2013 Kennebec Valley Edition

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www.DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Greater Kennebec Valley Region

FREEMaine’s History Magazine

Edwin ArlingtonRobinson Gardiner’s tormented poet

A Bittersweet Brush With Rock RoyaltyElvis Presley’s Augusta concert

Melville Fuller FromAugustaThe 8th Chief Justice of the United States

2 Greater Kennebec Valley

3 It Makes No Never Mind James Nalley

5 Folk Artist George Morgan Chelsea’s creative genius Charles Francis

10 The Genealogy Corner Genealogy and intelligence Charles Francis

14 A Bittersweet Brush With Rock Royalty Elvis Presley’s Augusta concert Erick T. Gatcomb

20 Old Time Barber Shops Remembering the old barber shop experience Charles Francis

24 Melville Fuller From Augusta The 8th Chief Justice of the United States James Nalley

29 Edwin Robinson Gardiner’s tormented poet James Nalley

32 The Remarkable Odyssey Of Samuel H. Davis Civil rights speaker from Temple Charles Francis

36 Boys Will Be Boys What are those two up to now? Marcia B. Granville

38 Franklin Johnson The man who moved Colby College Charles Francis43 Washington Society Ladies Hike The North Woods Maine guides suggested reducing baggage Charles Francis

47 Romance And Tragedy At Lakewood Famed Madison theatre scene of joy and heartache Ian MacKinnon

50 Frantic Flight On A Frigid Night The fire at Hinckley’s Good Will Home Ian MacKinnon

54 Waterville’s Gene Letourneau One writer’s influence on environmental issues Charles Francis

58 Benton’s Asher Hinds Congressional arbitrator Charles Francis

63 Wood Chips And Beans Working for the man in the woods Charles Francis

64 Arrowhead Hunting The Solon/Embden area is particularly rich Charles Francis

Maine’s History Magazine

Published Annually by CreMark, Inc.10 Exchange Street, Suite 208

Portland, Maine 04101Ph (207) 874-7720

[email protected] www.discovermainemagazine.com


Publisher Jim BurchDesigner & Editor Liana Merdan

Advertising & Sales Manager Tim MaxfieldAdvertising & Sales Barry BuckTim ChurchillMike ConlonChris GirouardTim Maxfield

Discover Maine Magazine is distributed to town offices, chambers of commerce, fraternal organizations, shopping

centers, libraries, newsstands, grocery and convenience stores, hardware stores, lumber companies, motels, restau-rants and other locations throughout this part of Maine.

Front Cover Photo:Bank Buildings in Gardiner #100884 from the

Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

All photos in Discover Maine’s Greater Kennebec Valley edition show Maine as it used to be, and many are from local citizens who love this part

of Maine.Photos are also provided from our collaboration

with the Maine Historical Society and the Penobscot Marine Museum.

NO PART of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from CreMark, Inc. |

Copyright © 2013, CreMark, Inc. SUBSCRIPTION FORMS ON PAGES 34 & 70

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Office Manager Liana Merdan

Field Representatives George Tatro

Contributing Writers Charles Francis | [email protected] Erick T. GatcombMarcia GranvilleIan MacKinnonJames Nalley

3DiscoverMaineMagazine.com


It Makes No Never Mindby James Nalley

The Kennebec Valley region consists of thousands of square miles of for-ested land extending from the border

of Canada south to the capital city of Au-gusta. In fact, approximately 90 percent of the region includes thick forests and scores of lakes such as the eight-mile long China Lake and other smaller ponds. What this translates into is an interesting mix of north-ern wilderness know-how with the survival instincts to handle Augusta’s notorious traf-fic circles. Although Mainers rarely flinch at snow-covered roadways or a moose in the middle of the road, these accident-prone traffic circles (known as rotaries) have be-come a “right-of-passage” for many new drivers in the state. Some Mainers have even affectionately called them “the buzz saws.” Well, aside from these modern “amenities,” the Kennebec region has a long history that dates back centuries before the first Euro-pean settlers even thought of setting foot on the land. I guess the Algonquian Indians said it right when they called it “Cushnoc” (or “consecrated place”) and it takes only one look, regardless of the season, to un-derstand what they meant. This special land has welcomed the Pilgrims in the early

1600s and even Benedict Arnold (under or-ders from George Washington), who led an ill-fated expedition up the Kennebec River in order to join forces and defeat the Brit-ish. Needless to say, the move resulted in disaster with the majority of his 1,000-man force killed along with his entire reputation. Over time, settlers transformed the land-scape into miles of farmlands and mill towns in which its lumber was so plentiful that pine almost took the place of paper currency in many instances. And with this history comes stories of sweat and toil as well as fascinating accounts of generations of French Canadians who continued their proud cultural traditions despite the obsta-cles of long hours, little pay, and constant danger. Although many of these mills are now a part of history, the hard-working tra-ditions still inspire weekends of enjoyment in the miles of untouched woods toward the north. This is what this edition aims to share with its faithful readers, especial-ly during this time of year when the snow is most likely higher than the windows. In regard to hopefully warmer times, it is widely known that many of the region’s res-idents include generations of proud hunters. In fact, according to Maine’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, approximately 150,000 hunting licenses are issued each year, which end up bringing down an av-

erage of 20,000 deer. Yes, this is a pretty high number. But what is even scarier is the fact that these hunters carry a wide array of killing devices ranging from high-pow-ered assault weapons and crossbows to black-powder muzzleloaders. However, the events produce hours of special moments for hard-working residents and many pos-itive attributes through sheer camaraderie. It is the deer who get the short end of the stick and wake up one day unknowingly destined for the dinner table. Well, my short time with you has now come to a close, so let me close with this short jest: A pastor in Pittsfield skipped his Sunday service to go hunting. After two hours along the trail, he unexpectedly ran into a bear. Out of mere shock, the pastor stumbled backwards and began running with the bear in hot pursuit. Eventually, the out-of-breath pastor tripped on a rock, spraining his ankle and send-ing his rifle out of arms reach. As the bear closed in, the pastor cried out “Lord, I’m sorry for what I have done! Please forgive me and save me! Please make this bear a Christian.”Suddenly the bear came to a halt at the pastor’s feet, fell to its knees and put its paws together and said, “God bless this food which I am about to receive…”

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Folk Artist George MorganChelsea’s creative geniusby Charles Francis

When George Morgan was in his eighties he made a doll house. At least some might

think of what he built as that. The structure was a replica of the Morgan farm in Chelsea, the farm where Mor-gan spent a portion of his life. The scale model homestead was a labor of love. Rooms were detailed. There were even stairs with treads.

At the age of ninety-one, Morgan’s home became a Gardiner rest home, and he set out to explore his memories in much the same way he had done with the scale model of the Morgan farm. Only this time he did it with paints, canvas board and artist’s paper.

George Morgan created some twen-ty works of art over an eighteen-month period. Today most of that work can be found in the American Folk Art Mu-

seum in New York City. The museum considered their acquisition of Mor-gan's paintings a coup.

In at least one respect it is a shame that George Morgan's late-in-life body of work found a home in the Ameri-can Folk Art Museum. The museum is too far away from the source of his inspiration.. Morgan’s work should be on display in Maine, in Gardiner, or Randolph or someplace close to those towns. Morgan’s work should be on display somewhere along the Kennebec because that is the region they recall.

George Morgan’s work has been called memory painting. Though Mor-gan paintings do rely on memory — he recreates a Kennebec River region now long gone — there is good reason to re-gard his paintings as other than simple nostalgia pieces. They are neither sim-

ple nor purely nostalgic. Morgan has also been called a “self-

taught artist.” He has been called a primitivist and a folk artist. All of these terms, including “self-taught artist,” imply Morgan was possessed of a natu-ral talent. I would suggest Morgan had

(Continued on page 6)


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no talent. I would suggest George Mor-gan was possessed of something very different than talent, that his gift was that of creativity. I would also suggest Morgan was possessed of a capacity for experiencing discouragement in all kinds of ways.

Some people have a skill at playing an instrument or in performing mathe-matical calculations. They develop that skill by study. However, if you’re going to be creative you have to go beyond talent. Talent is like having good looks or muscles. Those things are assets that can be used skillfully, thoughtfully and tastefully. We see this all the time with beautiful or handsome actresses and ac-tors. But we all know some of the best actors are ugly, that some of the best athletes fought their way up from phys-ical disability. George Morgan began to paint when he was in a retirement home, at ninety-one, when all he had to

(Continued from page 5)look forward to was life's end.

George Morgan’s work has been de-scribed as “map-like.” In particular, the term has been applied to “Hallowell: View of Lower Water Street,” “Freshet 1923” and “Bridge Dividing Kenne-bec River.” The “map-like” designa-tion has to do with Morgan’s particular perspective and his use of a ruler. The viewer of the various works has a sense of being above the structures in the paintings. The structures in turn appear deliberately spaced. However, they are not drawn to scale. Attempts at explain-ing this latter fact allude to maps not being directly representational or Mor-gan attempting to provide more infor-mation than might be done using exact scale and perspective. There is another explanation, though.

The older one gets the more confus-ing the world becomes. The skills that once served to orient one in work, with

family and to life in general are no lon-ger of use. Morgan’s painting and es-pecially his use of a ruler gave him a chance to find order in his life.

One can imagine George Morgan thinking some morning “How am I going to handle this picture now that I can’t see very well?” Then he thinks “If I just take my ruler and pencil and use all the knowledge I have stored in my head as to how things were, I’ll be hap-py if what I do says what it says.” To say it another way, Morgan’s approach to painting was open-ended. With each painting he had to learn to paint all over again.

Invariably, critiques of Morgan’s work have included comparisons to other artists. Milton Avery and Rich-ard Diebenkorn have been mentioned. Milton Avery did some work in Maine. That's about the only thing either art-ist has in common with Morgan. Avery



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and Diebenkorn were both trained art-ists. And they are or were abstract ex-pressionists. A much better comparison would be that of Morgan to native-born Maine folk artist Earl Cunningham. Like Morgan’s work, Cunningham’s violates form and function. Like Mor-gan's paintings, Cunningham’s meth-odology is two-dimensional.

One critic has said Earl Cunningham paintings tap into the collective uncon-scious. This is similar to calling George Morgan's work memory painting.

We like paintings that engender pleasurable emotions. That’s where the appeal rests with folk art tradition. The most appealing folk art motifs invari-ably include open spaces inhabited by the familiar, whether the familiar takes the form of the neutral or the nonthreat-ening. We get a sense of the familiar in viewing folk art. The images are both relaxing and nostalgic. At the same

(Continued from page 6)time they are dramatic.

Earl Cunningham paintings are dra-matic in their appeal to the imagination. So are those of George Morgan. The paintings of both create hypothetical worlds. They are theatrical. They tell a story. And we can place ourselves in the story. We can see ourselves in the little houses or other artifices each painter creates. We can see ourselves investi-gating Morgan’s replica of the family farm house or crossing from Randolph to Gardiner in his covered bridge.

George Morgan’s life's work in-volved working with his hands. He was a furniture maker and he worked in shoe factories. Like many other poorly edu-cated men of his time he was a tinkerer. He made many of his own tools. These are the skills he brought to his art. He was an ordinary guy and like any kid who likes to make things, Morgan early on learned the satisfaction that comes

with just getting something done.Morgan was ninety-one and nine-

ty-two when he did his paintings. He was ninety-eight when he died in Jan-uary of 1969. Few know what it means to live to that age. Morgan must have been surprised by the fact. If you talk to someone who attains such as age, you may get the sense that they feel rather unique to be looking back and recalling things that they know no one else, no younger person, has experienced yet or will ever experience. That’s where the creativity that George Morgan called on for his art came from.


