Senior Living - Fall 2019

A Special Advertising Section of the Bangor Daily News l Saturday, August 31, 2019

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SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

Late Bloomer:

For Presque Isle man, passion for produce comes late in life

BY JOSHUA ARCHER

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enry Furtek, an avid gardener, said he didn’t inherit his green thumb from his parents, despite tending the family garden as a child and working summers in Massachusetts tobacco fields. He certainly didn’t consider cultivating as a hobby.

But as he got older, he said, it seemed to happen automatically: “I just grew stuff.”

Thinking back to when his father would tell him it was time to weed the asparagus patch, he said he would rather have watched paint dry. He dreaded the time it came to actually eat the vile veggies.

Today, Furtek lives in Presque Isle. Retirement

has allowed him more time to tend and grow what he pleases in his backyard garden. But feeding folks in his area from his garden is what he enjoys most.

“Giving it away or having people come get it, that’s the best part,” he said. “The kids come over and I give them all their little pails and I say, ‘Come on, let’s go get some carrots or go get some cucumbers’ and they’re so excited.”

When summer gives way to fall and it’s time to harvest, Furtek puts a wheelbarrow and pails full of the season’s produce at the end of his driveway along with “FREE” and “TAKE” signs.

“I don’t want any money,” he said.

He said his challenge every year is to have new potatoes by the Fourth of July. “You want to have the new golf ball-size potatoes,” he said. “That’s like gold. They’re the best. You’ve never had a potato so good.”

This year, Furtek managed to get his spuds in time for the Fourth.

“I don’t try to work too hard,” he said. “The secret of gardening is in the fall season, when everything is all done and you prepare the ground for next year by adding your amendments to the soil. Compost, manure or whatever. And then in the spring instead of starting from scratch and See Bloomer, Page 4

PHOTO BY JOSHUA ARCHER

Henry Furtek of Presque Isle hated gardening as a child. Now older, he has developed a newfound passion for it: “I just grew stuff.”

SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

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SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

Bloomer Continued from Page 2 putting all this stuff in, which is kind of late, you just bring a seed near that stuff and it’ll grow.”

Furtek swears by old cow manure for a successful garden, but said it’s hard for him to get these days.

“You have to find a pile that’s been put somewhere and is like two years old. One farm I got manure from had piles as high as my living room ceiling out there. It’s like black gold,” he said. “I used to go out there.

I’d make 25 trips with pails in a pickup and bring the stuff here. The more you can put in your garden the better.”

Each season Furtek does his best to mix things up.

“I like to rotate when I plant. I don’t put anything in the same place year after year,” he said.

And he’s not big on tilling.

“At the end of April you got to get out there and move the ground—no till gardening— don’t disturb the ground. Let the worms be where they want to be,” he said.

And on top of the aged cow manure and rotating rows of undisturbed worms, Furtek places a few drops of VitaZyme, an all natural biostimulant, he received from a “fellow in town.”

Furtek credits “Crockett’s Victory Garden,” a gardening show hosted by Jim Crockett on PBS, for his education and continued interest in gardening over the years.

“You just waited for him to come on. He had a half hour or hour show every weekend,” he said.

When Furtek was old enough to fly the coop, he joined the Air Force to see the world. He was stationed at Loring Air Force Base in Maine for four years, got a taste of Aroostook County, and went back home where he began a career in television production.

It wasn’t long before he found himself back in northern Maine working for WAGM. The station manager at the time plowed an area next to the station where employees could plant and grow what they like.

“I had a garden out at the TV station.

There was a plowed part out back there for

PHOTO BY JOSHUA ARCHER

Furtek has a quick visit with Alvin the chipmunk, a frequent visitor to his backyard garden in Presque Isle. Furtek keeps peanuts in his pockets for Alvin’s visits. He said Alvin will request two peanuts, one for each cheek. people to have a section. Four or five people had their little plots out there. That lasted about two years when everyone had their little plots, then they gave up, and then I had this section the size of my whole house suddenly. Then I would plant squash—the stuff that took a lot of ground—and corn, stuff like that. Then I had another garden out by the Caribou golf course and a little garden at home when I lived in Caribou. So I was feeding a lot of people,” he said.

Furtek has a son and grandchildren, but said he still hasn’t seen signs of a late blooming green thumb in them.

