“Beyond the South End”
will be on hiatus beginning today, May 22, until such time as pain and my
physical therapist will allow me to stick my new knee under this art table I
call a desk again.
I will have a partial knee
replacement on my right knee (Ugh, the driving leg, right) tomorrow at the butt
crack of dawn, 8:30 a.m. At least I won’t have to be too hungry or thirsty
before they put me under.
I have a wonderful
doctor. He does surgery like this all the time and works on many of the
athletes in this area.
Wish me luck. Be back
with you as soon as I can. Meanwhile enjoy one or two of the stories in the
archives.
Boots on the Ground at
the Knox Museum in Thomaston; The Memorial Day “Murph” in Camden; and Peace and
Justice Sunday at the John Street Methodist Church in Camden are three of the
events upcoming to commemorate Memorial Day in the Mid Coast area.
Boots
on the Ground
The second annual “Boots
on the Ground” event honoring America’s veterans and active military personnel
and their families, takes place at The Knox Museum in Thomaston on May 25 at 11
a.m.
Lieutenant Colonel
(ret.) and Peter W. Ogden, Maine State Director of Veterans’ Affairs, will
speak. Admission is free and all are welcome.
A parade will begin at
11:00 including military units such as guards, rifle units, veterans, and
re-enactors. If you wish to march, arrive by 10:30 and check in with American
Legion District 6 Commander Ronald A Rainfrette.
After the parade a color
guard will raise the flag and soloist Harry Grant will perform the national
anthem. There will be brief speeches, prayers, and tributes. A wreath will be
laid in memory of General Henry Knox, who served as Chief of Artillery under
George Washington in the Revolutionary War.
Lunch will be served
after the activities by the Tenants Harbor Masons and Knox Museum personnel.
The Midcoast Community Band will provide the music.
The event will go on
rain or shine. Bring a blanket or lawn chair. Some seating is provided.
Memorial
Day ‘Murph’
The Memorial Day “Murph”,
which honors the memory of Navy Lt. Michael Murphy, who was killed in
Afghanistan in 2005, takes place in Camden, Monday, May 27, at 8:00 a.m. at the
Camden-Rockport Middle School playground.
Murphy was given the
Congressional Medal of Honor and the fundraiser raises money for veterans’
organizations.
This is a cross-fit
style event designed to remind participants of the pain and discomfort that
service men and women go through by extensive physical exercise. You may also
just show up and participate for free to show your support for veterans.
Peace and Justice Sunday
will be observed on May 26, at 10:30 am. At the John Street United Methodist
Church in Camden. The service honors veterans. Active or retired members of the
armed services and their families are invited to attend.
The congregation will thank
the servicemen and women with a luncheon following the worship.
Parades
I do not have a listing
of the local area parades as I’m writing this on May 22. Check your local paper
for the times and places for the parade in your area.
Memorial
Day Stories in the Archives
I invite you to read
archive stories from May, 2011: “Honoring Our Civil War Heroes, Our Civil War
Legacy”; and May 2012, “Remembering Our Freedom.”
Has anyone accused you
of having spring fever or laughed at you when you said you were suffering from
that ailment? Well, there may be reasons for developing the malady that ring
true. Some research brought these possible reasons for Spring Fever.
In a Fox News story
called “Spring Fever 101” they describe spring fever as “an onset of physiological
symptoms associated with the arrival of spring. Its symptoms include a flushed
face, increased heart rate, restlessness, daydreaming, and an increase in
sexual appetite.”
Have you ever known a
teenager who didn’t suffer from the above?
What
causes Spring Fever?
Seasonal Affective
Disorder (SAD) is real for those people who live in a cold, dark climate for an
extended period of time. I have a friend in Alaska who suffers from it. It may
also play a part in what is known as Spring Fever. The symptoms may include
dizziness, irritability, headaches, aching joints and a lack of drive.
Wikipedia sees the
causes as hormonal imbalance and the body’s reserve of the “happiness hormone”
serotonin, whose production depends on daylight, which is exhausted earlier in
the winter in the northern regions. At such times the “sleep hormone” melatonin
takes over. As the days become longer in the springtime, the body readjusts its
hormone levels and more endorphin, testosterone and estrogen are released,
which puts a heavy strain on the body, resulting in a feeling of tiredness.
We become friskier in
the spring when we are able to get out-of-doors and get some exercise. The
sunshine gives us an immediate lift in mood and we experience an increase in
endorphins or “the feel-good” hormone.
Not everyone agrees with
the Spring Fever phenomena. Thomas Szasz, a well-known psychiatrist, who was
Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at State University of New York, was a critic
of social control aims of medicine and of scientism. He said. “Spring fever all
you have to know is English. Spring fever is not a disease.” What he meant by
that first sentence I don’t know, but it’s clear he thought Spring Fever was a
lot of hooey.
I can attest to that
feel good feeling as a young teen attending South School. I remember many happy
days of recess chasing members of the opposite sex up and down the grass laden
fields back of the school. We always hated going back inside during May and as
the end of the school year approached we all became restless and I’m afraid
less attentive to our studies. Our teachers had to threaten us with this
phrase, “remember what you do here in this class becomes a part of your permanent record,” meaning pay attention
or else you’ll regret it later on.
Going
on Spring Break
How many of you have had
a memorable Spring Break experience? Let me tell you about mine.
As a young teacher who
lived with other young teachers in the 60s I became part of a group of five
teachers who took off for Florida and South Beach, Miami in a small car during
Spring Break. All of us were educated in the Maine teacher’s college system and
none of us could ever afford to take off for Florida for Spring Break when we
were going to school. We set out to correct that deficiency in our life
experience to that point.
I don’t know why they call it Spring Break
when it actually occurs in February. Isn’t that still winter? In any event, we
longed for the sun; for the opportunity to wear nothing but a bathing suit; and
the deliciousness of lying out on a beach somewhere. Why we didn’t just go to
the beaches of Northern Florida like Daytona or even Jacksonville, I don’t
know. We had a limited amount of time to get there; enjoy the sun; and get back
to our teaching jobs in Connecticut. But we were young and foolish I guess.
It was a cramped ride
with three of us in the back and two in the front. We swapped around often but
it was still a very long ride. When we finally got to South Beach, sans any
kind of motel reservation, we were pretty tired. We ended up sleeping in the
car the best we could down by the beach.
The next day we got
stopped by a patrol car because we were weaving down the main drag not knowing
where we were going. He was sympathetic to our cause and directed us to a motel
down the road. We were very thankful.
We all piled in to the
same room and some of us slept on cots so we could save money. As I remember
it, it rained a lot and we started getting on each other’s nerves. We managed
to have somewhat of a good time though in spite of the weather, but it sure was
a long ride back to Connecticut.
Elvis
and Spring Break
As I was researching
this story I came across a video of an Elvis movie called “Girl Happy” from
1965. It would have been about the same time as my trip with the girls to
Florida. His co-star was Shelley Fabares. We didn’t have these nice
convertibles like the ones in this video that’s for sure. Notice Gary Crosby,
Bing’s son, in the back seat of Elvis’ car. I think they all had more fun than
we did. This video was his first green screen test. Enjoy.
Here are the lyrics if
you want to sing along:
Spring
Fever
A
little bird, he told me so, he said come on, get on the go
Open
your eyes the sky is full of butterflies
The
blossoms on the trees stir up the honey bees
Spring
makes my fever right
Spring fever, Spring is here at last
Spring
fever, my heart's beating fast
Get
up, get out spring is everywhere
Well
if you feel the wanderlust, just grab a car or hop a bus
In every
town there's excitement to be found
So
much is happening, don't miss the joy of spring
The
world's in love just look around
Spring fever comes to everyone
Spring
fever, it's time for fun
Get
up, get out spring is everywhere
Spring fever, it's Spring fever time
Spring
fever, watch that fever climb
Get
up, get out spring is everywhere
Spring
is everywhere
Georgia
Spring
We don’t get Spring
Fever, if it even exists, very much down here in Georgia. We don’t get SAD. Our
winters are mild and our hours of sunlight are longer, or at least it seems
that way. If we even get flurries in the winter it is headline news and all you
hear about all day long.
Spring comes early here
and while your fifth season up north is the “mud season,” here in the south our
fifth season is the “pollen season.” After all the flowering trees are in
bloom, summer comes upon us pretty darn fast; so much so that we wonder where
our spring went.
Whereas I don’t have to
worry about Spring Fever, I have to figure out how to endure Cabin Fever while
I recuperate from knee surgery at the end of this week up here in my apartment
at the top of the stairs. Oh well, at least I have a balcony to sit out on. I
hope we get some sun.
Check
out this video of the haul-out on May 4 (There are several videos, take a peek at all of them)
The
information above comes from the Nathaniel
Bowditch Newsletter which is emailed to me every year. For more information
about sailing on the mid-coast go to:
(All
pictures were taken by me except for the last one on the story)
A South End house with window boxes
This blog is a revamp of
a spring flower story which appears on the “Being a Southender” CD of 2009. I
would like to include summer flowers into this current story and try to tweak
the memories of those of you who have moved away. What flowers do you remember
from your youth living in Maine?
While these flowers
could probably be found in most of the New England states, they always remind
me of the beauty and in some cases, the perfume of our most prevalent flowers
and bushes in Maine.
As the school children
up in Maine gaze out the windows of their classrooms and daydream of summer
days, they still have to keep their jackets handy, for the transition to summer
in Maine can be tricky.
A nice warm day can turn
into a cold rainy day in the blink of an eye. The old Maine adage, “If you don’t
like the weather, wait a minute,” is never truer than at this time of year in
Maine. It’s the smells wafting on the early spring air that hold the most
promise however. The smells renew our spirits and make your whole world look
better to you all of a sudden. I always got terrible “spring fever” about this
time of year when I was a kid in Maine.
The little house in the field next to Sandy Beach in the South End
In Maine, folks look
forward to the end of “mud season” and to changes in the wind patterns from the
cold blasts of winter to the milder breezes of spring and the promise of warmer
days to come.
Finally flowers begin
appearing as if overnight: crocuses, tulips, jonquils (called daffodils here in
Georgia) and the flowering bushes of forsythia and lilac, and those white “bridal”
bushes. The spring smell I miss the most is Maine’s lilac bushes. We had one in
our yard at the Mcloud Street house along with forsythia bushes.
Along this time of year
it was dance recital time and our mother always took our pictures standing
outside by one of the bridal bushes. Except for the sunny spot by the side of
the house where the electric meter was, this was her second favorite spot in
which to take our picture.
Graduation time was
always the time for lilacs. The Community Building stage would be banked with
the fragrant bush for both Baccalaureate and Graduation ceremonies. The smell
of those lilacs remains with me to this day.
How many of you gathered
a spring or summer bouquet for your mother when you were a kid? They might be
just a bunch of dandelions but she was always appreciative. Other flowers we
might gather were wild violets, buttercups, “painted” wild flowers, black-eyed Susans,
pussy willows, or Queen Anne’s lace. My mother used to take the latter and put
them into a vase of water with food dye added to it. She usually used red or
blue which turned the lace to that color.
Queen Anne's Lace at Sandy Beach
The fields alongside our
Maine roads often contained some of these flowers above along with beautiful
waves of lupine of different colors as well.
Black-eyed Susans growing in the South End
This picture comes from
the pictures I have of my friend, Pat Pendleton’s garden up in Rockport. It was
taken a couple years ago.
As I come north this
year I will miss the arrival and blooming of many of the above flowers and
fauna. I do remember one trip I made up to Maine in the spring time. It was May
and I came to bury my father, Ted Sr. The first thing I smelled when I got home
was the lilacs. I like to think it was his final gift to me. Thanks, Dad.
M-O-T-H-E-R
"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.
- Howard Johnson
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers
out there. Enjoy this video.
This proclamation was
written by Julia Ward Howe, in 1870. She also wrote “The Battle Hymn of the
Republic” in 1861, which glorified the Civil War. The feeling at the time was
that war was glorious and would end in a few weeks. Four years later, after
almost a million were killed in battle, Howe had a change of heart, and wrote
the following proclamation. Kudos to Maine
Boats, Homes and Harbors for bringing these moving words to my attention.
Arise then…women of this
day!
Arise, all women who
have hearts!
Whether your baptism be
of water or of tears!
Say firmly: “We will not
have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not
come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caress and applause.
Our sons shall not be
taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been
able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one
country,
Will be too tender of
those of another country
To allow our sons to be
trained to injure theirs.”
From the bosom of a
devastated Earth a voice goes up with Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is
not the balance of justice.”
Blood does not wipe out
dishonor,
Nor violence indicate
possession
As men have often
forsaken the plough and the anvil
Mother’s Day is this
Sunday, May 12. This year I thought I’d bring you some of my mother’s past.
First, though, I found this old hand-made card I must have made for my mother
when I was about ten, judging by the level of artistic prowess I had at that
time and my handwriting. I don’t remember where I came across it, but my mother
saved such things and I suppose she put it into the “Sandra” pile when she was
cleaning out stuff in the attic on Fulton Street. In any event, I’m glad she did.
I was probably ten or
eleven when I made this card, which would make it around 1950 or so. I
shortened the length of the front page of the card so that the border of
bluebells going down the right side showed up for the cover and for the inside
page. As roses were my mother’s favorite flower, I put one on the front cover.
The inside says “Everybody
brings you flowers, Mother. So I’m just giving you just this card with a Rose
in a vase on the cover. Your loving daughter, Sandra.”
My mother usually got
shortchanged in May because both her birthday and Mother’s Day fell in that
month. She never complained though. She always made as big a deal about the
card you gave her as she would an expensive gift were we able to give her one.
Now for the past I promised
you. This is a picture of her 1927 graduation from Rockland High School. Her
name then was Evangeline Lana Winchenbaugh. I assume it was taken in a studio
because of the branches behind her. That is not wallpaper because you can see a
branch coming down over the wainscoting. It looks like she even has a twig in
her hair. I can’t imagine what kind of bush it was. Did they have artificial
flowers then?
I assume also the paper
in her hand is either a fake diploma used for such pictures or she actually
kept her own diploma to have her picture taken with it later. I wish the
picture showed her feet. I’m sure she probably had on some kind of white
nylon-type stocking and most likely white shoes with some kind of strap on
them.
The other thing I wonder
about is where the money came from to pay for this picture. Her family of eight
children didn’t usually allow for such extravagances. She did start working at
E.C. Moran early because she graduated early, although I expect she went through
the graduation day proceedings. Therefore, she could have paid for it herself.
It could also be that my grandfather, who was a scholarly man, albeit a
self-made man, may have been very proud of his eldest daughter and insisted on
having a memento of the occasion.
As graduation will soon
be upon us again, I thought I’d mention the folks who graduated with my mother
in 1927. I will bring you more of what is inside her Cauldron for that year at
a later date. I’ve already given you a peak at the ads in that issue. Just
glancing through the book I saw many last names that were familiar even in my
own high school days. Names like: Merriam, Bicknell, Ames, Merrill, Crane,
Flanagan, Stoddard, Small, Ladd, Bird, Cole, and Gay.
There were 77 graduating
members of the 1927 Rockland High School class. How many of these names are you
familiar with?
Lempi Anderson, Elizabeth
Annis, Madeline Bubier, Bessie Blackwood, Leland Blackington, Bradford Burgess,
Virginia Bisbee, Richard Bird, Myer Benovitch, Donald Cameron, Christine
Curtis, Beulah Cole, Ruth Crouse, Catherine Critch, Albertina Creighton, Marian
Clark, Raymond Cross, Arlene Chaples, Annie Dunn, William Davis, Wendell Emery,
Walter Ellis, John Flanagan, Maybelle Fales, Cedric French, Kendall Greene, Marion
Greene, Evelyn Green, Helen Glidden, Edna Gregory, Ida Harper, Hattie Hupper,
Malcolm Hoxie, Elizabeth Hamlin, Margaret Hellier, Alice Hodgkins, Estelle
Hall, Mervin Harriman, May Johnston, Ruth Koster, Frank Knight, Wilbur Kennedy,
Oiva Lempi, Helen LaCrosse, Claribel Lowe, Florence Legage, Robert McCarty,
Alice Merrick, Ruth Mealey, Alva Mears, Etta Mitchell, Louise McIntosh, Dorothy
Maloney, Donald Merriam, Randall Marshall, Earle Moore, Kenneth Overlock,
Francis Orne, Evelyn Perry, Peter Pellicane, Delia Parsons, Palmer Pease, Ethel
Quinn, Ethel Rackliff, Evelyn Simmons, Ruth Stearns, Virginia Snow, Mary
Sylvester, Samuel Smalley, Sydney Segal, Ethel Thomas, Luther Wotton, Robert
Wallis, Frances Winchenbach, Evangeline Winchenbaugh,, Parker Young, Linola
Young.
In October of last year
I brought you the story of the terrible fire at Acadia National Park and Mount
Desert Island. October 17 was the 65th anniversary of that terrible
fire which changed the face of the area and the face of our Maine economy for
many years to come.
As the summer season
approaches us we will again see many visitors to the popular Bar Harbor area
and Acadia National Park. I would like to give a short history of that area to
our summer visitors to carry with them as they visit this historical site.
The mid 1800s saw the
area of Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island and what was to become Acadia
National Park turn into a rustic haven for the rich. Tourism was a booming
industry.
The wealthy folks from
out-of-state who became our first “summer visitors” chose to spend their
summers in the area. Names such as Rockefeller, Morgan, Ford, Vanderbilt,
Carnegie, and Astor eventually built immense “cottages” and followed a lavish
summer lifestyle. Some of these “cottages” had 100 rooms. These folks came for
“the season.” In the days before income taxes and before the Great Depression,
they had a lot of money to spend and our state benefitted from their summer
presence.
Whole families would
relocate to the Bar Harbor area for the summer. When cars began to appear they
were not allowed on Mount Desert Island. Therefore for this and other reasons,
the summer residents referred to themselves as “rusticators” believing they
were living a rustic life. No Mainer ever lived such a lavish “rustic” life.
Today we have other
summer visitors to Maine. Not only to Mount Desert Island, but to other areas
all over Maine. (See list at the end of this story.)
The first hotel on the
island was built by Tobias Roberts in 1855. In 1868, Alpheus Hardy was the
first person to build a summer home. It was called Birch Point.
The
History of Acadia National Park
The
Land:
The land, of course, has
been here for many eons. The pink granite cliffs called Otter Cliffs were
formed 350 million years ago. Jordan Pond, Eagle Lake and other bodies of water
were formed when glaciers 3000 feet thick dug its way through the area. The glaciers
also left behind huge boulders like “Bubble Rock,” which are called glacial erratic.
Early
Residents:
The original settlers
were Native American Wabanaki Indians. When the Europeans “discovered” Mount
Desert Island, including the Jesuits, they were intent on converting the
natives. Early explorers were Samuel Champlain and Sieur de la Mothe Cadillac,
for whom Cadillac Mountain is named. For nearly a century and a half the
English and French fought for control of the area.
By the end of the
Revolutionary War, The United States took control and by the 1800s there were
several settlements on the island.
Establishment
of Acadia National Park:
The wealthy visitors to
Maine in the summer did more than take from the area, they also gave. Some of
the landowners saw a need to preserve Acadia for future generations. Men like
George B. Dorr and John D. Rockefeller saw to it that many lands were donated
and/or set aside…6000 acres by 1913. They were directly responsible for the
establishment of Acadia National Park.
The name of the park
started out as Sieur de Monts National Monument but the status and name changed
to Acadia National Park in 1929. Today the park consists of more than 47,000
acres.
These pictures are from
the National Park Service site. The first one is of Cadillac Mountain in the
fall and the second one is of Otter Cliff.
Acadia National Park contains more than 120
miles of historic hiking trails. Many of these trails were established by local
village improvement societies in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Today many of
the historic features, such as stonework, are still visible.
Today the park sees more
and more visitors which is putting a strain on the over-burdened and
underfunded national park system. Thanks to the dedication of federal employees
and volunteers, Acadia continues to welcome its summer visitors.
The
End of the “Cottage” Era
The Great Depression,
tax problems and finally the great fire of 1947 saw the end of the “Cottage”
era of the 1880s. Maine’s summer economy suffered for many years. A brick
mansion called “High Seas” is one of the last remaining summer cottages in the
area of the fire. It sits on a point overlooking Frenchman Bay. The mansion is
surrounded by National Park land and is owned by Jackson Laboratories.
I remember when I was
very little that I went on a boat trip with my parents along the area where
many of the cottages were. Some abandoned cottages were pointed out along the
way. It must have been just before the fire or else I wouldn’t have remembered
it. Those places would have all been gone after the fire. It was a ghostly
feeling to imagine how many people once called these places home in the
summertime and who now were all gone.
There are still visible
areas that show where the fire was in the form of barren spots and new growth
along the coast—65 years later! It takes a long time to grow a new forest.
Today’s
Summer Visitors
Here are
just a few of our more recent famous summer residents. There are many more. If
you want a complete list there are several sites on Google to go to:
John Travolta and Kelly Preston,
Islesboro: They have owned a house on Isleboro for decades now. We
had to ask John not to fly his big plane into Knox County Airport, however. I
believe he now flys into Bangor.
Glenn Close, Scarborough:
lives part of her summer in the Cumberland County town.
Willem Dafoe, Otisfield:
The “Spider-Man” star owns a winter retreat on Thompson Lake in Oxford County.
Stockard Channing, Georgetown:
She summers here.
Genie Francis and Jonathan Frakes,
Belfast: The couple — she known for her work on “General Hospital,”
he as Commander Riker on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” — own a house and
business in Belfast.
Patrick Dempsey, Harpswell:
is a born and bred Mainer — born in Lewiston, grew up in Buckfield — now has
property in the Cumberland County town of Harpswell.
Kirstie Alley, Islesboro:
Though it appears she has now sold her home, the star of “Cheers” owned a
palatial estate on the Penobscot Bay island, along with her friends John
Travolta and Kelly Preston.
Susan Sarandon, Bar Harbor:
The Oscar winner has spent a number of summers on Mount Desert Island.
Martha Stewart, Seal Harbor:
The domestic goddess’ second home is in Seal Harbor, in a beautiful, well-kept
estate.
George and Barbara Bush,
Kennebunkport: The 41st president of the United
States has summered in Kennebunkport for decades.
Our beloved State of Maine will
always draw those people who love our special natural beauty. We welcome them
all.
Thanks for listening.
Note:
Next month I will try to bring you more on activities and special places of
interest at Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. For an online guide to the
park go to:
