got to work.

What do you love most about your job?

I like to see the staff—both the front of the house and the kitchen crew—click, understand, and help perfect the entire guest experience.

What do you love about your location?

The building that houses Red Sky Restaurant has been a restaurant since 1927.

Each of our predecessors made a profound contribution to the town. We hope we live up to that tradition. Many generations have dined—or drank and played pool—in this building, and it’s fun to see the town enjoy the “new place” as Red Sky Restaurant.

What would you want your last meal to be?

Burritos and beer.

What is your favorite ingredient to work with?

Cumin.

What is your favorite restaurant?

I don’t really have a favorite restaurant. I like going to different places depending on what I’m in the mood for.

When was the last time you really surprised yourself in the kitchen?

This year I started experimenting with an old smoker we had in the basement.

My smoked salmon and smoked duck breast came out great!

What is your least favorite job-related task?

Putting away dishes.

What does a perfect day off look like?

Go for a sail, let someone else cook dinner, call in at the restaurant to find out everything is A-OK.

Great College. Smart Choice.

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Specialties: Everything from scratch. We use local and organic whenever possible.

With 30 programs of study at only $88 per credit hour:

Accolades: Appeared in the New York Times and Down East Magazine. Yankee Magazine Editors’ Choice pick.

We’re a Great College and a Smart Choice.

First-timer tip: Order a martini or have a taste of the evening’s featured wine.

Sample menu item: Fresh local cod, pan browned, served over kale sautéed with local bacon, finished with a triple citrus beurre blanc and crispy bread crumbs.

Directions: Take Route 102 into Southwest Harbor. Clark Point Road is on the left.

1.207.974.4600 www.emcc.edu Like us on Facebook!

www.facebook.com/EMCCBangor

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 55

per spectives

Tony Llerena In July, 2011 Tony Llerena made a decision that would impact his life for the following year. He challenged himself to take one portrait every day of someone who had a meaningful impact in his life or in the lives of others, especially in the community.

It proved to be difficult but worth it.

“People are amazing,” Llerena says. “It took 365 people to make this happen,

56 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

many of whom I didn’t know and didn’t owe me anything. I have never felt so supported in my life as I have been by everyone who helped me out and encouraged me to keep going. I believe I was successful, in part, because I had to walk to many distant locations with the individual for the sessions. I was able to practice the art of conversation every single day with someone new.”

Tony’s photography and the rest of the 365 Project can be seen on his website at www.tonyllerenablog.com.

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 57

S

Another Winter at the Lake All four seasons can be great for lakeside living, but we look forward to the solitude of winter most of all.

By Brad Eden

ince selling our farmhouse in the fall of 2012, my wife and I have been renting a simple, efficient, and secluded modular home a stone’s throw from a large lake.

It’s been the perfect reprieve from the 26 years of hassles and upkeep of an old house that sat close to a busy road. Most of the summer lake folks already packed up and left when we first moved in. We were thrilled with the peace and quiet of the fall and winter.

Then we endured our first summer, when the lake was bustling with activity. In addition to high traffic on our dirt road, jet skis and motorboats on the water, summer lake people are apparently obsessed with raucous partying and constant fireworks. I curse the day fireworks were made legal in Maine, and I feel about them as I do about secondhand smoke. I didn’t ask to endure them, and I resent having to listen to them.

Much like thunderstorms, the booming fusillade of fireworks can provoke anxiety in hunting dogs. And fireworks can ruin the training of a promising bird dog puppy that associates gunfire with the frightening experience of fireworks. But we weren’t complete summer malcontents. We kayaked and fished regularly in the evenings. I caught some surprisingly hefty largemouth bass along with the always pugnacious smallmouth bass.

During the fall we were struck by the sheer volume of wildlife that is attracted to large bodies of water and the surrounding woods. We encountered rafts of ducks, bald eagles, and great blue herons on our daily strolls to the lake. Like clockwork, flocks of Canada geese swung low overhead in their signature V-formations on their way for a brief paddle before migrating south. The

At the heart of this communal ice fishing congregation is the anticipation of a flag. countless acorns that dropped from mature oak trees startled us as they hit the roof and attracted white-tailed deer. Wild turkeys strolled through the yard during the day, and the sound of howling

58 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

coyotes punctuated the night.

As winter takes it frigid hold, ice-fishing shacks will begin dotting the frozen lake. Ice fishing is a highly social activity, due to the relative, or some might say, excruciating boredom. That’s probably why ice shacks can be quite elaborate and even luxurious, in a woodsy way, with stereos, wood stoves, cook stoves, and even sleeping bunks in order to better pass the time. There is usually a section of floor that can be removed to access a hole drilled in the ice so a person can fish from inside the comfort of the heated shack using a mini ice-fishing rod and reel. Depending on how many licensed ice fisherman are in attendance, the area surrounding the shack is dotted with a number of baited tipups that straddle holes drilled in the ice.

A steady hum of snow sleds and fourwheelers cruise the lake, delivering gossip on who’s catching the biggest and most fish. The smell of frying venison and the offer of a cold beer is a familiar greeting when visiting an ice shack.

At the heart of this communal ice fishing congregation is the anticipation of a flag. When a fish grabs the bait and trips the tip-up, a small waving flag is released. This doesn’t happen that often, so it’s comical when a flag flies and the ice fishermen scramble to the hole to see what’s on the end of the line. With great anticipation, even drama, the fish is slowly and carefully pulled from the depths and into the light of day. The flopping fish could be the much sought after landlocked salmon or trout, or it could be the lowly bass or pickerel. If it’s a keeper fish, the celebration is often subdued so as not to alert other ice fisherman of the hot spot.

We are spending our second winter on the lake, and we look forward to the hush of winter, snowshoeing the vast acreage and seemingly endless shoreline the frozen lake provides. I even delivered my four-wheeler from storage to throw on some chains and join the other busy-bodies, cruising from shack to shack.

Brad Eden is an artist, writer, and registered Maine Master Guide.

photo: Harry Bragdon/thinkstock.com

maine woods & waters

savvy seniors

The Gray Days of Winter

Photo: Steve Mason/thinkstock.com

January and February are difficult months. The holidays are over and spring seems far away. The weather is dark, cold, snowy, and icy. These gray days can give way to the blues. By Carol Higgins Taylor

L

ong winter days can be especially hard for seniors. Cold, icy conditions make it more difficult to leave the house. The family members who visited for the holidays may be gone. More time is spent alone.

