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CONTENTS

DECEMBER 2017

FEATURES 46 THE MONTH BEFORE CHRISTMAS Meet the man behind the trees at Piper Mountain in Newburgh 54 GRANDMA DJ After 30 years, this radio personality is a morning fixture

IN EVERY ISSUE

46

THE MONTH BEFORE CHRISTMAS

58

HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

08 WHAT’S HAPPENING Local news & sightings 16 OBSESSIONS What we can’t get enough of this month 64 THEN & NOW Take a visit to the prettiest village in Maine 80 LAST WORD The inner workings of Chris Quimby’s annual gift allotment. Did you make the list?

ON THE COVER We’re cooking up all kinds of holiday fun this month.

2 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

PHOTOS: (TOP) BDN FILE; (BOTTOM) BARBARA MOWER; (COOKIE) AMY ALLEN

58 HOLIDAY TRADITIONS We share our favorite holiday traditions to get in the spirit

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

FOOD & DRINK

HEALTH & FITNESS

22 IN SEASON NOW We’re sweet on sweet potatoes

28 HIKES FOR THE HOLIDAYS Feel festive on these three trails

24 JAMMIE DODGERS Add this British cookie recipe to your holiday baking list

34 SAD SONGS SAY SO MUCH Finding hope and a happy ending

HOW TO

HOME & FAMILY

OUTSIDE

38 MAKE CANDY ORNAMENTS Sweet and sticky holiday fun for kids

42 JINGLE PAWS? What to know before giving a puppy or kitten for Christmas

70 HIDDEN BUT COZY The sporting camp where no roads lead

PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) COURTESY OF CALEB CHARLAND; SARAH WALKER CARON; AISLINN SARNACKI; BOB DUCHESNE; ENDURO/THINKSTOCK; AMY ALLEN

14 THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF PHOTOGRAPHY Artist Caleb Charland talks about his creative process

40 MAKE FELT ORNAMENTS Spread holiday cheer at home and with troops around the country www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 3

EDITOR’S NOTE

When we moved into our home a few months ago, I immediately contemplated where our Christmas tree would go.

Perhaps it was because moving the Christmas decorations from one home to another was a big project. Perhaps it was thanks to all the new space to work with. Whatever the reason, I found it … eventually.

But that’s not all.

Our new house is ripe for decorating. There’s room for the folk art nativity set my parents gave me years ago — that will go in the dining room. And room for our food tree (also in the dining room) — read more about that on page 58. And, perhaps, this is the year we’ll erect the angel tree again in honor of a special group of people who aren’t here.

Doing Christmas in a big and joyous way is important to me — not just because I enjoy the merriment, but because after five difficult years of trials and challenges particularly around the holidays, it’s necessary. It’s a way to appreciate and be grateful for all that we do have.

So bring on the trees. Bring on the lights and ornaments and Christmas carols.

And bring on the holiday plates and cups and parties.

It would be so easy to let the hard times darken the holidays forever. But I won’t let them.

WE’LL CHOOSE LIGHT AND JOY INSTEAD. AND I HOPE YOU DO TOO.

HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!

SARAH WALKER CARON, EDITOR

Connect With Us Online bangormetro.com facebook.com/BangorMetro @BangorMetro bangormetro talkback@bangormetro.com 4 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

PHOTOS: (TREE) VNLIT/THINKSTOCK; (SNOWFLAKES) AMY ALLEN

In this issue, we’re helping you prepare for the holidays with how-tos for making your own ornaments on pages 38-41. And learn about the man whose devotion to Maine Christmas trees is legendary on page 46.

Also, if holiday baking is your thing, don’t miss the recipe for Jammie Dodgers on page 24.

www.bangormetro.com P.O. Box 1329 Bangor, Maine 04402-1329 Phone: 207.990.8000

PUBLISHER

Richard J. Warren

EDITOR

Sarah Walker Caron scaron@bangordailynews.com

ART DIRECTOR

Amy Allen aallen@bangordailynews.com

SUBSCRIPTION & PROMOTIONS MANAGER

Fred Stewart fstewart@bangordailynews.com

STAFF WRITER

Julia Bayly jbayly@bangordailynews.com

STAFF WRITER

Emily Burnham eburnham@bangordailynews.com

STAFF WRITER

Abigail Curtis acurtis@bangordailynews.com

STAFF WRITER

Rosemary Lausier rlausier@bangordailynews.com

STAFF WRITER

Aislinn Sarnacki asarnacki@bangordailynews.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS

Bob Duchesne, Jodi Hersey, Jeff Kirlin, Emily Denbow Morrison, Richard Shaw, Chris Quimby www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 5

MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Meet EMILY DENBOW MORRISON WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE STORY OR ESSAY YOU'VE WORKED ON RECENTLY? I’ve been working on a piece about a realization I had that, “Alcohol is Not My Friend.” I’ve never been much of a drinker. When I was in my 20s and most people were hanging out in a bar where everyone knew their name, I was breastfeeding three babies and trying to lose the pregnancy weight by signing up for marathons. When the kids switched to chocolate milk, I moved to wine. Drinking a glass or two at the end of a long day became a habit, one that I didn’t realize I had until about a year ago. When my nine-year-old came home with a picture of Mommy dancing in a cowgirl hat with an empty wine bottle in the background, I realized I needed to find another way to uncork in front of my children — preferably one that didn’t involve empty wine bottles or cowgirl hats.

WHERE DO YOU WRITE? It’s a funny story. One of my graduate professors told me her husband built her a writing shack out back when she started her career as a novelist. I came home and googled these beautiful pictures of famous writers “writing shacks,” and they were amazing. Much like Costner in “Field of Dreams,” I was certain that “If we built it, the words would come.” Unfortunately, my husband’s not a carpenter, so we hired our lovely neighbor who made my two story, cedar-shingled, dollhouse come true. To date, I’ve written one story in it (we’ve had it for four years). It turns out, I write best sitting beside my children while they ignore me and do other things. We turned the writing shack into a pretty cool guest room though, so all’s well that end’s well.

WHAT'S YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR WANNABE WRITERS? People say this all the time, so the advice seems trite by now, but I’ll repeat it all the same, “write what you know.” If you love a good romance, write a scorcher and don’t feel trashy about it. If you’re always reading children stories to your kids and they love your stories more than the ones on the page, then write one of your own. If you’re a grandma and you want to give your grandchildren the history of your family, then share your life story with them. People respond to realness. We’re all just searching for our own truth, so when we read someone else’s story and their truth resonates with us, that’s powerful. Figure out what your truth is and start writing.

Meet ROSEMARY LAUSIER WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE STORY OR ESSAY YOU'VE WORKED ON RECENTLY? My

WHO INSPIRES YOU? My sisters inspire me. Anyone who knows me hears about them quite a lot.

Growing up, I watched what they did and always strived to be like them. When I was out of college and struggling to find a job, I thought about my sister Katherine and the hard work she put in to get her own classroom as a teacher. It took some time, but I knew to keep pushing forward like she did. Likewise, my sister Anne Marie is getting her doctorate at UMaine and I know how hard she works to get what she wants. Being a female in the science field isn’t easy, but she never let that stop her. They are both strong and smart women and they push me to be my best, even when I resist at times.

WHAT'S YOUR DREAM NEW YEAR'S EVE NIGHT? I usually live it. My dream New Year’s Eve is to stay home with my sister, Anne Marie. We make tacos and guacamole, drink wine and watch Anderson Cooper on CNN, or whatever TV marathon is on.

My parents usually fall asleep but we make sure we all ring in the New Year together.

6 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

PHOTOS: (TOP) MERIDEN PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO; (BOTTOM) COURTESY OF ROSEMARY LAUSIER

favorite essay, in an academic sense, that I wrote was my senior thesis in college. It was called “The Real Housewives of Downton: How the combination of history and melodrama constructs and limits women’s liberation on Downton Abbey.” My conclusion was that the historic elements used made the show look historically accurate in terms of women’s rights and liberation; however, the melodramatic elements used inhibited them. I spent four months working on it and honestly, it was the most fun I had writing a paper. I watched every episode on my Kindle in a month. I researched the melodrama and soap opera genres, life in the early 1900s for women, and took a simple idea that I had and turned it into something really great. I felt like all my years in writing culminated in this paper. My newspaper advisor had me write a farewell to Downton Abbey for our last issue, the last article I wrote as a student.

Bangor Metro Magazine. December 2017, Vol. 13, No. 12.

Copyright Š Bangor Publishing Company.

Bangor Metro is published 12 times annually by Bangor Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

This magazine may not be reproduced in whole or part in any form without the written permission of the Publisher.

Bangor Metro is mailed at standard rates from Portland, Maine.

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.

Inquiries and suggestions are welcome and encouraged. Letters to the editor, story suggestions, and other reader input will be subject to Bangor Metro’s unrestricted right to edit and publish in the magazine both in print and online.

Editorial: Queries should be sent to Sarah Walker Caron at scaron@bangordailynews.com.

Advertising: For advertising questions, please call the Sales Director Todd McLeod at 207-990-8105.

Subscriptions/Address Change: The one year subscription cost is $15.95. Address changes: to ensure delivery, subscribers must notify the magazine of address changes one month in advance of the cover date. Please contact Fred Stewart at 207-990-8075.

Accounts Payable/Receivable: For information about your account please contact Todd McLeod at 207-990-8105.

COVER: Amy Allen

Need a

GIFT IDEA?

Send some love with a

subscription to BANGOR METRO!

bangormetro.com www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 7

WHAT’S HAPPENING

DECEMBER DEC. 1-23 6TH ANNUAL HANDMADE AT WATERFALL ARTS

Shop locally from artists and artisans this holiday season with a trip to Belfast for a special modern marketplace. Waterfall Arts’ Clifford Gallery will host a curated collection of unique, high-quality handmade artwork and goods in this sixth annual show. From printed goods and clothing to art and accessories, more than 100 artists and makers will be featured. There will also be an opening reception on Friday, Dec. 1 from 5 to 8 p.m. featuring refreshments, food, activities and more.

DEC. 2 FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

Bring on the holiday cheer on the first Saturday in December when the Festival of Lights returns for a day of fun and merriment. Events begin at 11 a.m. with Winter Art Making at the University of Maine Museum of Art and Candy Crafting at Specialty Sweets. The Briar Patch bookstore is hosting Santa at Central Meeting House on Central Street from 1-4 p.m., and there will be cookie decorating, 8 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

too. Drop by The Charles Inn after 2:30 p.m. to see their special window display and enjoy the warming station. And at the Bangor Arts Exchange on Exchange Street, see the Bangor Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Music-a-Thon. But the main event — the annual Festival of Lights Parade — is absolutely the thing not to miss.

It begins at 4:30 p.m. and culminates with the Lighting of the Tree in West Market Square, tentatively scheduled for about 6:30 p.m., though that really depends on when the parade ends. Bring your warmest mittens, toasty hats and thick socks for this day of holiday joy because brrr, it can get cold outside.

DEC. 5 NATALIE MACMASTER & DONNELL LEAHY PRESENT: A CELTIC FAMILY CHRISTMAS

Since marrying in 2002, two of Canada’s brightest stars have been captivating audiences all over North America with their exceptional musical skills and obvious joy at playing the fiddle together. See them Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. at the Collins Center for the Arts.

DEC. 2 Festival of Lights Parade

DEC. 7-30 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

It’s a song as old as time … and it will be among the iconic music filling the Bangor Opera House this holiday season when the Penobscot Theatre Company presents Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” based on book by Linda Woolverton with music

by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Show times vary.

Contact the box office for more information and tickets 207-942-3333.

DEC. 8 CROSS CENTER GALA

It’s a night of giving! It’s a holiday party! It’s both! The fourth annual Cross Center Gala will be held on Friday, Dec. 8 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. This celebration of community, economic development and local successes will include donations being given to regional nonprofits that offer life changing services: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Bangor, Good Samaritan Agency, and Literacy Volunteers of Bangor. Tickets are available through the box office. Call 207-561-8300. $75/person.

