Tate Street Sidewalk & Tyng-Tate Park Primed for Repair
By Nancy English
Two projects in the West End would, if funded, remake the playground between Tyng and Tate streets and the sidewalk on Tate Street above Harbor View Park.
The steep brick sidewalk on Tate Street would be replaced with concrete, featuring a broom fnish to create a non-slip surface. However, at the property boundary line of a Danforth Street building, which is also the boundary of the historic district, the sidewalk must be paved with brick, a requirement in historic districts.
“Luckily this is the fatter portion of Tate Street,” said Emily Bolt, Senior Transportation Engineer at Portland’s Public Works Department.
Four hundred feet of currently cracked and uneven sidewalk is on the list for replacement in a City Council Or der for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). That order is scheduled to receive a vote on May 5th (after pub lication).
The City Council will accept public comments about proposed CDBG proj ects both written (due by noon on the day of the meeting) and in person at the May 5th meeting.
The same order proposes a total of $248,000 funding for reconstruction of Tyng-Tate Park.The reconfguration would allow intergenerational uses and features bench seating, new trees, and an adult ftness court.
The cost of the sidewalk replacement is $175,000. “The original recommendations from the CDBG Allocation Committee only included the estimated CDBG funds for this year’s allocation,” said Rowen McAllister, Portland Housing and Community Development Manager. “The City Manager has the ability to recommend additional contingency funds (money from previous years’ underbudget or cancelled projects) and Tax Increment Financing funding be used to fll in funding gaps.”
McAllister also said the city has not yet learned the allocation amount from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city follows a months-long step-by-step process to qualify for an estimated total of grant funding, in a process governed by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
Christina Bechstein, who owns the children’s art studio, Love Lab Studio, at the base of Brackett Street, supports the park project whole-heartedly. As a neighbor of the park, she wrote by email, “Hundreds of families and children use this playground and it needs to be safe! Having a safe playground is essential for the children of the city, equipment without rust and dangerous sharp edges.”
In the census tract of the sidewalk and park, more than ffty percent of the residents are of low to moderate income, both projects for CDBG federal grants. They were both included in the list approved by the CDBG Allocation Committee. Additional funding allowed the sidewalk repair to move ahead fully funded under City Manager Danielle West’s recommendation.
Spring Clean Up Events Abound
The design for the updated playground centers on a new climbing structure and swing structure, but would be subject to revisions, according to Alex Marshall, Portland Parks Director. “It will need a great deal of refnement before we make any changes.”
Kip DeSerres, President of the West End Neighborhood Association (WENA), wrote in support of the two projects, “One of our goals for WENA is to increase physical activity and wellness among our West End residents, particularly those Aging in Place. Another goal is to reduce social isolation. By improving the sidewalk, we make it possible to walk safely and to access the parks.”
WENA is making progress in its own fundraising campaign, almost halfway toward a goal of $10,000.
By Nancy English
A list of clean up events this spring totals more than nine, with neighborhood associations asking neighbors to pitch in and make the City of Portland shine. The grass and spring bulbs are already doing wonders to make us forget dreary blackened piles of snow.
The neighborhood groups and city workers are particularly aware of trash and discarded needles. It feels good to make a small difference in the parks and on the streets, to show love for areas that may be less than perfectly cared for, and to take action to make things better even if just for a short time.
Preble Street, which offers shelter for people needing housing, sponsored Cont'd on Pg. 3
West Ender Shelley Swift's four-yearold grandson climbs at Tyng-Tate Park. -Photo by Nancy English Below: Tyng-Tate Age-In-Place Fitness
Pete Smith helps clean up on Earth Day, April 22nd, in West Bayside.
-Photo by Nancy English
Portland's Community Newspaper Since 2001 Always Free! Published by Zeli Enterprises, LLC
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CONTRIBUTORS
Nancy Dorrans, Travel & Adventure
Nancy English, Freelance Reporter
Rev. Richard Killmer, CCL Column
Caitlin Marshall, Bright Ideas
Stephanie Miller, Book Short
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Layne V. Witherell, Layne's Wine Gig
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Spring Clean Up
Cont'd from Pg. 1
its own clean up on April 22nd, Earth Day, giving the streets around its administrative offces on Portland Street a thorough cleaning and feeding their volunteers afterward.
A citywide clean up sponsored by the Portland Parks Conservancy takes place on May 3rd.
The City of Portland Sustainability Offce provides residents with a “kit” with gloves, grabbers, and trash bags. This can be scheduled for pick up and must be returned. The City of Portland’s Public Works Department picks up the collected trash at designated spots after the work is done.
Nancy English ran for Portland City Council D2 in 2024 and is a former paralegal for the City of Portland.
Advocates erect memorials to mark pedestrian fatalities
In response to recent pedestrian deaths, local advocates have installed memorial markers to honor their memory and remind motorists of how dangerous a car can be and that it only takes a few seconds of distraction to lead to a catastrophic situation.
The memorials, red boards with a pedestrian symbol and the date of the crash are being erected at the site of each of the fve most recent crashes.
“Our roads are designed so that people can drive without thinking and without being aware of their surroundings,” says Zack Barowitz, a long-time advocate for bicycle and pedestrian transportation. “While this may sound like a good strategy, it isn’t, because safe driving means being engaged in your surroundings; and the consequences can be dire.”