As his interest in gardening has grown over the years and become a well-loved hobby, he’s come to terms with weeding and spends a healthy amount of time tending his own garden. His palate today has matured, and he looks forward to his annual harvest of tomatoes, potatoes, string beans, cucumbers, carrots, zucchini—and, yes—asparagus.

SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

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SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

Age in place at Parker Ridge COURTESY PARKER RIDGE

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eniors find themselves in the position of determining where they want to age. Realistically, there are two choices—figuring out how to age in place in your home or aging in place at a retirement community. Aging changes us all. There are inevitable physical, mental and emotional changes that affect the daily life of seniors.

While not all changes are negative, they do present challenges to aging in one’s home.

Many do not have family or friends close by to help. A community like Parker Ridge is designed to make aging in place easy.

Parker Ridge is a hidden gem in the lovely seaside town of Blue Hill, Maine. Nestled on 28 acres, surrounded by woods with views of beautiful Blue Hill Bay, Parker Ridge is minutes away from all the Blue Hill peninsulas has to offer. Blue Hill is a vibrant little town bursting with cultural, musical and theatrical activities. With the Kollegewidgwok Yacht Club, Blue Hill Country Club, Blue Hill Heritage Trust and their numerous walking trails, a renowned public library, and a nationally-recognized hospital, there is always something to do.

Parker Ridge offers three living options to ensure seniors can continue to live the lifestyle that they choose. Set up as a co-op ownership model, there are 24 cottages that offer the most independent living option.

Parker Inn is home to residential and assisted living. 34 residential living apartments are available in a variety of sizes. Residential living offers the flexibility and convenience of renting your own private apartment and the peace of mind that comes with on-site services and staff who are available 24 hours per day. The assisted living neighborhood, called Parker Court, consists of 13 suites with 24-hour nurse care and individualized care plans for each resident.

The upkeep of one’s home can be overwhelming as people age. Even when the time comes that you can no longer do the work yourself, it is a job in itself to schedule snow removal, lawn care, trash removal, home repairs or even keeping your home clean. Parker Ridge makes home maintenance stress-free. All the work is done for you in a timely manner and is included in your monthly fee.

Dining with friends and family is a vital part of being happy and healthy. Meals don’t just sustain the body, they add joy to our lives. Parker Ridge has established a firstclass reputation for offering some of the finest meals available. With a choice of three different entrées nightly, evening meals range from simple to spectacular and feature homemade soups and desserts, quality cuts of meat, the freshest seafood, and local produce that can be customized to meet dietary specifications.

Social activities help to keep seniors mentally engaged, maintain self esteem and boost quality of life. Parker Ridge offers a wide variety of social activities both on campus and off with transportation included.

Whether it is a trip to the symphony in Bangor, weekly cocktail hours, lunch and a poem, exercise classes, art activities, guest lectures or a game of bridge, there is something for everyone.

You have a choice in the place you want to age. The flexibility in a retirement community means that help is available when you need it. The sense of security and belonging that comes from a small community is something that cannot be found at home. Knowing that there is always someone looking out for you without intruding is a priceless comfort.

Parker Ridge strives to ensure all residents are happy, healthy, safe and secure.

SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

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SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

The Penobscot Valley Senior College in Bangor

and Maine’s other Senior Colleges COURTESY PENOBSCOT VALLEY SENIOR COLLEGE

“I

couldn’t wait to take classes, because I’d heard so much about Senior College from friends and colleagues,” said Joan Ellis of Hudson. She signed up for Senior College courses as soon as she retired in 2013. “I meet new people, learn a lot, and have so much fun!”

Penobscot Valley Senior College (PVSC), at which Ellis takes classes, offers no-stress courses on a wide range of subjects: Buddhism and bridge, watercolor painting and witches, music, movies, and much more. The fall 2019 class schedule lists a dozen courses, including DNA, science fiction, the St. Croix settlement near Calais, iPhone/iPad use, and more.

“Worried about that ‘college’ word?

Don’t be,” another student, Anita Kurth, said. “This is learning for fun and stimulation. No tests, no grades, and usually no homework.”

There are no requirements for membership, other than being 50 or older.

PVSC classes meet for two hours once a week, usually for six weeks. Instructors are local experts, often retired faculty. Because instructors donate their time, tuition costs are low.