PHOTOS: BDN FILE

EVENTS

DEC. 9-10 NUTCRACKER IN A NUTSHELL

Bangor Ballet’s annual Nutcracker in a Nutshell performance comes to Bangor at the Gracie Theatre at Husson University for two performances on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. This classic holiday production turn’s Tchaikovsky’s tale into a condensed version that is fun and beautiful.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors and $8 for kids ages 12 and under. For more information or for tickets contact Bangor Ballet via phone (207-945-5911) or visit their website at www.bangorballet.org.

DEC. 13 RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER THE MUSICAL

The touring show of Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer The Musical comes to the Cross Insurance Center for a performance at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 13.

Based on the beloved TV classic, Santa and Mrs. Claus, Hermey the Elf, Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster and more come off the screen and onto stage in this wonderful adventure. Tickets start at $33. There’s also a special $30 add-on

DEC. 9-10 Nutcracker in a Nutshell

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 9

EVENTS

WHAT’S HAPPENING

for families. The Cookies with Santa Experience includes cookie decorating, tree ornament decorating, hot chocolate station, a visit from Santa and more.

DEC. 19 THE OAK RIDGE BOYS

DEC. 1-23 6th Annual Handmade at Waterfall Arts

STILL STUMPED? 



Every year The Oak Ridge Boys’ Christmas tour plays to packed houses across North America. This year the group’s widely acclaimed holiday show, “The Oak Ridge Boys’ Christmas Celebration Tour 2017,” will be coming to Orono for an incredible night of holiday favorites and Oak Ridge Boys hits! The full-production show with its beautiful sets, falling snow, and Christmas trees also includes a visit from Santa Claus, as well as songs from the group’s six, best-selling Christmas CDs. Coming Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. to the Collins Center for the Arts in Orono.

Here are the answers to last month’s Pop Quiz.

 

 

 

10 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

Play THIS MONTH’S Pop Quiz on page 13!

PHOTO: BDN FILE



Maine SCIENCE FESTIVAL TO RETURN FOR FOURTH YEAR IN 2018

THE FOURTH ANNUAL Maine Science Festival (MSF) will take place March 15-18, 2018, in Bangor. Events include a Friday Field Trip Day for middle school students, five MSF Showcase events, and workshops, hands-on activities, forums, presentations, films, and exhibits.

In addition to more than 60 events and activities available to festival goers of all ages, free-of-charge, the headliner for the 2018 MSF is sure to be a hit with Mainers who love science and good storytelling. It’s Robert Krulwich, the co-host of Radiolab, WNYC’s Peabody Award-winning program about ‘big ideas’ that is one of public radio’s most popular shows.

Radiolab is carried on more than 500 radio stations and its podcasts are downloaded over 7 million times each month.

“There’s nothing like it on the radio,” says Ira Glass of This American Life. “It’s an act of crazy genius.”

Robert is also the author of the “Curiously Krulwich” blog, featured on National Geographic’s website, where he illustrates hard-to-fathom concepts in science using drawings, cartoons, videos, and more. For 22 years, Krulwich was a science, economics, general assignment and foreign television correspondent at ABC and CBS News, and a frequent host/ reporter on the PBS investigative series, Frontline.

“I like talking about big ideas, and I especially like creating images that will keep those ideas in people’s heads for hours, days, even months,” Krulwich says.

Krulwich’s curiosity and ability to explain complex subjects has made him, as the New York Times said, “a storied figure in public radio history.” TV Guide described him as “the most inventive network reporter in television.” He has won two Peabody Awards and Emmy awards, the AAAS Science Journalism Award, The Extraordinary Communicator Award from the National Cancer Institute, and an Alfred I. Dupont-Columbia Award.

“Robert Krulwich has perfected the art of communicating science in an engaging and thoughtful way, and we cannot wait to have him as our guest on March 17, 2018. When combined with our other programming, there will be no better place to celebrate and learn about Maine science than Bangor, Maine, this coming March,” said Kate Dickerson, Director.

Tickets for An Evening with Robert Krulwich, at the Gracie Theatre, are on sale now. The Gracie Theatre, is a cultural center at Husson University, and is a 490-seat proscenium theater (335 in the orchestra, 165 in the balcony). More information about the MSF and Robert Krulwich can be found on the MSF website: www. mainesciencefestival.org.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 11

EVENTS

SIGHTINGS

HERE’S A LOOK AT JUST A FEW SPECIAL EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH...

1

2

2: Author and illustrator Matt Tavares demonstrates drawing techniques to children’s book enthusiasts at the Bangor Book Festival, held Saturday, Oct. 14,

at the Bangor Public Library.

His latest book “Red and Lulu” is an Obsessions pick for December on page 18.

3: Held annually in more than 600 communities nationwide, the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research.

3

12 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

PHOTOS: (1 & 3) JEFF KIRLIN, THE THING OF THE MOMENT (FACEBOOK.COM/THETHINGOFTHEMOMENT); (2) GIBRAN VOGUE GRAHAM

1: The Bangor Chamber held its October After Hours event at the Bangor Daily News, where staff posed for a photo.

Left to right: Rosemary Lausier, Jennifer Holmes, Sarah Walker Caron, Jeanne Luetjen and Kimberly Gonzales.

A Holly Jolly Reindeer Quiz!

How much do you know about Rudolph and friends? Play online at bangormetro.com for your chance to win a FREE one-year subscription to Bangor Metro!

4 5

4: Dirigo Speaks presented a scene reading and discussion of “The Dogs Pond,” the newest play by Orono playwright Travis G. Baker at the Bangor Public Library.

5: Participants gather downtown for the 6th annual Bangor Walks to End Abuse hosted

by Partners for Peace, formerly Spruce RunWomancare Alliance.

6: The annual PICA (Power In Community Alliances) Auction recently raised funds to support work for social justice in Maine and to help support Bangor’s sister city of Carasque, El Salvador.

PHOTOS: JEFF KIRLIN, THE THING OF THE MOMENT

6

FIND ANSWERS TO LAST MONTH’S POP QUIZ ON PAGE 10! www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 13

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Q&A

THE BASIC ELEMENTS

of photography Artist Caleb Charland talks about his creative process.

BY EMILY BURNHAM

14 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

CALEB CHARLAND, a Hampden native, is a world-renowned photographer — but not of people, or places, or real-life scenes in the world. Rather, he uses the basic elements of science and everyday visual phenomena to create vivid photographs of simple things like plants, lightbulbs, toys, glass, and metal. In one series of photographs, he used potatoes, citrus and apples to create “fruit batteries,” to power little lights. In another, he used a long-exposure camera to take a photo of the stars moving in the sky. He flicked a lighter over 1,500 times to create a flaming ball of light. The result? Richly colored, deeply meditative, oddly compelling images of the natural world.

Charland, 36, lives and work in Brewer. His next show, “Shadows of Earth,” opens Jan. 12 at the University of Maine Museum of Art in Bangor.

Photography is scientific, in a way. But you’re capturing and recording things, not actually constructing something by hand, like you would if you were painting. I wanted to do that with photography.

WHAT ARE YOUR EARLIEST MEMORIES OF BEING CREATIVE? AS A KID, WHAT INSPIRED YOU? I grew up in a DIY household, and that had a huge influence on me — seeing my dad construct things, learning how to use tools. That more pragmatic construction process was a big thing for me. My older brother draws and paints and teaches middle school art, now, and my uncle is a graphic designer, and my grandma painted. It was always around. I could never really draw well, though I always liked art class. I got a camera as a kid and I loved it. And then, when the Maine College of Art hosted classes at Hampden Academy, I took a photo class and really fell in love. I was always in the dark room.

HOW DID YOU END UP UTILIZING THINGS LIKE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, CHEMICALS, BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS TO CREATE PHOTOGRAPHS? WHEN DID THAT BECOME YOUR PREFERRED MEDIUM? Photography is scientific, in a way. But you’re capturing and recording things, not actually constructing something by hand, like you would if you were painting. I wanted to do that with photography. When I moved home to Maine, in between undergraduate and graduate [studies], I actually thought I might pursue medical radiology. I took a year of classes at EMCC and was learning all this science, and I was also working on the house with my dad, and I just think all of that really inspired me. And that’s really where it started, just experimenting with those ideas and with photography.

WHEN YOU’RE WORKING, WHAT DO YOU DO TO STAY IN THE RIGHT PLACE, CREATIVELY? HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR IDEAS AND INSPIRATIONS IN ORDER? The past couple years, I’ve tried to do an hour-long walk in the morning, at like 6 a.m. It’s like walking meditation. I think about procedures I’m going to do that day. I tinker a lot, too. I keep a sketchbook with project ideas in it. Actually, there’s something I just worked on that’s actually an idea from several years ago, and I’m just getting to it now.

WHAT’S UP NEXT FOR YOU? Right now, I’m photographing leaves and plants. So I’ll go to the library and start reading about plants ... I’ve also got a show coming up at the University of Maine Museum of Art, and that’s really exciting. It’s been in the works for a long time. But really, I’m focused on making work. I’m taking it slow. I’m letting it breathe, taking my time. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 15

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

OBSESSIONS

OBSESSIONS WHAT WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS MONTH.

BOARD GAME SETTLERS OF CATAN Monopoly is a strategy game involving trading, planning, plotting and sometimes revenge. It can be a great time for ruthless adults that haven’t grown tired of its decades old formula, however I would wager it is a patience testing event for children. Enter Settlers of Catan. Often shortened to “Settlers” or “Catan,” this board game retains the importance of strategy and trade from a game like Monopoly, while offering fresh variations every time you play it through its randomly generated board layout. The primary goal is to build “settlements” on the game board by collecting and spending resource cards each turn. Players earn points based on the number of settlements they build (as well as other goals) and win when a predetermined point total is achieved.

While it may seem complicated to first time players and observers, it has a fairly gentle learning curve with basic concepts, and should be easy for anyone aged 10 and older to understand. Settlers is easy to learn, provides numerous ways to keep itself fresh through randomization, and easily appeals to both older children and adults alike. Every board game loving home should have a copy of this award winning phenomenon.

—BEN CYR

THEATRE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST AT PENOBSCOT THEATRE It’s a tale as old as time — or maybe it’s just a tradition my daughter and I started a few years ago: dressing up and taking my mother out for a girls night at the theater or ballet.

There’s no better way to get in the holiday spirit than getting a little fancy and seeing a show. And we’re super excited this year to surprise her (well, maybe not such a surprise now) with tickets to Beauty and the Beast at Penobscot Theatre. The musical is set for Dec. 7-30, and features the fantastic Disney music and story.

Everyone

take note :

I’m adding

this game to

my Christmas list this year!

16 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

This holiday tradition started a few years ago when we went to see Penobscot Theatre’s production of “The Wizard of Oz” — my personal favorite — and continued last year with “The Nutcracker” ballet at the Collins Center for the Arts. The Robinson Ballet combined with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra is pretty much perfect for kicking off the holiday season (the ballet returns to the Collins this year Dec. 16-17).

Which ever show you choose this season, just be sure to get your tickets early as these are both bound to be big hits.

PHOTOS: MICHAEL BLANN/THINKSTOCK; ©S99/ADOBESTOCK

—AMY ALLEN

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 17

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

OBSESSIONS

OBSESSIONS WHAT WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS MONTH.

BOOKS “A GOOD LIFE: NEWSPAPERING AND OTHER ADVENTURES,”

by Ben Bradlee — Legendary Washington Post Editor Ben Bradlee is best known for his role in the Washington Post’s coverage of the Watergate scandal. He was the editor overseeing Bob Woodward’s and Carl Bernstein’s series of stories on Watergate, and he also challenged the federal government arguing that the Post had a right to publish the Pentagon Papers. But his career was so much longer and broader than that. In the newly released edition of this memoir, which was first published in 1996, the late Bradlee’s words about his storied career serve as an inspiration to many a journalist. And now there’s also a new foreword by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and an afterword by Sally Quinn, his widow. A must-read for anyone who loves news and freedom of the press.