The winter blues and down-in-thedumps feelings are not to be confused with seasonal affective disorder or depression. Anyone who experiences the winter blues well into spring should contact their health care provider, because depression is not a natural sign of aging.

No matter how old you are, it is treatable.

However, if you are just feeling blah, there are things that may help you survive the emotional harshness of winter.

Keeping your mind alert can help prevent the stir-crazies on the short, dark days. Mastering puzzles, crossword or otherwise; reading books by favorite authors; playing cards with a friend, who may also be experiencing the winter doldrums; and doing crafts and hobbies can

engage your brain. Get creative!

Organizing family photographs is a great project. Not only will you take a stroll down memory lane, you will have a sense of accomplishment once you are finished. Create a scrapbook and include written memories of the people in the photographs for future generations to enjoy.

Another great way to beat the blues is to exercise. A snowy yard is no excuse to be sedentary. If you can’t get out of the house, there are a variety of fun options for exercising inside. Check out some of the DVDs, available for every age group and activity level, that are designed to engage you in dancing or even walking.

There is so much available that it’s worth investigating the possibilities. As always, be sure to check with your doctor before starting any new activity.

Sometimes it is possible to bring outdoor activities inside for the winter months. If gardening is your thing, grow herbs indoors to enhance the flavors of your favorite home-cooked meals. It may even spark a desire to try new, healthful recipes, which is especially important because the urge to indulge in comfort food on dreary days can be overwhelming.

Just because you gravitate toward comfort food does not mean that you can’t reconfigure recipes to make them more nutritious. Macaroni with low-fat cheese can be just as delicious as the higher fat variety. You can even kick it up a notch by using multi-grain pasta.

A peanut butter and jelly sandwich can take you back to your youth, but think about upping its health factor with lowsugar jam and whole grain bread. Or try low-fat frozen yogurt as a dessert instead of ice cream. Many times you won’t even be able to taste the difference.

Increase the amount of time you spend socializing with family and friends. If you have trouble getting out, invite people to your home. Establish a weekly game day and have friends bring pot-luck items. Offer to help a grandchild with homework. It can be a bonding experience, and it can help ease parental stresses.

Even though Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah are behind us, another holiday is just around the corner— Valentine’s Day. Think creatively and decorate for every special occasion. It’s hard to be depressed when you’re surrounded by lacy red hearts. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 59

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Make plans for fun things to do in the future, such as a special dinner at a new restaurant or a trip with some friends. It gives you something to look forward to, and planning for special events is half the fun.

Consider taking a class or just finding another reason to get out of the house.

Check the calendar section of newspapers and magazines for interesting things to do. You might be surprised by all that is going on right outside your door.

That said, the best way to get out of a funk is by helping someone else. If possible, volunteer for an organization you admire. There are many tasks that can be done at home, and helping a nonprofit organization that you believe in can really lift the spirits. Nothing compares to the good feeling you get from being able to change someone else’s life for the better.

Carol Higgins Taylor is director of communications at Eastern Area Agency on Aging. She may be reached at chtaylor@eaaa.org.

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last word

Change is Good Embracing change can be empowering, exciting, and a great way to clean your house. By Chris Quimby

Chris Quimby is a husband, father, Christian comedian, writer, and graphic designer from Brooks. Visit him on the web at chris quimby.com or nachotree.com.

62 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

image: jupiter images/thinkstock.com

A

few weeks before I left my full-time employer for a 50-pound bucket of uncertainty a few years ago, I had a talk with a friend of mine who was considering doing the same. I was at an interesting point in my life, wondering whether I was investing my efforts into something that really mattered to me or I was staying put because I was too much of a scaredy pants to do anything else.

The best way for me to explain to others my reasons for leaving my job was by telling them that sometimes it becomes necessary to “move the furniture around.” In our homes and in our lives we often set big things in a certain place based on what works best at the time, but we don’t consider moving them when our lifestyles change.

For example, let’s say you moved into a home five years ago and set up a very large-screen television on a sturdy television stand in order to watch Boston Celtics games. But after a few years, the team trades the few players left for a few men who can barely dribble a basketball. So you drive to the top level of a parking garage and throw the television over the side.

That said, you still have that television stand. It has been there so long that you don’t really notice it anymore. There it remains, collecting dust and taking up room that would be better used by something else. Such is life. We build up commitments and responsibilities based on what was important to us 20 years ago without giving much thought to whether those elements make sense for us today.

My family finds great amusement in changing the furniture around in our home. I don’t mean we’re moving our refrigerator to the living room and back on a weekly basis, but we do like frequent modifications.

For instance, while my wife was away a few weekends ago, I swapped the location of several items in our bedroom. The biggest change was moving the bed from the wall it was against to the wall that was to the right of it.

I know. Crazy, huh?

She was pretty psyched when she arrived home. I guess simple things amuse us. But we both thought it was quite amazing, and our teenaged children gave their unsolicited and hearty endorsements to the rearrangement.

One benefit of the change was that I got a fair amount of cleaning done, the necessity of which would otherwise have gone further unnoticed. We have an impressive amount of shoes, books, and magazines under our bed. There are other items down there too that I’m sure we kept because we were thought we could not live without them, but have since forgotten we own. I’m quite sure we could have an “Under the Bed Junk” Christmas, during which we would wrap up items found under my box spring and hand them out as gifts.

Clearly, moving furniture around is a very cheap way to have fun and create change, which is important given my selfemployment. What’s great is that my family always has such a good time. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to remove my dining room table from the master bathroom.

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unsung hero

Jim Dearing, Bangor Bangor Police Department

By Melanie Brooks

64 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

I

Photo: david brown/northstar photography

Call of Duty

‘ve been a crash reconstructionist and forensic mapper for 13 years.

I’m the one they call out in the middle of the night for fatal crashes.

Sometimes it’s hard to get back to sleep after that.

I had a paper route as a teenager. I delivered hundreds of Bangor Daily newspapers each morning. My supervisor was retired Bangor Police captain Jim Scripture. He was one of the most kindhearted people you ever met. I also delivered papers to officer Bruce Boyd. Getting to know these two men changed my attitude toward police officers. Not being able to afford college, I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduation. I eventually returned to Maine and worked for police departments in Veazie, Waterville, and Bangor. This is my 22nd year with the Bangor Police Department.

