Good morning from eastern Maine, where this week, I was slightly overwhelmed by the response to my BIG NEWS that I’m going to appear on Jeopardy! next week. Hi there, new subscribers! We have fun here. None of this feels real to me. I’m not used to being the subject of news articles. I’m the one that writes them!
It was genuinely delightful to see the long line of people waiting to get into the new Flagg Trading Co., the card shop in downtown Bangor opened by Tyler Flagg and his cousin, NBA superstar and Newport native Cooper Flagg!
Oh goody, more measles cases in Maine. At an urgent care in Waterville. The sixth one this year. Honestly? Gross.
The ongoing saga of how some far right activists (funded in part by Maine Policy Center, the same folks that bring you the Maine Wire) managed to take over and destabilize a Hancock County school board is not actually shocking. These are deliberate acts by extremists bent on undermining our public schools and pushing their agenda - an agenda that seems to mostly consist of hating trans people and making it easier for children to get measles and other diseases. Can you imagine that being your motivator in life? Sad.
A very good article about the slow, careful process of adapting to climate change - or, if you don’t like that word, the fact that flooding and rising ocean temperatures are definitely coming down the pike - in rural communities in Maine.
Our friends at the Midcoast Villager put together this excellent guide to all the local programming at this year’s Camden International Film Festival, which kicks off today.
Does anyone have a wild personal story - like this guy’s tale of falling down a mine shaft in Cape Rosier - they’d like to share with me? I would so love to hear your crazy Maine anecdotes.
Sometimes I truly find almost nothing of note in my weekly perusal of This Week In Headlines in the Bangor Daily News. Once in a while, however, I stumble across gold - like this headline about two Ellsworth teens who in 1926 “eloped” with the help of a car-stealing friend. The elopers, Nellie Piper and David Coughlin, were both 14 at the time of their departure, and had apparently tried to run off several times before finally successfully escaping the clutches of their parents and their school. They managed to do it thanks to their friend Colby Foss, an older teen who stole a car from Linnehan’s Garage and drove them out into the woods. The story ended up going national, with the New York Times covering the wayward teens, who eventually were believed to have made it to Canada - though in reality, they were hiding out in a camp not far from Ellsworth. They were recaptured and returned home on Sept. 24 of that year. You can watch this video made by fellow Substacker Hidden Lens History for a little more info on the story. Not a lot of stories these days about teenagers eloping!
Music & Dance
Sept. 18: Isaac Raven, Mannequin Republic and The Leeches, 8 p.m., Red Rabbit Bazaar, Bangor
Sept. 18-20: Strung Together: A Maine String Band weekend, three days of music, workshops and more; Searsport Shores Ocean Campground, Searsport
Sept. 19: ‘80 and ‘90s dance party with I Want My MTV, 7 p.m., Center Theatre, Dover-Foxcroft
Sept. 19: Bangor Celtic Crossroads presents Will Woodson and Cait Finley, 7 p.m., Next Generation Theatre, Brewer
Sept. 20: Filth, Kryptosporidium and End Your Life, 6 p.m., The Old Town Theatre, Old Town
Sept. 20: Songwriter Caroline Cotter, 2 p.m., First Congregational Church, Blue Hill
Sept. 22: The Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms Band w/ fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves, 7 p.m., American Legion Hall, Belfast
Sept. 22: Bear Bones Trombone Quartet, 7:30 p.m., Minsky Recital Hall, University of Maine, Orono
Sept. 23: The Robert Cray Band, 7 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor
Theatre & Comedy
Sept. 17-20: Penobscot Theatre Company presents “On Golden Pond,” nightly at the Bangor Opera House, Bangor
Sept. 18-19: Counter/Current Collective presents “My Boyfriend Bonhoeffer,” 7 p.m., First Church, Belfast
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
Sept. 17: “Stop Calling America An Experiment,” 2026 Constitution Day Lecture by Prof. Gregory Collins, 3:30 p.m., Barrows Hall, University of Maine, Orono
Sept. 17: “The Burning of the Royal Tar, 1836,” talk by Capt. Dennis Dorsey, 5 p.m., Castine Historical Society, Castine
Sept. 18-19: “North By Northwest,” classic film screening, nightly, Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor
Sept. 19: Presentation on historic timber hewing, 1 p.m., Jonathan Fisher House, Blue Hill
Sept. 19: Poetry Reading with Claire Millikin and James Brasfield, 3 p.m. Anodyne Books, Searsport
Sept. 19: “Tire Tracks,” local documentary screening, 7 p.m., Stonington Opera House, Stonington
Sept. 20: 40th anniversary screening of the original “Transformers” movie, 7 p.m., Black Bear Cinemas, Orono
Sept. 21: “How Maine Birds Have Changed,” talk by Audubon birder Zachary Holderby, 7 p.m., United Methodist Church, Penobscot
Sept. 22: “Live to Hike Another Day,” best practices for hiking with Erica Dubois, 6 p.m., Bangor Public Library
Sept. 22: Book talk and discussion with NYT best selling author Michael Koryta, 7 p.m., Bookspace, Bangor
Sept. 22: Belfast Poetry Festival presents “Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming,” documentary screening, 6:30 p.m., Colonial Theatre, Belfast
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.
Sept. 18-20: Stephen King’s Birthday Carnival, three days of Stephen King-themed events in downtown Bangor, including street fair, film screening, “Pet Sematary” pet parade, beer fest and more; click here for more info
Sept. 19: Bangor Waterfront Craft Fair and Food Truck roundup, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Bangor Waterfront
I really like this song. It scratches that jangly indie pop R.E.M. meets early Wilco meets Big Star vibe. I feel good listening to it. I feel like I’m driving in a car with my friends and we are on our way to a fun day at the lake. That’s it. Enjoy your weekend!