Good morning from eastern Maine, where this past weekend, Zach and I were so lucky to attend the beautiful, intimate, riotously fun wedding of two dear friends, held at a stunning cottage on a private beach in Washington County. We had breakfast the next morning at La Laiterie in Jonesboro and I was deeply emotionally and gastronomically moved by the buckwheat crepes and the Paris-Brest pastries. We took the long way back and drove through miles and miles of absolutely glorious foliage. 1000/10 weekend.
Sarah Whitty, the Veazie resident renowned for her incredible ability to grow absolutely f-ing massive pumpkins and other squashes and gourds, took home the North American record last week for the heaviest zucchini EVER. The zucchini, which Whitty named Secretariat, weighed in at 170 pounds.
Happy publication week to “Other Worlds Than These,” the new book from Stephen King and Peter Straub. It is part of the “Talisman” series, and completes the story King and Straub began telling decades ago, and is in memory of Straub, who died in 2022. Can’t wait to read.
They moved the Main Street Dunkin rock that people kept crashing their cars into! I guess that’s a good thing for Bangor motorists? I got my iced coffee last week and a guy at the drive-thru played rock paper scissors with me for a $5 gift card. I lost!
We’ve done it, folks. We have achieved peak foliage. For all of the state minus the very southern tip, that is. It’s been a crazily beautiful season. Did you take some gorgeous photos? Share them in the comments or send me an email and I might use them for next week’s post!
Early voting has started! Go vote at your city hall or town office!
It is really easy to take for granted the fact that the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, connecting the towns of Prospect and Verona Island at a crucial Penobscot River crossing, is an incredible feat of engineering and structural design. Out of the forests and fields of the surrounding countryside rises this massive, vaguely ship-like bridge, overlooking Fort Knox and capped with its towering observatory that is the tallest of its kind in the world (if you’ve never been up in it, do it as soon as possible). It almost feels out of place in such a pastoral setting - and yet, it shows that Mainers can do big things if they want to. The bridge, which replaced the crumbling, 77-year-old Waldo-Hancock Bridge, opened 20 years ago this week. Is the Deer Isle bridge next? Can we dream big again?
Music & Dance
Oct. 8: Sea chantey singalong, 4 p.m., Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport
Oct. 8: Hymn for Her, 7 p.m., The Underground Lounge, Belfast
Oct. 8: The Silver Duo, 7:30 p.m., Minsky Recital Hall, University of Maine, Orono
Oct. 9: Concert pianist Donna Coleman, 4 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill
Oct. 10-12: Natalie Merchant with Erik Della Penna, Oct. 10 at Gracie Theatre in Bangor, Oct. 11-12 at Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor
Oct. 10: Slampig, Militia and Revenant, 7 p.m., The Old Town Theatre, Old Town
Oct. 10: Tusk: The Fleetwood Mac Experience, 8 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor
Oct. 10: Bangor Celtic Crossroads presents Gordon Belsher and Cynthia MacLeod, 7 p.m., Next Generation Theatre, Brewer
Theater & Comedy
Oct. 8: Grand Kyiv Ballet presents “Swan Lake,” 7 p.m., Collins Center for the Arts, University of Maine, Orono
Oct. 8-11: Grand Players present “Into the Woods,” nightly, Grand Theatre, Ellsworth
Oct. 8-11: Some Theatre Company presents “Grey House,” new play by Levi Holloway, Some Theatre at the Bangor Mall, Bangor
Oct. 9-11: Theatre Nouveau presents “The Bribe of Bread: A Tragical Comedy for Frivolous People,” nightly, Basil Burwell Community Theatre, Belfast
Oct. 10: PTC Scripts in Spotlight Playreading Series presents “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” 7 p.m., The Stage Door, Bangor
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
Oct. 8: New Writing Series presents author Kate Bernheimer, 5 p.m., IMRC Center, University of Maine, Orono
Oct. 8: Author talk with Maine writer Ron Currie, 6 p.m., Ellsworth Public Library, Ellsworth