One of the most memorable days of my career came in December 1993. It was right after Christmas at 4 a.m. I was racing to a fire on Third Street in Bangor, where a female was trapped on the third floor. I could see her on the phone with dispatch and she was frantic, running around in circles. We were able to get her window open to pull her out to safety. Once we got on the ground I saw that flames were now pouring out of the second-floor window, engulfing the fire escape we had just come down from. I recall having a lump in my throat knowing what we just survived and accomplished. The building burned quickly to the ground after that. The public probably doesn’t realize how many times in a patrol officer’s career that they save a life.

It happens all the time, and it’s a scary situation each time.

My job is not an easy one, especially as I get older and I’m chasing suspects half my age and twice my strength. But this has always been the type of job that was right for me. I don’t like using the word “hero” and “police officer” in the same sentence. To me, a hero is someone who has performed a single act of bravery above and beyond the call of duty. I think the reason police officers are the ones who run toward danger is because it’s just our nature. When something bad happens, our training takes over. We rush in and bring things back to normal as soon as possible, because it’s what we swore to do; it’s our job.

15

Pages

filled with

Events from January 1–March 30

Guide to Ice Fishing ITS Trail Map Ski Areas & Ice Skating

2014

winterguide

what’s happening

March 12 Lonestar / Orono

Lonestar Orono • March 12 This multi-platinum country music quartet is celebrating its 20-year anniversary with a tour of North America. See them at the Collins Center for the Arts.

January 26 Pies on Parade / Rockland

66 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

10th Annual Pies on Parade Rockland • January 26 The Historic Inns of Rockland, local restaurants, and businesses serve up more than 45 different pies to benefit the Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry.

Photos: (top) courtesy the collins center for the arts; (Left) thinkstock.com

Winter Guide

january December 31-January 5 Forever Plaid Bangor Opera House The Penobscot Theatre is bringing Forever Plaid back again! This off-Broadway musical of all-male performers is an international sensation that delights audiences with great harmonies and sharp style.

942-3333 • www.penobscottheatre.org January 1 Community Ice Skate and Bonfire Grand Lake Lodge, Grand Lake Stream Join in the festive winter atmosphere and participate in a joyous community experience. There will be public skating, dog sled demonstrations, and pond hockey. Rental skates will be available.

Local clubs will provide warm drinks and cookies at a rinkside firepit. 1 pm.

796-2100 • www.downeastlakes.org January 2 NT Live Encore: Frankenstein Rockland Strand The National Theatre Live’s 2011 broadcast of Frankenstein returns to cinemas as a part of the National Theatre’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Throughout the performance, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternate the lead roles as Victor Frankenstein and his creation. 2 & 7 pm. $23; $15 students.

594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com January 5 Masanobu Ikemiya Jesup Memorial Library, Bar Harbor World-renowned pianist Masanobu Ikemiya will be performing a selection of music from different styles at his “From Classics to Ragtime” concert. 2 pm.

288-4245 • www.jesuplibrary.org January 7 Met Opera Encore: Falstaff Rockland Strand A Metropolitan Opera Live in HD performance. James Levine conducts Verdi’s opera for the first time at the MET since 2005. Verdi’s last opera, set in the English countryside in the mid20th century, tells the story of Sir John

Events Falstaff. 1 pm. $23; $15 students.

594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com January 9 Lucerne Inn Wine Dinner Lucerne Inn, Dedham Indulge in a four-course meal paired with the perfect wines at the Lucerne Inn. 6-9 pm. $59.95.

843-5123 • www.lucerneinn.com January 10 Coke Weed The Grand, Ellsworth This psych-rock quintet from Bar Harbor will be performing on The Grand’s stage, lighting up a cold January night with electricity. 7:30 pm. $10.

667-9500 • www.grandonline.org January 11 TEDxYouth Gracie Theatre, Bangor Get ready to be inspired. This locally organized TEDx event is perfect for youth, educators, and organizations to come together and share exciting new ideas. 11 am-4 pm. www.ted.com January 11 Radar Run Snowmobile Races Medway East Branch Sno-Rovers Club will hold a radar run for all classes. Contact club house for information on registering for the event.

746-9348 • www.katahdinmaine.com January 11 Met Opera Encore: Verdi’s Falstaff Collins Center for the Arts, Orono A Metropolitan Opera Live in HD performance. James Levine conducts Verdi’s opera for the first time at the Met since 2005. Verdi’s last opera, set in the English countryside in the mid20th century, tells the story of Sir John Falstaff. 1 pm. $25.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com January 11 & 12 23rd Annual Bangor Wedding Show Spectacular Event Center, Bangor Planning a wedding in Maine? Then you won’t want to miss this amazing bridal show produced by the Maine Wedding Association. Meet the vendors

Theater

Music

who can help you make your wedding dreams a reality, from photographers to florists to bridal salons and more. Sat. 5-8 pm; Sun. 11 am-3 pm.

537-3000 www.maineweddingassociation.com January 12 Dinosaur Train: Buddy’s Big Adventure Collins Center for the Arts, Orono Jim Henson’s Dinosaur Train Live embraces and celebrates the fascination that children have with dinosaurs and trains to educate the audience about life science, natural history, and paleontology. 3 pm. $25; $12 for children 12 and under.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com January 12, 19 & 26 Horse-Drawn Sled Rides Leonard’s Mills, Bradley The Maine Forest and Logging Museum will host horse-drawn sled rides. Keep warm by the stove and enjoy hot cocoa.

Bring along a blanket for added comfort.

10-3 pm. $10 adults; $5 children.

947-6278 • www.leonardsmills.com January 14 Bangor Greendrinks Bangor Join your friends and neighbors over a pint as you learn about sustainability and networking. Be eco-friendly by bringing your own drinking vessel, or buy one onsite. 5-8 pm. www.bangorgreendrinks.org January 15 Say Cheese!

State of Maine Cheese, Rockport From locally made goat cheese to the finest aged cheeses of Europe, all cheesemaking follows some basic steps.

Take advantage of this special behindthe-scenes tour of cheesemaking.