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The Genealogy CornerGenealogy and intelligenceby Charles Francis

The idea that intelligence is strong-ly influenced by heredity factors has long been the subject of so-

cial furor. Nevertheless, evidence that heredity does influence intelligence continues to be collected from family studies, studies on twins and on adop-tion. Current estimates of the heritabili-ty of intelligence range from 40 to 80% of the variation of intelligence.

Most of us know what we mean by intelligence, yet we have a hard time defining the term. Most of us hope our children will be as successful as we or our parents — if not more so. For many, intelligence is a synonym for success.

Intelligence has implications relating to how well one does in school and in life after the period of formal education is completed. Success in school and later is often linked to IQ.

Currently, most geneticists sug-gest that there are no genes with ma-jor influences on normal intelligence. Rather, they suggest there are a large number of genes with small influences. This means that genes influencing in-telligence are hard to find. It also brings us to IQ, IQ testing and tracking the IQ of one’s immediate ancestors and close family members.

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ents. Parents with high IQs are likely to have a child with a high IQ, but not always. Parents with 130 IQs are more likely to produce a child with a 150 IQ than parents with IQs in the normal range. But the high IQ parents can also have a child with a 120 IQ. (Statisti-cians have a name for this, regression to the mean.) Nevertheless, statistical evidence indicates intelligent parents tend to have children with high IQs. This is where genealogy and collect-ing family history and data on relatives comes in.

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thereof came from East Vassalboro. His name was Henry Goddard. Today God-dard is regarded as one of the pioneers in IQ testing. His work linking heredity and intelligence, though, is less highly regarded, and Goddard was to come to consider it flawed himself.

Henry Goddard was the first to translate the Benet intelligence test into English. This is the Benet of Stan-ford-Benet. He played an important role in establishing early educational programs in the United States for deaf, blind and mentally retarded children. Goddard also helped develop IQ tests for the American military.

In 1912 Goddard published The Kallikak Family. In it he traced what he considered the normal and the mental-ly deficient and socially dysfunctional descendants of a single father. The man fathered children with two women, one

Goddard described as feeble-minded, the other intelligent and prosperous. The man’s descendants by the first woman evidenced mental retardation and socially unacceptable behavior. The descendants by the second were by and large successful. Goddard would later concede his methodology in col-lecting data to have been biased. This was in part why he went on to become one of the early champions of special education in public schools.

Studies in Kenya, where parents have to pay to send their children to grade school and beyond, indicate that Kenyans who get a good education be-come proficient pilots or teachers or doctors. In his book Where Man Was Born Peter Mattheissen says East Afri-cans without education “are so accus-tomed to having decisions made for them ... that only rarely do they think

out what they are doing, much less take initiative.”

Recent studies suggest that the pres-ent-day United States has lost its com-mitment to providing free high quality public education. For example, surveys of science literacy indicate that less than half of Americans know that the earth orbits around the sun once a year. One particular science survey won-dered how many young people were going to be left behind and whether they would become “stubborn, apathet-ic, and perverse toward a scientific and technological world they must see as magical, beyond their comprehension, and accessible only via the right incan-tations.”

Recent studies of family businesses suggest that second and third genera-tions often aren’t possessed of the IQs of the founders. They further suggest



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Homeowner and Contractor~ Great Arts & Crafts Department ~

Come & Visit Our Bargain Warehouse

968-2498Route 202, P.O. Box 6344China Village, Maine 04926

TWO HOGSWINERY

Ann DubeOwner/Vintner

186 Mudget Hill Road • Vassalboro, [email protected]

207-660-5594 (Winery)207-445-2184 (Fax)

that more intensive education can make up for the differences between parents and offspring. Because of this, high IQ parents feel a need for private schools for their children that average IQ par-ents do not. Simply put, they want their children to do at least as well as they did themselves. It is generally conceded that the intelligence of a child is likely to be intermediate between the paren-tal average and the population average. Also, on average, brothers and sisters differ from one another by twelve IQ points. Regardless of these statistics, children will benefit from stimulating environments.

In conclusion, if we do admit the possibility of heredity playing a part in intelligence, so what? It appears that improving environmental factors such as education gets us a lot further in improving our children's chances of success through education than consid-ering just how much inheritance influ-ences IQ.

(Continued from page 11)

No. 334 Rail at No. Vassalboro, ME. Item #112657 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

❦ Other businesses from this area are featured in the color section.


PINE TREE TIMBERFRAMESBuilding Maine-Made Quality at Home & Around the Globe

Specializing in Traditional Mortiseand Tenon Joinery207-350-0267

www.pinetreetimberframes.com [email protected] Hussey Rd. • Albion, ME

Mac’s

• Hardware • Paint • Plumbing Supplies • Nutrena Feeds for

Pets, Horses, Livestock

Start Right. Start Here.

948-3800289 School Street, Unity

Mon.-Sat., 7:30-5:00Sun., 9:00-3:00

TOWN and COUNTRYSALON AD GOES

HERE

Peterson Hill

Locally Owned & Operated by Andy Crosby

Grass Fed Beef • PigletsSquare & Round Hay Bales

Silage Bales

722-4150 322-4190 (Cell)

Farm

428 Veterans Hill, Brooks, ME

Town & Count��St�ling & Tanning Salon

96 Main StreetUnity, Maine

207-948-3245

[email protected]

Main Street, China, ME. Item #100406 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collectionand www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org


BRYANT STOVE& MUSIC, INC.

Come in and browse in theBryant Stove Works Showroom.

Visit Joe & Bea’s Doll Circus & Antique Museum

Antique Cars • StovesMechanical Music & Other Wonders

207-568-366527 Stovepipe Alley • Thorndike, ME 04986

Just 4 miles from Unity on Rt. 220

DAVIS DIRT WORKS&E X C A V A T I O N

Derek T. Davis

www.davisdirtworks.com

• Driveways• Septic Systems• Underground Utilities• Houselots & Homes• Landscaping & Earthwork• Hay Mulching

117 Fowler Rd.Thorndike, ME

Business: (207) 568-3260Cell: (520) 609-8521

Your Hosts: Mike & Kim

Homemade Soups & DessertsTake Out Available

Mon.-Fri. 5am-2pmSat. 6am-2pm

Sunday 7am-1pm Breakfast Only

(207) 623-9656Front Entrance: 204 Water Street, Augusta

Rear Entrance: 107 Commercial Street, Augusta

Luncheon SpecialsBreakfast All Day

Capital Area GuideMuseums, Shopping, State House, Fine Lodging, Great Dining, Historical Sites, Ski, Bike, Hike, 30 Lakes and Lots of

Friendly People in a Safe, Calm, Small City Environment. For a Free Copy of our

Capital Area Guide, Call the

Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce

207-623-4559www.augustamaine.com

36th AnnualWhatever Family Festival

celebrates Kennebec River environment with fun activities from June 19 through July 4!Saturday, June 29th brings 80 events and

activities to Capitol Park!Free Estimates • Fully Insured

ED’S CONSTRUCTIONQuality Work At A Fair Price!

- Free Estimates -- Over 15 Years Experience -Roofi ng • Siding • Garages

Decks • Additions • FlooringRenovations

All Carpentry from Start to FinishNo Job Too Big or Small

Edward Hazard126 WESTERN AVE.AUGUSTA, MAINE

Cell: 508-667-4018Home: 207-333-0399

[email protected]

A Bittersweet Brush With Rock RoyaltyElvis Presley’s Augusta concertby Erick T. Gatcomb

With a few notable exceptions, Maine residents tend to miss most major entertainment

events. Big acts frequently stage con-certs in Boston, and even New Hamp-shire, but rarely travel the few hours north to perform in Maine, “that jerk-water burg on the Canadian border.” For more than 20 years, the people of Maine waited patiently for Elvis Presley to vis-it the state. Just when most people had given up hope of ever seeing him per-form here, the announcement was made that Elvis would play at the Augusta Civic Center on May 24, 1977.

The night before tickets went on sale in early March, people braved the freezing temperatures and tried to get comfortable in plastic lawn chairs

and sleeping bags. The following day, tickets to the event sold out in a matter of minutes (much to the profound dis-appointment of several hundred hope-fuls that were unable to procure tickets and who openly, and loudly, voiced their frustration to the vendors behind the ticket counter) and ardent fans be-gan the arduous task of waiting two long months to see the ipso facto King of Rock ‘N’ Roll.

That wait eventually ended, and at 7:00 pm on May 24, fans rushed through the doors of the Augusta Civic Center and dug out their cameras.

“It was a terrific feeling,” says Dorothy Beals, who was in attendance that night. “It was like we were all friends. We were all there to see him

— it was a common bond, this love for Elvis. I talked to complete strang-ers like we’d been friends forever. And then that classical piece started and ev-eryone started screaming.”

That classical piece was Rich-ard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, an introduction fit for a king, and one that Elvis had embraced years prior in Las Vegas. As the piece ended, Elvis ap-peared onstage wearing his “Mexican sundial” outfit, a jeweled white jump-suit with the Aztec calendar across the chest and back. Occasionally hooking his thumbs in the gold chains hanging at his sides or adjusting his oversized jew-el-encrusted belt, Presley unleashed his powerful voice and filled the auditori-um with his rock hits of yesteryear and



KENNEBEC GUNS

Guns • Bought • SoldNew • Used • AntiquesCompetitor Supplies

Certifi ed Firearms InstructorState Junior Director of Shooting Programs

Julian F. Beale, III

622-115751 Cony Street, Augusta

TOM FINN SHOE REPAIR

“Shoe Repair Saves You Money”•Shoe and Boot Repair • Orthopedic Shoe Lifts• Leather Coat Repair• Zippers Installed• Pocketbook Repair

Thomas LaCasse ~ Owner

207-623-8491165 Water Street • Augusta, ME

A-1 SeamlessGutters, Inc.

Custom made at your homein a variety of colors

Guaranteed Professional InstallationOver 50 Colors Available

Fully Insured • Free Estimates

~ Dave J. Roy ~

946-4999 • 1-877-375-4888Email: [email protected]

www.a1seamlessguttersmaine.com

Damon’sBeverage Mart

~ Agency Liquor Store ~Great Selection of Beer,

Wine & LiquorCold Cases, Cans & Kegs~ Open 7 Days A Week ~

623-986475 Bangor Street

Augusta

(Formerly Lou’s Beverage Barn)

Save 10%on cases of

wine

R.J. Energy Services, Inc.

Commercial • Residential • EstimatesComplete Heating & Air Conditioning Systems

622-77202184 North Belfast Avenue • Augusta

www.rjenergy.com

Your Heating Experts

Fuel Oil & Propane Delivery

Linda Veilleux1-800-989-9112207-622-0470

225 Western Avenue • Unit 1 • Augusta, ME 04330

www.tristatestaffi ng.com

• Elvis Presley •



Flexible Class ScheduleCosmetology • Nail-TecEsthetician • Barbering

Guaranteed Loan ProgramFinancial Aid

(for those who qualify)

43 Bridge Street • Augusta, Maine

312 Water Street • Augusta, Mainewww.visage-spa.com(207) 621-9941

www.capilo.com

contemporary tender ballads. While his voice was arguably as powerful as ever, his appearance caused alarm amongst many of the audience members.