“THE REMEDY FOR LOVE,” by Bill Roorbach — Originally published in 2014, this novel follows two unlikely folks as they end up riding out a harsh winter storm together in a cold cabin. Eric is a small-town lawyer in Maine; Danielle is a young woman, unkempt and appearing to be homeless. This is a moving tale of survival, truth and humanity. This is the book you won’t be able to put down this season.

“RED AND LULU,” by Matt Tavares — Birds Red and Lulu live in a cozy nest in a beautiful evergreen tree. But one day, the pair are separated as the tree is taken away, moved to a giant city for a special celebration.

This is a story of life, the magic of the holiday season and the power of love. Perfect for reading to kids this holiday season.

—SARAH WALKER CARON

CELEBRATION

Farmington celebrates its own Chester Greenwood, inventor of the earmuff, on the first Saturday of December each year. Greenwood is famous for inventing the earmuff in 1873 at the age of 15.

Events include a parade (featuring lots of earmuffs), sales at downtown businesses, a Polar Bear Club dip in Clearwater Lake, and lots of samples from local eateries. And don’t miss the holiday craft fair at the Farmington American Legion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

I love to go to this event because it really gets you into the holiday spirit. All of the events are within walking distance of each other and another plus is that there are several local restaurants to pick from when you need to rest your feet!

—BARB MOWER 18 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

PHOTOS: SIRINTRA_PUMSOPA, SEB_RA/THINKSTOCK

CHESTER GREENWOOD DAY SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2 IN FARMINGTON

FOOD & DRINK

OBSESSIONS

OBSESSIONS WHAT WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS MONTH.

COFFEE ROYAL TAR BLEND 44 NORTH Named for the Royal Tar circus ship, which sank off of the coast of Deer Isle, Maine, in 1836, this bold dark roast is a three bean blend with undertones of Swiss chocolate, fruit and nut. It’s perfect to begin a brisk Maine winter morning — and even better when brewed in a French press. Coffee roaster 44 North was created on the small coastal fishing community of Deer Isle, Maine, in 2010 by two local women, Melissa Raftery and Megan Wood. It prides itself in sourcing organic ethically fair trade beans from around the globe. Royal Tar is a favorite, but also try their Sumatra and Ethiopia-Sidamo blends, as well as another favorite, their Cáscara (meaning ‘skin’ or ‘husk’ in Spanish, it’s the outer peel of the coffee cherry) brewed hot or cold. Available in many local specialty shops including Bangor Wine & Cheese and The Natural Living Center, or visit 44northcoffee.com.

—MARCIE COOMBS

BEER DEMERITT MSB BLACK BEAR BREWING DeMeritt MSB is the new Maine Spruce Beer from Black Bear Brewing Co. in Orono. I’ve tried beer from many different Maine breweries, but I’ve never had anything like this.

This spruce beer is light and crisp. You can taste a hint of pine but it’s not overwhelming or overly fragrant.

Black Bear Brewing Co. brews this pale ale with Maine maple syrup and Maine Malt from Mapleton. The spruce comes from sprigs of new growth tips from locally sourced spruce trees in collaboration with the University of Maine Forestry Department.

It’s a great holiday beer — and affordable for a crowd. Plus it’s easy to take home in a growler. It’s the ultimate Maine beer and spruce tree carnival for your tastebuds.

—CALLIE PICARD

20 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

WINE

THE BANISHED 19 CRIMES

BAKERY

PHOTOS: (COFFEE, BEER, PINE, WINE) VILLAGEMOON, LOVETHEWIND, SERGII FIGURNYI, MARIUSZBLACH/THINKSTOCK; (BAGEL) CORALIE CROSS

CHEESE BAGELS LOGICAL SIP CAFE AND BAKERY Housemade cheese bagels are a wonderful way to start off your morning. Have one toasted with cream cheese, butter or as a breakfast sandwich! Because I pass Logical Sip on my way to work, a cheese bagel and coffee have become a staple of my morning routine at least once or twice a week. I enjoy them more than the bagels I could get at the local fast food restaurants.

These yummy bagels are made fresh daily, and feature a hint of cheese without being overwhelmingly cheesy.

Not into cheese bagels? Logical Sip has lots of other homemade bagels to choose from each day.

No joke -- she

eats these bagels

I have to confess: I only bought 19 Crimes wine because the labels caught my eye.

But behind those labels are some really lovely wines. The Red Wine Blend, The Banished and The Uprising were perfect for a dinner party I hosted.

But it was The Banished that I loved the most.

This rich wine is fruity but not sweet. 19 Crimes describes it as “Like the wine rations served on convict ships, every sip deserves to be savored.”

But I would be remiss if I didn’t admit to really loving The Uprising too, which is a red wine aged in rum barrels for 30 days. It’s dark, smoky and rich — a lovely homage to Australia’s “Rum Rebellion.”

every day. And they’re delish.

—SARAH WALKER CARON The name

comes from the 19

crimes British rogues could commit to get

themselves banished to Australia.

—CORALIE CROSS www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 21

FOOD & DRINK

IN SEASON NOW

In Season Now:

SWEET POTATOES

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Crispy Pancetta Veggie Topping Serves 4 4 medium sweet potatoes 4 oz. diced pancetta 4 shallots, peeled, halved and sliced (a scant 1/2 cup) 2 small carrots, small diced (a scant 2/3 cup) ¼ cup small diced green pepper salt and pepper, to taste Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash and scrub the sweet potatoes. Prick each four times with a fork. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until tender. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Cut a cross in the top of each potato. Squeeze to open. Use a fork to mash the flesh. Season with salt and pepper and mix.

In a large skillet, cook the pancetta until browned. Remove the crisp pancetta to a mixing bowl, and drain the rendered fat from the pan, reserving 2 tablespoons in the pan.

Add the shallots, carrots and green peppers to the pan and saute until crisp and browned, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and add the veggies to the pancetta. Mix well.

Divide the topping evenly among the sweet potatoes. Enjoy.

22 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

“TWO SWEETS,” Burt Jefferson says to the walkabout food vendor at the skating pond in the 1942 movie “The Man Who Came To Dinner.” By sweets he means sweet potatoes, served hot in waxed paper as a snack.

In the black and white film, Jefferson, played by Richard Travis, and Maggie, played by Bette Davis, have just stepped off the skating pond. They proceed to eat the sweet potatoes with their hands — like you might enjoy a hot pretzel — while sitting next to a bonfire.

There’s something fascinating about the scene. Sweet potatoes are mainstream enough to be served as hot glazed nuts or street hot dogs might be. And yet, the character of Maggie says something that hints about the sophistication of the vegetable: “That’s what they serve at 21 with pineapple glace.”

You don’t need to be in a black and white film — or at a fancy restaurant — to enjoy sweet potatoes though. And since they are in season right now, you can get locally grown ones to enjoy.

But first, let’s clear up a few things.

Sweet potatoes are not actually potatoes at all. This edible root belongs to the morning glory family. Yes, like the flowers.

Also, don’t confuse sweet potatoes with yams, although they are sometimes incorrectly called yams in the United States. Real yams tend to be drier than sweet potatoes and come from a different plant species. Moreover, real yams are seldom grown (or sold) in the United States. Those canned ones that say “Yams” in big letters?

They’re really sweet potatoes.

Speaking of sweet potatoes, this nutritious vegetable is high in beta carotene and vitamins E and C. And it’s a good source of fiber too — as long as you eat the sweet potato’s skin.

According to The New Food Lover’s Companion, sweet potatoes are best stored in dark, dry places around 55 degrees Fahrenheit. And they should be eaten pretty quickly — within a week of purchase or so.

Now, who wants some sweets?

SARAH WALKER CARON is a Bangor-based food writer and a senior editor for the Bangor Daily News. She is also author of Sarah’s Cucina Bella food blog (www.sarahscucinabella.com) and a cookbook: “Grains as Mains: Modern Recipes Using Ancient Grains.”

PHOTOS: (TOP) TAB1962/THINKSTOCK; (RECIPE) SARAH WALKER CARON

BY SARAH WALKER CARON

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 23

FOOD & DRINK

Jammie

PHOTO: EUROBANKS/THINKSTOCK

DODGERS

24 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

The British cookie that became our family favorite.

BY ROSEMARY LAUSIER

DESPITE WORKING AT a bakery, my culinary expertise ends at the Pillsbury Ready to Bake cookies. I forget to add sugar to muffins, butter in cookies — I can’t be trusted. Especially around the holidays.

Lucky for my family, my sister Anne Marie is the baking extraordinaire. When she was 5 and got her Easy Bake Oven, she quickly got bored because she wanted to make real food. It’s no surprise that she turned into a holiday baking fiend.

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bundt cake, brownie chews, peanut butter kisses, breakfast melts, cinnamon rolls, you name it, she makes it. But it wasn’t until after she spent a semester studying abroad at Royal Holloway University in England that she started making what is now our favorite holiday dessert: the Jammie Dodger cookie.

It was after watching the quintessential British show, Dr. Who, that Anne Marie became familiar with the cookie, or biscuits as the British call them. While she was in England, her friends made a huge effort to get her to try popular British snacks and treats such as crumpets, bourbon creams, chocolate digestives and, of course, Jammie Dodgers which are pre-packaged by Burton’s Biscuit Company.

Missing her friends when she came home from Christmas break, Anne Marie decided to make the British-themed dessert for the holidays. Although she liked the British Jammie Dodgers, she thought they would be even better homemade.

She bought star-shaped cookie cutters — dodgers are traditionally circular — and she used her favorite cookie recipe book “Got Milk? the Cookie Book” by Peggy Cullen for the shortbread recipe. Between the shapes and different recipe, my sister has managed to make this British “biscuit” into an American family’s favorite treat.

It was interesting, that first year, to try something we had never heard of for the holiday. But they are absolutely delicious.

Nothing is more exciting for me on Christmas Eve than to finally eat a Jammie Dodger cookie and just have that cookie melt in your mouth. Shortbread is such a classic, childhood favorite for so many people — it’s perfect to make for the holidays. Having the jam adds an extra kick to it as well.

Although my sister has been making Jammie Dodgers for six years, they continue to be a huge hit. Everyone loves them. Jammie Dodgers are not traditionally made at Christmas, but they have become a Christmas cookie for us. You can make any kind of dessert any day of the year, but not Jammie Dodgers. Since we only make them this one time a year, the excitement that builds up to the actual baking process makes the cookie that much more special.

For Anne Marie, making Jammie Dodgers is a reminder of a special time in her life. There are different foods and desserts that she makes for us, but it’s always the ones that everyone enjoys that she’s the happiest to make. I know how much she misses her time over there, so it’s important that we make these because they keep us connected to her friends and a country that we all love during this special time of the year. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 25

FOOD & DRINK

The counter at Mary’s Diner in Washburn.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ROSEMARY LAUSIER

Rosemary’s sister Anne Marie prepares her holiday treat.

26 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

JAMMIE DODGERS Yields about 3 dozen cookie sandwiches (Using a 2-inch cookie cutter) Jammie Dodgers are pretty simple, they are sandwich cookies made with two pieces of shortbread with jam in the middle.

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup superfine sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour Raspberry jam (optional, can use any kind) 1. Set the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Soften unsalted butter to room temperature.

3. Mix the sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. However, don’t over mix. Sift in the flour, mix and knead it together into a smooth ball.

Wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour. It should be cold and firm, but not too hard to roll and shape.

4. On a lightly floured surface, knead one section of dough and flatten into a patty with a rolling pin. Once the dough is rolled out, cut the cookies using whatever shaped cookie cutter you like. The shapes should be cut as close together as possible. Press the scraps together, reroll them out and repeat.