Samples will even be paired alongside Cellardoor wines. 5 pm. $35-$45. www.cheese-me.com January 16 An Acoustic Evening with Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt Collins Center for the Arts, Orono Grammy Award-winning artists Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt unite on stage www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 67

Events

Theater

for an unforgettable night of intimate acoustic music. 7 pm. $37-$73.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com January 17 8th Annual Winter Beach Ball Cross Insurance Center, Bangor The EMMC Auxiliary is hosting a night that will help alleviate winter’s cabin fever and post-holiday blues with a night of fun while fundraising. All proceeds raised benefit Raish Peavey Haskell Children’s Cancer Center. The event will be catered by Carmen Montes, and live music will be performed by the Larry Williams Band. 7:30 pm. $30; $300 for table of 10. www.emmcauxiliary.org January 17 An Evening of Rogers & Hammerstein Classics Hauck Auditorium, University of Maine, Orono Enjoy an evening of selections from Oklahoma, Sound of Music, State Fair, and the King and I. A live orchestra of more than 40 students, faculty, and alumni will accompany student

Music vocalists. 7:30-9 pm.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com January 17-19 Princess Ida The Grand, Ellsworth The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine presents the comic opera of Princess Ida under the direction of Sandy Blanchette. 2, 7 pm. $20; $18 seniors, students.

667-9500 • www.grandonline.org January 17-19 SnowCon Black Bear Inn Conference Center & Suites, Orono BangPop! presents the best weekend of face-to-face tabletop gaming in Maine for the annual “geektastic” Central and Northern Maine Gaming Convention. www.snowconmaine.com January 18 The Mallett Brothers Band with North of Nashville The Strand, Rockland The Mallett Brothers Band, an alt-rock band from Portland, is bringing their

museums Aroostook County Caribou Historical Society Caribou 498-2556 • www.cariboumaine.net Hancock County Abbe Museum Bar Harbor 822-3519 • www.abbemuseum.org George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History Bar Harbor 288-5015 • www.coamuseum.org Knox County Coastal Children’s Museum Rockland 596-0300 www.coastalchildrensmuseum.org Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center Rockland 596-6457 www.farnsworthmuseum.org 68 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

Maine Lighthouse Museum Rockland 594-3301 www.mainelighthousemuseum.com Owls Head Transportation Museum Owls Head 594-4418 • www.ohtm.org Penobscot County Hudson Museum at the University of Maine Orono 581-1901 www.umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum Maine Discovery Museum Bangor 262-7200 www.mainediscoverymuseum.org University of Maine Museum of Art Bangor 561-3350 • www.umma.maine.edu

well-known high-intensity performance to the Strand. They will be joined by Portland compatriots North of Nashville, an Americana roots band that brings the true taste of heartland music. 7:30 pm. $15 in advance; $17 at the door.

594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com January 18 Winterfest Dance Stonington Opera House What breaks up the winter blues better than a dance? Keep your feet busy here at this winterfest dance sponsored by Opera House Arts. 8-10 pm. www.operahousearts.org January 19 BSO: Journeys Collins Center for the Arts, Orono Composer Christopher Tin and Lucas Richman, maestro for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, reunite for the world premiere of Tin’s Sirens for orchestra and vocal quartet. 3 pm. $16-$40.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com January 19 & 20 KASRA New England Winter Nationals Ice Drag Races Medway The Katahdin Area Snowmobile Racing Affiliates are hold their fourth annual New England Winter Nationals Ice Drag Races. Stop by this two-day event to support racers. Pre-registration required.

746-9348 January 22 PAC: Four Score and Seven Years Ago The Grand, Ellsworth The Performing Arts for Children series tells the story of a young Lemuel, who escaped slavery in Georgia. Life in Gettysburg is everything he had dreamed it would be, but his encounter with a young Confederate soldier challenges his ideas about the North and South and freedom. 10 am.

667-9500 • www.grandonline.org January 23 Dar Williams Unity College Center for the Performing Arts Beloved pop-folk singer and songwriter Dar Williams will entertain audience members with her clever songs and

polished vocal talents. 7:30 pm. $30 in advance; $35 at the door. www.unity.edu/uccpa January 24-26 Annual Togue Ice Fishing Derby Moosehead Lake The Natural Resource Education Center, Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, and Ricky Craven are joining together to host the annual Moosehead Lake Togue Ice Fishing Derby. There will be prizes for the three largest togue, fish pool prizes, and a grand door prize.

695-2702 • www.mooseheadlake.org January 25 The General, with TEMPO The Grand, Ellsworth TEMPO brings an all-new original score that will be played live, accompanying the 1926 silent film starring Buster Keaton. 7 pm. $15; $10 children under 12.

667-9500 • www.grandonline.org January 25 & 26 Long Lake Fishing Derby Long Lake, St. Agatha Take out your fishing gear for a chance to win prizes. Prizes awarded to largest salmon, togue, brook trout, and cusk.

The event is co-sponsored by the Town of St. Agatha and the Black Bear Rod and Gun Club. www.stagatha.com/derby January 26 10th Annual Pies on Parade Rockland The Historic Inns of Rockland, local restaurants, and businesses serve up more than 45 different pies to benefit the Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry. 1-4 pm. $25; $10 children 10 and under.

596-6611 www.historicinnsofrockland.com January 23 Teresa Walters Gracie Theatre, Bangor Teresa Walters is hailed as the First Lady of Piano, having performed for the president and internationally, to critical acclaim. 3 pm.

941-7051 • www.gracietheatre.com January 26 Trees in Winter Hike

Grand Lake Stream Identifying a dormant tree is not nearly as complicated as it might seem. Kyle Burdick will lead a tour to identify trees without their leaves. 1 pm.

796-2100 • www.downeastlakes.org January 30 Shakespeare’s Coriolanus The Grand, Ellsworth London’s National Theatre presents a live performance of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, starring Tom Hiddleston.

When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls on Coriolanus as its hero. 2 pm. $10-$17.

667-9500 • www.grandonline.org

The Music of John Williams February 1, 2014 at 7:30pm Collins Center for the Arts

Nicole Kaplan, soprano Lucas Richman, conductor

January 30 Shakespeare’s Coriolanus Rockland Strand London’s National Theatre presents a live performance of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, starring Tom Hiddleston.

When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls on Coriolanus as its hero.

2, 7 pm. $23; $15 students.

594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com January 30-February 16 One Blue Tarp Bangor Opera House The ubiquitous blue tarp provides the backdrop for this comic play about a Maine native who defends his right to do as he has always done and a woman “from away,” who wants to change things and knows just how to do it.

942-3333 • www.penobscottheatre.org January 31 Comedy Show Spectacular Event Center, Bangor Mike Koutrobis and Judy Sloane take the stage for a night full of laughs.

Tickets include appetizers. 7:30. $15.

941-8700 www.spectaculareventcenter.com January 31-February 2 Snowmobile Reciprocity Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont These three New England states have entered into an agreement allowing snowmobile registration reciprocity.