Dorothy Beals felt a sense of shock when she saw him. “He just didn’t look the way I remembered him. I watched the Aloha concert on TV and I hadn’t really seen him since. He was heavier and just didn’t look good. I mean, he was still handsome but it was just sad. He really looked like a man at the end of his life. I remember feeling like I’d never see him again and even at that time it was eerie and uncomfort-able when he sang My Way. The way he sang it with his eyes closed…you knew it wasn’t just another song. He felt it. He knew his time was short. But I’ll tell you, when he did Love Me and Jail-house Rock it just took you back to a better time…and don’t think for a sec-ond all the women weren’t screaming


like they were twenty years earlier.” After performing nearly twen-

ty songs (with plenty of in-between banter, some of which was incompre-hensible and added to the anxiety felt by spectators) Elvis tossed his sweat-soaked scarf into the audience and left the stage. Over the PA system, the house announcer spoke the now fa-mous words, “Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building. Thank you and good night.” The audience roared and screamed for an encore that would never be. The king had truly left the building and most doubted that he would ever return to Maine.

(A bootleg of the Augusta show was later released under several titles, including Never Been to Maine. It was recently remastered and re-released by Rainbow Records as Once and For All, an impressive album with an equally impressive booklet full of photos and

press clippings. While not his former slender self, Presley was nearly as strong vocally as he ever was, as evi-denced on such tracks as You Gave Me a Mountain and his trademark closing number Can’t Help Falling In Love.

In early 1977 the Cumberland County Civic Center opened in Port-land with ZZ Top being the first act to play at the auditorium. Intended to bring the finest acts to Maine, the Civ-ic Center did not disappoint, lining up several big shows in downtown Port-land. The auditorium was rumored to have some of the best acoustics in the country, a rumor that made its way back to Graceland. It’s said that this alone led Elvis (or, more accurately, his manager, Col. Tom Parker) to pick Portland, Maine to kick off his fall tour. A date was set for August 18, 1977 and tickets went on sale in June. Many Presley devotees saw this as the encore

AugustaCivic Center

Community Dr.Augusta, ME 04330

Meetings, Receptions, Conferences,Banquets and more!

The Augusta Civic Center is a full-service facilitywith a 25,000 square foot auditorium, 23 fl exible

meeting rooms, including 2 ballrooms, a full kitchenand food service staff on-site. With over 40 years

experience in conventions, trade shows, conferencesand banquets, we stand ready to serve you!

For information call (207) 626-2405 or visit www.augustaciviccenter.org


ARMY & NAVY STOREHUNTING • CAMPING

SURVIVAL GEAR • BOOTSCAMOUFLAGE CLOTHING

NETTING

207-623-525221 Western Ave. • Augusta, ME

ReappearancesClothing, Apparel, Accessories, Vintage,

Et Cetera on Consignment & Resale

(207) 621-0287110 Water Street

Downtown Hallowell

Cafe de BangkokThai and Sushi Restaurant

Voted “Best Thai Restaurant” in Greater Augusta by Market Surveys of America

Open Mon-Thurs 11am-9:30pmFri and Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 4pm-9pm

cafedebangkokme.com232 Water Street, Hallowell

622-2638 • Fax 622-2640

623-20552nd Floor, 134 Water Street

Hallowell, Mainemerrillsbookshop.com

USED and RARE BOOKSBOUGHT and SOLDIn a Variety of Subjects

they screamed for back in May. On the day that tickets went on

sale, the line of hopeful ticket buyers stretched to the Old Port and waterfront areas. Many had been camping out for several days to ensure they were at the head of the line, and the energy was, by all accounts, extraordinary. Unfortu-nately, the show sold out quickly and thousands of fans were enraged that they had not been able to purchase tick-ets. Local legend says that representa-tives of the Civic Center, nervous about the angry would-be ticket-buyers, con-tacted Presley’s tour promoter, and after an obligatory consultation with Col. Parker, quickly arranged for an additional show on August 17, the day before the originally planned engage-ment. More than 12,000 tickets were sold to the ill-fated Portland shows, and Elvis was given notice to arrive a day earlier than planned to make a virtually



S. Masciadri& Sons

Monuments • Slants • MarkersCemetery Lettering • Cleaning

Established 1918 - 3rd Generation

Tony & Linda Masciadri623-9159

1-800-400-5785236 Water St. • Hallowell, ME

Performances, live music, theater, camps, community events, and more in

renovated first floor.

Performing Arts Center

280 Water Street • Gardiner, ME207-582-7144

www.johnsonhall.org

Entertainment & more since 1864

— Historic Opera House —

P&P Roofi ngDana Purington, Owner

Over 40 Years ExperienceANY ROOF, ANYWHERE!

Residential & CommercialWe Carry Full Workers Comp. ~ Fully Insured

Reasonable Rates • Free Estimates

207-485-2013www.themaineroofer.com

ROOF SPECIALISTAsphalt Shingles • Rolled Roofi ngMetal Roofi ng • Rubber Roofi ng

Vinyl Siding • Snow RemovalVinyl Replacement Windows

EmergencyService

Available

Vasvary ElectricHonest work at Honest prices

Free Estimates

Louis Vasvary Jr.Master Electrician

207-754-4293299 Costello Rd. • Gardiner, ME

Fully Insured

impromptu appearance at the new Civ-ic Center in southern Maine.

On August 15, Col. Tom Park-er flew into Portland and made final preparations for the first show of Elvis’ second tour of 1977. (Back in Memphis Elvis underwent his own preparations. He had been on a liquid protein diet to shed pounds before the tour, and he was regularly utilizing an exercise bike and his racquetball court to further his weight loss.) All security precautions were in place. All lodging was taken care of. The Civic Center was supposed to have been sound checked. But all the Colonel’s planning was in vain.

On August 16, Presley was pronounced dead after allegedly suffer-ing a heart attack in his Memphis man-sion. (Autopsy reports, interviews with dozens of inside personnel, and modern research sadly reveal that The King had an excessive amount of narcotics and


other prescription drugs in his system at the time of death, no doubt contrib-uting to his untimely demise.) He was to fly to Portland that very night where he would kick off his fall tour. Record stores were already heavily decorat-ed with Presley records and posters in anticipation of the shows, but a deep sadness settled over the world, Port-land included. While many thought, and desperately prayed, that the ru-mors were exactly that, Presley’s death was soon confirmed, and broadcast on nearly every radio station in the west-ern hemisphere. Teary-eyed fans made pilgrimages to the Cumberland County Civic Center where they laid flowers and notes upon the steps and embraced each other. Others stood around in the lobby seemingly in a daze. On August 18, a tribute concert was held at the Civic Center where people came to lis-ten to Presley’s music and mourn with

other saddened fans. “I didn’t go [to the tribute],”

Beals says. “I just couldn’t. The entire country was in mourning — the whole world. I was an emotional wreck.” She pauses and then echoes the sentiments of many Elvis fans, “I’m honored to have seen him in person once. To this day, that’s one of the most special mo-ments of my life.”

Though Elvis Presley never returned to Maine, his fans and devo-tees have kept a perpetual vigil for the mythical entertainer, and have com-memorated his sole Maine appearance with a large plaque in the entrance to the Augusta Civic Center.

❦Other businesses from this area are featured in the color section

Custom Designing


Hoyt Chiropractic

CenterDr. Michael A. Hoyt, Director

Dr. Lacaya Hoyt“Our Goal is Healthier Families

in a Healthier World.”• Thorough & Personalized Care• Office Hours by Appointment

377-21511354 US Route 202 • Winthrop, Maine 04364

Farm fresh food fromyour local family farm.

~ The Trenholm Family ~Visit us at:

www.wholesomeholmstead.com207.395.4784Shop at our farmstand

Open Daily ~ Year RoundStanley Road • Winthrop, ME 04364

Visit us at area Farmers Markets:Winthrop, 04364 • Wayne, 04284

Augusta - Viles Arboretum & Mill Park, 04330Maranacook Local Foods Club,

(Online Buying Club)Kennebec Local Foods Club,

(Online Buying Club)

GARDEN & GRILL“Where great people meet for good food.”

The Freshest Seafood,Tastiest Steaks and

Mexican Dishes in the Area

377-8877

Gift Certificates Available

peppersgardengrill.com357A Main Street • Winthrop

Lakeside Antiques

Two Floors of Fine Antiques40 Dealers Display

Best Priced Shop Around!Open for 27 years!

377-2616~ Juliette Piper ~

Rte 202 #2541 • East Winthrop, ME

❧ ❧

@ Home ElectricServing You Since 1978

Steven H. Mallen, Master Electrician

Commercial/ResidentialElectrical Installations24 Hour Emergency Service

Fully Licensed & Insured

Cell: 242-2227293-2140Mt. Vernon, ME

Boat house on Annabessacook Lake, Winthrop, ME. Item #112756 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org


fayette country store&

Old Mill Stream Ice Cream Shoppe

Food • Gas • Groceries • Gift s Hard & Soft Serve Ice Cream

Agency Liquor StoreConvenient Hours

1916 Main St., Fayette, ME

685-3611

“From Our Forest to Final Form”

AUTHORIZED SALES CENTERNew Equipment Sales & Service

Ross Clair, Manager/Sawyer

541 Borough Rd., Chesterville, ME

of Maine

(207) 645-2072

CASTONGUAYMEATS

FULL SERVICE CUSTOM SLAUGHTERINGBEEF, PORK AND SHEEP

• Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese• Vacuum Wrapping Available

Fresh meats available by order(Whole pieces only)

1-800-310-4989 • 207-897-4989234 Gibbs Mill Road • Livermore, ME

McAllister AccountingAnd Tax Services

Serving your business and personal tax planning and preparation

needs for over 25 years.

Ronald E. McAllisterMarcus E. McAllister

897-5667404 Main Street • Jay, ME

Sassy Sizzors, Inc.

____

____

____Full Service Hair / Nail Salon State Licensed Body Piercers

Perms • Cuts • ColorHighlights • Mani-Pedis

“Get Pricked By The Pro”“We Pierce It All!”

Large Selection of Body Jewelry

Ask about our hand crafted gift baskets!

207-645-5001 370 Main St. • Wilton

All Major

Credit Cards

Accepted!

~ Scentsy Consultant ~

Old Time Barber ShopsRemembering the old barber shop experienceby Charles Francis

If you’re old enough to remember a song and dance man like Eddie Cantor or Al Jolson doing a signa-

ture “Shave and a hair cut — two bits” as part of one of his routines, you're old enough to remember what a real barber shop was like. Real barber shops, like those in the working men’s towns along the Androscoggin of Livermore Falls or the Kennebec of Winslow or Fairfield, were bastions of male isolation where ‘the boys’ gathered to smoke, spit, swap stories and occasionally even get a shave and a haircut.

You certainly can’t get a shave or a haircut for a quarter today. In fact you would be hard pressed to find a male only barber shop in Maine as most

have been replaced by the unisex styl-ing salons which came into vogue in the 1960s.

At one time, only major population centers had beauty salons for wom-en but almost every community had a barber shop. It small towns it was often found in the back room of the general store. In large cities a whole building might be devoted to the trade. Regard-less of the setting, however, the barber shop was a male preserve.

In the late nineteenth century and well into the twentieth many males nev-er saw the inside of a barber shop. Men working in the woods cut each other’s hair. Young boys suffered through the process of having a bowl placed on top

of their head while their father or moth-er cut any hair that had the audacity to protrude from under the rim. In fact, it was common for many boys to have their heads shaved at the beginning of summer. For the father, however, there was the barber shop, which for many served as a sort of social club. Here the barber was the king of his domain, presiding over the ‘man talk’ like a contemporary talk show host. Women never ventured into a barber shop — except possibly to bring little Johnny in for his first hair cut. At least that is the way it used to be and the way it was for centuries before.