5. For half of the cookies, use a smaller sized cookie cutter to make an opening in the center. With a flat edge, transfer them all on a greased pan for 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

6. Once the cookies are cooled, it is time to assemble. Take a cookie, put jam in the middle, and place one of the cookies with an opening in the center on top. Enjoy!

ANNE MARIE’S TIPS AND TRICKS: • Use a flat frosting knife to lift the shortbread pieces off of the working surface and onto the cookie sheet.

• Section off the dough in fourths so that you can knead the dough while the others stay cold. The butter can warm up from your hands, so stick it back in the fridge if it gets too soft.

• Keep flouring the rolling pins, cookie cutters, hands and knife to keep the dough from getting sticky.

• Use a cooking rack right after they bake to get a more even temperature.

• If you’re not eating them until the next day, wait to assemble the cookies. The jam causes the cookie to soften, but it’s all about preference (I like eating them that way).

• Use jam that hasn’t been opened or refrigerated. Cold jam doesn’t mix well with a warm cookie.

• Have two cookie sheets so that one is already in the oven while you are placing the dough on the other. Only put one cookie sheet in at a time so that the color is even throughout.

• Use any jam you like. Raspberry is excellent as is black current if you can get your hands on it. You can get some at Bridgham & Cook, Ltd. in Freeport. But red is colorful for Christmas.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 27

HEALTH & FITNESS

HIKE ME

Hikes for the H O L I D AY S Feel festive on these three trails. STORY & PHOTOS BY AISLINN SARNACKI THE PICNIC TABLE is coated with a thin, fluffy layer of snow that stirs as a wind gust sweeps in from the open ledge. It’s a pretty sight, the snow swirling and sparkling in the sun, but the hikers don’t notice — they’re busy taking in the stunning view of Moosehead Lake, silvery blue under a cloudy December sky. The first of many outlooks on Little Moose Mountain, the picnicking spot is the perfect place for a water break.

Stepping back from the ledge to the shelter of a dense evergreen forest, the two hikers unfold their trail map and hold it between them, tracing the long line that represents the Little Moose Mountain Trail. It travels along the mountain’s long ridge, east to west, visiting a number of outlooks and peaks. They’ll turn around at a highpoint of the ridge around 2,000 feet above sea level, they decide, and if they keep up a good pace, they’ll be back to downtown Greenville in plenty of time to grab hot chocolates at Northwood Outfitters and do some holiday shopping.

Full of balsam fir trees, the forest smells of Christmas. The fresh snow is crisscrossed with the tracks of snowshoe hares and squirrels. After tucking away their map, the hikers continue on their way, their ice cleats biting into the fresh snow as they follow the blue blazes up the mountain.

28 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

LITTLE MOOSE MOUNTAIN CHALLENGING RISING JUST OVER 2,000 feet above sea level near the southwest shore of Moosehead Lake, Little Moose Mountain forms a long ridge that towers above scenic ponds, then arcs slightly north as if reaching toward its sister mountain, Big Moose. This mountain is easily accessible in the winter, and the well-maintained and marked trail that explores its ridge is great for hiking and snowshoeing both. In addition, this mountain is covered with mostly evergreen trees, which keep their deep green needles year round, sheltering hikers from the elements.

The mountain is located in the state-owned 1,500-acre Little Moose Public Reserved Land Unit, and the trails that run over the mountain also connect with trails that lead to nearby ponds and backcountry campsites. Altogether, the trail network totals about 9 miles.

Because Little Moose Mountain has a long ridge with multiple peaks and viewpoints, hikers have many options for turn-around points. For example, hiking 4 miles, up the ridge of Little Moose Mountain and back to the trailhead, you’ll come to 10 viewpoints that offer different perspectives of the Moosehead Region.

Access is free, and dogs are permitted. For information, visit maine.gov/littlemoose or call 207-778-8231.

Giant icicles hang from cliffs beside the hiking trail that leads up and over Little Moose Mountain.

DIRECTIONS: Check to see if new parking lot is open. The easternmost trailhead, which is accessible by vehicle in the winter, is used to hike along the mountain’s ridge starting from the northeast. To get there from the major intersection of Route 15 and Lily Bay Road in downtown Greenville, turn west on Route 15/6 (Pritham Avenue) and drive 2.9 miles, around the west side of Moosehead Lake, then turn left into the parking lot of Moose Mountain Inn. The trailhead kiosk and trailhead parking is located on the east side of the inn’s parking lot. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 29

HEALTH & FITNESS

HIKE ME

GREAT POND MOUNTAIN MODERATE TOPPING OFF AT 1,020 feet above sea level, Great Pond Mountain is the tallest and most prominent mountain in the 4,300-acre Great Pond Mountain Wildlands in Orland. With open ledges near its summit that offer great views of the region, this mountain features the most popular hike in the Wildlands, which is home to a vast network of hiking and multi-use trails.

The trail for this mountain is open year round and is a popular snowshoeing destination. Starting from the parking lot, which is consistently plowed in the winter, the hike to the top of the mountain and back down is about 2.5 miles and includes gradual climbing over bare bedrock, stone staircases, uneven terrain, exposed tree roots and a few soggy sections of trail (which in the winter will be frozen solid). While the majority of the trail is well marked and easy to follow, the trail can be difficult to follow at the top of the mountain, where it forms a loop and travels over exposed bedrock.

Hiking with a GPS would be advisable so you can confidently 30 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

explore this area of the mountain, enjoy spectacular views, then find the trail once more to descend the mountain.

Access is free, and dogs are permitted on leash. For information, call the GPMCT office at 207-469-7190 or e-mail info@ greatpondtrust.org.

DIRECTIONS: From Route 1-Route 3 (Acadia Highway) in east Orland, turn onto Hatchery Road, which is a little more than a mile west of the intersection of Route 1-Route 3 and Route 15. Drive 1.4 miles and you’ll pass by the Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery on your left, then the road takes a bend to the right and becomes Nature Trails Road (also known as Don Fish Road). Drive 0.5 mile and you’ll be at the Dead River Gate. Park here in the winter when the rest of the road is not plowed. However, if the road is open, continue past Dead River Gate for just over 0.5 mile and you’ll reach the Great Pond Mountain Trailhead and parking area.

Derek Runnells of Brewer snowshoes up the Stuart Gross Path to the Great Pond Mountain Trail in Orland. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 31

HEALTH & FITNESS

HIKE ME A narrow bridge helps walkers travel a soggy section of the historic trail network at Woodlawn.

WOODLAWN EASY BUILT BY COLONEL John Black in the 1820s, Woodlawn was home to three generations of the family before a descendent willed the estate to the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations in 1928. Now the historic property is home to a museum that hosts a variety of public programs and workshops, and the 180 acres surrounding the home features a network of trails that total 2.5 miles and form three loops.

Initially, Woodlawn’s trails were built in the 1800s as exercise tracks for the Black’s family horses. Later, automobiles were driven on them, but today, you’ll see no evidence of that.

32 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

The relatively wide trails, off limits to vehicles, are used by the public for walking, running, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. And benches along the trails provide comfortable places to rest and observe wildlife.

While the Woodlawn Museum closes on Oct. 31, it reopens in December for holiday tours, high teas and traditional Christmas feasts. Call ahead and plan your visit, combining a refreshing walk on the trails with one of these festive museum events.

Access to the trails are free, and dogs are permitted on leash no longer than 8 feet. For information, visit woodlawnmuseum.org or call 207-667-8671.

For more of Aislinn Sarnacki’s adventures, visit her blog at actoutwithaislinn.bangordailynews.com.

Follow her on Twitter: @1minhikegirl.

Her new guidebook, “Family-Friendly Hikes in Maine,” released in May 2017, is available at local bookstores, Down East Books and online booksellers.

DIRECTIONS: Woodlawn is located at 19 Black House Drive in Ellsworth. To get there, start at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 172 (also known as Surry Road) in Ellsworth. Drive approximately 0.25 mile on Surry Road and turn right onto Black House Drive, which is marked with a big white sign that reads “Woodlawn Museum, Garden & Park.” Follow signs to the large parking area at the end of the drive.

It’s

TIME

Subscribe to BANGOR METRO! bangormetro.com

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 33

HEALTH & FITNESS

34 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

Sad Songs SAY SO MUCH

PHOTO: HIGHWAYSTARZ-PHOTOGRAPHY/THINKSTOCK

Finding hope and a happy ending in the face of depression. BY EMILY MORRISON IT’S SO EASY to get caught up in the minutia of being the Rain” a listen. There is nothing more poetically mortal. Your dog dies, depression ensues. Your husband tragic than images of gates rusting, children aging and forgets to put the dishes in the sink every, blissful, day. houses creaking in the rain.

Separation may be for the best. Your kids forget to Thinking about all the ways life disappoints us in our pick up their underwear, shoes, clothes, towels, books, own happy homes or in the cruel, cruel world is enough book bags, band instruments, fidget spinners, iPads, to send most people spiraling into sporadic depression. iPods, iEverything all over your home. Are there any My mom battled manic depression for four years while child labor farms left in Maine? Really, there are so I was in high school, so I know a fair bit about what many frustrating little knickerdepression looks like before twisters in this world, it can it’s diagnosed or medicated. be hard to separate the real She knew that something felt MY MOM BATTLED MANIC stressors from the onslaught wrong, but she didn’t know DEPRESSION FOR FOUR YEARS of aggravations that crop up what. I thought by making WHILE I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, in our day-to-day lives. her happy with me, I could SO I KNOW A FAIR BIT ABOUT I start my days early now, make her happier in general. way earlier than I used to When you’re a kid, you don’t WHAT DEPRESSION LOOKS LIKE when the babies were babies, often think of your parents BEFORE IT’S DIAGNOSED OR and I was just a baby myself. as people with problems that MEDICATED. SHE KNEW THAT It’s hard to drag my sorry have nothing to do with you.

SOMETHING FELT WRONG, BUT carcass out of bed at 5 a.m., Don’t get me wrong — I SHE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT. but that’s why Baby Jesus always knew my mother loved invented the magical “snooze” me. Her love was never a button on my iPhone. I tap it question. She sang the “I love at least once a morning, perk a cup of coffee and ingest you a bushel and a peck song” to me, and we added eight lady vitamins before I hit the road for my morning our own twist at the end. “Without you, I couldn’t wog (walk/jog). As I sit at the counter in the dim laptop live, and that’s true, boop-boop-be-doop.” The kitchen light, I scan through the day’s headlines. was cold in the mornings, but she shared the only heat Sad, sad and more sad stuff to read: Man kills vent, huddling me into the folds of her blue bathrobe family, pedophile on parole and teen dies in a car as the warmth bubbled up between us. At night, she crash. Sort of reminds me of a lyric from one of my read “Little House on the Prairie” to Mary and I while father’s favorite songs he sang to my sister and me we winced at the spikes on her legs when it had been a when we were kids, “The old world is dying in the particularly hairy week. rain.” If you haven’t heard the musical stylings of “You’ve got those spikes again, Mumma!” I’d remind Glenn Yarbrough, you simply must give “Rusting in her. She’d laugh and tell me, “It’s just hair, Emmy.” www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 35

HEALTH & FITNESS

36 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

Despite the mania she silently lived through in her own mind, my mom was a great mom.

Years after she’d stopped reading to us, shortly after I graduated from high school, the doctors finally connected the dots between her sleeplessness and hypomania, her inability to “shut her motor off” as she called it. They diagnosed her with bipolar disorder (a label that for nearly two decades she never discussed with family or friends for fear they would think she was crazy). A couple of years ago, I asked her to tell me about what she endured all those years before she was diagnosed. Her mouth did that half-smile, half-frown it does sometimes when I can tell she’s holding back emotion.

“I’ve never told anyone my story because no one’s ever asked,” she said.