CONTRIBUTED Socializing before class at Penobscot Valley Senior College.

And students love it all. Judy Hakola, who chairs the curriculum committee, says student evaluations are full of words like “awesome!”, “wonderful,” “valuable,” and “totally stimulating.” Perhaps most telling, one student recently noted that the instructor was “wonderfully accommodating of various levels of experience and education.”

Contact information for the Penobscot Valley Senior College in Bangor Fall classes begin the week of Sept. 23.

For more information, call 992-0118 or visit the following sites: eaaa.org/penobscotvalleyseniorcollege penobscotvalleyseniorcollege.blogspot.com

A Penobscot Va lley Senior Colle ge

MSCN invites you to try their new online offerings!

Are you are one of the hundreds of Mainers who would love to take classes but find they can’t get to a Senior College? Due to personal mobility issues, geographical distance, lack of transport, or finding yourself the primary caregiver for a family member, you cannot stray far from home?

With people just like you in mind, the USM Lewiston-Auburn Senior College (USM LAC) is pioneering online classes. This fall, they are offering two online courses:

But what if you who don’t live in the Bangor area and would like to join a Senior College?

Good news! There are seventeen Senior Colleges in Maine. If you are not local to Bangor, there may be another Senior College waiting to hear from you! With over 6,500 members, the Maine Senior College Network (MSCN) accommodates a wide range of interests from lighthearted to deeply thoughtful lectures and classes. Make new friends, take an educational trip, learn something completely new, or try your hand at one of the expressive arts. There is something for everyone!

Visit maineseniorcollege.org for information and links to Senior Colleges in Augusta, Bar Harbor, Bangor, Belfast, Bethel, Bridgton, Brunswick, Ellsworth, Farmington, Fort Kent, Lewiston-Auburn, Machias, Portland, Presque Isle, Rockland, Saco and Sanford, and Wells.

CONTRIBUTED technology class collectively takes selfies.

Religious Debate: The Big Issues—Are People Good Or Bad? We find religious people on both sides of the answer. Which you believe leads to a perspective on the world with a set of doctrines, actions, and political positions.

Instructor: Rev. Stephen Carnahan is Pastor of the High Street Congregational Church in Auburn.

Class Details - Registration Opens: August 21st/ Classes Begin: Sept. 25, 2019 and run for six Wednesdays from 9:30-11:30 a.m.

Course Limit: 20 (ZOOM from the classroom). $25 Course Fee for MSCN members.

MSCN Online Book Club

CONTRIBUTED

Avocado Toast And Other Health Claims The Internet is full of a variety of health claims. What to believe is the big question.

This class looks at just how to judge the validity of health information for those not in the medical profession. Instructor Martin Gagnon is a former journalist and current Head of Adult Services at the Auburn Public Library.

Class Details - Registration Opens: August 21/ Classes Begin: September 26, 2019, and run for four Thursdays from 1:00–3:00 p.m.

Course Limit: 25. The Online Course Fee for MSCN members is $25.

Two adventurous MSCN members, Mary Jane Beardsley from Lewiston-Auburn Senior College and Nancy Roe from Seniors Achieving Greater Education (SAGE) in Presque Isle, are offering a free online book club for Senior College members from around the state!

This online-only book club will meet monthly; the first virtual get-together is on Thursday, September 26, from 10 a.m. to noon. Regular meetings will be on the fourth Thursday of each month. “We will focus on books that have something to do with Maine, both fiction and nonfiction, titles may be new or vintage, by authors living in Maine or those who just like to write about it.”

If interested, contact Mary Jane at mjb4k9s@gmail.com and Nancy at nancyproe@gmail.com

Want to take one of these online offerings, but you don’t have a Senior College close by you?

Please contact Maine Senior College Program Director Anne Cardale at acardale@maine.edu for information about joining the University of Southern Maine’s Virtual Senior College.

For more information and access to the MSCN statewide newsletter, visit: maineseniorcollege.org, call: 207.780.4128 or email: acardale@maine.edu

SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

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SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

For Bangor man, life’s journey leads to first solo art show

BY ROBIN CLIFFORD WOOD

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eff Wahlstrom grew up surrounded by family artists and their works. In a way, that hasn’t changed. The walls of his Bangor home are covered with original artwork by his grandfather, uncle, and aunts, and he’s quick to share their stories when asked. As kids, Wahlstrom and his brother took art classes from their Aunt Ollie in her barn studio, and he continued his studies of art and art history through virtually every semester of high school and college.

