Sentinel The Weekly
ECRWSS PRSRT STD
U.S. Postage
PAID Seacoast Media Group Portsmouth, NH POSTAL CUSTOMER
Your Community Newspaper Serving: ARUNDEL, BERWICK, CAPE NEDDICK, ELIOT, KENNEBUNK, KENNEBUNKPORT, KITTERY, KITTERY POINT, MOODY, NO. BERWICK, OGUNQUIT, SO. BERWICK, WELLS, YORK & YORK HARBOR
Friday, December 30, 2022
Volume 18 • Issue No. 52
Ian Durham By Susan Gallagher, Staff Writer KENNEBUNK Ian Durham asks the big questions. His quest for answers leads him through the cosmos, in search of the origins of the universe, how it evolved, and how it behaves. This president of the Astronomical Society of Northern New England is far more than just a casual observer of the stars. He bears the titles of physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and professor. Above all, he is a questioner. Growing up in Buffalo, Durham was the child perpetu-
ally asking “why?” Now a Kennebunk resident and self-described “crotchety old Mainer,” he says wryly, “I never grew out of the ‘why’ stage. That’s why I am a physicist. I dig deeper.” Surprisingly, the young
The Star Gazer
Durham had no yearning to be a scientist. Early on, his plans were set to become a theater major. Having inherited his parents’ love of theater, this seemed the obvious choice. Of course, there was always his childhood
dream of becoming a private detective to consider. “I even had a business card that read, ‘Ian Durham, Private Investigator,’” he laughs. But in his senior year of high school, an AP Chemistry class awakened in him a previously dormant interest in science. As an undergraduate, he ended up in mechanical engineering but found himself drawn to aerospace studies. When this led to some work with contracts for NASA, Ian began to find direction. Strangely enough, it was the 1997 movie “Contact” that would determine his course.
After seeing the film, which entails a scientist’s search for proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, Durham knew what he wanted to do. “I realized that I liked figuring out problems,” he recalls. “I wanted to solve mysteries.” The card-carrying boy detective was still alive and well inside of Ian Durham, eager to emerge and crack another baffling case. The inquisitive Durham was destined for the realm of physics, achieving a Master of Science degree in Applied Physics at Johns Hopkins University. See DURHAM on page 2 . . .
York River Nationally Designated “Wild and Scenic” YORK Congress voted recently to designate York River into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The designation authorization was included in the omnibus, government spending bill approved by Congress and signed by President Biden on December 23. From 2015 to 2018, a local study committee comprised of town-appointed members from York, Kittery, Eliot, and South Berwick, evaluated the river for
Local Average Tide Chart Date High Low am pm
am pm
Sat 31
5:46
6:15
11:58
Sun 1
6:42
7:17
12:15
7:38
8:17
1:12
1:59
Tue
8:30
9:10
2:07
2:52 3:40
Wed 4
9:17
9:57
2:56
Thu
5
10:01 10:40
3:41
4:23
Fri
6
10:41 11:20
4:22
5:03
OGUNQUIT Ogunquit Performing Arts (OPA) announces the January schedule for its 21st Classic Film Festival, a Sunday afternoon alternative for those whose tastes run to viewing classic films. The four January films, released between 1956 and 1964, offer a Burt Lancaster and friends “film festival.” Lancaster is joined by co-stars and supporting actors Lloyd Bridges, Kirk Douglas, David Niven, Fredric March, and actresses Katha-
Sun Rise Sun Set Sat
31
7:12 4:17
Sun
1
7:12 4:18
Mon
2
7:12 4:19
Tue
3
7:12 4:20
Wed
4
7:12 4:21
Thu
5
7:12 4:22
Fri
6
7:12 4:23
Arts & Entertainment Calendar of Events Classifieds Dining
6-7 3
22-23
14-16
Home & Business 19-21 Library News
tection, and we sought to build upon the care shown for the river by past and current river users,” said study committee member Karen Arsenault. Ar-
senault, a York resident, was part of the small group that first explored the possibility of river designation beginning in 2009. “It’s been four years since com-
pleting our local study that confirmed that the river was a great candidate for Wild and Scenic See RIVER on page 17 . . .
OPA Offers Free Sunday Films in January
1:00
Mon 2 3
designation into the national program and created a river management plan. All four communities voted in support of Wild and Scenic river designation and the companion York River Watershed Stewardship Plan in late 2018. Designation bills were first introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree in February 2019 and in the U.S. Senate by Senator Angus King and Senator Susan Collins in December 2020. “From the start, we knew York River was worthy of pro-
4
Obituaries
People & Business Pets
Puzzles
Real Estate And More!
18
10
8
23
17,24
PAGES
rine Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner and Rhonda Fleming. The films range across genres: westerns, romance, comedy, drama, and political thrillers, set in contemporary – of those times- or popular historic contexts. Lancaster plays to type: grifter/con man, attempted political coup leader, duplicitous alcoholic philanderer, and compromised “law man” in pursuit of justice, where the ends justify the means. The portrayal of women in these
Health & Fitness
A section concerning your health . . .
12-13
films plays to types of the times, with emerging glimpses of future women’s roles largely due to the portrayals of the powerful performances of the actresses.
The films are screened at the Dunaway Center’s community auditorium, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, Maine, Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m. The Rainmaker (1956), Sunday, January 8 This film (pictured on left), loosely based on the real-life story of rainmaker Charles M. Hatfield, is adapted by N. Richard Nash from his 1954 play. The Rainmaker is set in drought-ridSee FILMS on page 7 . . .
Check out the pages on
FINANCE & CAREER 11
food! A page about food & cooking.
9