For two weeks, while I rented a camp at the lake in our hometown (over coffee in the morning and wine at night) Mom told me her story. She went all the way back to her childhood and shared with me the struggles she faced when she was just a girl. Then, as an adult, she recounted two psychotic episodes, two sabbaticals from work, one hospital stay, months of counseling and adjusting her meds and finally, her quiet return to land of the living. I was amazed that one person could weather so much inner turmoil and not curl up into a ball of self-pity and despair.

I was also amazed that I never knew any of this because my mother thought there was something wrong with admitting there was something wrong with her.

PHOTO: PDQ1000/THINKSTOCK

IT’S NORMAL TO FEEL LIKE YOU’RE SINKING UNDER THE WEIGHT OF A MILLION DIFFERENT WORRIES SOMETIMES, BUT YOU SHOULD NEVER BE AFRAID TO TELL PEOPLE HOW YOU’RE FEELING, ESPECIALLY IF YOU CAN’T SHAKE THOSE SAD FEELINGS OFF. Isn’t that the saddest thing you’ve ever heard? My mom felt like admitting she had a chemical imbalance in her bloodstream was her fault. What’s even sadder is all that time she felt like her hormones were her fault, I felt like it was mine. I had no idea when she told me to “pick up my shoes” and “put away the clothes” she hadn’t slept in three months. I didn’t know when I was going out to Friendly’s on Friday nights, smoking cigarillos with my girlfriends, she was too busy surviving to leave out milk and cookies for me when I got home. If I had only kept my room neater, washed my clothes more often, not left the “trail of Emily” everywhere I went, maybe her life would’ve been easier.

So what’s the deal with all this depression stuff, right? Why am I telling you this? Because she made it. My mother, the most private French-Canadian Catholic woman you’ll ever meet, is allowing me to tell you all of this because she made it, and she wants other people to make it, too. There’s too much sorrow in this world to be ashamed about talking about living through it. After her diagnosis, my mom taught for 10 more years and did a damn good job. She is the pillar of our family, a doting Meme to her five grandkids and a one woman cleaning SWAT team (God love her industrious heart). On days when she feels like venturing out into the big city, my sister and I meet her for a little retail therapy and hit the Bangor Mall like the magnificent mecca it still is.

Yes, there’s sad, sad and more sad stuff to read, but there are also stories like this, where the sad stuff turns happy, where depression doesn’t have to drag you or your loved ones down, where people overcome the stuff they thought they never could and go on to lead happy, fulfilling lives doing happy, fulfilling things. It’s normal to feel like you’re sinking under the weight of a million different worries sometimes, but you should never be afraid to tell people how you’re feeling, especially if you can’t shake those sad feelings off.

Life’s too short not to share our pain with each other, and too beautiful not to rejoice when the pain goes away. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 37

HOW TO

MAKE CANDY ORNAMENTS

Have a

SWEET HOLIDAY Sticky and sweet holiday crafting fun. STORY & PHOTOS BY AMY ALLEN WE WERE OFF TO A ROUGH START when our first round of candy ornaments refused to budge from the cookie cutters. Not a great way to start what was supposed to be a pretty simple craft project. But that’s why we try (and perfect) these projects before sharing.

We (almost) always enjoy making these crafts, and when candy is part of the mix, the kids seem more than willing to participate. These ornaments are not only pretty, but edible, and would be a fun addition to a holiday cookie swap or hanging on your tree if you don’t have pets or don’t mind your ornaments getting licked every now and then.

After batch one went awry (don’t let the candy harden completely in the molds, FYI), we figured out a better way to make these with far fewer candy casualities. Follow the stepby-step directions at right — basically melting a puddle of Jolly Ranchers and pressing the cookie cutters into the warm candy. Work quickly and in small batches — the candy was cooled enough to touch and work with (even for small hands) in just a few minutes. You can punch out solid color ornaments or mix colors for a rainbow effect. For the tree, we punched out small dots, let them cool, then melted another batch of green for the tree and pressed the dots into the green candy while it was still warm.

Prepare to get sticky, eat about a million Jolly Ranchers, and have lots of fun.

38 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

What you’ll need: • Jolly Rancher hard candies

• Cookie cutters and frosting tips (or something to make small circles) • Toothpicks • Parchment paper • Cooking spray • Ribbon

Try this project at home and share the results on our Facebook page!

STEP-BY-STEP 1. Spray your cookie cutters with cooking spray to help prevent sticking. We also sprayed the end of the toothpicks we used to make the holes and the frosting tips used to make the dots. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Sometimes a “How Not To”

tip is just as useful.

We do not recommend letting your candy

ornaments fully harden

in the cookie cutters.

No amount of cooking spray

seemed to be enough to get

them out without breaking.

2. Unwrap and cluster like-colored Jolly Rancher candies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes to melt the candy. Be careful not to overcook and burn them!

3. Press your cookie cutters into the melted candy.

Wiggle them a bit to make sure they cut all the way through. For the Christmas tree lights, we used frosting tips to create small circles, let them cool, then melted green candies for the tree and pushed the dots in.

4. While the candy is still warm and pliable, use a toothpick to poke a hole for hanging. Peel the outside candy off, and gently push the shape out and let the ornament cool completely before adding ribbon for hanging.

We won’t admit how many

Jolly Ranchers were consumed in the making of this project.

HOW TO

MAKE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Make your own

Spreading holiday cheer at home and with troops around the country.

BY ABIGAIL CURTIS

40 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

MELBA FISHER OF Fisher’s Christmas Tree Farm in Belfast is part of a small army of hardworking Maine ladies who make 3,000 homemade ornaments every year. Those ornaments, along with 300 Maine-grown Christmas trees, are shipped off to servicemen and women stationed at different military bases around the country through the Maine Christmas Tree Association.

The ornaments are made of readily available materials, including felt, wood, beads, dry macaroni and popsicle sticks, and need to be easy to make by the dozen and also look good on a tree.

She and the other ornament makers are always accepting donations or offers of help, and don’t do it for the thanks they receive. Still, they love hearing from the servicemen and women who have been recipients of the trees and ornaments, and Fisher recalls how special it was to hear from the parent of a Maine soldier who got a tree from his home state.

“His mom called, and said he’s away from home, and yet home is with him,” she said. “It just makes your heart feel good.”

One of her favorite ornament designs is for a small, sparkly Christmas tree made of felt squares piled on top of each other and topped off by a cheerful bead. Fisher found it in a magazine and has made some tweaks to simplify the design.

“Simple is good,” she said.

PHOTOS:(TOP) ABIGAIL CURTIS: (FELT, BEADS, RIBBON) WINNIEAPPLE, JULIA KAPTELOVA, AZGEK/THINKSTOCK

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

What you’ll need:

• Craft felt sheets in three colors: brown, white and either red or green.

• Embroidery floss • Tapestry needle • Spray glitter • Bead for the top of the tree — Fisher uses a plain bead but others can use a star bead.

• Scissors to cut the felt

Directions:

Cut four squares each from the green or red felt and one square from the white felt in these sizes: 2-inch, 1 3/4-inch, 1 1/2-inch, 1-inch and 3/4-inch. Cut four additional 1/2-inch squares from the green or red felt, and four 3/4 inch wide circles from the brown felt (this will be the trunk).

Stack the brown felt circles and use the tapestry needle threaded with embroidery floss to stitch through the middle of the circles, making a knot to secure it at the bottom. Do not cut the floss.

Now, stack the four 2-inch squares of colored felt and one 2-inch square of white felt on top of the trunk, staggering the corners. Pull the needle through the center of the stacked squares to keep them in place, then keep on going. You will stack four colored felt squares and one white felt square on top of each other with staggered corners, starting with the largest size and ending with the smallest, always stitching through the center of the squares. At the top, stack the smallest colored squares of felt on top of everything.

At the top of the tree, stitch a bead in place and tie off the embroidery floss, leaving a loop that’s long enough to hang the ornament from the tree.

When it’s finished, decorate the tree with the can of spray glitter.

Every holiday season, Melba Fisher of Fisher’s Christmas Tree Farm in Belfast and other women around the state volunteer their time to create 3,000 handmade ornaments to send to servicemen and women stationed around the country through the Maine Christmas Tree Association.

HOME & FAMILY

42 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

Jingle PAWS? What you should know before giving a puppy or kitten for Christmas.

BY JULIA BAYLY

But should animals even be considered as part of a holiday gift exchange?

As far as Santa and the Bangor Humane Society are concerned, as long the recipient is on the nice-not-naughty list and is prepared for the responsibility of a new fuzzy family member, it’s a perfectly good idea.

“Our thoughts are they can be good gifts,” said Stacey Coventry, director of development and public relations at the Bangor Humane Society located at 693 Mount Hope Avenue in Bangor. “There is really no evidence if you give a pet as a gift that it will end up coming back to us.”

PHOTO: IDAL/THINKSTOCK

BY NOW, SANTA HAS lost count of how many kids have asked for a new puppy or kitten to be under the tree Christmas morning. And really, few things bring more smiles than the surprise of a wriggling, tongue lapping, furry bundle of joy exploding out of a gift box.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 43

HOME & FAMILY To make sure you are on the BHS’ nice list, according to Coventry, a person must be 100 percent honest with themselves and with a breeder or shelter on why they are opting for a pet as a gift.

“Especially when you come to the shelter, don’t hide the fact you are looking for a pet as a gift,” Coventry said. “And before you even come in, give serious thought and have the needed conversations, ‘does the person you want to give this pet to really want a pet?’”

Coventry calls the steps in selecting just the right pet at just the right time for a gift “mindful matchmaking” and it’s done with

44 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

both humans’ and animals’ wellbeing in mind.

“We always ask if this is going to be a family pet and, when picking out the animal, we ask people to bring in the whole family,” Coventry said. “If it’s going to be a surprise for the kids, we want to make sure all the adults are on board and involved.”

Many times grown children are convinced a cat or dog is the “perfect” gift to be a companion for an elderly parent or relative who lives alone.

While that can be a great idea, Coventry said, it requires some serious thought.

“Make sure that person really wants

and has the energy to handle a dog or cat,” she said. “Make sure they have a support system in place like other family members or friends that can help out taking care of the pet if needed.”

Family members with good pet giving intentions must also be confident the intended elderly recipient has the financial resources to spend on a new pet’s food and care, or be prepared to step in to help out with the costs. Having the conversation with the recipient on exactly what they might like to have helps the shelter staff find the right match, Coventry said.

PHOTO: ENDURO/THINKSTOCK

“We want to match the animal to the person based on lifestyle and personality,” she said. “Is this person a ‘cuddly cat’ kind of person or would that annoy them and they’d be better off with an independent cat?”

An alternative to presenting a pet on Christmas morning, Coventry said, is instead giving a gift certificate from the shelter and then coming in as a family to select the perfect pet when the holiday dust settles.

Speaking of that holiday dust, Coventry noted Christmas is a hectic enough time for people, so imagine a new pet’s perspective.

Unwrapped boxes, tasty human treats possibly within reach, music and all the holiday cheer can be overwhelming for a weeks-old puppy or kitten.

Homes are bedecked with poisonous plants (like poinsettias) lit candles and fragile decorations, all of which are decidedly not pet-friendly. In addition, routines are set aside in favor of rounds of parties, visiting relatives and vacations.

But none of those need be deal breakers.

“Be aware the new pet will need some quiet space and create that space for them,” she said. “Don’t expect the animal to interact with people all day and night and be an advocate for the new pet and tell people, ‘We just adopted this pet and are really excited but right now he’s had a busy day and needs some rest.’”

And think of all the accompanying gifts for years to come. Cute little dog or cat outfits, pet-appropriate treats, toys and beds are just a few that any four-legged family member would love to see under the tree.

The more ambitious pets will even unwrap them for themselves — along with your gifts, if allowed, as a fun Christmas morning game.

