by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The town of Machias is seeking the services of a consultant who can help assess the feasibility of building a second runway at Machias Valley Municipal Airport.

“This is very preliminary, to see if a second runway can be built,” said Machias Airport Committee Chairman Michael Radeka. “It’s something we’ve been working toward for quite a while.”

Town manager Christina Therrien issued the Request for Proposal last week and said the town’s goal is to determine if a longer crosswind or “alternate” runway is even feasible.

by Wayne Smith

Eastport Arts Center’s 10th Annual Festival of Trees, a festive silent auction of tabletop trees, will be held Saturday, Dec. 14 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. This year, the festival’s ‘forest’ of trees include decorating schemes to appeal to oenophiles, bookworms, Zentangle enthusiasts, art lovers, rock hounds, foodies, fabric art creators, aficionados of jewelry, dog families and globe-trotters. While browsing the array of trees, attendees can enjoy live music by the Moose Island House Players: Brandy and Ross Argir, Alice St.

by Hazel Stark

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

This year, several traditional Machias holiday festivities — and one brand new event  — have combined together to form one gigantic community-wide Christmas celebration.

by Tanya Rucosky

New Shelter Administrator for the Ark Animal Shelter, Shaina Mugford, is working hard to keep the 35-year-old no-kill shelter finding pets good homes. Coming from Narraguagus High School with a background in animal welfare and a member of the Underhound Railroad, Shaina, “Lives and breathes for the Ark Animal Shelter.”

by Nancy Beal

The Washington County Children’s Chorus will perform its annual Christmas concert on Sunday, Dec. 15, in Machias.

This unique chorus is comprised of more than 30 youth who travel from all over the county to rehearse each Sunday afternoon, under the instruction of chorus director Christine Guy, who founded the chorus more than 30 years ago with her husband, Douglas. Both were honored in October with the News Center Maine 2019 “2 Those Who Care Award” for their extraordinary efforts on behalf of Washington County youth.

by Joseph Horn

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

A small band of local volunteers has been quietly working to care for and reduce the massive feral cat population in Machias with low-cost spay and neuter clinics, and now they’re offering a low-cost rabies vaccination clinic to be held Sunday, Dec. 8, and their final spay and neuter clinic of 2019 to be held on Monday, Dec. 9. More clinics are already in the pipeline for 2020.

by Ruth Leubecker

An anonymous donor, a stage move to the waterfront and a coveted recognition for transparency and results have honored the volunteer efforts of Gateway Milbridge.
“The donor has offered us a $50,000 matching grant opportunity,” says Richard Bondurant of the grant proposal which was announced back in September, but has special significance over the holiday season. “We have until December 31 to fulfill the match. Some supporters have said they’ll donate toward the match challenge as part of their year-end gift giving.”

On Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 3:44 p.m. Deputies Matthew Carter and Toni Bridges of the Washington County Sheriff's Office were conducting a traffic stop on Water Street in Addison. The deputies requested the assistance of Deputy Ryan Allen and his K-9 Runa for a vehicle search. Runa is trained and certified to detect illegal drugs.

 After a prolonged absence due to insurance difficulties, the Town of Machias and the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce are pleased to announce the return of the public ice skating rink to Southside Ball Field.

“It broke our hearts that the rink was not able to be installed for the last several years,” said MBACC Executive Director Sharon Mack. “This was a very popular place in the past and offered great outdoor recreation for many children and families.”

by Joseph Horn

by Ruth Leubecker

When Renata Lahner came to Washington County last week she brought good news for many.

The certified Medicare specialist, with better than 20 years of experience in the field, was here to explain the Medicare Advantage plans that will come into effect in 2020. “For those who are eligible, this is a big thing for Washington and Piscataquis counties,” she explained, “because they’re going to have more options.”

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

After a decade hiatus, the Sunrise County Economic Council renewed its tradition of hosting an economic summit focused exclusively on the issues and opportunities in front of Washington County.

So it was that on Friday, Nov. 8 the parking lot of Cobscook Community Learning Center in Trescott was full to overflowing, and the conference rooms inside were buzzing with almost 100 attendees, all interested in some or all aspects of life in the Sunrise County.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

At their regular bi-weekly meeting held Wednesday, Nov. 13, the Machias Board of Selectmen signed an agreement to sell 2.63 acres of land to Rising Tide Towers, LLC. The land is located behind the Machias Telebusiness Center on Stackpole Road, and Robert Parsloe of Rising Tide Towers said it will be used to construct a cell tower that will carry the signal for FirstNet, a nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety.

by Natalie Boomer

Tyler Mann, of St. Stephen, has turned a hobby into a full-blown business.

“Birch Corner started as a little side hustle for me in 2017. I make farmhouse style signs and farmhouse style tables. It started with me just selling off of a Facebook page, hand-delivering every sign,” said Mann.

Last holiday season Mann delivered nearly 1,000 signs in the two months prior to Christmas.
“I grew Birch Corner from one design to over 150 currently,” he said.

Calais Celtic Concerts will bring a little bit of Cape Breton's Celtic Colours to Calais as it presents the award-winning trio group of  Miller/MacDonald/Cormier to the Knights of Columbus Hall on Saturday, Nov. 23.  The group is regarded as one of the most important folk acts on Cape Breton Island today by CBC Mainstreet.

by Nancy Beal

Anthony Beal celebrated his 72nd birthday on November 4. Two days later, the Beals lobsterman celebrated those years in a different way after getting dumped into the water in Barney’s Cove off the northwest corner of Beals Island. A life jacket that very few fishermen wear and quick action on the part of friends and fellow fishermen combined to save his life.

by Nancy Beal

A Dutch aquaculture company will be in Jonesport next week to introduce Moosabeckers to what it hopes will be an extensive land-based fish farm that will command scores of jobs without affecting the environment. The company is Kingfish Zeeland, a fish producer already in production in the Netherlands, producing fresh fish that it has branded “Dutch yellowtail” for its citizens and surrounding European companies.

by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

In the course of any given workweek, Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis deals with all kinds of characters, not all of them friendly. But Curtis was in cheery company last week when he took delivery of 54 fuzzy teddy bears, each one lovingly handcrafted by members of the Down East Quilters group.

“Some of us did the sewing, some of us did the stuffing, and some of us were finishing them off,” said Linda Throckmorton, one of the founding members of the group. “They’re small, as you can see, and they’re very soft.”