Barber shops have been around since the beginnings of recorded his-



40 E. Main St. (U.S. Rte.), Searsport

2 0 7 - 5 4 8 - 2 5 2 9 • 8 0 0 - 2 6 8 - 8 0 3 0

www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

KEEPINGWARM

Travel back in time to when snowbanks towered over Main Street, parts of Penob-scot Bay froze over, and groups gathered

for winter outdoor recreation and indoor quilting bees. Co-curated by the Friendship Sampler Quil-ters chapter of the Pine Tree Quilters, Keeping Warm showcases period quilts and winter cloth-ing, historic photos of life in the ice and snow, skis, sled, iceboats and much more!

Weekends—December 15 - February 24 in the Gallery on Main Street at Penobscot Marine Museum.

Visit www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org for exhibit hours and the latest updates

on Keeping Warm workshops, talks and demonstrations, and to see more historic photographs from our collection.

Come in out of the cold

this winter and warm up

in Penobscot Marine

Museum’s new exhibit



Pizza • Pasta • Paninis • WrapsSalads • Soups • Homemade

6 Beers on Tap933-3400

965 US Rt. 202, North Monmouth, MEwww.tjspizzeria.com

ALL-SEASONS AUTOMOTIVEServing Jefferson and the surrounding area for

over 40 years“Neither snow nor rain

nor heat nor gloom of night will stay

these mechanics from the swi� completion

of their appointed tasks”

Rain or shine or ice, for complete auto service,foreign and domestic that’s nice,

call Greg at 549-5222

BOWENS TAVERN

FULL BREAKFAST SERVEDTuesday-Saturday 6:30am-11am Sunday 7am-11am

WEEKLY LUNCH SPECIALSLUNCH AND DINNER SERVED

Tuesday-Saturday until 9pm Sunday until 7pm

207-338-2242181 Waterville Road • Belfast, ME

tory. Ancient Athens had them, so did the forum in Rome, where barbers worked in the open air taking care of the tonsures of the masses. The wealthy had their barbers come to their homes. Some only allowed trusted personal servants near them — after all, they were at their masters’ throats every morning with a razor. (In World War II, the Nazis would only allow Jehovah’s Witnesses, who were avowed pacifists, to shave them and cut their hair.)

Starting in the Middle Ages, barbers began practicing minor surgery and bloodletting. This occurred in part be-cause monks who had been performing most of the functions associated with doctors today were forbidden to shed blood by papal edict. In addition, the few doctors who were not associated with the church considered it beneath their dignity to drain humors, treat



(207) 445-709911 Old Windsor Rd. • China, ME

Annuals Perennials House PlantsOrganic Greens All year!Trees & Shrubs Pet Food Farm SuppliesOrganic & Conventional Livestock Feed Open Mon.-Sat. 10-5

54 Greenhouse Lane, Thorndike, Maine

568-3738www.halfmoongarden.com

LADD’S PLUMBINGRemodels • Residential • Commercial

MASTERPLUMBER

FULLYINSURED

Water SystemsWell Pumps

Drain Cleaning

FreeEstimates

592-1326442 Nelson Rd. • Chelsea, ME

wounds and pull teeth.In colonial Maine many of the ear-

liest physicians were ministers who had picked up a bit of medicine. They, along with barbers, made bleeding and tooth extraction their particular busi-ness. The first real doctor in the An-droscoggin Valley was probably John McMechnie. He didn’t stay long, how-ever. At the time of the Revolution he is reported treating some of Benedict Arnold’s men at Winslow. If people in the fledgling towns of Hallowell or Augusta needed doctoring, they used home remedies or else waited for their community to be visited by one of the itinerant barbers who traveled up and down the valley. This worthy invari-ably started any medical treatment with bleeding.

When a barber bleeds a patient he had the poor unfortunate grasp a red pole for support. Often the pole was wrapped with white cloths. The pole represented a human limb, the red, blood and the cloths, bandages. By the

early 1800s the cloths were replaced with white painted stripes. This was the origin of the striped pole that became the symbol for a barber shop. The basin shaped cap at the top represents the pan that the barber used for letting blood. Itinerant barbers often wore this pan on their head as they traveled about.

Barbers ended their medical practic-es in the mid-1800s, sticking to giving shaves, haircuts and sometimes even beauty advice. If beauty advice seems a little strange, consider that the barber numbered among his more common equipment of scissors and razors, twee-zers for removing nose and ear hair and curling tongs. Many even carried hair coloring and hair pieces.

As the mills and heavy industry of the towns of the Kennebec and Andro-scoggin Valleys hired more and more men, barber shops began staying open in the evening and even on Sunday mornings to accommodate shift work-ers and churchgoers. In fact, it was not until the 1920s and the advent of

the safety razor that many city dwell-ers stopped going to the barber each morning for a shave. Prior to the devel-opment of the safety razor quite a few men considered the straight razor too unreliable for home use, and kept their own shaving mug at their barber’s. The 1920s also saw the barber adding var-ious hair creams and gels to his sup-plies. One of the first great marketing successes was “Brylcream.” Some up-scale barber shops even offered shoe shines and manicures.

Moreover, as an indication they were truly a man’s domain, they carried risqué magazines like Esquire, Police Gazette and Police Detective.

The days of the barber shop, with its chairs that pumped up and down and the barber who plastered a man's head with some sort of “stink’em” from a red or green bottle after a trim are now a thing of the past. Yet any male of a cer-tain age who hears “Shave and a haircut — two bits.” almost always pauses for a moment of nostalgia.

Gas • Fresh Cut MeatPizza • Deli • Full Kitchen

Beer • WineFull Line of Groceries


MAINE VETERANS’ HOMES

caring for those who servedMaine Veterans’ Homes provide

outstanding care, compassion and services to veterans and their spouses.

(207) 622-24541-888-684-4664

310 Cony Road • Augusta, ME 04330www.MAINEVETS.org

GRILLED MEATS – SMOKED MEATSSEAFOOD – VEGETARIAN ENTRÉESEAT IN • TAKE OUT • CATERING

300 WATER STREET, AUGUSTA, MAINE

(207) 622-8899

www.riverfrontbbq.com

Augusta’s classiest loungeOpen Thurs.-Sat. 3pm to midnight for food or drink

your hunger goes where the river flows

RiverBackDance ClubA warm & relaxing

atmosphere to HOLD YOUR party,wedding reception,or special event.

Ample ParkingBYOB and Caterer!

335 Water Street • Augusta, ME207-592-3095

www.riverbackdanceclub.com

Melville Fuller From Augusta The 8th Chief Justice of the United Statesby James Nalley

On March 23, 1888, Chief Justice Morrison Waite of the United States Supreme Court died unexpectedly from pneumonia. His death had caused quite a stir in Washington, D.C., es-pecially since there had been no sign that his illness had turned serious. Approximately one month later, Pres-ident Grover Cleveland had nominat-ed a man from Augusta, who was not the front-runner for the position. Much like politics can be today, he was sub-sequently bombarded in a smear cam-paign that lasted well until the summer of that year. But he stood his ground with a controversial record and was confirmed as the 8th Chief Justice of

the United States on July 20, 1888. Melville W. Fuller was born in Au-gusta, on February 11, 1833. As the son of a well-known lawyer and a grand-son of two prominent judges on both his mother’s and father’s sides, his life was destined for the field of law. Un-fortunately, his parents divorced when he was a child, and he was raised by Nathan Weston, his maternal grand-father, who served as the Chief Jus-tice of the Maine Supreme Court. He eventually attended college at Harvard University for just one year before re-turning to Maine to attend Bowdoin College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1853. After graduation, he

attended Harvard Law School brief-ly before moving back to Maine to serve in a variety of roles ranging from reading law in the office of his uncle in Bangor to the editor of The Age, a reputable Democratic newspaper pub-lished in Augusta. But at that time, the city of Chicago had become one of the rising metropolitan areas in the midwest, and this attraction prompted Fuller to relocate there for a new future. Within two years of his arrival in Chicago, Fuller built a reputable law practice and became one of the top attorneys in the city. His reputation earned him prominent roles in sev-eral cases that went before the U.S.

Meeting all of your driving needsQuality of the Driver Education Program

Private Lessons: Brush Up • Winter Driving • Mature Operators

License Preparation LessonsLicense Exam Vehicle Rental

295 Water St., Suite 6 • Augusta, ME 04330207-623-5011

www.centralmainedriving.com

"We go the extra mile"


THREE CONVENIENT LOCATIONS200 Capitol Street, Augusta162 Hospital Street, Augusta81 Grove Street, Waterville

800-540-8707

www.mainestatecu.org

A better place to put your money

GEOTHERMAL DRILLING

FREEESTIMATES

COMPLETE SERVICE FROM WELL TO HOUSEWATER PUMPS • SALES & SERVICE

www.rolfeswelldrilling.com

622-4018 • 582-4324488 Northern Ave., Farmingdale

In Business Over 35 Years, Insured & Licensed

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Supreme Court: “Traders’ Bank vs. Campbell” and “Tappan vs. the Mer-chants’ National Bank of Chicago,” which was the very first case heard by then Chief Justice Morrison Waite. In 1860, using his influence and power, Fuller (a staunch Democrat) managed the presidential campaign for Stephen Douglas, who was defeated by a rising Republican politician from Spring-field, llinois — Abraham Lincoln. As far as politics for Fuller himself, he would stay close to home and avoid the national spotlight. From 1863 to 1865, he spent one relatively quiet term in the Illinois House of Representatives. But the political conventions were where he thrived, and he served as a delegate for not only the Illinois Constitution-al Convention in 1862 but all of the National Democratic Conventions be-tween 1864 and 1880. At these events he quickly rose from being just a dele-gate to offering the nomination speech-es for the latest nominees. But as he



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made friends in “high places,” he was determined to remain back at home. For example, after President Grover Cleveland’s inauguration, he (like ev-ery President-elect of the United States) scrambled to fill the variety of cabinet’s positions. He then requested Fuller to serve as chairman of the Civil Service Commission. After Fuller respectfully declined, President Cleveland then of-fered him the position of U.S. Solici-tor General, but again Fuller declined. Fuller simply remained in Illinois and assumed the post of president for the Illinois State Bar Association in 1886. But President Cleveland’s determina-tion would suddenly thrust Fuller into the national spotlight within two years. On April 30, 1888, Fuller was offi-cially nominated for the Chief Jus-

(Continued from page 25)tice position to replace the deceased Morrison Waite. This was a surprise nomination for Fuller as well as for the country, especially since Edward Phelps (the former ambassador to Great Britain) was highly favored for U.S. Senate approval. Needless to say, Fuller’s nomination was received with lukewarm comments at best. For the opponents, they had plenty of ammuni-tion — he had avoided military service in the American Civil War, and he had attempted to block wartime legislation while serving in the Illinois House of Representatives. According to the book Centennial Crisis: The Disputed Elec-tion of 1876 by William Rehnquist, Republicans proclaimed, “The records of the Illinois of 1863 are black with Mr. Fuller’s unworthy and unpatriotic

conduct.” Nevertheless, Fuller still re-ceived the appointment with a vote of 41 to 20. With no time to waste, he was commissioned as the 8th Chief Justice the very same day.