Above all, Coventry said, be aware and respect the new pet’s boundaries.

Among the best ways to get the family and new pet off to a good start, Coventry said, is a post-holiday meal stroll around the neighborhood.

“You’ve just had a big day opening gifts and enjoying a Christmas meal,” she said. “Why not suggest a nice walk with the new puppy after dessert?”

REALTORS

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE GIVING PETS AS GIFTS DOES THE PERSON WANT A PET? While a companion for an elderly parent or relative may seem like a great gift, be sure the person really wants a pet and has the energy to devote to it. They should also have a support system in place to help take care of the pet if needed.

REALTORS

CAN THEY AFFORD A PET? Pet food, care, bowls, leashes, toys and treats can put an unexpected burden on a person’s finances — particularly during the holiday season. When giving a pet as a gift, be prepared to help with the associated expenses.

MAKE SURE IT’S A MATCH Some animals, like some people, are more independent while others want to cuddle all the time. Make sure the pet is a good match for the recipient’s lifestyle and personality.

As an alternative to giving a pet, consider giving a gift certificate so the recipient can pick out their own pet. A gift certificate or a box full of the all the required goodies for a pet (litter box, leash, collar, food, and so on) makes a fun gift and something to look forward to after the holidays.

Your listing could be on this page.

Sell it faster.

Advertise in Bangor Metro’s Home section.

Call 941-1300.

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FEATURE

IN CONVERSATION

46 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

THE MONTH BEFORE

CHRISTMAS Tales of a tree farmer.

PHOTO: BDN FILE

BY ABIGAIL CURTIS

Jim Corliss, owner of Piper Mountain Christmas Trees in Newburgh, prices some of this trees in the family owned store.

JIM CORLISS, a longtime Christmas tree farmer from Newburgh, is 81 now. He can no longer move through his acres of trees with the athletic vigor of past years. But on a bright October day, he is busy working at Piper Mountain Christmas Trees the way he is still able, mowing between the rows of trees on a vintage riding lawnmower.

When he pulls up to his dooryard, with effort, the burly, white-bearded man hoists himself off the machine and settles in on the porch of his farmhouse for an afternoon of storytelling.

Affable, and with a quick wit and easy laugh, Corliss seems straight out of central casting for the job of running the Christmas tree farm, which he co-owns with his wife, Norma. It’s a role that seems to define him. And for decades, he has served as a spokesman and advocate for his industry, promoting and defending it even in the face of adversity.

Take, for instance, a radio interview he did years ago with a reporter from San Francisco.

“Unlike almost any other reporter I’ve ever talked to, she came with an agenda,” Corliss recalled. “She wanted to make me feel bad for cutting all these beautiful trees.

Bad thing to cut trees, you know. I gave her all the standard answers about habitat for wildlife, oxygen for the air, jobs for kids.

None of that worked.” www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 47

FEATURE

IN CONVERSATION

Piper Mountain Christmas Trees owner Jim Corlissin works to make garland while Maria Kingsbury begins to decorate a wreath.

(Below) Troy Oliver unties precut trees.

(Bottom) Various ornaments sit in boxes waiting to be added to a handmade wreath at Piper Mountain Christmas Trees.

48 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

Finally, he asked the reporter if she had eaten a salad for lunch that day. She had, she told him. Corliss responded by telling her that even though she had consumed a plateful of lettuce and other vegetables already, there are other farmers out there growing more so that she can eat other salads in the future.

“And that’s exactly the way we do it with Christmas trees,” he told the reporter.

But she wasn’t won over. “‘That’s not the same at all,’” he remembered her telling him. “‘We need salad and food for our bodies. But Christmas trees aren’t food.’”

Then a thought came to him out of the blue.

“I said, well, there are those who would tell you having a beautiful product of nature in your home and enjoying it at what is, for many, a sacred time of the year, is food for the soul. And perhaps you need that from time to time as much as food for our bodies,” he said. “And that’s when she decided we’d run out of time.”

That reporter learned, perhaps, a little too late, one main fact about Corliss: he loves Christmas trees, and nothing will get him to say otherwise. He will never believe that artificial trees are a satisfactory replacement for a real balsam fir decked out with lights and ornaments, with a brightly wrapped pile of presents displayed excitingly beneath its branches.

Corliss did not grow up on a Christmas tree farm, and came to his trade as a second career (he retired as an air traffic controller in the late 1980s). But no one has worked harder for longer to promote the Maine Christmas tree industry and the growers here, the ones who spend years tending to the fir seedlings that grow into elegant, beautiful trees that fill a house with holiday spirit. And believe it or not, the industry needs some help. Growers are getting older, fewer young people want to take their chances on Christmas tree farms and demand for real Christmas trees in America is dropping.

“I think I’m a pretty good promoter,” he said. “I have always said that if we can promote our products and get a demand for them, well, this is America. People will come and fill that gap. You just have to be able to make enough money to live on, and maybe a little extra would be nice. To retire on. But the way the industry has been the last 40 years, it’s really not possible.”

PHOTOS: BDN FILE

Thom Tardiff of Brewer carries his daughter Claire while trying to pick out a tree at the Piper Mountain Christmas tree farm in Newburgh in 2013.

PLANTING THE FIRST SEEDLINGS Corliss and his wife, Norma, are from Vermont, and in the 1960s he was working as an air traffic controller in Burlington as they raised a family there.

“We were home,” he said. “We never thought we’d leave.”

But in 1968, the Federal Aviation Authority’s regional office decided the Burlington air traffic tower had more controllers than it needed for the amount of traffic it was handling. Corliss, one of the last two controllers hired, was downsized, and told by the FAA that he could choose one of 14 available locations for his next post. Bangor was one of them.

“We came here because we had five young children and we were poor as could be,” he said. “I thought we might find a place we could afford to live with a little bit of land within reasonable commuting distance of Bangor, and I knew that wouldn’t be possible around Bradley Field in Connecticut or the other places.”

After choosing Bangor, they searched for a likely-looking place, and found it in a former family-owned dairy farm in Newburgh. It had been settled in the 1800s by the Bickford

family and remained in the family until the early 20th century, but then went through several owners and finally went out of the dairy business in the mid-1960s. The farm had about 185 acres, with 30 acres or so of more or less tillable ground and a few worn out buildings, according to Corliss. Still, they liked the looks of the place, and moved in. A farm was a good balance to his other life in the air traffic tower.

“It’s nice to go from being confined in a small space, tethered with a headset, to being able to be outside,” he said. “I was raised pretty much on a small dairy farm in Vermont. I liked the land. I like to watch things grow.”

Still, he and his wife didn’t have a vision of running a Christmas tree farm. They got the idea after they learned that the fields had been voluntarily “retired” from production for several years through the United States Department of Agriculture’s soil bank program. That program had been instituted in the mid-1950s because farm commodity surpluses were increasing while farm income was declining.

“I wasn’t allowed to harvest anything from the fields for seven or eight years,”

Corliss said. “The only thing you can put in the ground and not harvest for years is Christmas trees. That was part of it. And it seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn’t realize how much work it would be. And I hadn’t a clue that it would grow to the extent it has.”

That was especially true in the first year of the farm, when the Corlisses planted 1,000 seedlings and lost all but five of them.

The loss was heartbreaking, and, as they learned later, preventable.

“I didn’t understand that little trees can’t tolerate turf. They basically have to have no competition from weeds and grass, and I didn’t know about herbicides,” Corliss said.

“The next year, I planted 1,000 again, and they all lived but five. So that worked out.”

He also joined the Maine Christmas Tree Association, which would become a long and fruitful relationship. At the beginning, though, the other growers were a lifeline for Corliss’s new Christmas tree farm.

I went to meetings and realized that yes, these trees will grow one day,” he said.

“I learned a great deal. In fact, it’s what kept me going all those years until we had something to sell.” www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 49

FEATURE

IN CONVERSATION

Sean Bennett , followed by his wife Becky and daughter Ava, hauls a Christmas tree out of the field at Piper Mountain Christmas Trees in 2011.

50 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

PHOTO: BDN FILE

GROWING THE FARM AND THE INDUSTRY The Corliss family finally entered the tree market in 1977 or so, learning as they went.

They learned to make wreaths to sell along with the trees, opened a gift shop on the property and then began to ship wreaths out of state.

“Somebody thought it would be a good idea to send Aunt Florence in Tucson a wreath. Now we ship 1,000 of them,” Corliss said, bemused. “Nothing was planned.”

He said that he discovered an unknown talent for picking Christmas tchotkes and other items for sale in the gift shop, which is now mostly run by one of his daughters.

“I enjoy telling people I have a vital role in the gift shop,” he said, laughing. “I look at everything they buy. And everything I think is particularly ugly or bizarre, they order double right away.”

Over the years they added school tours, hayrides, photo opportunities and free homemade donuts and warm spiced cider to the farm. Now, when people come to get their Christmas trees at Piper Mountain, the idea is that they will also make a good memory.

“We stay open here until Christmas Eve,” he said. “There’s always a few latecomers and there’s one thing I especially enjoy. Right around Dec. 20th, families come with their college age kids. They came here as youngsters, went to college and told their parents they want to come get a tree when they come home. If you can impress a 19-year-old enough so he or she wants to do that, it’s quite a thrill.”

Even as the family worked to grow and improve Piper Mountain Christmas Trees, Jim Corliss continued to be involved in the Maine Christmas Tree Association and then the National Christmas Tree Association, a trade group now based in Littleton, Colorado. He saw that real Christmas trees didn’t sell themselves, and in fact needed some marketing help.

Corliss, with his knowledge of Christmas trees, innate good cheer and calm focus cultivated by decades of directing air traffic, was a natural.

As president of the National Christmas Tree Association in 2002 and 2003, he helped to present an 18-foot tree to President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, for use in the White House’s Blue Room. He also accepted an invitation from Martha Stewart to appear on her

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IN CONVERSATION

(Above) Various ornaments and Christmas decorations are seen at Piper Mountain.

(This photo) Thom Tardiff of Brewer cuts down the tree his family selected after much searching at the Piper Mountain Christmas Tree Farm in Newburgh in 2013.

52 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

popular television show and tell viewers — around 17 million of them — how to select a great Christmas tree. After the show aired, the tree association’s PR person called Corliss to tell him it was a hit.

“He said it was the best commoditybased interview he’d ever seen,” the grower recalled. “I got pretty full of myself for awhile — until I realized that Martha Stewart was the reason it was successful.

She started with a question and then we had a conversation. That takes talent.”

Still, as the years went on, Corliss became more and more convinced that Christmas tree growers needed to step up their marketing game. He threw his support behind the idea of creating an industry “checkoff” program, which would impose a 15 cent per tree assessment on all Christmas tree growers so they could have their own marketing program. Other agricultural commodities, such as beef, dairy products and pork, had theirs. Why not Christmas trees? But the concept, which was first proposed in 1989, didn’t catch on immediately.

“There was opposition from growers across the country. They didn’t want to pay,” Corliss said.

Over the years, support slowly grew, and by 2011, growers were in favor of it by a 3-to-1 ratio, he said. That year, the program was close to being accepted by the USDA, which would oversee it. But that year, some conservative bloggers and news outlets seemed to set their sights on the Christmas tree checkoff program, which they dubbed the “Obama Christmas Tree Tax.” The bloggers and reporters opposed to the program said that they didn’t think that American Christmas trees needed any help from the government, and by November 2011, Obama administration officials said that they would delay and reevaluate the program.

Corliss and other Christmas tree farmers across the country were dismayed at the setback. But they didn’t give up, and by 2015, the checkoff program was finally accepted by the USDA. For two years, the industry has been collecting money from growers that it will use to promote the purchase of real Christmas trees.

“It’s exciting if we can stop the needle from going down,” Corliss said, referring to the downward slump of Christmas tree sales.

One essential problem, he said, is that a lot of people believe artificial trees are

PHOTOS: BDN FILE

FEATURE

better for the environment than real trees.

