Serving Maine and Lincoln County for over 140 years
Angela Merkel
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has now been in power for over 12 years. This is now her fourth term. She has approval ratings of over 60 percent. This tenure of power for her has spanned three U.S. presidents, four French presidents, and two Spanish, four British, six Italian, and seven Japanese prime ministers. She is now the longest-serving head of a major European government since her fellow German Helmut Kohl. Forgive me if I say she must be doing a few things right.
Wiscasset Speedway put a close to the regular racing season Saturday night, Sept. 30 with Group 2 Championship night, plus the fifth annual Amsoil Dominator Strictly Shootout. By the end of the show, division titles had been wrapped up in the final three divisions that were up for grabs, including a points tie that required a tie-break for the crown.
Ceramic arts in the ‘hood: As readers of this column know, well-known local potter and ceramics teacher Liz Proffetty recently opened Neighborhood Clay, the new clay studio and retail space on upper Main Street in Damariscotta. The last time I was at Neighborhood Clay was before it opened, when Proffetty was taking much delight in the expansive, well-lit space still under construction.
The side porch at Hodgdon Green, the assisted-living home in Damariscotta, has become a comfortable, relaxing, pleasant retreat for the men at the home, especially on those late, warm fall days. We now have six men in residence plus a day visitor, and the porch provides an ideal gathering spot.
All current members of the Bristol Area Library are invited to the library’s annual meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. Annual reports will be presented and refreshments will be served.
Food festivals abound at this time of the year, from those celebrating pumpkins to oysters to apples, but the tastiest and most versatile of all these fall delights for the home cook must be apples. Orchards and farmers markets sport baskets of uncommon as well as the more familiar varieties of those shiny globes. It is no wonder they have inspired the old cliches, such as being someone’s “apple of his or her eye,” or the quintessential saying about “motherhood and apple pie.”
Green Mountain Power operates the first U.S. solar microgrid installed on a capped landfill. Stafford Hill Solar Farm, in Rutland, Vt., a city of 16,000 inhabitants, is also among the first U.S. microgrids to be powered solely by solar energy and battery backup. Its 7,700 solar panels generate 2 megawatts of power, backed up by a 4-megawatt battery storage system.
Farrell riding high: In June of last year, Newcastle photographer Chesley “Chet” Farrell had a show of his work in the cafe at Rising Tide Community Market in Damariscotta. His pieces were impressive – lovely depictions of the local landscape, for the most part. Notable, though, was the fact that Farrell’s work was largely unframed. That is because the photographs that he had gathered up to exhibit at the time were basically all he had left after a fire at his home and he had to put together a show in a bit of a hurry. He did a fine job.
Fort Anne was probably constructed by the first residents of Sheepscot in the early 1600s. In some places it is spelled Ann, in others, Anne. I have chosen to use Anne as I suspect it was named for the then Queen of England.
Have lots of fun for a really good cause: The Maine Marimba Ensemble‘s upcoming concert on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at Darrows Barn at DRA Round Top Farm in Damariscotta looks like a really fun time. And the ticket price – $10 at the door – will go to benefit the Meals on Wheels program at Spectrum Generations Coastal Community Center in Damariscotta.
I hope you’ll indulge me for a few minutes as I write about my favorite Chihuahua, because he’s not getting any younger and I wanted to write this in the present tense, not as a memoriam. It’s OK, though — as I write this, he’s sitting in my lap watching me type.
The chances are high that if you are reading this article, I am preaching to the choir about minimizing your use of plastic. We do know that the choir needs to step up its work, since both our state and federal governments are reducing funding in most aspects of environmental protection. A state like Maine that depends largely on the ocean for its survival should be at the forefront of commitment. We need to renew and expand our personal commitment, at the least, and encourage our family, friends, and others with our knowledge and practices.
In 1774, German writer and statesman Johann Wolfgang Goethe penned the notion that “misunderstandings and neglect create more confusion in this world than trickery and malice. At any rate, the last two are certainly much less frequent.” In modern times, this sentiment has become known as “Hanlon’s razor,” which directs us to “never attribute malice when incompetence will suffice.”
Wilde and scenic: There are two things that I find crucial to a good art-viewing experience (in addition to, of course, the presence of good art): adequate lighting and a quiet room. The current exhibit of paintings by Walpole artist Sarah Wilde in the West Gallery of River Arts in Damariscotta, “On the Wilde Side,” hits it on both counts – well, all three, if one counts the fact that Wilde’s art is very good.