State laws and rules apply. Adventures are waiting! www.maine.gov

Tickets starting at $25 for adults and $15 for youth* *

All orders subject to $3 per ticket processing fee.

Tickets on sale now! Call the CCA Box Office:

(207) 581-1755 or (800) 622-TIXX

www.bangorsymphony.org www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 69

Events

Theater

february February 1 Plum Creek Wilderness Sled Dog Race Greenville Thirty teams of sled dogs and drivers will race through the last forested wilderness east of the Mississippi.

Teams will start and finish their 30- or 100-mile courses in Greenville. The day ends with a bonfire to welcome 100mile mushers as they finish their race. www.100milewildernessrace.org February 1 Forbidden Broadway Gracie Theatre, Bangor With satirical vignettes of recent Broadway hits, this show features outrageous costumes, hilarious rewrites of the songs you know, and dead-on impressions by a stellar cast. 4, 7:30 pm. $25-$32. www.gracietheatre.com February 1 Capturing Winter Light and Shadow Mansfield Pond, Hope In the dead of winter’s morning light, Bill and Barbara Bentley invite photographers to don snowshoes or skis and tour their 60 conserved acres.

The quiet and cold, light and shadows of mid-winter make for an amazing photographic experience. 10 am. $50-$60.

594-5166 • www.georgesriver.org February 1 BSO POPS: The Music of John Williams Collins Center for the Arts, Orono American composer John Williams has created some of the most iconic music of our time, writing for the likes of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Jurassic Park, and Harry Potter. 7:30 pm. $25-$60.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com February 2 Maine Outdoor Film Festival Unity College Centre for the Performing Arts Watch films that feature the great Maine outdoors, representing a diverse selection of outdoor disciplines, from

70 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

Music kayaking to fishing wild Atlantic salmon.

619-3622 www.maineoutdoorfilm.com February 2 Gryphon Piano Trio Collins Center for the Arts, Orono Having impressed international audiences with their highly refined, dynamic performances, the Gryphon Trio has firmly established itself as one of the preeminent piano trios, with a diverse repertoire. 3 pm. $35.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com February 2, 9, 16 & 23 Horse-Drawn Sled Rides Leonard’s Mills, Bradley The Maine Forest and Logging Museum will host horse-drawn sled rides. Keep warm by the stove and enjoy hot cocoa.

Bring along a blanket for added comfort.

10-3 pm. $10 adults; $5 children.

947-6278 • www.leonardsmills.com February 4 & 5 Banff Film Festival Gracie Theatre, Bangor This film festival showcases the works of the world’s finest mountain filmmakers for lucky viewers around the world who can’t make the trek to the Canadian Rockies. 7-10 pm.

941-7051 • www.gracietheatre.com February 7–9 The U.S. National Toboggan Championships Camden Snow Bowl Don’t miss this fun, quirky event, as 400 teams across the nation converge to compete on Ragged Mountain. Be sure to check out all of the family-friendly activities all weekend long.

236-3438 www.camdensnowbowl.com February 8 Dvorak’s Rusalka Collins Center for the Arts, Orono The Grand, Ellsworth Rockland Strand A Metropolitan Opera Live in HD performance. The great Renee Fleming returns to perform one of her signature roles, singing the enchanting “Song to

the Moon” in Dvorak’s soulful fairytale opera. 1 pm.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com 667-9500 • www.grandonline.org 594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com February 8 Bangor Ballet’s Evening at the Arts Gracie Theatre, Bangor Mark your calendars for the annual gala, featuring guest artists and Bangor Ballet dancers, past and present.

945-3457 • www.bangorballet.com February 11 Bangor Greendrinks Bangor Join your friends and neighbors over a pint as you learn about sustainability and networking. Be eco-friendly by bringing your own drinking vessel, or buy one onsite. 5-8 pm. www.bangorgreendrinks.org February 12 Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles Collins Center for the Arts, Orono This multimedia production will take you on a musical journey through the life and times of one of the world’s most celebrated bands. 7 pm. $35-$55.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com February 14 The DaPonte String Quartet: Whirlwind Romance Stonington Opera House Portland’s premier string quartet plays romantic music by Wold, Borodin, Wagner, and Gershwin. 7-9 pm. www.operahousearts.org February 14-16 KASRA maine State Championship Ice Drags Medway The East Branch Sno-Rovers will hold their annual Maine State Championship Ice Drags. Pre-registration required.

746-9348 February 14-16 & 20-23 Grease Hauck Auditorium, University of Maine, Orono The ever-popular musical about teen

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Events

Theater

Music

love set in the 1950s is always a crowd favorite. $15.

581-1781 • www.umaine.edu/spa

Tickets include appetizers. 7:30 pm. $15.

941-8700 www.spectaculareventcenter.com

February 15 Woodworking for Wildlife Workshop Milford Construct your own bat box with the Downeast Lakes Land Trust and learn to attract these helpful animals to your yard. 2-4 pm. $30.

796-2100 • www.downeastlakes.org

February 28 Enter the Haggis Rockland Strand Toronto roots rock band, Enter the Haggis, has proven itself to be a true grassroots success story. This has never been more evident than with their latest release, The Modest Revolution. 7:30 pm. $15 advance; $18 at the door.

594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com

February 16 Annual Chocolate Festival Greenville What better way to spend an afternoon at Moosehead Lake but at the annual Chocolate Festival? Choose 12 tantalizing samples from a selection of chocolate delights. There will be a children’s corner with unique foods, games, and prizes. 1-4 pm.

695-2702 • www.mooseheadlake.org February 16 “Just for Fun” Concert Trinitarian Congregational Church, Castine Castine Arts Association is sponsoring the “Just for Fun” concert, which features area musicians. A reception in the Parish Hall will follow the concert. 4 pm. www.lynmayewski.com February 23 East Branch Sno-Rovers Radar Runs Medway East Branch Sno-Rovers will hold radar run races for all classes. Contact club house for information on registration.

746-9348 February 23 Maine’s Most Haunted Film Presentation Fort Knox Visitor Center, Prospect Two films produced by the East Ghost Trackers reveal paranormal investigations of Bangor Opera House and Fort Knox. 7 pm. $10.

469-6553 www.fortknox.maineguide.com February 28 Comedy Show Spectacular Event Center, Bangor Mike McCarthy and Dennis Fogg take the stage for a night full of laughs.

