This Week's Haul, Feb. 26: I really should have bought it when I saw it...
And: Get some Downeast Hardcore in your life
Good morning from eastern Maine, where this week, I belatedly learned that the Brewer Marden’s has already begun the process of moving out of its longtime Wilson Street location into its new digs in the former Burlington Coat Factory in Bangor, in between Lowe’s and Target. I am now painfully aware that this means that I have likely missed most of the DEALS DEALS DEALS as they try to sell most of the contents of the old store in anticipation of the new. I am bereft. Think of the savings!
Though I am looking forward to Marden’s being a little closer and a little more convenient to my typical shopping habits, I will miss the grubby, disorganized old store a bit. I liked that it was a little bit of a hot mess! Will it lose some of its charm if it’s all clean and sensible? The chaos was part of the fun.
In honor of our favorite salvage and surplus store, I ask you, dear reader: what’s your best-ever Marden’s find? Maybe it’s some big ticket item you got for a fraction of the price - or maybe it’s just truly bizarre or random. Either way: sound off in the comments, or send me an email. If I get some good responses I’ll publish them next week.
Operate on the wrong foot once, shame on you. Operate on the wrong foot twice, also shame on you. How has this guy not had his medical license revoked?! If I ever have surgery like this I’m going to write WRONG <INSERT BODY PART> with Sharpie on the one that’s NOT being operated on.
Interesting development! The Bangor Historian, a new freebie direct mail newspaper published by The Ellsworth American, will start appearing in Bangor-area mailboxes soon. As someone that has spent more than a decade digging for those choice historical tidbits in archives around Maine, I applaud this move. Who says print is dead? Most everybody, unfortunately, which is why they’ll have a website too.
In more “great place to start a cult” news: the “antique village” in Pittston is back on the market for $6 million schmackos. Despite our housing shortage, no one wants to buy this albatross of a rich guy’s hobby. Maybe lower the price by a mil or so, and then we can talk. Unless, of course, you’re an independently wealthy cult leader looking for the perfect place to lead your pyramid-powered psychosexual energy workshops. Ascend to Level Amethyst in scenic rural Maine!
We are presently in the inactive period of the Attempting to Develop Sears Island cycle in Maine. The most recent active period ended in 2024, when an attempt to develop an offshore wind port fizzled once Trump was elected again and renewable energy projects were paused or scuttled (Drill, baby, drill? In this climate disaster? Yikes). Don’t worry, though: a plan to develop Sears Island will come back, and so will local and state opposition to any development there. It always does. Various governors have attempted to build an aluminum smelter, an oil refinery, a nuclear power plant, a coal-fired power plant and a liquid natural gas terminal. The commercial shipping port idea lasted the longest, but it too went kaput 30 years ago this week, during the Angus King administration. Why do we keep bothering? I don’t know. Maybe pick another place to build something big and useful and job-creating, <INSERT MAINE GOVERNOR HERE>.