He has been creating artwork all his life— watercolor, pottery, wire and papier-mâché sculpture, collage, print-making, and more.

And yet, it wasn’t until he was in his sixties that he began, tentatively, to call himself an artist. Perhaps the fact that he hung his first solo art show this summer in downtown Bangor has helped convince him to claim this new identity.

Professionally, Wahlstrom has been president of Starboard Leadership Consulting in Bangor for the last fourteen years, following eleven years of leading United Way of Eastern Maine. By his own assessment, he has a highly organized, managerial personality that values utility and control—not the usual menu of artist aptitudes. However, after spending an afternoon hearing Wahlstrom’s story and watching him produce his art in a well appointed, cramped basement studio, I saw how the pieces of his world fit together

PHOTO BY ROBIN CLIFFORD WOOD

Bangor’s Jeff Wahlstrom in his studio.

beautifully, like the layered scraps of paper in one of his signature watercolor collages.

Wahlstrom’s seeds of artistic calling took root in a childhood household where art time was an integral part of family time: never pushed, but always present. According to Wahlstrom, he was an unremarkable academic student. “The lamp of learning was never lit for me,” he said with a wry smile. In art classes, however, “earning that A was important to me.” He spent many more hours on his art than on his other classes. “Art is more personal,” he said. “It’s what you are creating, from yourself.”

Nevertheless, Wahlstrom still considered his art a hobby, a source of gifts, or a utilitarian craft. “I was probably intimidated by all the professional artists in my family every time I looked at the walls of my house.”

In his junior and senior year pottery classes, he produced enough dishware to serve a dinner party of eight. “Jeff, you’re a good production potter, very practical,” his art teacher had said. “But I want to see you make something creative.”

So Wahlstrom created a large vase-like urn. Before firing it, though, he couldn’t resist putting a hole in its base so that it could be made into a lamp. He laughs when he remembers his teacher’s reaction. She shook her head and said, “You just couldn’t do it, could you?”

When Wahlstrom and his wife were raising their two boys in Maine, Wahlstrom made sure that art was a part of his sons’ childhood, as it had been part of his own. On vacations around their favorite parts of Maine, Wahlstrom always brought along paper and supplies. He had worked in watercolor for years and always found it extremely difficult.

“I like a sense of realism and control,” Wahlstrom said. “Watercolor is very hard, and getting control over the medium is very important to me.” During one trip near

PHOTO BY ROBIN CLIFFORD WOOD

Schoodic peninsula, Wahlstrom started cutting out bits of watercolored paper and piecing them together to depict a scene. This was how Wahlstrom stumbled into his medium of choice: watercolor collage. It combines the immutable characteristics of watercolor and the sculptural textures of layering, back to front.

When Wahlstrom brought one of his Schoodic scenes to Bangor Frameworks for framing, artist Ed Nadeau was working there.

Nadeau admired his work and requested more. “We’ll do a show,” Nadeau offered.

Wahlstrom was flattered, but he never got around to producing the scenes. Work, home, fatherhood—life got in the way.

Two or three years ago, things began to change. Was it the empty nest? The perspective of age on the cusp of sixty years old? Perhaps it was a gradual accumulation of positive feedback on his artwork. Whatever it was, Wahlstrom says, he finally “got the courage” to submit a couple of pieces to a juried competition at the Bangor Arts Society.

By this time he had delved into printing, supported by his generous neighbor and book artist, Walter Tisdale. Walter shared his expertise and his printing press, which opened up another creative path for Wahlstrom, who now has an extensive portfolio of wood block and linoleum prints of varied complexity. “A lot of art is problem solving,” Wahlstrom said. “Good artists are good problem solvers.” Wahlstrom’s discovery of watercolor collage and his explorations into printing techniques present a perpetual array of problems to solve, ways to evoke the scenes that Wahlstrom wants to create.