Oct. 8: Red Rabbit Film Club screens “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark,” 7 p.m., Red Rabbit Bazaar, Bangor
Oct. 10: Children’s author talk with Kate Broderick, 10 a.m., Ellsworth Public Library, Ellsworth
Oct. 10: Food from the Sea talk with oyster farmer Abby Barrows, 2 p.m., Friend Memorial Public Library, Brooklin
Oct. 10: Maine Outdoor Film Festival, 7 p.m., Center Theatre, Dover-Foxcroft
Oct. 11-14: Screenings of “Gone With the Wind,” Oct. 11 and 14, and “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Oct. 11, Black Bear Cinemas, Orono
Oct. 11: Screening of silent film “Safety Last!” with piano accompaniment by Doug Protsik, 3 p.m., Center Theatre, Dover-Foxcroft
Oct. 11: Maine Women’s Lobby presents a screening of “Jennifer’s Body,” 7 p.m., The Emporium Spooky Goods & More, Bangor
Oct. 13: “Abstraction to Image: Interactive Poetry Making,” workshop with Steve Langan, 6 p.m., Bangor Public Library, Bangor
Oct. 14: “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” 6 p.m., Colonial Theatre, Belfast
Oct. 14: “9 to 5,” 7 p.m., Center Theatre, Dover-Foxcroft
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.
Oct. 10-11: Maineiac Manor haunted house, nightly with opening no-scare hour, Bangor Mall, Bangor; click here for more info
Oct. 10-11: Maine Maple Fall Fest, fall celebration of Maine maple, sugarhouses statewide; click here for list
Oct. 10: Penobscot Valley Audubon presents The Big Sit Accessible Birding Marathon, birding for folks with varying mobility, 7 a.m.-4 p.m., Fields Pond Audubon Center, Holden
Oct. 10: Brooksville Fall Carnival, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Brooksville Community Center, Brooksville
Oct. 10: Bangor Multicultural Fair, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Bangor Public Library, Bangor
Oct. 10: Maine Made at Mosman Park artisan market, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Mosman Park, Searsport
Oct. 10: Dark Market Halloween-themed artisan market, 3-8 p.m., The Emporium Spooky Goods & More, Bangor
Oct. 11: Autumn Celebration and cider pressing, noon-2 p.m., Jonathan Fisher House, Blue Hill
The Ellsworth American, the Mount Desert Islander and the Bangor Historian are looking for new ownership - ideally, by the new nonprofit a group of Hancock County locals founded to buy it. The Acadia Newspaper Trust launched this fall and hopes to raise $1 million to buy the papers from current owner Reade Brower, who is retiring after many decades in Maine publishing. If they are successful in purchasing the papers, the nonprofit would be the latest in a nationwide trend towards nonprofits acquiring newspapers that would otherwise be shuttered or sold to [insert vomit noise here] hedge funds or private equity.
The Ellsworth American celebrated its 175th birthday this year, making it the oldest weekly newspaper in Maine, and one of the oldest weekly newspapers in the country - an extremely rare feat, given that newspapers both large and small are a critically endangered species. 150 years later, in 2001 its owners launched the Mount Desert Islander, covering MDI and Acadia, and in April of this year, it launched the Bangor Historian, a free weekly tabloid-size mailer that is sent to 26,000 households across the Bangor region. Fun fact: I graduated from Searsport District High School with Bangor Historian managing editor, Steve Fuller. Hi Steve!
On its website, the Acadia Newspaper Trust quotes the oft-reported statistic that more than 55 million Americans now live in communities with little or no local news coverage. We are incredibly lucky that in this neck of the woods we have locally-owned newspapers like the Bangor Daily News, the Midcoast Villager and the Ellsworth American that help us understand what is happening in our communities, good or bad. Once a newspaper closes, it is rarely replaced. We know what happens when news deserts form - misinformation spreads, and mistrust festers. We can’t let that happen here.
I just made a donation to the Acadia Newspaper Trust, and I hope you will too. If you value it, I hope you’ll support as much local news and local voices here in Maine as you’re able.