The advocates want a way to express the problem both in terms of lost lives and the collective harm to the community. “Every person killed in a traffc accident is not just an unnecessary loss, but a damage to us all,” says Barowitz. “So we wanted to make memorials to be collective, but also site specifc like ‘ghostbikes’ for slain cyclists.”
The locations of the memorials are:
• 654 Riverside St. (near Waldron Way and HSC). Crash date: 2/23/25.
• India/Middle St. Crash date: 1/3/25.
• Franklin/Congress St. Crash date: 11/6/24.
• Walton/Forest Ave. Crash date: 3/2/25.
• Brighton Ave. (at Taft). Crash date:12/14/22.
Absentee Voting Underway for June 10th School Budget, Special Election
The June 10th municipal election in Portland will include the school budget referendum and a special election for a six-month term to fll a vacant at-large school board seat. Ben Grant vacated the seat after winning election to the Portland City Council last November.
Two candidates are vying for the open seat. Retired Portland Public Schools (PPS) music teacher Jayne Sawtelle and building contractor and PPS parent Cassidy LaCroix are the only candidates to turn in qualifying nomination papers.
Absentee Voting
Voters can now request their absentee ballots for the June 10th municipal election. Ballots will be sent out once they are ready in May. Visit the City website to request a ballot online or call the City Clerk’s offce Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 207-874-8677.
Voters should be aware this is a municipal election only. Therefore, the State of Maine’s absentee ballot request form cannot be used to request an absentee ballot. Voters must use the City’s online request form for this election.
In-person absentee voting will begin Monday, May 12th, at City Hall on the second foor in the State of Maine Room. The last day for in-person absentee voting, unless you have a special circumstance, is Thursday, June 5th, when the Clerk’s Offce will be open until 7 p.m.
Police Respond to Alarming Number of Overdoses
The Portland Police Department has seen an increase in drug overdoses, with eight since April 10th, including two fatalities. Year-to-date, Portland has seen 129 overdoses, with six being fatal, compared to 167 a year ago with six fatalities through the same time period.
Police remind residents that lifesaving Narcan is available at pharmacies without a prescription. Also, the Portland Public Health Division offers no-cost Narcan as well as Overdose Recognition and Response training. For more info, or to schedule a training and/or obtain Narcan, please contact Ellyse Fredericks, Portland Public Health’s Harm Reduction Services Program Coordinator at (207) 482-5121, or efredericks@portlandmaine.gov.
If you encounter an overdose, please call 911 and stay with the person until frst responders arrive. If you are trained, and feel comfortable administering CPR or Naloxone, please know that Maine’s Good Samaritan law protects both caller and victim.
Reiche Community Room May Activities
The West End Neighborhood Association offers a variety of events in the Reiche Community Room (enter by door 11 on the Clark Street side and proceed upstairs, ADA accessible). All actvites are FREE unless otherwise noted. Donatons to WENA are always appreciated!
Monday, May. 5 - 6:30 p.m. - Magazine Readers with Robert Pantel - Bringing Back the Dire Wolf - contact hello@wenamaine.org for materials.
Thursday, May 8 - 6:30 p.m. - Die Well Death Education with Leona OceaniaSession 6: Legacy Work & Obituary Writing
Friday, May 9 - 6-8 p.m. - Ping pong, Jigsaw puzzle, Games in Community Room. In Reiche Gym - Pickleball $5
Monday, May 12 - 6:30 p.m. - (Doors open at 6:00) - Classic flm - The Bicycle Thief
Wednesday, May 14 - 6:30-8 p.m. - WENA General Meeting - Announcements followed by Panel Presentation on Vision Zero—West End Traffc Safety with Q/A
Thursday, May 15 - 6:30 p.m. - Study Circle - On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder - register at hello@wenamaine.org. Meets for 1 more session on 5/22.
Friday, May 16 - 6-8 p.m. - Ping pong, Jigsaw puzzle, Games in Community Room. In Reiche Gym - Pickleball $5.
Thursday, May 22 - 6:30 p.m. - Study Circle - On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder - register at hello@wenamaine.org. This is the fnal session.
Friday, May 23 - 6-8 p.m. - Ping pong, Jigsaw puzzle, Games in Community Room. In Reiche Gym - Pickleball $5.
Tuesday, May 27 - 6:00 p.m.- Portland Climate Action Team - Topics: Cruise Ship Pollution Fee & Update on Other Campaigns. FMI – portlandclimateaction@ gmail.com.
Thursday, May 29 - 6:30 p.m. - Die Well Death Education with Leona OceaniaSession 7: Medical Aid in Dying & Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking.
Friday, May 30 - 6-8 p.m. - Ping pong, Jigsaw puzzle, Games in Community Room.
In Reiche Gym - Pickleball $5
Ongoing
A.M. Exercise - M-F, 8:15-9:15 a.m.
Arts/Crafts/Games/Socializing/iPhone/iPad Help - Thursdays, 4:15-5:45 p.
Hope to see you there & bring your friends!
Community Events May Art... Music...
Culture... and more!
Fri, May 2, 5 – 8p - Just Passing Through + An Appeal to Heaven ExhibitionSPACE Gallery, 534 Congress St., Portland. Free. First Friday opening for Just Passing Through,a solo exhibition by Julia Arredondo, and An Appeal to Heaven, an installation by Vin Caponigro. Artists will be on-site at the SPACE Gallery on May 2nd from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. to celebrate with community. This event is free and open to the public.
