by Jonathan Reisman

In 1973 I got my driver’s license, purchased a 1966 Delta 88 (8 miles/gallon) for $500 with my saved paper route earnings, drove it to Waterville, Maine, to start college, and watched the price of gasoline double to $.70/gallon during the first OPEC oil embargo. America had gasoline rationing and long lines at gas stations. President Nixon was hobbled/distracted by Watergate, and the country seemed to be paralyzed.

Eastport Arts Center is thrilled to host The Resonant Rogues in concert, Saturday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. The group’s dark Appalachian folk paints a picture of their lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina and on the road. Anchored by the songwriting pair of Sparrow (banjo, accordion) and Keith Smith (guitar), the duo has traveled the byways and highways of America and crossed the oceans with instruments in tow. From riding freight trains to building their own homestead, the pair are no strangers to blazing unconventional trails.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The idea to host a gathering of living history reenactors came to Arthur and Linda Langley before the pandemic, and this weekend it’s coming to fruition. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Sept. 16-18, the public, historical reenactors, and anyone interested in local history is invited to attend the 1st Annual Living History Heritage event, to be held on Hardwood Point in Harrington.

Arthur says a wide range of people might enjoy the gathering.

by Hazel Stark

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Senator Susan Collins Friday, Sept. 9,  announced the Maine Department of Transportation will receive $33 million in funding to rehabilitate 68 miles of Route 1 through Washington County, stretching from Machias to Calais. 

In total, Collins secured $77.1 million in funding through the federal INFRA (Infrastructure for Rebuilding American) grant program, including $44 million to complete a two-lane 6.3-mile truck bypass of Presque Isle’s Main Street, also Route 1.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

September’s morning temperatures are just chilly enough to warrant closing the windows at night, the first sign of fall Downeast. Nothing keeps a Mainer toasty like wool, and Rhonda Craven is on a mission to spread the word that natural fibers, like wool, are the very best kind.

“I’ve always worked to educate people on the properties of wool,” says Craven, who founded the festival in 2018. “It’s a renewable resource, it’s environmentally wonderful, and you can’t beat it for warmth.”

by Nancy Beal

At a school board meeting attended by several parents and high school students Aug. 31, the CSD school committee that governs Jonesport-Beals High School listened to complaints and suggestions from that audience and reached a consensus on the use of cell phones in school, as well as a discipline code and a simplified dress code.

by Nancy Beal

The third meeting of the Jonesport planning board to examine the application of Kingfish Maine for a $110 million land-based fish farm on 94 acres on Chandler Bay took place in the Jonesport Volunteer Fire Department hangar Sept. 1. Having reviewed the multitude of documents and plans in the context of the town’s Land Use Ordinance and found it permittable, the five-member board turned its attention to whether the project met the standards of the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Whoopie pie lovers already knew they could grab that iconic Maine confection and a cup of coffee at Expressions Floral, Bakery, and Unique Gifts in Machias. Now they can stop in for breakfast treats and so much more because the Expressions Bakery just got bigger. Owner Sandi Malagara says her expanded menu was created in response to customer demand.

“We had numerous people asking for more baked goods, so we wanted to offer them and see how the town would respond,” says Malagara. 

Most folks in this area are at least somewhat familiar with the Battle of the Margaretta fought in 1775, the first Naval battle of the American Revolution. They are less familiar, however, with the larger, and perhaps more important event which took place two years later, the Siege of Machias, also known as the Battle of the Rim.