On the bench, Fuller (although a devoted Democrat) was surprisingly opposed to cases that attempted to reg-ulate business and property while at the same time coined phrases such as “equal and impartial justice under the law.” His phrase, “separate but equal” was made in 1896 when he justified the need for segregation in the South. On the subject of immigration, Fuller ruled that Puerto Ricans were not foreigners and therefore could not be denied entry into the United States under immigra-tion laws. This ruling eventually led to the Jones Act of 1917, which provided


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In 1893, then President-Elect Cleveland (in his second term) offered Fuller the position as Secretary of State. But again, it was politely turned down. Fuller remained as Chief Jus-tice until his death in 1910. He died on July 4, in the town of Sorrento, Maine, and was buried at the Graceland Cem-etery, back again in Chicago, Illinois. On a lighter note, Fuller (in his older age) was time and time again told that he resembled the well-known humorist Mark Twain. When Twain was once stopped on the street, he was surprised to hear the fan mistakenly request the autograph of Chief Justice Fuller. Twain obliged and wrote: “It is delicious to be full, but it is heavenly to be Fuller, I am cordially yours, Melville W. Fuller.”

Melville Weston Fuller ~ 8th Chief Justice of the United States


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after moving to the city of Gardiner after the turn of the year. Strangely enough, by the time Robinson was six months of age; his parents (who had badly wanted a girl) had still not named him. It was only after they had visited a holiday resort on the coast that Robinson received his name, which was only due to coercion by their friends. According to biographer Hyatt Waggoner, “The other vacationers de-cided that the baby should have a name, and selected a man from Arlington, Mas-sachusetts to draw a name out of a hat.” Needless to say, Robinson was about to embark on a sad childhood dominat-ed by gloom and misery that he often recalled as being “stark and unhappy.” Meanwhile, he began transferring his feelings into poetry regularly, and even served as the youngest member of the town’s poetry society. Despite learning the rudiments of poetic forms, one of his mentors mentioned that, “He was one of those persons whom you cannot influence ever…he simply went his own

The sense of being haunted by one’s past has been the subject of numer-ous literary masterpieces and such

a theme can truly create an interesting fic-tional storyline. However, for one Amer-ican poet from Maine, the feeling that there is nothing one can do about the sad-ness of human beings in general is based on actual events from his youth. Despite the angst, loneliness and separation from society, his poems consisting of themes ranging from answerless frustration to the hellishness of suicidal thoughts, garnered him not one but three Pulitzer Prizes. Edwin A. Robinson was born on Dec. 22, 1869 in the town of Head Tide in Lincoln County, Maine. The third of three sons of a timber merchant and well-known civic leader, Robinson and his family lived a comfortable life, especially

Edwin RobinsonGardiner’s tormented poetby James Nalley

Edwin Robinson ~ 1888(Continued on page 30)


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way.” But it was soon after high school that a series of tragedies ultimately in-fluenced his life as well as his poetry. In 1891, at the relatively late age of 22, Robinson attended Harvard Univer-sity despite his father’s protest against him pursuing higher education. This was also timed with a serious decline in the family’s fortune, which affect-ed every member of the family. After his father’s sudden death in 1893, the aftermath included a slow seven-year decline toward bankruptcy. Due to de-clining funds, Robinson returned home against his deep desire to stay. In a letter to his friend Harry Smith in 1893, Rob-inson wrote:

I suppose this is the last letter I shall ever write you from Harvard. Some-times I try to imagine the state my mind would be in had I never come here, but I cannot. But still I gained more than I could get in Gardiner if I live a century.


Yours,E.R.Meanwhile, Robinson’s brother

Dean (who was studying to become a medical doctor) had become addicted to morphine and was forced to return home where he soon died of a drug overdose. In addition, his older broth-er Herman married the same woman Edwin had planned to marry. After a series of devastating business failures, Herman became an alcoholic and sub-sequently left his wife and children. Herman would eventually die in a char-ity hospital after the turn of the century. It was during this period that Robinson penned his poem titled “Richard Cory,” and the following excerpt provides a taste of his brooding pessimism:

Whenever Richard Cory went downtown,

We people on the pavement looked at him:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favored, and imperially slim.So on we worked, and waited for the

light,And went without the meat, and

cursed the bread;And Richard Cory, one calm sum-

mer night,Went home and put a bullet through

his head.With most of his family tragically

removed from his life, Robinson began writing seriously, stating that, “Writing has been my dream ever since I was old enough to lay a plan. Now, for the first time, I seem to have something like a favorable opportunity and this winter, I shall begin.”Meanwhile, he still had to make some type of meager living until his dreams got off the ground. So, he attempted farming and strate-gically maintained a close relationship


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with his brother’s former wife Emma, whom he also loved. After two reject-ed marriage proposals from the failed farmer, she permanently left Gardiner and Robinson never saw her again. For a change of direction, Robinson subsequently moved to New York to cultivate professional relationships within the literary community there, but he led an impoverished existence as a poet. In 1896, he self-published his first book titled “The Torrent and the Night Before,” which he paid 100 dollars for the 500 copies. However, his plans to surprise his mother and announce his “success” as a published poet were cut short, when he received word that she died of diphtheria. To make things worse, since the mortician refused to handle the body, Robinson had to personally dig a grave and bury his mother. Timed with critical re-views of his scraps of published works, Robinson fell into a deep depression

where he lived a lonely life drifting from job to job and drinking heavily. In 1905, he received a surprising break, which jumpstarted his career. Apparently, President Theodore Roos-evelt’s son Kermit had read Robinson’s work titled, “The Children of the Night” and encouraged his father to read it as well. The president enjoyed the poems so much that he appointed Robinson to work for the New York Customs House. As random as this appointment was, it was actually deliberately struc-tured so that Robinson could do as little work as possible and devote his time to writing more poetry. According to Rob-inson, “This strenuous man has given me some of the most powerful loaf-ing that has ever come my way.” And loafing it was. As stated by biographer Chard Smith, “His duties consisted of opening his roll-top desk, reading the paper, closing the desk, leaving the paper in his chair to show he had been

there, and going home.” Gradually, this loafing paid off and Robinson produced a string of successful works. In fact, in the 1920s alone, he won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize not once, but three times: in 1922 for his “Collected Poems”; in 1925 for “The Man Who Died Twice”; and in 1928 for “Tristram.”

Despite his success, he continued to have a solitary lifestyle and he never married. On April 6, 1935, Robinson’s career had come to an end after battling cancer. Much like how he lived his life, he died quietly and alone in a New York hospital. After all of the torment, things turned out all right for him. But even at the end of life, his works still maintained a certain tone of stark reali-ty, which can be seen in his award-win-ning poem “Merlin”:

Time swings a mighty scythe,And some day all your peaceGoes down before its edge like a

clover.


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taken from Davis’s address serves as an example as to just how remarkable: “...while the color of the skin is made the criterion of the law, it is our right, our duty and, I hope I may say, our fixed determination, to make known our wrongs to the world and to our oppres-sors; to cease not day nor night to ‘tell, in burning words, our tale of woe,’and pour a flood of living light on the minds and consciences of the oppressor, till we change their thoughts, feelings, and actions toward us as men and citizens of this land. We must convince our fellow men that slavery is unprofitable; that it is for the well-being and prosperity of this nation, the peace and happiness of our common country, that slavery and oppression be abolished within its borders, and that laws be enacted equal

Civil rights speaker from Templeby Charles Francis

In 1843, Buffalo, New York hosted the National Convention of Free People of Color, also known as the

National Convention of Colored Citi-zens. This was the convention famous for calling on slaves to resist their par-ticular condition even to the death. The keynote address of the convention was given by a black man named Samuel H.Davis. In his address Davis called on free northem blacks to become involved in the struggle to secure the right to vote, the benefits of education for black children and all rights held in common with other citizens of the republic.

Davis's words were remarkable. They were clear, concise and well thought out. They were remarkable in tenor, they were the words of a man who was highly educated. The following

The Remarkable Odyssey Of Samuel H. Davis

and just for all its citizens.” Samuel Davis was a dynamic speaker. He was a man who would accomplish much in the struggle for Black equality. Yet, he is a man, who until recently, has been ignored in histories and whose name is far from being as well known as those who accomplished as much.

Who was Samuel H. Davis? And just what did he do?

Before saying just who Samuel H. Davis was and where he came from, I wish to give an example as to the lengths he would go to get something accomplished, get something done.

In 1857, Davis, along with several others, hewed the logs to build the First Regular Baptist Church in Dresden, Ontario. Davis himself donated the 100 cords of wood that went as payment to


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the mill that sawed additional lumber. Clearly Samuel Davis knew something of the timber business. Where did this knowledge come from?

Samuel H. Davis was born in Temple in Franklin County, August 13, 1810. Remarkable, perhaps ironic would be a better word, Davis knew absolutely nothing of his black roots until he was in his middle teens.

Davis’s grandfather, a man named McCarty, owned his grandmother. The grandfather was a Dutchman living in upstate New York. The grandfather lived with the grandmother as his wife even though he owned her. The couple had two boys, Samuel Davis Sr. and William Davis. Samuel, Sr. and Wil-liam, as sons of a slave woman and a white man, were considered to be “slaves” by law and owned by the mas-ter, McCarty.

Samuel H. Davis would later write how he learned of his roots. His words

are as follows:What little knowledge I have of my

forefathers, I learned mostly of my mother when I was between fourteen and fifteen years of age; the night I left her to go away to live in another town. That night she told me what she knew of her own history and that of my father ... When my mother told me I had Afri-can blood in my veins and that my fa-ther was born a slave! It is impossible to describe my feelings. In my heart I cursed the day I was born. And wished I was dead! Poor little wicked wretch that I was. I was so miserable that we never spoke on the subject again after that night.

Davis’s mother went on to tell him that his father’s father was a Dutchman and his father’s mother was a “mulatto” woman, a slave. She explained a “mu-latto” was a person having one white and one Black parent or a person of white and black ancestry.

Space does not allow for going into Samuel Davis’s complete history. Suf-fice it to say that his parents taught him the rudiments of learning, reading and writing. A minister took an interest in him, channeling him toward the min-istry. In his mid-twenties Davis attend-ed Oberlin College. He helped pay his way there by working as a mason. At Oberlin he received advanced training in the ministry and teaching.

From Oberlin, Davis went to Wind-sor, Ontario, before moving to Buffa-lo in 1842. There he became the third African-American hired to teach in the African school in the city’s public school system.

In 1846 he moved to Detroit to serve a church there. In 1849 he married Catherine McGuin of Burford, Ontario.

In 1850 Davis became associated with the American Baptist Free Mis-sion Society (ABFMS). The ABFMS was an organization of abolitionists.



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They sent money and aid to refugee slaves wherever they might be. This means Davis was involved with the Underground Railway helping escaped slaves reach sanctuary in Canada.

In 1857 the Davis family, which now included several children, moved to Dresden, Ontario.

In 1858, Davis and his wife Cather-ine bought fifty acres south of Dresden, Ontario. Here, Davis built a log cabin for his family. Three of the Davis chil-dren were born in the cabin. In 1871 Davis bought an ajoining fifty acres, creating a 100 - acre farm.

In 1858 Davis became the pastor of the First Regular Baptist Church. He served fifteen straight years before having a break. Over the period 1858-1881, he pastored Dresden for eigh-


teen years and another nearby church for one year. He later served another church for over five years. He also served as an itinerant minister and trav-eling missionary. He served in the Am-herstburg [Ontario] Baptist Assocation for sixty years as its moderator, clerk and in other roles.

Samuel H. Davis died in 1907 at ninety-seven. All but one of his chil-dren were alive at the time of his death. He and his wife Catherine are buried in the British American Institute Ceme-tery. The cemetery is part of the Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site, just south of Dresden, Ontario.