Sat, May 3, 2-4p - Mulching Party – Taylor Street Park, West End - Join WENA, City of Portland and the Portland Parks Conservancy and mulch our city trees. We will provide mulch, compost and instructions to allow you to mulch a City tree (near your residence, or we will have a list of recently planted trees that could use a little love). Light refreshments and a nature raffe. Contact trees@WENAMaine. org with questions.
Sat, May 10, 12:30 - 2:30p - Faith-in-Action Community Forum – First Parish, 425 Congress St. - A Community Forum that provides clarity around current issues facing the immigrant community and offers guidance on how best to support those in need.
Sat, May 10 & Sun, May 11, 11a – 3p - A Taste of Nations Food Festival – Mayo Street Arts, 10 Mayo St., Portland. $10/adv., $13/door. - 12 featured food vendors will showcase a wide variety of world cuisines,
offering two to three $5 small plates each. Raffe prizes from local businesses will be available, with proceeds supporting Mayo Street Arts. Reservations are strongly encouraged. Visit https://www.MayoStreetArts.org/Taste or call (207) 879-4629.
Sat, May 17, 8a – 12p - MHNO’s Third Annual Hyper-Local Seedling and Perennial Sale – Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization, 92 Congress St., Portland. - Rain date is May 18th. Flowering annuals, vegetable seedlings, divided perennials, and much more. Cumberland County Master Gardeners will staff an advice table. All proceeds go to support keeping the lights and heat on at MHNO’s Hill House and to support special events. For more info or to volunteer, email info@munjoyhill.org
Sun, May 18, 11a – 2p - Pet Fashion Show – Congress Square Park, PortlandBack by popular demand, come witness the stylistic extravagance of Maine’s bestdressed pups! A public puppy parade will follow the show itself, so bring your doggo and come prepared! Market starts at 11 a.m. Runway walk at 1 p.m. Pet parade at 2 p.m.
Submit your event to thewestendnews@ gmail.com. Space is limited. WEN Community Events gives preference to free, charitable, and community-building events.
Rose Alley (Jerry Garcia Band Tribute) at Bayside Bowl | all-ages May 2 8:00 PM – 11:30 PM A Band Of Brothers (Allman Brothers Tribute) Live at Bayside Bowl May 9 8:00 PM – 11:30 PM
DeadBeat ft. Robert Randolph May 17 8:00 PM – 11:30 PM
Thank You Scientist w/s/gs Spilly Cave May 23 8:00 PM – 11:30 PM
Toby Jacobs Stewarding our Waterways
Every month, Liz Trice interviews a community member for The West End News. This month, she caught up with Toby Jacobs, Program Manager for Presumpscot River Land Trust.
What’s the geography of the Presumpscot River Land Trust. What does it do?
We have easements and own preserves in Gorham, Gray, Standish, Westbrook, and Windham. We are a community-based nonproft. Our goal is conservation, public recreation, and clean water is also important.
We have ffty preserves that include 3,200 acres under conservation split between land that we own and easements, and just over thirty miles of trails. We’ve been around for forty years, starting as the Gorham Land Trust, then became PRLT, then in 2017 merged with Gorham Trails, Presumpscot River Watch, and Windham Land Trust.
Our most recent preserve is what will become the Gorham Community Forest near downtown, and two of our biggest recent projects were East Windham Conservation Area and Rivermeadow Preserve in Westbrook.
What is an easement?
An easement is a generic term for restrictions or requirements on a piece of property. In our case, conservation easements typically limit or restrict development, mining, and industrial use of land, but can be anything the landowner or donor wants or doesn’t want. Some easements allow public access, some don’t. Most don’t allow development.
Randall Orchards is under an Agricultural Easement, so logging and other farming can still happen there. Some conservation groups have “view shed” easements to protect a valuable view or protect a historic structure.
How do you acquire new land? What are your priorities right now?
Our big focus is to close the gap between Mill Brook Preserve and Millbrook Preserve South in Westbrook, and anything with frontage on the Presumpscot is immediately on the top of the list. And we preserve other areas on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes we reach out to landowners, sometimes landowners reach out to us. Most of our acquisitions have been through donation of land, then we try to raise enough money to ensure permanent stewardship. If there’s a piece of land we want to purchase, then we do a big fundraising campaign and try to raise money from grants, government, and individuals.
How about farms and housing?
We mostly defer to partners on farmland and housing. Our core values are recreation, wildlife habitat, and water quality. We listen to offers about farms but typically connect them to the Maine Farmland Trust. And they send us parcels that have more conservation potential.
Typically, if someone is developing some land, they come to us and ask if we’d like to take some of the land into conservation. The Rivermeadow project in Westbrook was a good partnership with some developers who did some dense development, then invited us in to maximize the amount and quality of land preserved.
We recognize the need for housing in our towns. There aren’t that many large parcels remaining that would be of interest to developers. A lot of the largest parcels are concentrated among a few individuals, a lot of people like to keep their land open, a lot of land is wet.
What are the water quality issues?
Issues are e. coli bacteria and low dissolved oxygen. Bacteria tends to come from septic systems and farm runoff and can make people sick. Fertilizer runoff can cause algae bloom, which can cause issues
in stagnant water, and if dissolved oxygen is too low it can hurt wildlife.