Wahlstrom won a ribbon for one of his works in that competition and the next. That brought some attention to his art, and he was invited to hang some work in the Boyd Place Gallery. Later he submitted some work to a

It wasn’t until Jeff Wahlstrom was in his sixties that he began, tentatively, to call himself an artist.

show at the Rock and Art shop, and his three 6x6 prints were sold on the first day. That was his first sale “not to a friend,” said Wahlstrom.

Each morsel of positive feedback fed his confidence and his inspiration to keep putting his work into the public sphere.

Recently Wahlstrom was invited by Bangor’s Rock and Art Shop to do a solo show in the shop’s Sohn’s Gallery. Every print is “an original,” Wahlstrom explained, because each one is printed individually, with subtly distinct color and shading.

Perhaps Wahlstrom’s ownership of the label “artist” is tentative, but there was nothing tentative about his manner as he stepped up to his artist’s workbench. I watched as he explained his process, mixing colors in a nearby tray and expertly laying the color onto sections of wood block. Each segment of the small scene had to be colored and printed separately, aided by firm rubbing with the back of a large spoon. I watched the scene grow as Wahlstrom assessed each step, adjusting color and shade with undisturbed concentration, even as he talked me through his process. This is a veteran artist, I thought.

Here is a man in his element, speaking with the erudition and ease of long experience.

Wahlstrom has almost none of his own art on the walls of his home. Instead, he enjoys perpetuating the stories of other artists by living amidst their work every day. However, he likes the idea that his art might play that role in someone else’s home. Wahlstrom’s unique prints and collages, from potato harvests to whitewater canoeing, from cityscapes to seacoast to mossy woods, tell stories of their own that will surely speak to others in days to come.

An abridged version of this story originally appeared in The Weekly, Aug. 1, 2019

SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

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SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

The high cost of prescription drugs is making us sick COURTESY AARP MAINE

mericans pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world and prices have continued to skyrocket. In 2017, retail prices of some of the most common medications older Americans take to treat everything from diabetes to high blood pressure increased by an average of 8.4 percent. That is four times the rate of inflation.

Right here in our state, prescription drugs represent the only defense some Mainers have against debilitating pain and their fight against life-threatening conditions like heart disease and cancer.

No one should have to choose between food and medicine, but some Mainers are doing just that.

Charles Stanley of Trenton takes ten medications to treat multiple chronic conditions including heart disease. He spends ten percent of his income on his drugs, several of which he has to take twice a day. He says: “At the end of each month, there just isn’t anything left. The worry and the stress of it all is overwhelming. The

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drug companies care more about their bottom line than they do about helping people stay healthy. Let’s face it: the sicker we get, the more money they make.”

The truth is that drug companies make a fortune in profits from older adults and hardworking Americans like Charles. They spend millions on lobbyists and lobbying campaigns to try to keep their high prices and high profits. They also spend billions every year on marketing, rather than pump needed dollars into research and the development of new drugs that could save lives and alleviate pain. It’s a shameful practice, and one that ultimately results in drugs being more expensive.

Drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them. That’s why AARP launched a national campaign this year urging federal and state policymakers to Stop Rx Greed by cracking down on price-gouging drug companies. If you currently have health insurance coverage, you may be one of the lucky ones who only has a co-pay for your medications. However, the enormous

COURTESY AARP MAINE Sabrina Burbeck of Old Town lost her father due to the high cost of his prescription drugs.

increase in drug costs will affect you in the form of higher insurance deductibles and premiums. At the end of the day, we all pay.

During the 2019 legislative session, AARP Maine worked with state lawmakers to pass a package of bills that will lower prices and improve accessibility to medications which thousands of Mainers need to stay healthy. Maine’s legislators clearly recognized that prescription drug price gouging is not a Democratic or a Republican problem. This issue is about putting people before profits, and fighting for people’s lives.

Sadly, while Pharma finds ways to boost their profits, lives are being lost. In August, 2018, Sabrina Burbeck’s father, Bernie, was diagnosed with Hepatitis-C. While a very serious condition, Hep-C can usually be effectively treated with multiple prescription drugs. However, Bernie and his wife were already paying out-of-pocket for their son’s Type 1 Diabetes medications.

“They had to make a choice about who would receive treatment,” says Sabrina.

“They couldn’t afford the prescriptions needed for both my dad and my brother. My dad decided that his son should live and so he refused to be treated.”

Six months after his diagnosis and just shy of his 60th birthday, Bernie passed away.