Samuel H. Davis


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Boys Will Be BoysWhat are those two up to now?by Marcia B. Granville

Lee shot his first rabbit when he was seven. He wasn’t strong enough to hold the barrel of the

Stevens .410 shotgun steady, so his fa-ther held one finger under the middle for support. By the time he was ten, Lee was allowed to hunt alone with just two restrictions. The only weapon he was allowed to use was the single shot .410, and he had to stay in the back pas-ture. Since the ten or fifteen acres, half woods and half field were fenced all the way around, there was little chance that he would get lost At least that was the theory. He never did either, at least not for more than an hour or two.

When Lee was eleven, he was al-lowed to use the .22 caliber rifle. With-in a year or two after that, he was hunt-ing with his friend Wally. Of course,

the two boys, when together, had big ideas. They loaded their own shotgun shells. They melted lead and poured their own bullets. “That was hot stuff,” Lee recalls, referring to the molten lead. Not content with such penny ante stuff, the boys decided to make their own gunpowder.

Consulting the Junior High School encyclopedia proved quite successful. In it they found the list of ingredients and the proportions needed − 10% sul-fur, 15% charcoal, and 75% saltpeter or potassium nitrate.

It was no problem to obtain the sul-fur and the saltpeter. All they had to do was go to the local drugstore. In those days, 1949 or ‘50, pharmacists carried these items on their shelves. They were used in some of the medicines that were

prepared right in the store. The boys were amazed at the response when they asked for the sulfur and saltpeter. “Going to make a little gunpowder are you?” the druggist asked as he wrapped their purchases. “Be careful , now.” He was a sharp one.

The charcoal was harder to find. In the days before the charcoal grill be-came popular, it couldn’t be purchased locally. The boys had to make it them-selves. Lee and Wally raided the farm woodshed for select pieces of dry hard-wood which they intended to burn in a five-gallon can. The cover was removed and pierced with a few small holes. Then a few more holes were made around the bottom of the can. Finally the wood was placed inside, set afire and burned with the cover in place on


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top. The wood burned slowly, without a lot of flame, resulting in great chunks of what the boys fondly believed to be pure charcoal.

The next step was to pulverize the charcoal in some fashion. Together, the boys searched until they found a large rock with a shallow depression in it. Then with a round stone to use as a pes-tle, they ground the burned wood into a loose charcoal powder which also con-tained ash, unburned bits of wood and grit. At last they had all the necessary ingredients for their project.

They poured the proper amounts into a can and shook vigorously. That didn’t work too well. The stuff just wouldn’t mix evenly. So the boys tried grinding everything together. That didn’t work either. The friction caused the stuff to burn. Finally they found they could grind the charcoal and sulfur together safely, then mix in the saltpe-ter. Success at last!

The boys intended to make firecrack-

ers and small bombs which brought up yet another problem . What could they use for fuses? They tried string. They tried coating string with wax. But the best results were obtained from com-mon birthday candles.

They burned slowly enough to allow the boys to get safely away from the ex-plosion. Lee and Wally were impressed when they finally succeeded in blowing an empty five gallon can fifty feet into the air. Lee now says, “It’s a wonder we didn't blow our fool heads off.”

Lee and Wally never did make any muzzle loaders. They would have liked to, but didn’t have the money or technology. They did make a few crude cannons, though. First they drilled a hole in the end of a pipe plug and screwed the plug onto the end of a length of two-inch water pipe. They poured their homemade black pow-der down the other end and tamped it down with a broom handle. They fol-lowed the powder with a collection of

nuts, bolts and washers, then wadded the whole mess in with some crumpled up newspaper. Finally they inserted a birthday candle into the hole in the pipe cape, lit it and ran like hell.

“It’s a good thing we did run like hell,” Lee related . The last cannon he and Wally made was tamped too firm-ly. It went off with a slow whooomph! The pipe split from end to end, nuts and bolts flying everywhere in a cloud of gray white smoke smelling of fire and brimstone. “If we’d just stood there to watch what happened,” he said, “We probably wouldn’t be here now.”

He and Wally never had any partic-ular target to shoot at or blow up, they just wanted to see what they could do. Fortunately they quit when they found out just how much damage they could do. Lee has one final piece of advice. “Please, don’t try this at home.”


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Franklin JohnsonThe man who moved Colby Collegeby Charles Francis

Colby College Board of Trustees named Franklin Johnson presi-dent in 1929. At that time Colby

was located in less-than-amenable sur-roundings for an institution of higher learning — or for any school for that matter. Colby was surrounded by the hustle and bustle that goes with a rail-way hub. Trains clattered day and night. With them came the attendant smoke associated with the transportation net-work that served the state in the first decades of the twentieth century. Added to this were the comings and goings of vehicular traffic and the shouts and bel-lows of car men and teamsters loading and unloading goods. In short, Colby was far from being situated in an ideal

learning environment. Franklin Johnson was the man who changed all this.

It was Franklin Johnson, who, more than anyone else, is responsible for Colby College being where it is now, on beautiful Mayflower Hill. Johnson persuaded the Colby Board of Trustees that the college should move. A move like this at that time could have been a disaster. It was the Depression. John-son, however, led the college through potential financial catastrophes.

Franklin Johnson was a remarkable man and leader. He had to be to ac-complish what he did when he did. As to exactly what kind of a man he was, perhaps that is best expressed in his own words. For him the adventure of

assuming the presidency of Colby and moving the college to Mayflower Hill was “a Venture of Faith.”

Franklin Winslow Johnson was born in Jay on August 17, 1870. He was brought up in the household of Dear-born Bean, his uncle, in Wilton. Bean was an inspector of prisons and jails. The family were Free Will Baptist.

Johnson’s grammar school educa-tion came at Wilton Academy. Wilton Academy at the time Johnson was a stu-dent there was essentially a preparatory school for Bates College. Bates was the first Free Will Baptist college in Maine and the United States. Johnson did not choose to attend Bates, however. He chose instead to enter Colby. Colby,



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like Bates, was Free Will Baptist. John-son graduated in 1891.

Franklin Johnson was first and fore-most an educator. His first job was as a high school principal, at Calais High School. He stayed at Calais until 1894. Then he moved to Waterville and his second principalship, at Coburn Classi-cal Institute. Then came Johnson's first big move.

In 1905 Johnson moved to Chica-go to assume the position of principal of Morgan Park High School, a school larger than any in Maine of the period. Here he met John Dewey, the country’s most dramatic and controversial ed-ucational innovator. The two became friends and remained so for the remain-der of their lives.

In 1907 Johnson became principal of the progressive and controversial University of Chicago High School, part of the school system created by Dewey. The University of Chicago High School is best described as a


learning laboratory. In fact, today it is part of the system that goes by the name University of Chicago Laborato-ry Schools.

In World War I, Johnson served with the Army Medical Corps. Following the war he joined the faculty of Co-lumbia University’s Teachers College. Johnson was one of the faculty that was recruited by his now firm friend John Dewey. About a year later, in 1920, he became a member of the Colby College Board of Trustees.

Johnson was a faculty member at Columbia up until the death of Colby president Arthur Roberts. Though it is not entirely clear, it seems Johnson was the only person considered in the run-ning to replace Roberts. He was, after all, a known commodity, and he was highly respected as a colleague of John Dewey.

Franklin Johnson was sixty in 1929. perhaps the best way to describe him would be to say he was at the height of

his intellectual powers. It was a good thing, too, considering what the new decade would bring in the way of fi-nancial stress. It was a good thing, too, as Arthur Roberts had been on medical leave. Colby had been administered by faculty committee during that period.

Johnson was clearly the man for the job at Colby. This isn’t said because his first major project was getting the Board of Trustees to agree to the move to Mayflower Hill. Rather, consider Johnson as a fund raiser. One of John-son’s projects was the Maine Million, a fund-raising campaign to find one mil-lion dollars from Maine donors to sup-port the continued construction of the Mayflower Hill campus. Another was getting the money for the multimillion dollar Miller Library.

Franklin Johnson retired as Colby College president at the age of seven-ty-three. The year was 1942. At the time he stepped down many of the structures familiar to anyone who knows Colby


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were under construction.Johnson Pond on the Colby campus

is named for the former president. In 1948 Johnson rowed around the pond. The occasion was the completion of Calorimeter Chapel, Roberts Union, Miller Library, Runnals Hall, and East and West Quad.

The Colby student body moved to the Mayflower Hill campus in 1952. At that time Franklin Johnson donated $97,000 to the college, an amount equal to what he received during his years as Colby president. At the time the cam-pus was completed Johnson is quoted as saying “I have actually entered the promised land.”

Franklin Johnson, the man who moved Colby College to Mayflower Hill, passed away February 19, 1956.

Those interested in reading more about Franklin Johnson will find The Man of Mayflower Hill: A Biography of Franklin W. Johnson, by Ernest Mar-riner well worth reading. The work details Johnson's ancestors and early years, his education, and the individu-als and circumstances that most influ-enced his outlook on life.

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Washington Society Ladies Hike The North Woodsby Charles Francis

In the summer of 1914 two of the most prominent ladies of the Wash-ington society paid a visit to Maine’s

north woods. Though they were ‘soci-ety’ in the strictest sense of the term, being trend setters of the nation’s cap-itol and intimates of the powerful of the day, the two were in no way adverse to roughing it. In fact, they hiked some the most difficult trails to be found in the northeast, covering some of the grand-est and most spectacular wilderness to be found anywhere in North America.

Hiking means walking. In the north woods it means more than just follow-ing well-defined and manicured trails.

At least that is what it meant in the north woods of Maine of 1914. Even today an on-foot trek from Jackman to Big Spencer Lake is a serious traverse. That’s what the ladies did, though. And they didn’t stop with this jaunt. Other destinations included King & Bart-lett Fish and Game Club in Eustis and Pierce Pond in Caratunk. That is seri-ous hiking.

The two Washington society ladies were Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt and Miss Alice Gertrude Gordon. Mrs. Galt was a wealthy widow; Miss Gordon, an heiress. Both would soon change their

names. Mrs. Galt would become Mrs. Woodrow Wilson. Miss Gordon would marry Dr. Cary Travers Grayson, U. S. N.. Grayson was Naval Aid to President Wilson and White House physician.

Edith Bolling Galt Wilson was First Lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921. She was President Wilson’s second wife. She has been called “the Secret President” and “the first wom-an to run the government of the United States.” The latter comment relates to the role she played when her husband suffered a prolonged and disabling ill-ness after experiencing a stroke in Oc-


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tober of 1919. Some even refer to Mrs. Wilson as “the first female president of the United States.”

Alice Gertrude Gordon was the daughter of wealthy mining engineer James J. Gordon. Gordon, whose wife died when daughter Alice was four, was a close friend of Edith Galt. Upon Gordon’s death in 1911, Edith Galt assumed the responsibilities of mentor and guardian to the seventeen-year-old Alice. These responsibilities includ-ed introducing Alice to Washington society. It was a task Edith Galt was admirably suited for. She was well ac-quainted with Washington society and thanks to her successful, jeweller hus-band, well off. Also, she had lost her


only child, a son. Alice Gordon filled an important place in Galt’s life.

Edith Galt and Alice Gordon trav-elled abroad, including excursions to Europe and North Africa. The Maine hiking trip was the last the two society ladies made before Alice married Cary Grayson in one of the most publicized weddings of the Washington season. Edith Galt’s marriage to President Wil-son, an even more publicized wedding, almost immediately followed. It should be noted that Cary Grayson was viewed as one of the most eligible bachelors in Washington. Not only was he President Wilson’s personal physician, he had served in the same capacity to Presi-dent Taft and President Roosevelt be-

fore him.Edith Galt was forty-two years old

in the summer of 1914. Pictures of her at that age show an attractive or even striking woman, looking to be in her mid-thirties. Alice Gordon was just shy of her twenty-first birthday. Descrip-tions of her seem to compare to Galt. Gordon is described “as striking” and “tall, lively and sophisticated.” Her dress, as is Galt’s, is “impeccable.”