We’re working on transitioning our water quality program sampling to include some continuous monitoring and looking at worst-case scenario storm events. And there’s interest in cleaning up the Pleasant River, which runs from the center of Windham to the Presumpscot. We do the monitoring, and the Department of Environmental Protection and Cumberland County Soil and Water District talk to
landowners about maintaining good buffer between fertilizer and livestock waste and waterways. We don’t currently monitor for other issues like industrial toxins. DEP does that, but there are less of those issues now that we don’t have as much industry on the rivers.
What’s next?
Our next big trail project is the Gorham Community Forest/Robie Preserve in Gorham, and we’re excited about building outdoor amenities like outdoor classrooms and boardwalks.
In May the alewives are running. They are a type of river herring, a silver fsh about one foot long, that migrate multiple times to their spawning spot, and you can see them in Mill Brook in May. People can come to the southern viewing pool to see them swimming up the rapids and collecting in the pool below. We have hundreds if not thousands of people every year coming to see them.
You can fnd trails on our https:// www.prlt.org. Get on our mailing list. Also, most of our preserves are on Google Maps.
This interview was edited for clarity and brevity.
PelotonPosts is produced by PelotonLabs founder Liz Trice.
presents:
Sun, May 18 | 1pm - 3pm McGoldrick Room, USM Campus, Por tland ME
With Special
Sage Self-Cultivation for Global Conflict Resolution with Rev. Gola Wolf Richards
In a world increasingly challenged by conflict and uncertainty, Rev. Gola Wolf Richards, founder of BroadcastWisdom.com, teaches practical approaches to the profound wisdom of The Book of Changes (I Ching): a contemplative tool for helping individuals to lift humanity at large into becoming holistically aligned with how the principle of universal creativity transforms universal manifestations of chaos.
Hosted by the Maine Jung Center, this live event draws from over five decades of Rev. Richards’ daily ritual of contemplating his life and history in terms of perspectives drawn from The Book of Changes, focusing on how sage self-cultivation can help a chieve global conflict resolution
Join us to explore how one individual’s efforts to grow can ripple toward collective peace.
Toby Jacobs, Presumpscot Regional Land Trust. -Courtesy Photo
Musical Guest: Dove Pax
Gladis House Cleaning
In Times Like These, Always Say Hello
By Rosanne Graef & Pamela Shaw
you, your friends and family, your city, your country, the world, the future?
Contact for an estimate!
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How to Support Community News
3.
On an antique red fre box at the corner of Spring and Clark, amidst a spattering of tags and stickers, are two yellow circles with the message “Always Say Hello”.
What good does saying “hello” do when you look at the state we’re in? Anger, fear, isolation, cynicism, complacency are tangled into a ball of worry and uncertainty. Being whipsawn by political news on a daily or even hourly basis leaves you exhausted emotionally, even physically. So many appalling things happening at once.
You want to DO something, but what difference can you as an ordinary person make? You’re not a fairy godmother who can wave a magic wand and make everything better, but you’re also not incapable of making a difference. How? Every one of us needs to answer that in our own way that we think will matter.
When you’re thinking about all that’s going on, it’s important to identify one to three things you deeply, deeply care about and that spark your energy. Clean air and water, due process, education, food safety, free press, health care, human rights, something else? Then ask yourself why you care about this. How does this affect
Fresh Approach
Next, what do your energy, time, and abilities allow you to do? Call or write to elected officials? Write letters to the editor? Join ad hoc groups or participate in protests? Put a sign in your window or on your car? Or maybe go personal and public by making a simple, respectful sign about what’s happening right now that you care about?
Then take your sign and quietly stand for an hour on a public sidewalk near a place that’s relevant to your concern. These are acts of communication that, however local and simple, can move people and change society. Create and share a common effort; maybe someone you already know will join you. Others who see you will show up if you’re persistent and consistent.
It may make you nervous just thinking about it, but communication begins just by making a connection. It’s like fipping a switch or striking a match. Get someone’s attention and then give them yours.
Start with easy topics. “What a beautiful day!... Don’t you just love ice cream?... You look great in that color!” Or the old favorite if there’s a canine companion, “Are you a good dog?”
Look for things you have in common. That’s how community starts and mutu-
al commitment grows. Anything that can make someone smile and feel better, even for a moment, is a contribution to a better society.
One day the conversation will move beyond ice cream and dogs, and you’ll fnd more shared interests, opinions, and experiences, as well as some points of difference. If you’re lucky you’ll fnd yourself understanding more about life and what really matters: kindness, respect, wonder. And you’ll have a cadre of folks you can count on and who can count on you.
In the meantime, “Always Say Hello”. That’s how good things start.
Rosanne Graef and Pamela Shaw are West End residents.
of Rosanne Graef
CLIMATE JUSTICE
What
Look to Nature, Right in Town
By Caitlin Marshall
When it comes to talking about impacts on the environment, cities can get a bad rap.
It is true that cities put a heavy strain on the ecosystem: pollution from businesses, houses and cars; high demand for resources and energy; so much land paved over. But they’re also here to stay, and if we can imagine better ways to be a city, we can imagine a sustainable future for generations to come.
Fortunately, there are many, many ways to imagine our way forward. Higher density, increased rapid transit, more equitable access to housing, rooftop solar, walkable neighborhoods, and dozens more are outlined in the One Climate Future plan. One I’d like to highlight today starts simply when you walk out your door: notice the nature that is already around you.