Today, Sabrina is determined to bring her father’s story to light. “Before he died, I wouldn’t have had the courage to speak up like this,” she says. “My dad was a volunteer firefighter in Orrington. He loved his family and he loved his community. He didn’t die for no reason. The prescription drug companies don’t seem to understand that what they do affects the whole family, including my dad’s kids and grandkids.

Too many people are suffering and dying because they can’t afford to pay. It shouldn’t be that way.”

COURTESY AARP MAINE Charles Stanley of Trenton spends 10% of his income on his prescription medications.

While Maine has taken an important step in the right direction with the passage of strong state legislation this year, ultimately drug costs are a national issue.

Federal action is equally essential, and there is rare bipartisan agreement that something must be done.

The pharmaceutical companies have made it clear that they intend to fight hard, but we must fight harder. Congress needs to act to stop Rx greed and we urge Senators Collins and King to work together to pass the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act in the fall. Please take a moment to call 1-844-2267032 and urge Maine’s Senators to make sure this legislation is at the top of the agenda when the Senate returns to Washington.

AARP Maine is committed to working with our lawmakers to enact solutions that will provide long overdue relief not just for older Americans, but for all consumers. To learn more about AARP’s Rx advocacy work and to make your voice heard, visit www.aarp.org/rx. If you are willing to work with our Maine office to bring down prescription drug prices, or if you have your own Rx story to share, please email me@aarp.org. We look forward to hearing from you.

SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

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SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

A town crier for the digital age Castine woman fosters rich online community

BY TODD R. NELSON

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lice Abbott Kimball of Castine always wanted to run a daily newspaper. But the 74-year-old Indianapolis native never expected it would come in the form of a Facebook group dedicated to a small town in Maine.

Her Facebook group, “You know you’re from Castine if…,” was established nine years ago. Today, it has 1,300 members ranging in age from 13 to 93. Thirty percent are over 65.

From the beginning, Kimball has been the group’s moderator, interlocutor, and gatekeeper. The original intent of the group was to establish a space for neighbors to “chat” over the digital backyard fence and share stories and information about the community. To belong to the group, she said, one must be directly connected to Castine, able to discuss this, show a profile face photo, have a real and identifiable name, and be a person who appreciates Castine in some way.

Kimball and her husband, Clark, a retired attorney, first visited Castine in 1986. “We turned down Main Street, and I was in love,” said Kimball. “The sheer beauty of it. A town from 1812!”

It took nine years to move there from Long Island. In 1995, they committed themselves to Castine life. Home is a converted carriage house on the highest point in town, with vestiges of horse stalls, uneven floors, myriad antiques and art.

From her perch, the islands of Western Penobscot Bay stretch into the distance.

Her Facebook group’s vista, however, stretches to California, Florida, Manhattan, even Europe. But its eye is always on Main Street, present and past. The group savors

yesterday’s news, with a thousand people a day dropping by, according to the data analytics.

She is not promoting Castine, she said: “I’m convening a family gathering—all the cousins and grandparents,” Kimball says.

“I find it sheer joy.”

This virtual gathering leads to real potluck suppers, tea, wine and cheese meetups, and hugs from strangers.

Members passing through knock on her door—like the woman from Florida recently, born in Castine and married next door.

Kimball said she once aspired to journalism. “I was the editor of my junior high school paper and dreamed of having a small town daily newspaper,” she said.

“Now I have one—and it’s free.” In high school, she wrote features for the “Indianapolis Star,” then majored in Spanish and English. Today, she can edit and publish with only her iPhone.

Students, summer people, natives, and aficionados all participate in a thriving online conversation. A Kimball prompt can be emphatic: “This is your site! Post!”

Interrogative: “What are you doing today in Castine?” The quiz show host: “Who knows what this picture is and why it turns up every Fourth of July in this front door?”

Or simply: “Share what your neighbors might like to know or see.”

You can share photos or tributes, news events, remembrances, congratulations.

There’s a sense of belonging, sharing, stimulating and intrigue. Lost dog? Kayak?

Need an apartment, lawn mowing? You’ll find it here.

Perusing a day’s posts reveals the

SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

following: the Plein Air Festival is coming; a Maine Writers Series at the library; a recollection of Ed Randall, the pharmacist, supplier of soda fountain Coke and pet meds.