As would be expected, the two Washington ladies brought too much luggage with them. They brought so much, in fact, that they were asked by their guides to reduce their dunnage by half. Galt later recalled it was a good thing, as “carrying their belongings

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over many miles taxed their energy and strength.”

Two clouds hung on President Wil-son’s horizon in the summer of 1914. One was impending war in Europe. The other was the health of his wife Ellen.

Cary Grayson was expected to join Galt and Gordon on their Maine so-journ. He did not. Ellen Wilson’s health so deteriorated that summer that Dr. Grayson was unable to leave the White House.

During their jaunt through the north woods Galt and Gordon encountered a Maine icon. This was Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby. Crosby was an avid sportswoman and Maine’s first li-censed guide. Through her widely-read newspaper columns that described her hunting and fishing adventures in the woods, “Fly Rod” put Maine on the tourist map, attracting countless visi-tors. Crosby later wrote of her meeting with the two Washington society ladies.

Though it is not completely clear, the meeting of “Fly Rod” Crosby and the future First Lady and her charge could have been at King & Bartlett Fish and Game Club.

King & Bartlett Fish and Game Club takes its name from William King, Maine’s first governor and Bartlett, his timber boss. At the time the Washing-ton ladies would have stopped there, King & Bartlett was just beginning its long history as a sporting camp and private hunting and fishing club. King & Bartlett was a favorite of “Fly Rod” Crosby, so much so that she later wrote she hoped President Wilson would visit it.

“Fly Rod” Crosby wrote of her en-

counter with Edith Galt and Alice Gor-don shortly after Mrs. Galt became Mrs. Wilson. She speaks of the First Lady as having been “charmed with the novelty of the trip.” She also said she hoped the First Lady had given the President “such a word picture of the beauty of Maine, they will some future time come to King & Bartlett and en-joy log cabin life and forget the worries that the President of the United States cannot escape when, as now, political clouds are rising.”

Today Big Spencer Lake and else-where where Edith Galt and Alice Gor-don trekked are described as “off the grid.” Contemporary brochures extol the “bounty and beauty of pristine natu-ral surroundings.” However, unlike the summer of 1914, the alluring descrip-tions are intended to attract tourists to comfortable camps. When the future First Lady and her charge visited there were few camps. They carried some of their gear and slept in tents. Theirs was an experience most of us of today can but imagine. As for the other soci-ety Washington ladies of that long ago time, one doubts they could even do that.

The tale of Edith Bolling Galt in the north woods is an intriguing one. What makes it so intriguing is that it may just shed light into the mindset and determi-nation of the society lady who has been called “the Secret President” and “the first woman to run the government of the United States.”

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Romance And Tragedy At LakewoodFamed Madison theatre scene of joy and heartacheby Ian MacKinnon

For decades Lakewood Theatre has drawn fans of all ages to the shores of Lake Wesserunsett in

Madison. Broadway and Hollywood performers have also flocked to the venerable theater, which offered (then and now) an outstanding playbill each summer.

For many performers, a week or two spent at Lakewood led to an unex-pected romance, occasionally a terrible tragedy, and often exciting adventure beneath Maine’s warm summer sky.

In Vincent Price: A Daughter’s Bi-ography, Victoria Price wrote that her famous father traveled to Lakewood in mid-June 1947 “to try his hand at seri-ous drama as Halmar Ekdal in Henrik

Ibsen’s The Wild Duck. “Playing his wife, Gina, was one of

the great leading ladies of the theater, Blanche Yurka, an opera singer who had become a dramatic star on Broad-way during the twenties,” Victoria Price wrote. “Vincent admired Yurka, a legendary leading lady of his youth, and rose to the dual challenge — a complex role, a formidable costar — and garnered excellent reviews.”

Vincent Price “liked Skowhegan” and, evidently, performing at Lake-wood, Victoria noted. “On The Wild Duck’s closing night, Vincent drove to Boston, chartered a plane, and reached New York in time to do a broadcast of a scene from Victoria Regina with Helen

Hayes. “He then flew back to Boston and

caught the night train to Maine to begin rehearsals for his next play — a second crack at Parnell, this time opposite the famous and accomplished Edith Bar-rett,” Victoria wrote, figuratively set-ting “the stage” for a Lakewood sum-mer romance.

Barrett “had played Lakewood in 1933 and was now returning as one of their most popular performers,” Vic-toria noted. Lakewood Theater had attracted many notable actors and ac-tresses during the 1930s; even Groucho Marx had performed there during that decade.



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“When twenty-six-year-old Vincent Price met Edith Barrett, she was in her early thirties, though she claimed to be almost a decade younger,” according to Victoria Price. “A pretty woman with sharp features, a fair complexion, and large, luminous, brown eyes”— Vin-cent must have shared that particular memory with his daughter — “she had reached a plateau in her career.

“Edith and Vincent hit it off imme-diately,” Victoria wrote. “They spent almost every day together, taking time off to swim in the lake or go into town together for meals when not rehearsing their roles as doomed lovers.”

Photographs taken during those weeks at Lakewood Theatre “show Vincent and Edith clowning around during the day, their friendship clearly developing into a romantic relation-ship,” Victoria noted. Barrett and Price completed Parnell and eased into the


next scheduled play, Eden’s End. When that play ended a two-week

run, Edith Barrett “left on a previously planned trip to Europe,” but if Vincent Price experienced any heartbreak, his next role likely led him to forget Edith; he played “opposite yet another theat-rical legend, the great fan dancer Sally Rand,” Victoria wrote.

“For a boy who was bred on bur-lesque, this was almost as exciting as working with Helen Hayes,” she wrote, evidently sharing another commentary made years earlier by her father.

Just as performing at Lakewood could stimulate romance, so, too, could tragedy strike the thespians appearing there.

In mid-August 1935, Humphrey Bogart and Keenan Wynn starred in Ceiling Zero, a play that featured a fa-tal air crash. Cast as Tommy Thomas was 22-year-old Mary Rogers, a young,

experienced actress whose other claim-to-fame at that moment was her father, humorist Will Rogers.

A decent crowd filled Lakewood for the play’s opening night on Thursday, August 15; watching from choice seats were Mary’s mother, Betty Rogers, and Betty’s sister, Freda Blake. The three women were staying at a nearby cottage while Will Rogers was accompanying famed aviator Wiley Post that day on a 500-mile flight from Fairbanks to Point Barrow in Alaska.

Rogers wrote a telegram to Mary before leaving Fairbanks aboard Post’s seaplane Great Trip. Wish you were along,” Rogers wrote. “How’s your acting? You and Mama wire me all the news to Nome. Going to Point Barrow today … Lots of Love, Don’t Worry, Dad.’”

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was probably still talking about the play with her mother and aunt, the 550-horse engine that powered Post’s seaplane failed as the aircraft took off from a lagoon near Point Barrow. Post and Rogers died instantly when the seaplane “slipped and fell 50 feet into a riverbank (the shore),” the Associated Press reported.

National wires picked up the story on August 16. Betty and Mary Rogers had read Will’s telegram, likely the previous day. At Lakewood that Fri-day morning, “first meager reports of the tragedy were received … shortly after eleven o’clock from the Associ-ated Press,” a local newspaper reporter wrote.

“It was almost an hour later before the Rogers could be located to break the news. They were out motoring,” the reporter noted.

Depending on the source, either

Humphrey Bogart or the Lakewood Theatre manager broke the news to the women. Afterwards, they “would see nobody … The tragedy was too sud-den. Alone, they mourned the death of a husband, father and brother-in-law” while waiting for Mary’s brother, James, to arrive by car,” according to the reporter.

He planned to see his sister perform. Instead, Mary Rogers left Ceiling Zero. In true theatrical tradition, the show “did go on,” with Hope Lauder taking Mary’s place.

For two other performers, a Lake-wood play brought unexpected and enduring romance. In August 1962, the play Critic’s Choice attracted good crowds to Lakewood. Among the per-formers were Elizabeth “Betty” White and Allen Ludden, who had initially met while appearing on Password, a popular TV game show of the era.

Performing at Lakewood placed Ludden and White in close proximity. They fell in love, Ludden madly so, and dated afterwards. He proposed to her several times and always received a “no” until the day that, according to Hollywood legend, he sent White a small stuffed bunny.

So a summertime romance that be-gan at Lakewood blossomed into a June 14, 1963 wedding at the Sands Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas. Ludden and White were married 18 years until his death from cancer in 1981.

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Frantic Flight On A Frigid NightThe fire at Hinckley’s Good Will Homeby Ian MacKinnon

If not for a little girl startled awake by what she probably thought was a monster beneath her bed, the death

toll might have reached 16 in Fairfield well before dawn on Friday, January 12, 1912.

Throughout the previous day, a gale-force northwesterly wind had driven the temperature far below freezing in the Kennebec River Valley, where the Grange Cottage housed 15 girls at the Good Will Home Association in Hinck-ley, a village upriver from Fairfield. The two-story cottage drew its name from the Maine State Grange, which had financed the building’s construc-tion. Grangers had dedicated the cot-tage’s cornerstone in October 1897 and the completed residence hall just two months later.

Founded in 1889 by George W. Hinckley “to provide a home and help-ing hand for young people and fam-ilies,” as detailed in at www.gwh.org, the Good Will Home Association shel-tered young boys and girls who lacked a structured family life. Overseen by their matron, Mrs. Carl Pierce, 15 girls lived at Grange Cottage and, as they typically did in January, blew out their oil-fired lamps and went to sleep not long after dark on that frigid night.

Apparently a fire smoldered near the chimney as the girls and Pierce slept. Doubtless, Pierce had kept a hot fire burning on Thursday to ward off the chill in that pre-central heating era; as still happens every fall and winter in Maine, combustible materials in con-tact with the chimney likely ignited

— and fire attacked the adjacent floor studs.

About 3:30 a.m. on January 12, a popping and crackling beneath the floorboards awakened a little girl all snuggled beneath the covers in her sec-ond-floor bedroom. Frightened by the noise, she awakened an older girl also asleep in the room.

Wise to the world, that girl recog-nized the danger, chased her young-er companion from the room, and ran through the Grange Cottage while pounding on doors and screaming, “Fire! Fire!” Then, clad in her night-clothes, the older girl bolted outdoors into deep snow, a flat calm — and a temperature that had plunged to 15 de-grees below zero.



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Not below freezing — below zero.In her bare feet, the girl frantically

bolted 300 yards through the snow to the manager’s residence and pound-ed on the front door. He hurriedly re-sponded to her incessant fist thumping, and listened in shock as she reported the Grange Cottage fire.

Then the heroine — history does not identify her — ran the 300 yards back to Grange Cottage to see if she could help the other girls. Flames had already burst through the Grange Cottage roof; directed by Mrs. Pierce, the other girls had already fled to Ryerson Hall, only 50 yards from the burning cottage, and our heroine quickly joined them.

She froze both feet during her fran-tic flight. Inside Ryerson Hall, adults would quickly treat her for frostbite, but the girl endured terrible pain as her


feet thawed.While our heroine had raced through

the snow, Pierce and several older girls had attempted to douse the spreading flames with whatever water they could find. “But the walls were full of it (fire) by that time, and as fast as one flame was quenched, another would break through,” a newspaper reporter wrote later that day.