That’s a big reason why he welcomes school groups to the farm — to try to push back on that idea when children are young enough for it to sink in. He gives them some homework to do, too.

“I only want the kids to leave with two thoughts in their mind. Number one, this is a garden,” he said. “It’s just a little different kind of garden. The second thing, if they have a real tree, to make sure it always has plenty of water.”

TENDING THE GARDEN FOR THE FUTURE Corliss doesn’t only spend his time promoting Christmas trees. For a time, he owned a quarter share of a small airplane and he and Norma would fly around the country, with Corliss at the tiller. But seven years ago, he had a mild heart attack and had to sell his share. He still travels when he can, and keeps busy outside the farm by working shifts every month at the state of

Maine visitor information center on I-95 in Hampden, a part time job he’s held for seven years. There, he talks to tourists, giving them ideas of where to go and what to do when they’re in the state. It’s at the visitor center that his background in air traffic control really comes in handy, he said.

“People usually have an idea of what they want to do, but occasionally people will come in and say, ‘I just flew into Bangor and rented a car and am here for a week — what should I do?’” he said. “It’s surprising.

But it does happen sometimes.”

Other notable moments at the visitor’s center happened when a couple on the northbound side of the highway stopped in to the center to ask how far it was to Florida (the laconic Maine expression “you can’t get there from here” seems appropriate in this case). Corliss got another good one recently.

“I talked to some people just a month or so ago. They didn’t know they were in Maine,” he said.

In between growing Christmas trees and

helping confused tourists, Corliss and his wife are starting to think about actual retirement.

“We’d like to not be running it in another couple of years,” he said. “I’m a little worried about the future of the farm.

We hope the next owner carries it on.

There’s an awful lot of work in Christmas trees, but I enjoy it.”

So that might be another reason why he’s working so hard for the industry to remain viable. Sometimes it has felt like he is pushing a rock uphill as he has tried to work towards that outcome, but he has persisted.

And every year when the air gets colder, the days get shorter and Christmas gets closer, the magic returns to Piper Mountain. That magic looks a lot like happy customers and families who scurry over the acres on the hunt for the perfect tree.

“The spirit has begun to take hold,” he said. “We seldom get any kind of complaint.

People come and they have a good time.

We try to make it a little bit of a special experience for people.”

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 53

FEATURE

Grandma DJ

After 30 years, this radio personality is a morning fixture.

CINDY CAMPBELL of Orrington has spent more than half of her life behind a microphone. She’s the pleasant, down to earth, female voice you hear weekdays on the Q106.5 Morning Show and one of the most recognizable voices in the local radio market.

When Campbell first began her radio career she was working the overnight shift on weekends, making sure the station stayed on the air. That part time gig eventually led to a full time, on-air job that she’s held onto now for 30 years. During that time, she’s changed addresses a few times, raised all three of her children and is now enjoying her latest role as a DJ-ing Grandma who still has the heart and the chops for radio.

“I went to school for radio. I knew from the first time I turned on a mic in 1980 that this is what I wanted to do,” Campbell said.

Being a young mom wasn’t about to deter her either. With two children under the age of two at home, Campbell decided to interview for a job that she saw in the newspaper at Q106.5, a country music radio station in Brewer.

“I had been home nine months and it was just like I have to get out of the house, even if it is part time. So I started looking for a job and there happened to be an ad for a part timer for this station that I hadn’t heard of in Brewer. I came in and interviewed for the job and went home and told my parents they want someone with a lot more technical experience than me. I’m never going to get the job,” Campbell explained. “Then I got a call later that day and accepted the job.”

However, Campbell admits she wasn’t always a fan of country music.

“I got into country music just before I started working here,” she said. “I grew up rolling my eyes and complaining to my mother because she listened to country music and I hated it. We were traveling cross country when I was 12 years old and we were actually at the gates of the Grand Ole Opry when my brothers and I put up such a fit that we didn’t go in. After I started working here, she and my dad went back to the Grand Ole Opry and she rubbed my nose in it bad. And she had reason to.”

One of Campbell’s all time favorite artists is Australian-born singer, songwriter and guitarist Keith Urban. The country musician has had several number one hits including ‘Somebody Like You’ and ‘Blue Ain’t Your Color’. He’s also one of the judges on the TV show American Idol.

54 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

PHOTO: GABOR DEGRE

BY JODI HERSEY

Cindy Campbell in the studio at Q106.5.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 55

“I’ve never met him. I got close to him Over the years Campbell’s kids have There’s no denying radio has changed backstage once and I’ve sat close to him gotten used to their mom’s public persona drastically in the 30 years Campbell has at guitar pulls in Nashville, where several and her growing popularity. been in the business. songwriters with acoustic guitars take “They’ve had to put up with listening “Radio was a different world back then turns playing one of the their songs and to their mom because their teacher puts than it is now. Now it’s very multimedia. I’m telling a little bit about it before going on the radio in study hall, and having me posting on the web site, we have live events on to the next one and he’s very, very share things about them on the air. They’ve we help put on throughout the year. It’s a talented,” Campbell explained. grown up with it and dealt with it. My kids lot different than it used to be. It’s not just She has been able to meet several other are just awesome,” she said. getting on stage and introducing acts at country music stars over the years thanks Campbell has had offers from other concerts anymore,” Campbell explained. to her work. radio stations throughout her career, but What hasn’t changed is Campbell’s “I met Garth Brooks in 1992 or 1993 none of them have enticed her enough to love for the airwaves and the countless in Bangor,” Campbell said. “He sent a leave Maine. listeners who tune into the station day message to the radio station that after day. She may be a grandma said ‘I don’t want to meet the “SHE’S ONE OF THE MOST TALENTED by nature, but she is by no means general manager, sales people, ready to trade in her microphone or clients. I want to meet the PEOPLE THIS RADIO MARKET HAS EVER for a rocking chair. on air staff.’ So we went over to SEEN. BUT IT GOES BEYOND THAT. SHE’S “I love doing it,” Campbell the Bangor Auditorium and he said. “I’ll do it as long as they pay PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT SHE DOES stood at the door and shook our me to do it.” hands and introduced himself. AND SHE’S STEADY AS A ROCK.” He then sat down with us and said, ‘Whatever you want autographed, “I really love the people I work with whatever you want to talk about, I’m here here and what this station has stood for over for you.’ It was one of the longest meet the years. There was just never an offer that and greets I’ve ever had. He was awesome, made the cut,” she said. “My family is here. I very down to Earth and a nice guy.” loved growing up here and wanted my kids Other singers Campbell’s had the to grow up here. Maybe when I’m a little pleasure of running into while on the job older we may move someplace warmer.” have surprised her as well.

Thom Osborne, the station’s creative “Toby Keith I knew was tall, but he was director, has worked with Campbell for taller than I thought he’d be. Alan Jackson the past 14 years and said she has a true was as well. George Strait was not as tall as I gift for radio. thought he’d be, but he is very nice and he’s “She’s one of the most talented people very put together. He has the pressed pants this radio market has ever seen. But it and pressed shirt and before a meet and greet goes beyond that. She’s passionate about he has to change so he’s perfectly fresh and what she does and she’s steady as a rock,” ready,” Campbell explained. “Shania Twain Osborne said. you were not allowed to touch. You couldn’t Campbell is grateful for the number even shake her hand. I stood in line for over of years she has been able to work at her an hour and was told you can’t do this and dream job. It’s afforded her the ability to you can’t do that. So I left. I never met her.” raise three sons and be a part of her four Being on the radio has also made grandkids’ lives.

Campbell a bit of a local celebrity herself.

“I’ve made a very nice living here. I have.

“There are people who will come up to Part of the time I was a single mother and me in public and say, ‘Hey Cindy, how you part of the time I was responsible for the doing? How’s it going?’ And it got to be whole family,” Campbell said. “Sometimes a joke with my son and I who’d say to me, I think there’s a perception that it’s a very ‘Store or station,’ because I also used to work glamorous job and that when Brantley in a convenience store at night. And I’d say Gilbert comes to town he calls the radio to him, ‘Station. I’m pretty sure it’s station,’ ” station and knows us all by name and that’s Campbell said with a chuckle. “I couldn’t tell just not true. It’s a job like any other. There you their names, but they knew me.” are good days and bad days.”

56 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

PHOTOS: PESHKOVA/THINKSTOCK

FEATURE

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 57

FEATURE

Our writers and designers share their favorite holiday traditions.

Barb Mower

ADVERTISING & LAYOUT SPECIALIST

58 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

Rosemary Lausier FEATURES WRITER

Abigail Curtis FEATURES WRITER

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 59

FEATURE

Carolina Rave

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

60 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

Aislinn Sarnacki FEATURES WRITER

Julie Harris

COMMUNITY EDITOR

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FEATURE

Emily Burnham

PHOTO: ARTFOLIOPHOTO/THINKSTOCK

FEATURES WRITER

62 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

Sarah Walker Caron EDITOR

Amy Allen

ART DIRECTOR

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 63

THEN & NOW

WISCASSET

(Above) High Street in winter, looking north, from a 1920’s postcard.

(Left top) Looking from shops along Main Street in Wiscasset toward the Sheepscot River.

(Left) Visitors enjoy a quiet morning on the town dock.

64 / BANGOR METRO December 2017

PRETTIEST VILLAGE in Maine ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY RICHARD SHAW HISTORIC PHOTOS COURTESY OF JIM HARNEDY, RICHARD SHAW, AND UNIVERSITY OF MAINE FOGLER LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

“THE PRETTIEST VILLAGE in Maine” has been Wiscasset’s nickname since the 1920s. A huge wooden highway sign welcomes drivers as they navigate their way northward past 19th century landmarks, including First Congregational Church, Lincoln County Courthouse, and NickelsSortwell House.

The sign also boasts that the village has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. Visiting artists and photographers like to capture its white churches and clapboard mansions, an embarrassment of historical riches like none other in New England.

But then there’s the other Wiscasset, known for Route 1 traffic snarls, Red’s Eats, Big Al’s Super Values emporium,

Miss Wiscasset Diner, and Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, a ghostly presence since shutting down in 1996. At times, it’s difficult to reconcile the upscale and the blue collar, which may be why the town is such an oddly powerful midcoast magnet.

“Wiscasset lacks the remoteness that has helped saved the character of other Maine communities,” said Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., Maine State Historian. “Yet it has remained one of the state’s most wellpreserved towns.”

Shettleworth has led walking tours through Wiscasset’s tree-lined streets, past old homes, churches, business buildings, jail, courthouse, and custom house, now a private residence. Even the town library, founded in 1799, is housed in an 1805 www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 65

THEN & NOW

WISCASSET

(This photo) The bridge connecting Wiscasset with Davis Island on a circa 1955 postcard.

(Above) Opening a new bridge from Davis Island on a 1905 postcard.

(Above right) Low tide on the Sheepscot River.

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former bank building at 21 High Street.

“Much of the town’s early prosperity ended with the Embargo of 1807 and the War of 1812,” he said, “but it maintained its economic stability through the 19th century as the shire town of Lincoln County.”

Wiscasset’s Revolutionary War siege, its shipbuilding, lumber, and fishing trade, and emergence as a 20th century tourist mecca, have been told in numerous histories.

Included are the 1941 work, “Wiscasset in Pownalborough,” by Fannie Scott Chase, and “Around Wiscasset,” by Jim Harnedy, a 1996 Arcadia Publishing pictorial which shows the region as it was, with railroads, ships, town celebrations, and the Hesper and Luther Little, iconic four-master schooners that stood in the Sheepscot River from 1932 to 1998.

And, of course, there is Red’s Eats, a Main Street eatery for nearly 80 years. The endless stream of cars and people lining up for a lobster roll, and to dine across the street at Sprague’s Lobster and Sarah’s Cafe, is often blamed for seasonal Route 1 traffic congestion that has inspired endless studies.

