Beyond the South End

Spruce Head Island
Photo by Sandra Sylvester

The Maine Report…2014

(or What I did on my Vacation)

 

Sonny’s Sunshine Corner will not be posted this month as much of the information I would have included in that monthly column will appear here.

 

This is my annual report of the state of my home town of Rockland in the summer of 2014 when I visited this month.

Thank you everyone for the beautiful weather I had while I was home. We had a couple of thunder showers but they cleared up quickly. The little fog I saw in Spruce Head was like a welcoming blanket that gathered itself on the horizon over the water; proceeded to come inland; and then disappeared over the top of the cottage. Welcome home, Sandra…welcome home.

One day I took a friend who was visiting from Connecticut uptown to peruse the shops on Main Street. While she was doing that, I visited some friends. I stopped into the Reading Corner to say hi and to ask how their past year was. They informed me they were able to stay open at least and that made me happy. Independent book stores are having a hard time these days because of the existence of Amazon online. They have signed copies of my book, The South End, on hand, by the way.

I also stopped into E.C. Moran and had a nice chat with the present owner, Patricia Moran Wotton. We talked about the old days as I described them in a recent blog I did on the business. It is the oldest business on Main Street. The only other long-lasting business is the Strand Theater, which I believe is now a non-profit organization.

My mother worked for the company back in the 40s, along with her two best friends, the Blackington girls, Audrey Teel and Dorothy Baxter. The three were friends from Kiln Hill when they were in school and maintained that friendship all their lives. Audrey and Dot worked for E.C. Moran for over 50 years.

Post Lobster Festival Main Street appeared to be busy and full of life. I noted two new businesses in the new ice cream store and the new popcorn store. I wasn’t able to visit either one but sure will plan to in the future.

One disturbing notice I saw on a bulletin board that stood in a doorway leading to the upper story of a building near E.C. Moran was a desperate plea by a veteran with a wife and young child who needed a place to live. He noted that the Veterans Administration would probably help with the rent and that he was actively searching for a job. If you come across that flyer, please see what you can do for them.

I was home during the Festival but was unable to participate because of my mobility problems at the present time. I was sorry to hear that there was an accident during the parade with one of the Shriner cars which jumped a curb and injured a couple of people. Main Street is so narrow that maybe we should re-consider inviting these mini-cars to participate. At least just limit them to one group instead of several.

Another disturbing note about the Festival is the fact that the city charged them a fee for the use of the grounds this year. What are they thinking? I know they want to be fair because they charge the other summer festivals rent, however, this is the 67-year old Festival we are talking about here. This non-profit organization contributes money every year to city causes. Is the Blues Festival, and the boat show, non-profit? I doubt it. No festival contributes more to the city during the year than the Lobster Festival. I expect that some long-time volunteers who have been faithful in their service over the years, and who now are thoroughly disgusted with the whole situation, won’t be there to help next year. What does that bode for the future success of the festival?

If the city wants more money from the festival, why not charge the carnival people a higher rate for the privilege of setting up and running their rides and games down at the landing? They take up a considerable amount of space AND they take all the money they make with them when they leave.

 

What I did on my Vacation

While I was home this year I was chauffeured around by a wonderful Real Estate agent from Jaret & Cohn, Dale Martin. He helped me get an idea of what houses might be available for me to buy when I eventually move back home. There are plenty of homes out there if you are interested in purchasing real estate in Maine, but be warned that the market is changing and it might soon be a seller’s market rather than a buyer’s market. Now is the time to buy if you can.

I always enjoy eating my favorite Maine food when I’m home. This year I got to eat fried clams twice and had two lobster rolls and one crabmeat roll from the Keag Store in South Thomaston. They are the best! I also had some rhubarb pie made by sister-in-law, Kay that was delicious. And I enjoyed a pistachio and black raspberry ice cream dish from Dorman’s.

During my stay I got to visit with a few of my classmates from the Rockland High School class of 1959. We had lunch at the Keag Store and gabbed about everything. I was sorry I missed meeting a new Facebook friend who lives in South Thomaston, but simply ran out of time.

Some fun time was spent with family, namely brother Ted and wife Nat, their kids and grandkids, and Kay and my niece Brenda, who I spent time with when I stayed with Kay for some of my vacation.

The only bad thing that happened was the fact that when I went to board the plane in Atlanta I discovered I’d forgotten to renew my driver’s license in March. I’ve been driving around without one for four months. It was real fun trying to get through security let me tell you. Later on, Nanci sent me my passport so I could use it as ID on the way back. Guess what? They said it was no good because the owner of the passport, namely me, had not signed it. So I had to dig out my expired driver’s license again, which they accepted Thank God. My question is…can’t they see by looking at the picture on the passport that it is actually me they are looking at? The minute I sat down at the gate in Portland, I whipped out the passport and signed it.

Of course the absence of a valid driver’s license meant I couldn’t borrow my brother’s truck while I was there. Therefore, I didn’t get to some of the places I had wanted to visit. Oh well, next year maybe.

One amazing thing happened to me towards the end of my vacation when I was staying down at the cottage with my friend Iris from Connecticut. As I was sitting out on the porch enjoying the goings on out on the water, I saw this blur buzz over my head. It was a hummingbird who mistook the red lettering on my hat for a flower I guess. I watched about three of the tiny birds chase each other in and out of the spruce trees, as well as the squirrels. It’s also fun to watch the ducks feed as the tide is waning and to watch the cormorants shake their wings while sitting on the rocks out at the end of the cove. I soaked in as much of that scenery as I could so that the memory of it would last me for another winter in Georgia.

That’s my report for this year. Thanks for listening.