Music & Dance
Feb. 26: Hot Ticket Hootenanny: A Very Feminist Variety Show fundraiser for the Maine Women’s Lobby, featuring songwriters Darcy Withers, Sara Trunzo and Sunny Marie, punk band TheWorst, ImprovAcadia, Eye Candy Burlesque and a feminist singalong, 7 p.m., Next Generation Theatre, Brewer
Feb. 26: Beginner’s contradance and open jam, 6 p.m., Blue Hill Congregational Church, Blue Hill
Feb. 27: Bangor Contradance with Springtide and caller Hannah Chamberlain, 6 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Society of Maine, Park Street, Bangor
Feb. 27: TheWorst and Gailish, 7 p.m, Hey Sailor, Searsport
Feb. 28: Bangor Celtic Crossroads presents Celtic duo Hildaland, 7 p.m., Next Generation Theatre, Brewer
Feb. 28: Zac Ross of Man Overboard, Bangor Transit Authority and Milk Street, 7 p.m., The Old Town Theatre, Old Town
Feb. 28: Twisted Pine, bluegrass band, 7 p.m., Minsky Recital Hall, University of Maine, Orono
Feb. 28: Muskeg, Phil Hummer and the White Falcons, and Kitty Literally, 7 p.m., American Legion Hall, Belfast
Theatre & Comedy
Feb. 26-29: Penobscot Theatre Company presents “The Darker The Night, The Brighter The Stars,” new play by John Cariani, nightly, Bangor Opera House, Bangor
Feb. 27: High Stakes House of Comedy presents Tuck Tucker and Ian Stuart, 8 p.m., Hollywood Casino, Bangor
Feb. 27-29: UMaine School of Performing Arts presents “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” shows daily, Hauck Auditorium, University of Maine, Orono
Feb. 28: Belfast Maskers staged reading series presents Donald Margulies “Dinner With Friends,” 2 p.m., Basil Burwell Community Theatre, Belfast
Feb. 28: Haunting Hour, live readings of scary stories by Penobscot Theatre actors, 9 p.m., The Stage Door, Bangor
March 3: “Kinky Boots,” Broadway musical tour, 7 p.m., March 3, Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
Feb. 26: “Building a Writing Life: Practical Routes to Publication,” talk by visiting scholar Amy Halloran, 5 p.m., Williams Hall, University of Maine, Orono
Feb. 26: Red Rabbit Film Club screens “Suspiria,” 7 p.m., Red Rabbit Bazaar, Bangor
Feb. 26: “Inhuman But Profitable Adventures: Down East Maine and the Illegal Slave Trade, 1840-1865,” talk by Dr. Kate McMahon, 7 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill
Feb. 28: “Creating Habitats with Native Plants,” gardening workshop with Yvonne Vasquez, 10:30 a.m., Page Farm and Home Museum, University of Maine, Orono
Feb. 28: “The Librarians,” documentary screening, 2 p.m., Bangor Public Library, Bangor
March 3: Finding Our Voices author series talk with Irish writer Roisin O’Donnell, 4 p.m., Ellsworth Public Library, Ellsworth
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.
Feb. 27-March 1: Mainely MeepleCon, three days of both video and tabletop gaming, Hollywood Casino, Bangor
Feb. 27-March 1: Belfast Ice Festival, including State of Maine Ice Carving Championship, vendors, live music, kid’s activities and more, throughout downtown Belfast
Feb. 28: Winter animal tracking walk, 11:30 a.m., Fields Pond Audubon Center, Holden
March 2: Tap Maple Trees with MOFGA, spend an afternoon learning how to tap maple trees, 1 p.m., MOFGA HQ, Unity; registration here
I’m really excited to share the trailer for “Downeast Hardcore: Stories From The Kave,” a new documentary from our friend, Maine filmmaker Ricky Leighton, about The Kave - the iconic Bucksport music venue that for more than a decade cultivated a tight knit, rabid community of hardcore fans, led by indelible den mother Kathy Kave. Kathy and The Kave’s story is a true Maine story, and it fucking rules. I am really honored to play a very small part in the film! It’s coming out later this year. More to come. Support Maine filmmakers (read The Maine Playweek for help doing so!) and music and art and community!
So I'd never been in Marden's until my wife took me up to the Waterville store to buy some stackable chairs. We found two and they work great, took 'em home to Belfast in my pickup. But the best deal was finding a Bodum French Press coffee maker for cheap. They usually run $40!
I am an old time Marden's shopper and one story goes back to when they were in Brewer next to the IGA. Larry Bird announced he was retiring and we had a picture of Larry Bird my wife had picked up at Mardens for a Quarter. We were having a yard sale and she put $2 on the picture and people were arguing over it. My wife sent me to Marden's to get more so I made the very short trip and bought all they had and brought back and she marked the $2 and we sold out that day, I think 40 or 50, so a good Marden's story and yard sale story since all the yard sale customers had to drive by Mardens to get to our yard.