If we stop to look, we can fnd lots of life tucked into the city. Just this morning, I heard cardinals, chickadees, red wing hawks, blue jays, mourning doves, sparrows. I’ve started to see bees of different shapes and sizes this spring and chipmunks scuttling under the watchful eye of hawks circling overhead.
And from that noticing, we can think about ways to welcome more life. As a student at Unity College, I am studying ecology and the ways we can adapt to
climate change. Cities can offer unique advantages to wildlife. For some, they are a refuge from predators, or especially rich in food resources, or a key migratory stopover. Of course, some creatures will never fnd a good home in the city – moose and bears come to mind.
But some of our smaller neighbors, like essential pollinators that are facing precipitous decline, can feel very welcome in a city with just a few changes. Leaves left on garden beds and under trees are home to overwintering lightning bugs and bees. The patches of longer grass and fowers we’re seeing in more Portland parks contribute enormously to habitat and food for bees and butterfies. A dead tree – so long as it’s not close enough to fall on a house – is a welcome home for dozens of kinds of birds and small mammals.
Part of this shift is also rethinking our place as people in the landscape. For too long, the major story has been that people are over here and nature is out there. But we are nature, too! We are creatures in this environment, and when we start to see ourselves as one of many sharing this place, we can imagine all the wonderful ways to inhabit this corner of the world, together.
Bright Ideas is brought to you by PCAT, which meets the fourth Tuesday of the Month, 6 to 7:30 p.m. All are welcome. FMI email: portlandclimate@gmail.com.
WE’RE
ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
people of faith really can do about climate change
By Rev. Richard Killmer
I have talked with lots of people of faith in Maine who are looking for ways to work for an end to the climate crisis. They have no doubt that climate change is real. In 2024, Americans have seen excessive heat, Category 5 hurricanes, destructive wild fres, foods, and draughts.
All religions affrm that their believers have a responsibility to care for all people and all of creation, especially the hungry, the poor and those with disabling conditions. Similarly, religious leaders of all faiths call on their members to care for the earth, and many of us have paid attention to Pope Francis I as he has reminded us that we are responsible for caring for our planet.
One fairly simple task that congregants can do is to reduce the greenhouse gases that they emit into the atmosphere. That can be done by relying on the sun to produce electricity and not using energy that has been produced by burning fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, or oil. It is those fossil fuels that wind up in the atmosphere that lead to the destruction caused by climate change.
Solar Faithful is a 501-c3 non-proft organization in Michigan that brings expertise and fnancing to help houses of worship with solar energy either through solar panels on roofs or on ground mounts.
In Fairfeld, Maine, Solar Faithful is building a community solar array for congregants of any religion who live in the Central Maine Power service area. And the amazing news is there is no upfront cost for congregants.
In addition, Solar Faithful also guarantees that those congregants of any faith who sign up will save between 10% and 15% on their electric bill. People of faith are called to care for those who are low-income, so people who belong to low-income congregations are the priorities of this project, a group that has often been left out of other community solar projects.
You are invited to participate in the Maine Congregant Solar Project. If you join, you will reduce the greenhouse gases that you emit and you will contribute to reducing the harm caused by climate change.
For more information, contact Solar Faithful at richardlkillmer@gmail.com. Solar Faithful will offer information sessions on its work beginning this spring.
Rev. Richard Killmer is a retired Presbyterian minister who lives in Yarmouth.
We're All in This Together is provided by Portland area CCL volunteers.
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By Layne V. Witherell
I recently participated in one of the all-time greatest events of my entire life.
“WHAT!” you say? Linfeld University in McMinnville, Oregon has created the Oregon Wine History Archive. Director Rich Schmidt interviewed for posterity everyone from the ten pioneer families who planted the frst grapes and made wine ffty years ago to the newbie wine writer fresh off the bus from Chicago.
Why me? My interview took place on April 16th via Zoom. As a young, just out of college person, I settled in Oregon in 1977 and was fortunate not only to meet the founders but to sell those early wines, too.These interviews are remarkable documents that take you through the great moments, pioneering moments and the tough ones as well. These are the stories of real people.
Elk Cove Vineyards Willamette Valley Estate Pinot Blanc, 2022, $15.99 bottle
Leap Wine Cellars of the Judgment of Paris Tasting fame (when California wine whipped the French in 1976).
Ironically, after working with the Cabernet greats in the Napa Valley, his fame came from the creation of his Pinot Noir Etude (“study” in classical music). In a land not famous for that grape, he decided that it was time to head north to the rapidly-becoming-famous Willamette Valley, after having earned his chops in the cooler climbs of the Carneros region between Napa and Sonoma.
His consulting clients are legendary: Spottswood,Araujo, Dalla Valla,Viader, Shafer, and last but not least, Niebaum-Coppola. Just makes your head spin.
Pinot Blanc is a white, quiet, unoaked Alsatian variety. It has light citrus, medium acidity, and is the ideal wine with Asian dishes. “A halfway house between refreshment and opulence,” according to wine writer Jancis Robinson.
While enjoying this wine you need to pull up the Pat and Joe Campbell interview of October 9th, 2020. Want to see a modern pioneer family at work? I knew them as their distributor in 1982, when Joe was an ER doctor and Pat was planting their vineyards. It is as astonishing as a back-to-the-land wine story can get.