72 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

February 28-March 7 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships Nordic Heritage Sports Club, Presque Isle The Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle is hosting events for the International Biathlon Union’s Youth and Junior World Cup Championships. www.discovernorthernmaine.com

march March 1 Borodin’s Prince Igor Collins Center for the Arts, Orono The Grand, Ellsworth Rockland Strand A Metropolitan Opera Live in HD performance. Bordin’s defining Russian epic, famous for its Polovtsian Dances, comes to the Met for the first time in nearly 100 years. Follow the brilliant journey through the mind of its conflicted hero, with the founding of the Russian nation as the backdrop. 12 pm.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com 667-9500 • www.grandonline.org 594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com March 1 Penobscot County Spelling Bee Gracie Theatre, Bangor Watch as some of the area’s best spellers are challenged. The event is a qualifier for the Scripps National Spelling Bee Competition. 8:30 am-5:30 pm.

941-1075 March 2 BSO: Appalachian Spring

Collins Center for the Arts, Orono Anticipating the effects of cabin fever, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra performs a spring-themed program in March, featuring Aaron Copland’s classic work of Americana, Appalachian Spring, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6. 3 pm. $16-$40.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com March 2 Horse-Drawn Sled Rides Leonard’s Mills, Bradley The Maine Forest and Logging Museum will host horse-drawn sled rides. Keep warm by the stove and enjoy hot cocoa.

Bring along a blanket for added comfort.

10-3 pm. $10 adults; $5 children.

947-6278 • www.leonardsmills.com March 2 East Branch Sno-Rovers Radar Runs Medway East Branch Sno-Rovers will hold radar runs at the Sno-Rovers Clubhouse.

746-9348 March 3 Beauty and the Beast Cross Insurance Center, Bangor The smash-hit Broadway musical, based on Disney’s Academy Award-winning animated feature film, is coming to Bangor. Experience the romance and enchantment of this classic story at the production that has won the hearts of more than 35 million people worldwide.

7:30 pm. $41-$77.

561-8300 www.crossinsurancecenter.com March 7 PAC: Something Ridiculous The Grand, Ellsworth This juggling and acrobatic act, performed by slapstick stuntmen Mark Wilder and VonJon, is fantastic for all ages. They juggle everything, from bean bags to bowling balls, climb free-standing ladders onto 7-foot-tall unicycles or atop shoulders in a wildly entertaining, dynamic show. 10, 11:30 am. $3.

667-9500 • www.grandonline.org March 7 Justin Moore Cross Insurance Center, Bangor On his tour to promote the new album,

“Off the Beaten Path,” Justin Moore will perform in Bangor along with Randy Houser and special guest Josh Thompson. $29.75-$44.75.

561-8300 www.crossinsurancecenter.com March 7 & 8 Regional One-Act Drama Festival Walker Auditorium, Stearns High School, Millinocket This two-day competition is filled with the best kind of drama, and these one-act plays move fast. www.katahdinmaine.com March 11 Bangor Greendrinks Bangor Join your friends and neighbors over a pint as you learn about sustainability and networking. Be eco-friendly by bringing your own drinking vessel, or buy one onsite. 5-8 pm. www.bangorgreendrinks.com

March 12 Lonestar Collins Center for the Arts, Orono This multi-platinum country music quartet is celebrating its 20-year anniversary with a tour of North America. 7 pm. $35-$65.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com March 13-30 God of Carnage Bangor Opera House This is a comedy of manners without the manners. When little Benjamin whacks his playmate Henry with a stick, breaking two of his teeth, it is important that the boys’ parents set the right example by discussing the matter calmly and reasonably. After all, nothing will be gained by behaving like children.

942-3333 • www.penobscottheatre.org March 14 Elias String Quartet Collins Center for the Arts, Orono Enjoy an evening of exceptional quality

oFFeriNG award-winninG heAlthcAre For your entire faMily

performances by the award-winning Elias String Quartet as they delight audiences with pieces by Beethoven. 7 pm. $35.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com March 14 The Second City Touring Company Camden Opera House Chicago’s legendary sketch comedy theatre returns to Camden with “Happily Ever Laughter,” drawing on classic material and scenes from the headlines to make for an evening of smart, cuttingedge comedy. 7:30 pm. $25; $15 students, seniors.

236-7963 www.camdenoperahouse.com March 15 Massanet’s Werther The Grand, Ellsworth Rockland Strand A Metropolitan Opera Live in HD performance. Massenet’s sublime adaptation of Goethe’s revolutionary and tragic

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Events

Theater

romance was directed and designed by the same team thaat created the recent hit staging of Carmen. 1 pm.

667-9500 • www.grandonline.org 594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com March 16 Acadia FCU Marathon Four Seasons Lodge, Madawaska Acadia Federal Credit Union is hosting its sixth annual marathon. This 40K freestyle ski race is aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle in the community through all four seasons. A 20K option is also available. www.fourseasonstrail.org March 20 Seaweed: More Than for Sushi FMC BioPolymer, Rockland The largest and most experienced producer of carrageenan (carbohydrate from seaweed) extracts worldwide, FMC BioPolymer is hosting a tour of their facility. Refreshments will be served before the tour. 4:30 pm. $35-$45.

594-5166 • www.georgesriver.org

Music March 21 Alessio Bax Collins Center for the Arts, Orono Praised for his lyrical style, insightful interpretations, and dazzling facility, Alessio Bax will be sure to engage the audience for this evening’s performance. 7 pm. $30.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com March 23 Bangor Ballet Presents “Titania’s Dream” and “Paquita” Gracie Theatre, Bangor Don’t miss this double-billed performance of “Titania’s Dream,” based on Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “Paquita,” a 19th-century ballet. 2-4 pm.

945-3457 • www.bangorballet.com March 23 The Carolina Chocolate Drops The Strand, Rockland Grammy Award-winners The Carolina Chocolate Drops are the newest and

youngest players in a long lineage of Black String Bands. They will perform their electrifying style of traditional roots music, the blues, and much more.

7:30 pm. $25.

594-0070 • www.rocklandstrand.com March 28 Comedy Show Spectacular Event Center, Bangor Bob Seibel, Rob Steen, and Will Noonan will take the stage for a night full of laughs. Tickets include appetizers. 7:30 pm. $15.

941-8700 www.spectaculareventcenter.com March 29 & 30 Music Off Broadway Peakes Auditorium, Bangor High School The Rotary Club of Bangor is fundraising for Sarah’s House of Maine, a housing facility for cancer patients to stay during treatment, with a fun musical production of musicians in the community. There will be no shortage of singing and dancing at this event.