The fire moved fast; if the little girl had not awakened at 3:30 a.m., every-one on the second floor might have died. Local men — the Good Will Home As-sociation manager, hired hands from the Good Will Farm, and even a few neighbors — arrived within minutes.

By then, the girls had found safety in Ryerson Hall. At Grange Cottage, “the rear staircase was in flames,” the report-er wrote. “The dormitories (rooms) on

the second floor were … inaccessible.” The rescuers only had sufficient time to retrieve some of Pierce’s clothing — her jewels were left behind — and “an organ and a few other smaller pieces of furniture” from the first-floor parlor, “only enough to be called a handful of souvenirs,” the reporter sardonically noted.

The fire burned hot and fast. “It would have been impossible to save enough of the structure to repair even if fire fighting apparatus had been at hand,” the reporter wrote. “The build-ing was so honeycombed with fire that it seemed fairly to crumble, and in half an hour was all upon the ground ex-cept the chimney … and a few burning posts.”

Rescuers soon realized that good fortune had smiled on the Good Will


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Home Association that night. If the little girl had not awakened when she did, many girls might have died; no one did. If the high wind had not slackened about midnight, embers might have carried to two nearby buildings, includ-ing Ryerson Hall.

And if snow had not covered the roofs of those buildings, wind-blown embers might have started additional fires there, too.

Every girl escaped the fire in just her nightclothes. During the next few days, people would provide clothing for the girls and Pierce, considered a heroine in her own right for escorting 14 girls to safety at Ryerson Hall.

Grange Cottage was insured, but the 16 lives saved that night because a fiery monster awakened one little girl, were not.

❦Other businesses from this area are featured in the color section.

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Waterville’s Gene LetourneauOne writer’s influence on environmental issuesby Charles Francis

Who was Maine’s all time fa-vorite newspaperman? Of course the answer to that

question is a matter of opinion. I have two candidates. One is Bill Caldwell, the other is Gene Letourneau. On almost all points I find the two about equal. I am intrigued by the consistency of the writ-ing style of both. I consider both equally representative of the Maine ethos. Only on one point do I place Letourneau just the tiniest bit ahead of Caldwell. Le-tourneau I always found to be the more pertinent. That point is, I know, highly personal. It relates to an experience I had while jogging early one morning.

t was a fine early June morning in 1986, one of those days when the sun rises at its earliest, and I was on a dirt road in rural Waldo County some

two miles from the nearest residence. Rounding a bend in the road I saw a pack of what I first took to be dogs well ahead of me. Then I realized they couldn't be dogs. They didn’t act like dogs. They weren’t at all playful. They were purposeful. They had the purpose of wild animals. Coyotes, I thought at the time.

The creatures disappeared long be-fore I got to the spot on the road where they had been. Later I wondered if I had been foolish not to turn around when I first saw the pack. I had acted the part of the dedicated jogger or runner upon spotting the creatures. I had simply kept up my stride. With the thought that I might have done a foolish thing, however, I made my way to the library to see what I could find out about coy-

otes in Maine. What I found was Gene Letourneau’s America’s New Wolf.

America’s New Wolf came out in 1984. Since then there has been a lot of additional information collected on the book’s subject. What America’s New Wolf told me back in 1986 was that I had come close to an encounter with a pack of cross-breeds, a mix of Canadian Red Wolf, coyote and domes-tic dog. A popular term for the mix is coy dog, though today there seems to be little evidence backing up the claim that Maine coyotes carry domestic dog genes. Back then, however, I didn’t care about the family tree of the beasts — for beasts was how I had begun to think of them.

Gene Letourneau’s book had a chap-ter titled “How Dangerous To People.”


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In it Letourneau described an Amity, Maine man who hopped on the hood of his pickup to escape four of Maine’s version of the coyote. First he held them at bay with a chainsaw. Then he managed to reach his rifle in his cab. The encounter ended when he shot one of the animals holding him at bay.

America’s New Wolf has had its de-tractors. There are those who have chal-lenged Letourneau when he described the eastern coyote as a menace and an interloper in the natural scheme of New England flora and fauna. That point aside, what Gene Letourneau’s book told me was that I should use common sense and caution when in the woods, that I should use my head. After all, only someone foolish would try to feed a Black Bear or see if they can get a rise out of a snapping turtle by prodding it with a sneaker clad foot.

Gene Letourneau died in 1998. He was ninety when he passed away. He spent sixty-five or more of those ninety

years writing. When he wasn’t writing, he spent a fair amount of time inves-tigating his subject. Letourneau’s sub-ject was the Maine outdoors, the nat-ural world that he found when he left his Waterville home and its immediate environs.

Eugene Letourneau was a journal-ist and an environmentalist. For him the two were virtually indistinguish-able in that they were ruling passions. He wrote for Downeast Magazine and for the Gannett chain of newspapers. Before that he wrote for his home-town Sentinel. Most knew of him for his “Sportsmen Say” column. It was a Maine institution from 1930 on.

Gene Letourneau wasn’t what some would term an orthodox writer. In many instances you had to read between the lines to get his underlying thoughts. That may be why America’s New Wolf had detractors, detractors who referred to Letourneau as a “cook ‘em and clean ‘em outdoors man.”

The detractors were those who thought Letourneau was doing little more that begrudging a hungry coyote the occasional grouse when it nipped into the local fauna. What they didn’t understand was that Letourneau, the environmentalist, saw the eastern coy-ote as an invasive species upsetting the local balance of nature, that for him the spread of the eastern coyote was akin to introducing a plant like pur-ple loosestrife, the wetlands invader brought here from Europe in the 1800s some call the beautiful killer because it crowds out native species. Consider-ing that since America’s New Wolf was published the eastern coyote has moved into northeastern New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, it would seem that the creature is indeed invasive.

Another environmental issue where Gene Letourneau’s influence has been felt is that which deals with the surviv-al of the Atlantic salmon in the Ken-nebec. Way back in 1973, Letourneau



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was quoting reputable sources in his column that Atlantic salmon had been seen below the Kennebec dam. The reputable source was State Represen-tative Donald Carter of Winslow. Car-ter had an affidavit from a diver. The affidavit had gone to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Some might see the statements as Letourneau sim-ply filling space in his column. After all, he didn’t voice his own feelings on the matter. In his heterodox, understat-ed writing style, however, Letourneau was calling attention to an environmen-tal issue, the issue of the survival of the unique Kennebec species of Atlan-tic salmon. It was a subject few thought of at that time.

What the Kennebec Atlantic salmon mention by Gene Letourneau did was to set sport fishermen to thinking about Kennebec River environmental issues. At that time groups such as Ducks Un-limited were just beginning to take up conservation as a watchword.


Gene Letourneau was a Thomas College grad. After completing his studies at the Waterville college he left Maine for New York City with the idea of making his fortune as a drum-mer. Fortunately for the State of Maine, Letourneau came back to Waterville to work for the Sentinel. That was at the very start of the Great Depression.

Some five years before he died, Letourneau weighed in on one of the state’s great outdoor controversies, the possibility that the cougar or mountain lion had returned to the Northeast.

Despite the fact the such authorita-tive bodies as the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife deny the existence of the big cat in Maine and the Northeast as a whole, reports of sightings come in with an almost clock-work regularity. In 1993, Letourneau took a stance on the controversy by suggesting that where there is smoke, there could be fire. One reason for Le-

tourneau coming down on the side of the possibility of the cougar returning to Maine and the Northeast had to do with the fact that at that time there were some thirty or so reported cougar sightings in Maine every year. The time span of the reported sightings extended back for decades. Moreover, Letour-neau said that he, too, had evidence supporting the existence of cougars in Maine. He had seen tracks in the snow. He hedged his statement in true Le-tourneau fashion by saying they “could have been left by a cougar.”

Gene Letourneau was the recipient of numerous awards. In 1976 Colby College recognized him as the “pre-em-inent authority on the Maine woods.” Perhaps his most meaningful recogni-tion, however, was the one that came in 1982. That year the Frye Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Waldo County was named the Gene Letour-neau Wildlife Management Area.

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Benton’s Asher HindsCongressional arbitratorby Charles Francis

Asher Hinds has been called one of the most undistinguished representatives to have served

in the US Congress. Voters sent the Benton, Maine man to Washington three successive times beginning in 1911. This was when Maine had two and sometimes three more congressio-nal districts than it now does.

There is more than a bit of irony in calling Hinds undistinguished. Schol-ars of US House of Representatives proceedings like Christopher Davis continually reference him. The reason for this is that Asher Hinds edited two substantive tracts on the workings of the House. Substantive is used here in a dual sense. The first is philosophical and has to do with belonging with or incorporating the real nature of some-thing — being essential to, being basic to. The second is legal, pertaining to rules of application as opposed to rules of procedure.

Asher Hinds’ two works are Rules, Manual, and Digest of the House of Representatives and Precedents of the House of Representatives. The date for the former is 1899; that for the latter, 1908. Congressional scholars regard the volumes as crucial to interpreting and understanding the workings of the House. As to why Asher Hinds came to edit these two volumes which can be viewed from a philosophical perspec-tive as noumena, as basic to the nature of the House, before he served there as an elected representative, this has to do with his friendship with Thomas Brackett Reed.

Thomas Brackett (Czar) Reed was a Speaker of the House of Represen-tatives. Asher Hinds served as clerk to the Speaker Reed from 1889 to 1891. From 1895 to 1911 he held the position

of clerk at the Speaker’s table. The lat-ter years extended from the speakership of Reed and included that of Joseph (“Uncle Joe”) Cannon and Charles (“Champ”) Clark. The three are regard-ed as being among the most powerful Speakers of the House of all time. The three were Republicans, as was Hinds.

Thomas Reed is credited with hav-ing modernized the way the United States Congress conducted itself by in-stituting Reed’s Rules. These rules are used to greater or lesser extent today. Reed is considered by some to have been the greatest Speaker of the House of Representatives the country has ever had. Asher Hinds may be viewed as the chronicler and interpreter of Reed’s Rules and explicator of how they relate to Congressional practices.

Asher Crosby Hinds was born in Benton in 1863. His father died the same year he was born. Fortunately, there were numerous relatives in both Benton and Clinton who saw to Hinds’ upbringing. He was educated at Coburn Classical Institute and Colby College, or as it was then known, Colby Univer-sity.

Following his graduation from Col-by, Hinds found work in Portland with a succession of newspapers, including the Portland Daily Press. The latter paper assigned him to cover the Maine Legislature. It was Hinds’ political re-porting that caught the attention of Thomas Reed. Reed, a Portland native, had been elected to the first of twelve successive terms in the US House of Representatives in 1877. Reed subse-quently brought Hinds to Washington, and in 1889 appointed him Speaker’s clerk.

Thomas B. Reed was one of the gi-ants that Maine gave to the country and

the world during the nineteenth centu-ry. As a political leader, he followed in the footsteps of Hannibal Hamlin and James G. Blaine. As a satirist, he was considered the equal of Mark Twain. As a politician, he was regard-ed as a statesman, a term he personally loathed. (He once said “A statesmen is a politician who is dead.”) Mark Twain described him as “transparently honest and honourable.” To the Democrats in the House of Representatives, he was a tyrant and known as “Czar” Reed. For Barbara Tuchman, one of the foremost contemporary historians, he was “a lonely specimen of an uncommon kind, the Independent Man.”

The 1880s and early 1890s have been called the Maine years of Wash-ington politics. James G. