Sea Goddess Log NEW

Judges for 2011 announced:

The judges for 2011, the 64th annual Maine Lobster Festival Sea Goddess Coronation, were recently announced. They are:

• Pamela Gay Donehower of Rockland: 1961 Maine Sea Goddess and president of International Racing Management Ltd. in Middleburg, Va.

• Thomas J. Molloy of Rockland: retired educator and former mayor of Rockland.

• Gordon Page Sr. of Owls Head: vice president, director of passenger operations for Maine Eastern Railroad.

• Roberta W. Knapp of Rockland: insurance agent with J. Edward Knight and president of the board of Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce.

• Alex Watkinson of Owls Head: employed in family business Owls Head Lobster Company.

Coronation Judges Banquet tickets now available

ROCKPORT - The Maine Lobster Festival Judges Banquet will take place at 6 p.m., Friday, July 29, at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, and the public is invited.

Tickets are $27 per person inclusive for a buffet meal and an entertaining evening. Guests will get to view the 18 Sea Princesses as they are asked questions from the five judges in anticipation of the Maine Lobster Festival Sea Goddess Coronation.

The Maine Sea Goddess will be crowned during the coronation ceremony beginning at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 3, at Fisherman's Memorial Pier in Harbor Park, Rockland. Admission to the festival the day of the coronation is free.

For reservations for the Judges Banquet at the Samoset please contact Sharon Lombardo at 594-4559
or e-mail coronation@mainelobsterfestival.com.

Sea Goddess Callie MacQueston awarded Abigail Matlack and her dog Pancho Villa of Camden the 2009 World Championship Boatyard Dog Trials "Pup Cup" at the Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors Show on August 9.

 See new information under Thread #2

In this log I will post any and all comments you care to send me about the Sea Goddess Pageant for the Lobster Festival for the last 63 years. If you care to add to or answer any of these posts, send them to me also and I will add them in. I will number the threads, so please tell me which thread you wish to add your comments to. Any other side information you can add (especially if you participated in a pageant) would also be appreciated. When I come home this summer, of course, I will check things out more thoroughly at the library when I go through the Courier archives. Hopefully a more comprehensive work can be put together in the future.

Thread #1 Sara Sylvester Tavares:

"The Kippy Karnival queen was always the first princess announced. In 1964 that was Dawn Crudell. I am pretty sure. Linda Studley was in that year as well if not the next year. Susan Ames won and I believe that was 1964. Pamela Gay also won I believe that would have been 1961 or 62 and I believe went on to become Miss Maine. Am not totally sure of that fact, but know she went beyond the festival."

(Dawn Crudell, Linda Studley, and Susan Ames were all Southenders) If you know for sure that Susan Ames won in 1962 and what year Pamela Gay won for sure, please email me that info.

From Sara, May 19:

"Susan Ames would have been 64 or 65, right after we graduated. 62 is too early.

Thread #2 Bette Sylvester Bergeron:

I was a Princess in 1980… I was third, Kim Brooks (I think) was the runner up… but I didn’t know the girl that won that year

Bette at 1980 Pageant

Bette: June 30: The Princess escorts have traditionally been military personnel…I am assuming from the Navy. My escort was a handsome, soft spoken African American from the deep south, who was the only ethnic minority among the escorts. At the end of the festivities, he confided in me that he had been a little nervous about accepting the invitation to be an escort, as he had anticipated issues regarding his race. Specifically, his buddies for the ship had warned him about us Yankees, and that we might not be very welcoming of a Black escort of a White Princess. However, what he discovered was just the opposite—he was warmly treated and welcomed by everyone, and had a wonderful experience that changed his own view about the North. (He also very much enjoyed his first lobster feast!)

 Thread #3 from Rockland History Facebook Page, May 22:

Rockland, Maine History wrote: "Ann Lord of Parsonfield (York County) was Sea Goddess in 1950, Signe Swanholm of Thomaston in 1949."

Thread #4, May 23, Me:

I found this list of all the Sea Goddesses on the Maine Lobster Festival History site. If you are one of these Goddesses; or know one of these Goddesses; or were a member of one of these Sea Princess courts; and have any information of a personal nature: about the pageant itself, your personal story, where you are now, etc. please email me at southendstories@aol.com. I’m counting on you to help me get this project further on down the road. Thanks in advance.