This year’s theme is “Take me Places and Imagine.” Sat. 7:30 pm; Sun. 3 pm. $30; $20 children under 15.

356-0996 • www.bangorrotary.org March 29 John Prine Collins Center for the Arts, Orono With his trademark guitar fingerpicking and unmistakable songwriting voice, John Prine continues to mesmerize diverse audiences with his humble poetry, describing what is often overlooked in everyday life. 8 pm. $48$68.

581-1755 www.collinscenterforthearts.com March 30 Bangor Ballet Presents “Titania’s Dream” and “Paquita” Center Theatre, Dover-Foxcroft Don’t miss this double-billed performance of “Titania’s Dream,” based on Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “Paquita,” a 19th-century ballet. 2-4 pm.

945-3457 • www.bangorballet.com

74 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

winter guide

maine F snowmobiling

photo: (left) getty images/thinkstock.com

ew are more excited to see the first flakes of snowfall than winter sports enthusiasts. That’s especially the case for members of the Maine Snowmobile Association. On average, 80,000 members register each year. These volunteers are dedicated to the culture of the sport and often volunteer their time and services to keeping the snowmobiling community active.

MSA clubs across the state of Maine maintain about 14,500 miles of trails. Of those trails, 3,500 miles are part of the Interconnected Trail System (ITS). According MSA executive director Bob Meyers, about 95% of the trails are located on personal property and used by landowner permission. “Clubs work closely with landowners, who are extremely generous with their property,” Meyers says.

“So much of what is done with the trails depends on landowners’ wishes.”

Because of the varying terrain, climate, and maintenance, trails differ across the state. For example, the ITS trails are generally at least 10-feet wide, with two full lanes, standard grooming, and signage. Other trails are more narrow and require additional safety measures. But Meyers says that there is a trails committee that keeps an eye on the trails, to ensure they are safe and usable.

Meyers says that an ideal winter for snowmobiling is one that starts with a cold November. That way, when the snow arrives, the ground will be cold enough to hold the snow. It isn’t uncommon for snowmobilers to test out un-groomed trails at the first significant accumulation, but club members really get the season started around New Year’s weekend. “The clubs are all volunteers with families,” Meyers says. “They have a lot going on during the holidays.”

—By Kaylie Reese

safety tips from the maine snowmobile association

1. Never go alone 2. Never drink and ride. (The MSA supports zero tolerance.)

3. Always be prepared 4. Be aware of your surroundings 5. Always stay to the right – especially when you’re on narrow trails 6. Keep your speed down 7. Watch for other trail users, such as cross-country skiers 8. Be respectful at all times. You’re likely on someone else’s property. www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 75

This is a map of the ITS trails, which are managed by the Maine Snowmobile Association. They make up only a quarter of the 14,500 miles of trail networks in Maine.

Maine ITS Trail Map

winter guide

76 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014 Map: Courtesy of Maine Snowmobile Association

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 77

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winter guide

As the weather becomes colder and lake ice freezes, it’s common to see sportsmen and women trade a deer stand deep in the woods for an ice shack out on a lake.

By kaylie reese

ice fishing derbies January 25 & 26 Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby Sponsor: Black Bear Rod & Gun Club Bodies of Water/Town: Long Lake, T17 R4 WELS; Eagle Lake, Eagle Lake; Saint Froid Lake, Winterville Plt.; Square Lake, T16 R5 WELS; Cross Lake, T17 R5 WELS; Glazier Lake, T18 R10 WELS; Bau Lake, T19 R11 WELS Weigh-In: Long Lake Sporting Club, Sinclair, and Joe’s Country Store, St. Francis Total Cash Prize Amount: $12,500 January 25 & 26 Ricky Craven Togue Ice Fishing Derby Bodies of Water/Town: Moosehead Lake, Greenville Weigh-In: Cozy Moose Lakeside Cabins, Greenville 78 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

photos: (left) OceanFishing/thinkstock.com; (right) Don Anderson/thinkstock.com

ice fishing I

t takes dedication to brave some of the coldest, windiest conditions in Maine, but the thrill of the winter catch draws thousands to the sport each year. The sport of ice fishing has certainly changed over the years, but patience and persistence remain the keys to success.

In addition to being a test of one’s endurance, ice fishing is a great way to spend some quiet time in the great outdoors, trade stories with friends, and just relax.

While the original intent of an ice shack was to serve as a windbreaker, some of the modern day ice shacks more closely resemble miniature luxury suites. But you can’t be so comfortable that you forget that you’re on ice. Ice conditions can change at a moment’s notice, and you always need to be aware of that. According to Dave Boucher, fisheries management supervisor at Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, safety is top priority. “Check the ice thickness before venturing out; be especially careful around flowing water, rocky points, and shoals; and always let someone know you’ll be fishing,” Boucher says.

Ice fishing season unofficially begins New Year’s Day, when ice thickness typically becomes sturdier, but weather and ice conditions will determine when it is safe to fish. Most of the ponds and lakes in Maine’s northern and western counties are open to ice fishing from January 1 through March 31, but there are always variations to these general laws in each county. “It’s always a good idea to check the fishing rulebook prior to drilling a hole,” Boucher says.

What’s the secret to landing the best catch? “Be persistent!”

Boucher says. While that rule has stayed true for decades of ice fishing, there are a few more tricks Boucher recommends. “Go early and stay late. Most species feed more actively during the early morning and late afternoons. Set traps in locations and at depths appropriate for the species you’re targeting. Catch rates seem to be higher during overcast or stormy days.”

top catches

1. Smallmouth Bass Scientific name: Micropterus dolomieu Origin: Introduced Size: Typically 2-3 pounds, rarely more than four pounds.

Identification: Smallmouth bass are generally brown with darker brown horizontal bandings on the side and reddish eyes. A distinct characteristic of the smallmouth bass is that its jaw does not extend past its eyes.

2. Chain Pickerel Scientific Name: Esox niger Origin: Native Size: Range from 14-19 inches, 2-4 pounds.

Identification: There’s a reason this is called the “chain” pickerel. Yellow-green spots are separated by dark green chain-like pattern. The fish appears elongated, with a tapered jaw line and a dorsal fin near the tail. The chain pickerel also have sharp teeth.

3. White Perch Scientific Name: Morone americana Origin: Native Size: 6-12 inches, .5 pounds Identification: The white perch is a light silvery color, with a large, spiny dorsal fin. The color at

January 26 Ice Fishing Derby Sponsor: Men’s Auxiliary VFW Bodies of Water/Town: All legal waters in Waldo County Weigh-In: 34 Field Street, Belfast February 1 Ice Fishing Derby Sponsor: Great Moose Lake Association Bodies of Water/Town: Indian Lake, St. Albans; Moose Pond, Hartland Weigh-In: Irving Community Center, Hartland Total Cash Prize Amount: $900

the top of the fish, near the dorsal fin, is dark grey, almost black.

4. Landlocked Salmon Scientific Name: Salmo salar Origin: Native Size: 16-18 inches, 2-5 pounds Identification: The body of the landlocked salmon is a silvery color, with black, x-shaped flecks along its back. The tail, fins, and face are a dark green color. Adult males develop a hooked jaw known as a “kype” during spawning season.

5. Lake Trout (Togue) Scientific Name: Salvelinus namaycush Origin: Native Size: 18-24 inches, 2-4 pounds Identification: The body of a lake trout varies from a dark greenish brown to a dark grayish brown. Their bellies tend to be a lighter color, matching the speckles that cover the body. Its tail is also deeply forked.

6. Brook Trout Scientific Name: Salvelinus fontinalis Origin: Native Size: 8-18 inches, Identification: The brook trout is perhaps best known for its squared tail, which has a slight indentation. The coloring of the brook trout really sets it apart. A marbled pattern of light and dark greens covers their body, fins, and tail.

Other distinct markings include small red spots that are outlined in blue. When spawning, the bellies of the males become a reddish orange.

7. Brown Trout Scientific Name: Salmo trutta Origin: Introduced Size: 14-20 inches, 1-2 pounds

February 15 Ice Fishing Derby Sponsor: Milo Fire Department Bodies of Water/Town: Schoodic Lake, Lake View Plt.; Seboeis Lake, T4 R9 NWP; Ebeemee Lake (Upper), T4 R9 NWP; Ebeemee Lake, T5 R9 NWP Weigh-In: Knight’s Landing, Lake View Village, and Milo Fire Station Total Cash Prize Amount: $1,450 February 15 Ice Fishing Derby Sponsor: Hartland Volunteer Fire Department

Identification: Brown trout are light brown in color, with small black spots on its back and head and reddish spots on its side. Because their coloring is variable, they can sometimes be confused with the landlocked salmon. Be sure to check whether the black markings are spots (brown trout) or cross marks (landlocked salmon).

8. Cusk Scientific Name: Lota lota Origin: Native Size: 18-24 inches, 1.5-2 pounds Identification: Cusk range from a dark to light brown, with dark brown spots on its sides, fins, and tail. Its mouth is large and wide, with a single chin barbell on its lower jaw. The body is elongated, with a broad, flattened triangular head.

9. Yellow Perch Scientific Name: Perca flavescens Origin: Native Size: 6-12 inches, .25-1 pound Identification: Yellow perchare brightly colored.

The top of their bodies are a bright olive green color and their sides are yellow. Their bellies range from light yellow to white. Dark green vertical bands mark the top and sides of the fish. The fin color varies, but is often a bright yellow or orange.

10. Whitefish Scientific Name: Coregonus clupeaformis Origin: Native Size: 14-20 inches, 1-3 pounds Identification: Whitefish are just that – white!

The silvery white scales stay on the belly and sides of the fish and darken to dark brown or black on its back. The fins are darker as well.

Bodies of Water/Town: Moose Pond, Hartland; Morrell Pond, Hartland; Indian Pond (Big), St. Albans Weigh-In: Hartland Fire Department, Hartland February 23 Ice Fishing Derby Sponsor: Spectrum Generations – Muskie Center Bodies of Water/Town: Statewide Weigh-In: Muskie Center, 38 Gold Street, Waterville

www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 79

winter guide

ski areas Baker Mountain Ski area Town: Moscow Vertical Drop: 460 ft.

Number of Trails: 5 Night Skiing: Yes Rentals: Yes Tubing: No Miles from Bangor: 135 Snowmaking: No Bigrock Mountain Town: Mars Hill Vertical Drop: 960 ft.

Number of Trails: 35 Night Skiing: Yes Rentals: Yes Tubing: Yes Miles from Bangor: 150 Snowmaking: Yes Camden Snow Bowl Town: Camden Vertical Drop: 850 ft.

Number of Trails: 8 Night Skiing: Yes

Rentals: Yes Tubing: Yes Miles from Bangor: 55 Snowmaking: Yes Eaton Mountain Ski Area Town: Skowhegan Vertical Drop: 525 ft.

Number of Trails: 12 Night Skiing: No Rentals: Yes Tubing: Yes Miles from Bangor: 50 Snowmaking: Yes Hermon Mountain Town: Hermon Vertical Drop: 350 ft.

Number of Trails: 20 Night Skiing: Yes Rentals: Yes Tubing: Yes Miles from Bangor: 15 Snowmaking: Yes

Lonesome Pine Trails Town: Fort Kent Vertical Drop: 460 ft.

Number of Trails: 10 Night Skiing: Yes Rentals: Yes Tubing: No Miles from Bangor: 185 Snowmaking: Yes

Ski Mount Jefferson Town: Lee Vertical Drop: 430 ft.

Number of Trails: 11 Night Skiing: No Rentals: Yes Tubing: No Miles from Bangor: 60 Snowmaking: No

Quoggy Jo Ski Center Town: Presque Isle Vertical Drop: 215 ft.

Number of Trails: 5 Night Skiing: Yes Rentals: Yes Tubing: No Miles from Bangor: 150 Snowmaking: No

Big Squaw Mountain Town: Big Moose Township Vertical Drop: 1,700 ft.

Number of Trails: 18 Night Skiing: No Rentals: Yes Tubing: No Miles from Bangor: 80 Snowmaking: TBD

ice skating rinks

Chapin Park Rink, Bangor Broadway Park Ice Rink, Bangor Bangor Gardens Park Ice Rink, Bangor Davis Road, Bangor Fairmount Park, Bangor Stillwater Park, Bangor Sawyer Arena, Bangor Penobscot Ice Arena, Brewer Dover-Foxcroft Municipal Skating Rink, Dover-Foxcroft Jalbert Park Skating Rink, Fort Kent John A. Millar Civic Center, Houlton Madawaska Ice Arena (Multipurpose Center), Madawaska Millinocket Community Skating Rink, Millinocket Alfond Arena at the University of Maine, Orono The Forum, Presque Isle Midcoast Recreation Center, Rockport

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80 / Bangor Metro January/February 2014

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