There’s a prompt: What are you reading in Castine? An energetic thread of book titles and reviews ensues. A Castine playwright has a show at The Grand. Got tickets for the yacht club Lobster Bake? Youth beach volleyball tonight! Photo: milkweed and monarchs. Ahead: Wilson Museum’s “Collecting Castine” show. Whew.

It’s difficult to arbitrate privacy versus openness; news versus intrusion. She’s careful about permission. Some members appreciated news of a member’s passing; others prefer staying mum. “People need a place to come together, mourn,” says Kimball.

Gossip or name calling get you blocked.

The overriding ethic is this: Love Castine. Do no harm. Make things better. Try the donuts.

“We warn one another of danger: roads to avoid, impending bad weather, electricity

outages,” said Kimball. “We check on one another. We worry together about missing pets. We warn of bobcats and fisher cats.

We even discuss the dangers of ticks.”

The group knows the lineage of town buildings—where the hardware store used to be, the car dealerships (long gone), the grocery, the store owner before soand-so, and trivia: who was the intended mayor of Castine?

Nobody in town lives in a house with their own name on it. The natural, generational turnover is underway—in houses, town roles, infrastructure. What abides is the “constancy of beautiful land and water. We are caretakers for a while,” Kimball said “We should leave it better for our having been here.”

It’s raining in town. I know because Kimball posted so. However, there’s only wind out at Rob’s house, no rain yet—he posted, too. The iPhone vibrates. The hive buzzes.

Is it time to sell your home?

• Is home maintenance becoming a burden?

• A major life event forcing a consideration to move?

• Need to live closer to your children?

• Are support services needed that are not available at home?

What is an SRES®?

A “Seniors Real Estate Specialist” is a REALTOR® Who is uniquely qualified to assist seniors in housing sales and purchases.

The SRES® is only awarded to REALTORS® who have additional education on how to help seniors and their families.

Aimi Baldwin SRES® 207-266-7021 aimibaldwin@eradawson.com

Call today for your free copy of MOVING ON.

PHOTO BY TODD NELSON

Alice Abbott Kimball of Castine moderates a popular Facebook group that acts a place for community members to share stories and news.

417 Main Street Bangor, Maine 04401

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SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019 PHOTOS BY TRACY TRECARTIN AND HARRISON ANKERS

Bangor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center: Advancing your tomorrow by working together today COURTESY BANGOR NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER

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angor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (BNRC) is a 60-bed nursing home community located in Bangor, Maine. We provide patientcentered services to skilled care, long-term care, and memory care residents.

We will get you home! How do we do that? By working with our care team to advance your tomorrow by working together today.

At BNRC, we pride ourselves on the quality of care we deliver to our patients and residents. Our nursing and therapy staff work with you to maximize function and regain your independence following surgery or a hospital stay. Our activities department will keep you engaged and make sure you are having fun while you are recovering.

In addition to our incredible staff, we

offer a fine dining experience that far exceeds what you would expect from a traditional nursing home. We have a rich history in Bangor that spans over a century, and we have been a symbol of quality care for just as long.

BNRC is the only standalone not-forprofit nursing community in Bangor. Our focus is on the people we serve. We are consistently rated with five stars in RN

staffing by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, far above the industry standards.

Bangor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has also proudly been voted the best nursing home in Bangor for the sixth year in a row. You can be assured that when you or a loved one come to us, you will be in the best hands!

For more information, call us at 947-4557.

SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

PROFESSIONAL PHYSICAL, SPEECH AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

SKILLED NURSING

MEMORY CARE

103 Texas Ave. Bangor, ME 04401 • 207-947-4557 • bangornrc.com

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SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

PHOTOS BY ANNIE GABBIANELLI

The 13th Annual Senior Expo was held May 22, 2019, at Husson University in Bangor. Over 60 exhibitors, ranging from Hannaford to hospice and insurance companies to home health agencies, were on hand for the event. There was also a drug drop-off area at the event, and health screenings were available. The expo was free for all seniors. The event was hosted by the Eastern Area Agency on Aging.

SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019

Recliner Lift Chairs

Weelchair & Scooter Lifts

Durable Medical Equipment

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SENIOR LIVING • Bangor Daily News Special Advertising Section • August 31, 2019