If you are thinking of starting a winery, it helps to have the salary of an ER doc, the farming skills of your partner, a good accountant (just call around), and a kid who just might take over in the by and by.
Wine never tastes better than when hearing a great story.
Planet Oregon Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, 2022, $19.99 bottle
Silky smooth with a velvet cloak. This is all elegance and fruit in abundance. A Pinot Noir dance of cherries and strawberries.
Very few winemakers arrive in Oregon as famous beings; some actually have a resume, a few have a great one. Tony Soter arrived from California fully formed and full blown, having both worked with and consulted with the greats. One of the prerequisites for genius is a guiding path in the study of something else – like his degree in philosophy. This was followed by a job of “dragging hoses” (a.k.a., cellar work) for the man in Napa who changed the world of wine – Stag’s
There is a marvelous interview in the book “New Classic Winemaker of California” where he rails against high alcohol in wine “winning beauty contest sweepstakes... They’re undrinkable at the dinner table.” The cooler climate of the Willamette Valley has proven to be exceptional for ripening and that all important balance. For him, 13.4% alcohol is the magic number.
Ken Wright Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, 2023, $25.00 bottle.
A meaty Pinot Noir with just enough tannin to snuggle up alongside that roast duck for favor. There are cherries, a bit of game bird, and notes (honestly, I hate the tasting term notes!) of cranberry. Oh, so young… Give it a few more years of bottle age.
It isn’t often that I take a deep dive into Layne’s Archive, but here goes: “Ken Wright’s Leap of Faith Produces Superior Wines,” June 23, 1999, Richmond Times Dispatch. Layne Witherell Uncorked was my weekly wine column in Richmond, Virginia. It was Ken’s frst visit and intro with his distributor, Roanoke Beverage, combined with a picnic attended by restaurant and wine store people in the distributors’ back yard. What a splash!
The amazing thing, other than the real dealness of his Willamette Pinot noir, is that the price per bottle hasn’t changed since 1999. Of course, the single vineyard bottlings like Shea and McCrone have more than doubled, but such is fame.
The “leap of faith” part of my old article refers to a practice developed in the Northwest of paying your growers up front for the fruit based on the size of your vineyard instead of by the ton, where every twig and rock winds up in the gondola. This is occasionally referred Cont'd on Pg. 11
10
to as “sharecropping” which freaks out the grape uninitiated. No, it’s not that. It has wound up being a system that both rewards the grower as well as the winery and you.
The beauty of these wines is that they are available locally and are reasonably priced for what you are paying for.
Whatever you do, look up and browse through the Oregon Wine History Archive. My interview should be up in several weeks. It is one hour plus of thrills and chills. If you are thinking about starting a winery, the most realistic nitty gritty piece is my buddy Myron Redford, October 2007.
Bourgogne Cote Chalonnaise, 1994. Gifted by a friend for my birthday, priceless. (Probably cost $30.00 in the day.)
Like a wild foraged mushroom with “potentially haunting essences of place.” Put a dozen or two dozen years of bottle age on that Pinot Noir and this is the outcome - if the cork holds up. This one did. That velvety cherry softness is gone and replaced with herbs, a hint of blackberry, and truffe. And the mushroom… Oh, the mushroom.
Bourgogne is where it all started. The holy grail of Pinot Noir. This is why they came to the Willamette Valley from California in the 1960’s and 1970’s, to try and replicate that little wonderland in France.
Scratch any Oregon Pinot Noir grower or winemaker and you will discover the memory of that long-lost bottle of Bourgogne they had. For Pat and Joe Campbell, it was that bottle of Le Musigny 1969 they had in a French restaurant in San Francisco back in the day. For some of us, it is worth staking livelihood, fame, and fortune to try your hand at that accomplishment. Welcome to Oregon!!!
Layne V. Witherell has been a professional in the wine business for many decades as a teacher, importer, writer, competition judge, and winery CEO. He was awarded the Master Knight of the Vine for his pioneering work in the Oregon wine industry.
FOOD & DINING
The TL Taste
A yummy celebration of this tasty town of ours, one bite at a time. Just think of me (and my occasional co-sleuth) as undercover bandits for fabulous, should-be local hot spots
I decided to make my frst hit on an unsuspecting Thursday in April. It was a cold, gray afternoon and I set out alone for something hot and tasty – a somewhat healthy bite of take-out after a long, busy day.
What I found nestled unassumingly amidst the gritty undertones of touristy Commercial Street was indeed just thatThe Olive Cafe, a Lebanese inspired, chef owned and operated, Mediterranean restaurant that boasts an eclectic array of authentic cuisine teeming with fresh, favorful ingredients in well-known dishes like gyros and shawarma, couscous, fatbread pizzas, and entrees that sail your taste buds right to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Carnivores and vegetarians alike will fnd more to love than they ever anticipated in this very down-under and diminutive venue, so understated it feels like visiting family for a meal in the dining room.
The Scoop: The Olive Cafe, 127 Commercial St., Portland, Lebanese Mediterranean, Middle Eastern cuisine.
The Vibe: No frills, welcoming and cozy. Seats maybe 20. Dine-in or take-out.
The Taste:
Fatoush Shawarma - A delectable combo of cool hummus, fresh veggies, and tahini in a warm and toasty house made pita wrap. Vegan wowser, absolutely delish.
Handcut Fries - Cut shoestring style and seasoned to perfection with salt, pepper, and fresh herbs.
The Sip: Turkish Coffee - traditionally bold, sweet and intense, just like I like ‘em...
The Drop: $20.
The Snip:
5 out of 5!!!
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Thank you for reading!
Bridgton Road (Route 302)
'Becoming Madam Secretary'
By Stephanie Dray
By Stephanie Miller
Even when the men in power respected you, being a professional woman in the 1930s was a hard slog. Frances learned that early in her twenties, as a hungry social worker fghting against child labor and subsistence wages in the slums of Boston and New York City.
Even when the president of the United States respects and relies on you, and actually calls you a friend, being a professional woman in the 1930s who is also a public fgure is near impossible. And yet! Native Mainer Frances Perkins, US Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the frst woman to hold a federal cabinet position, did much more than hold her own. She became one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s most trusted advisors and a talented political strategist even while staying true to her passion for helping working people. She is the mother of social security, a program that was so radical at the time that no one thought it could pass, and which has since become so ingrained in our democracy that most Americans believe it’s a right.
Early in her career, Perkins is shocked that the Settlement House she just joined is offering a housekeeping school where poor girls can be taught how to “keep a home neat and tidy and attractive.” Perkins believed that poor people “didn’t live
By Stephanie Dray Berkley / 2024 / pp. 528
in squalor because they didn’t know how to keep a home neat. She knew they could not afford to keep a neat and tidy home and did not have time to do so when working seventy-four hours a week without respite.”
In Dray’s fast-paced historical fction, Perkins followed the inspiring words of her grandmother throughout her career: “If somebody opens a door of opportunity for you, it’s the Lord’s will. So walk right in and do the best you can.”
When asked why she studied economics, she says, “Because many people in America believe poverty is a moral problem having to do with sloth or some other
sin we can blame on individuals. I believe poverty is an economic problem that can be solved…. And I intend to solve it.”
Historical perspectives of heroic struggles for equity and economic rights always have lessons for our current time. Especially now, when many wealthy Americans put up with federal policies they don’t like because they care far more about protecting their low tax rate and reducing government functions.
Battling every day for her seat at the table and relentlessly fghting for the rights of the working poor, Perkins never loses her North Star of helping people rise out of poverty through fair work for a living wage. Dray uses Perkins’ own words whenever possible, making me feel like I was in the room with her, sharing her frustration and burning with her hopes.
Micro Shorts
'In the Country of Others'
By Leila Slimani
A young Frenchwoman Mathilde is eager for adventure and to escape her family’s dour life in Alsace. During WW2, her town welcomes a troop of Moroccan soldiers fghting with the resistance, and she falls in love with handsome Amine. After the war they settle in a desolate village where Amine tries to make his rocky family farm a success.
As tensions mount between the locals and the French colonists, Amine and Mathilde both struggle with loyalties between family, self, and community. As landowners they are in contrast with the workers, even as Amine is a generous boss
and Mathilde opens a clinic in her home to help the local villagers. The entire novel is a beautifully woven tapestry of how otherness can bring love, friendship, fear, and hate.
Slimani brings in “place” like additional characters: The dusty, dry, farm. Back alleys in the city of Meknes, where young revolutionaries meet to plot resistance and deal arms. A local school run by nuns. The lush countryside of Mathilde’s hometown. The children’s swing hung on a tree. The hot, breezeless roof on summer evenings.
Applying a scientifc approach to cultivating his family farm, Amine splices the branch of a lemon tree onto an orange tree. He tells his young daughter that it is an example of how French and Moroccan people can become one family, and she names the tree, “lemange.” As the country devolves into revolution, Amine “thought about how the fruit of the lemange tree was inedible. Its pulp was dry and its taste so bitter that it brought tears to his eyes. And the world of men is just like the world of botany, he thought. In the end, one species dominates another. One day the orange will win out over the lemon, or visa versa, and the tree will once again produce fruit that the people can eat.”
Read more Micro Shorts at https://thewestendnews.com/book-short-becoming-madam-secretary-by-stephanie-dray/.
Stephanie Miller is a voracious reader and local bibliophile. Find her online @StephanieSAM.
Episcopal Cathedral 143 State Street, Portland, Maine
"Becoming Madam Secretary"
TRAVEL & ADVENTURE
Dare to Go Wild with Native Plants
By Nancy Dorrans
Mary Reynolds, a young Irish native garden designer overcame many obstacles to turn her dream of competing in the Chelsea Flower Show and “bringing nature home” into reality. Her story is told in the movie “Dare to be Wild” (on Amazon). Mary’s natural garden designs encourage people to welcome nature into their own backyards. She has “often been considered an outsider,” and so am I. After all, I think outside the box and prefer to be outside, just like Mary!
If you read my column regularly, you will know that I am also drawn to nature and native plants and gardens. I’m learning more each season about the reciprocal relationships plants have to each other and how these relationships help support all living things... including us! We are in this together and it is quite the adventure…
“When times are easy and there’s plenty to go around, individual species can go it alone. But when conditions are harsh and life is tenuous, it takes a team sworn to reciprocity to keep life going forward. In a world of scarcity, interconnection and mutual aid become critical for survival.” -Robin Wall Kimmerer, “Braiding Sweetgrass”
And so I keep learning… Green Home & Energy Show
In early April I attended several workshops at the Green Home and Energy Show, organized by my friend Heather Chandler of Green & Healthy Maine HOMES.