Included are plans to ban on-street parking near the town’s galleries and antique shops, tunneling under the Sheepscot, even constructing a 10-mile, $100 million artery around the town.

Townspeople and the Maine Department of Transportation will agree to disagree on a traffic solution. Harnedy, a former area resident who now lives in Machiasport, believes that, in the short term, traffic will remain heavy. But tomorrow’s driverless cars and trucks, he believes, will solve the problem.

“I think that Wiscasset, like all the communities along the midcoast, will continue to grow,” he said, looking toward the future. “Newcomers will arrive from away, some will come to retire, and others to open small businesses. I suspect that most will be in the 45- to 65-year-old range.”

Wiscasset’s holiday magic begins before Thanksgiving and lasts well past Christmas.

Downtown streets and shops are decorated in festive colors and lights, and the NickelsSortwell House will open its doors to the public for a weekend celebration early in December.

Hosts at the Main Street museum like to hand out a 1949 McCall’s magazine article titled, “Thanksgiving dinner with the Sortwells’.” Featured are recipes for corn pudding, fluffy turnips, and ginger squash pie.

(Above) An abandoned four-master schooner as pictured on a 1960’s photo.

(This photo) A winter scene of Hesper and Luther Little four-masted schooners circa 1960.

(Below) The Nickels-Sortwell House in the 1940s and today.

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THEN & NOW

WISCASSET

The First Congregational Church and Lincoln County Courthouse pictured in a 1942 photo at left, and below, how the buildings look today.

(Bottom) The Castle Tucker House, circa a 1940’s postcard, and (at right) today.

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From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Dec. 9, the public library will sponsor a Christmas sale for children looking to purchase affordable gifts for their parents and siblings. There are also book groups and town talks worth exploring.

Visiting Wiscasset in cold weather is a different experience than in summer. Most downtown shops and sit-down restaurants are open, but seasonal seafood shacks and other tourist-oriented businesses will be closed. Also awaiting spring’s reopening will be the Nickels-Sortwell House, Castle Tucker, and Lincoln County Museum and Old Jail.

Wiscasset sits at the center of a region attractive to shoppers, artists, and historians. Across the Sheepscot, to the north, are Old Fort Edgecomb, and Damariscotta, Boothbay, and Pemaquid.

To the south is Bath, with the world-class Maine Marine Museum. Next door is the village of Alna, home to the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway museum. Special weekend events are keyed to the holidays. And in Dresden, the 1761 Pownalborough Courthouse museum, also open seasonally, is worth a visit.

A chill in the air and a blanket of early snow only adds to the charm of The Prettiest Village in Maine. Its people, places, and things are of great interest, any time of the year.

TOWN STATS First settled: 1660, by George and John Davie Incorporated: Feb. 13, 1760, as town of Pownalborough Named for: The Indian, Wiscasset, in 1802, meaning either “the outlet” or “meeting of three tides” Nickname: The Prettiest Village in Maine Population: 3,672 (2014 estimate) County: Lincoln Median resident age (2010): 43.5 Elevation: 49 feet Area: Total, 27.66 square miles Notable people: • Al “Red” Gagnon, Red’s Eats founder • Juliana Hatfield, indie rock musician • Hugh Anderson, U.S. congressman, 20th Maine governor • Marjorie Kilkelly, state legislator • Danilo Konvalinka, Musical Wonder House founder • Capt. William Nickels, ship owner, trader • Alvin Sortwell, industrialist, banker Quotable quote: From “What One Should See in Lincoln County,”

by Florence Walton Ryder Nash, The Woman’s Club of Wiscasset: (Above) A 1901 Wiscasset Waterville and Farmington Railroad Company mortgage certificate.

“… Prior to 1800, [Wiscasset] was the most important town east of Boston and [the town] lacked but one vote in being selected for the [state] capital. The reason given was that with this wonderful harbor, in case of war, the largest enemy ships could come up the river and attack the town.”

Useful trivia: • The hulks of the four-master schooners, Hesper and Luther Little, brought to Wiscasset in 1932 and later abandoned, possibly were Maine’s most photographed objects before being removed in 1998.

• From mid-April to mid-October, Red’s Eats serves roughly 14.5 tons of fresh lobster meat in its lobster rolls.

• In the early years, a gallows stood on a hill northeast of the Lincoln County Courthouse, where an execution could be viewed from the Sheepscot River.

Landmarks: Nickels-Sortwell House, Lincoln County Museum and Old Jail, First Congregational Church, Lincoln County Courthouse, Tucker Castle, Wiscasset Public Library, Red’s Eats, historic powder house, old Wiscasset Academy, Post Office and Customs House, Donald E. Davey Bridge Helpful websites: Wiscasset.org, Wiscassetchamber.com, Wiscasset.lib.me.us, lincolncountyhistory.org

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OUTSIDE

WOODS & WATERS

HIDDEN but cozy The sporting camp where no roads lead.

STORY & PHOTOS BY BOB DUCHESNE

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THIS IS A LOVE STORY like no other.

Sporting camps have been icons of Maine’s woods and waters for over a century, and each has a unique and colorful history.

None surpasses the tale of Nugent’s Camps on Chamberlain Lake.

In 1929, Patty Pelkey was 25 years old, waitressing at a sporting lodge, when her brother, Claude, disappeared on Chesuncook Lake under mysterious circumstances. Allen “Nuge” Nugent was 26. He was a lineman for Great Northern, and had a growing reputation as a talented guide. Nuge joined the search for Claude’s body. During the ensuing month-long hunt, he and Patty took a shine to each other.

Marriage followed, but it would come years after they had become lifelong

Nugent's Camps on the Allagash Wilderness Waterw ay.

partners. Patty had been miserably married once before to a hard-drinking man, and she had sworn off remarriage. She refused Nuge’s repeated proposals, but agreed they belonged together. Nuge and Patty shared a dream of owning a sporting camp deep in the Maine woods. They finally wed in 1942, but their sporting camp adventures had begun six years earlier.

The couple picked Chamberlain Lake in the headwaters of the Allagash as the best location for their camp. The Allagash Wilderness Waterway would not be designated for another 30 years, but the shoreline of Chamberlain Lake was owned by the state when Nuge and Patty decided to build on it in 1936. A lawyer told them that if they built 40 feet back

from the water’s edge, the state could not evict them. Armed with this dubious opinion, they started a new life.

Nuge and Patty spent every last dollar they had for the supplies they would need: clothing, tools, hardware, a brandnew cook stove. This was the era of logdriving on rivers. The network of roads in the Maine woods didn’t yet exist. Getting all this gear up to Telos Landing required superhuman overland effort. Floating it the rest of the way up Chamberlain Lake required a raft, which Nuge and friends built on the spot. One night, they loaded their entire life fortunes onto the 40 x 50 raft and floated north, hoping to make some headway before daylight brought wind. They didn’t even know where they were going as they left the landing.

Almost four miles up the lake, Nuge spied a knoll on the eastern shore, next to a small brook. The location proved to be providential. Prevailing breezes discouraged biting insects, and the sunsets were extraordinary.

That first summer, Nuge and Patty built one guest cabin, cutting trees and hauling

timbers by hand. By November, they were ready for their first customers. It would be two more years before all of the cabins were completed. Not surprisingly, as they kept harvesting timber around the camps, government officials insisted that they stop cutting on state land. They didn’t. The impasse lasted eight years, until the state essentially gave up and agreed to lease the property to Nugent’s Camps.

Patty was an East Millinocket girl, certainly no stranger to the woods. Her father was an outdoorsman, but it was Nuge who taught her how to shoot and fly-fish. They were doing exactly what they had always dreamed of doing, running their own sporting camp. Patty was an inspired cook. Nuge was an eminent guide and a skilled story-teller. Sportsmen and celebrities flocked to Nugent’s Camps.

It became one of the liveliest spots in the Maine forest, and continued to prosper through Nuge’s death in 1978.

Nugent’s Camps eventually changed hands when Patty grew too elderly to continue. John and Regina Richardson ran it for over 20 years before it was sold to

Tommy and Brenda Thornton in Milford.

They kept the vision alive under the able management of Rob Flewelling and Stella Soucy, the current operators.

Not much has changed since the cabins were built 81 years ago. Nugent’s is one of the few remaining sporting camps in Maine that is inaccessible by road. Boats, planes, and snowmobiles are the only way to get there. The camps are rustic but cozy, illuminated by gas lights and heated by wood stoves. The dining room is still renowned. The fishing is still awesome.

Indeed, Nugent’s Camps are busiest in winter, when the ice-fishing is superb. In summer, the cabins are isolated and quiet.

Chamberlain Lake is their front yard, and the Maine woods are out back. There are still some places left in this world where you really can get away from it all. Nuge and Patty should feel very proud.

BOB DUCHESNE is a local radio personality, Maine guide, and columnist. He lives on Pushaw Lake with his wife, Sandi.

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LAST WORD

To:

YOU! The inner workings of our annual gift allotment, explained.

BY CHRIS QUIMBY

FOR YEARS I had told my two children that I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to do much for Christmas.

But each time, we somehow found a way, and in the process I destroyed my credibility as my kids stopped taking the warning seriously.

And now, after they’ve both grown to adulthood and left home, I’ve finally matured, planning a year ahead what we would need for the next year’s holiday and budgeting accordingly.

Now I have money to spend on the people I love, which makes the occasion much more enjoyable.

However, it’s always an interesting exercise to determine how much we will spend on each person. Although my wife and I have never talked about all of the variables involved in the decision, we’ve always been in agreement. In thinking it out now, here are some of the factors: • BE PART OF OUR FAMILY. First of all, if you do not share some blood or close association with me or my wife, your chances are slim to none that you will be receiving any gift from us at all. So if you want a McDonald’s gift card or Donald Trump Chia Pet, try to marry strategically.

• HAVE ME OR MY WIFE AS CHILDREN. If you have either provided your womb as temporary residence for me or my wife at any time in the past or are directly responsible for someone providing their womb as residence for either of the aforementioned, you can expect to receive a Christmas gift, and to have more spent on you than mere siblings, nephews or nieces.

• BE YOUNG. Young people who do not have the legal permission nor fine motor skills to hold down a steady job providing regular income may be eligible for an MGD (Minimum Gift Disbursement). The MGD shall be half of the parent allotment and will expire upon the presence of either acne or facial hair.

• AVOID HEAVY FAMILY POPULATION. If, on either side of my family, you are among a great number of relatives representing the same relationship (i.e. all nieces or nephews), you will likely forfeit the possibility of receiving any gift. To avoid the politics of the perception of preferences, individual nephews (regardless of age), may receive no gift if the amount of nephews exceeds the RNA (Recommended Nephew Allowance) on either mine or my wife’s side of the family.

• DO AMAZING THINGS FOR US. If you, even as a non-family member, have exercised superlative efforts to enrich our lives (beyond the RFE — Regular Friend Expectation), you might be eligible for a NFGE (Non-Family Gift Exception), regardless of a lack of family association. Such superlative actions include, but are not limited to: building us a second home, rescuing either or both of us from sudden death or delivering a batch of warm chocolate chip cookies after 8 p.m. on any day (without walnuts).

Most citizens of the world will not qualify to receive gifts from us this holiday, but please note that there are other families with similar offers. Many people from whom gifts have been received in the past are likely to continue receiving gifts in the future.

And remember. During the application process be very clear to identify not only your relationship to the giver but also exactly which type of gift you are applying for. Not all gift-givers in this program possess an acumen for providing quality gifts without guidance. In the event of an incomplete or unclear application all applicants will receive either a personal massager, jumper cables or a fruitcake.

All transactions are final.

CHRIS QUIMBY is a Christian comedian, speaker and writer, morning news anchor and host of Soup du Jour on VStv, and owner of Chris Quimby iPhone Repair. He resides in Brooks with his wife and two children.