From Deborah Perkins of First Light Wildife Habitats I learned more about how to “Plant for Wildlife” and how to “build native plant communities that support an array of species and promote biodiversity in home habitats” - just like Mary.
Ivonne Vazquez of Bas Rouge Farm & Forge and I shared stories about her Farm, native lady slippers, and the importance of vernal pools.
Drew Dumsch spoke about the Ecology School learning campus at River Bend Farm on the Saco River.
Amy Thomas of Native Landscapes explored the critical role of native species in restoring ecological balance. As a member of Wild Ones Midcoast Maine, she spoke about the benefts of native plants and how they “sequester, or remove,
carbon from the air, require less water and no fertilizers or pesticides. Provide shelter and food for wildlife including benefcial insects that we need! How they increase biodiversity, a necessity for the health of our ecosystems. And how learning about native plants promotes stewardship of our natural heritage.” Mar y would be pleased!
'The Buzz on 90Native Plants'
What’s “The Buzz on Native Plants”? It is another flm (on pbs. org) that explores the relationship between native plants and pollinators and how they can beneft local ecosystems in our ever changing climate.
Above: Bee exhibit at Maine Botanical Gardens.
Below right: Nancy Dorrans with a Dalia at Thuya Garden Mount Desert Island.
Did you watch Anderson Cooper’s 60 Minutes report on the migration of monarch butterfies? I wrote about this Worldly Biological Phenomenon in The West End News in April 2020. Monarchs need milkweed. Milkweed needs habitat… It’s all reciprocal.
As you can see, there’s a lot of buzz around native plants and the interest is growing...
I hope you will dig in, dare to learn more, fnd and plant some natives this spring.
528 Main St, South Portland
Monday 11-5pm • Tuesday 11-6pm
Thursday & Friday 11-6pm
Saturday & Sunday 10-6pm (207) 558-5881
Below left: Monarch butterfy and the monarch migration from monarchwatch.org.
-All photos courtesy of Nancy
It takes a team. Here are a few more resources:
• Wild Seed Project has multiple events this spring including a Gardening for Biodiversity book launch, Spring Native Planting Workshop, and a guide for where to buy native plants.
• Maine Audubon Native Plants Festival & Sale is on Saturday, June 7th, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, Falmouth.
• Native Gardens of Blue Hill has a Spring Sale on Saturday, May 31st from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
And new adventures are in the works to visit forests, trails, gardens, and other natural phenomena near and far... Stay tuned for details...
• July 13-16 – Midsummer garden tour of the Eastern Townships of Quebec and Quebec City.
• Sept 5-8 – Magog and Montreal, Quebec.
• February 2026 – Witness the monarch butterfy migration in Michoacán, Mexico.
FMI:Nancy@adventure-marketplace.com
www.adventure-marketplace. com/adventures
Nancy Dorrans is founder of Adventure Marketplace...
Navigating travelers on authentic, nurturing, global and local adventures since 2014.
Fungus Trivia
1. You can make black or white oil from what fancy fungi that are often harvested with the help of pigs or dogs?
2. It’s not all mushrooms: other members of the fungus kingdom include mold and what popular single-celled organisms used in brewing and baking?
3. What M-word describes the study of fungi?
4. What illustrator and natural scientist who drew detailed pictures of fungi was even more famous for her kids book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit?
Mondays at Sebago Brewing, Lazzari, Banded Brewing
Tuesdays at Ri Ra, Brookside F+D, Another Round
Wednesdays at Wilson County BBQ, Salt Yard, Smoked BBQ
Thursdays at Arcadia, Locally Sauced online @bestworsttrivia
Find the answers online at thewestendnews.com/puzzle-solutions!
HILLTOP SUPERETTE’s
SLICE FROM THE PIE
GRAB A SLICE OF LOCAL NEWS TO GO…
Portland’s food safety inspection team helps to keep Portland the safest foodie city in the nation according to a Food & Wine article… Also from Food & Wine, industry insiders name Portland sushi joint Mr. Tuna as one of America’s 15 most delicious spots… As of April the Portland Public Schools food services crew is serving daily halal meals as a lunch option… Portland based Rousseau Reclaimed is featured in an April episode of the Magnolia TV Network’s “In With the Old”… Finance website WalletHub ranks Maine as the 5th Greenest State thanks to our clean air and high use of renewable energy… WalletHub also ranks Maine as the 10 Worst State for Working from Home thanks in part to our high cost of electricity… The National Trust for Local News taps Buffalo News publisher Tom Wiley as its next CEO and he starts with a road trip to newsrooms in Maine, Colorado, and Georgia… Archie the comfort dog joins Portland PD and begins providing emotional support to offcers and crime victims… Archie is an 8-week-old labrador and his handler is Offcer Les Smith Open 365 Days 7am - 9pm
PUZZLE ANSWERS
Archie and Offcer
Including ICE-COLD Mexican beers Dos Equis, Modelo, Sol, Tecate...
Tacos – Burritos – Quesadillas – Enchiladas –Pozole – Goat Birria – Fajitas – Cocteles de Marisco –Chile Rellenos – Carne Asada –Lamb Shanks in Adobo & much more!
“To know how to eat is to know enough”
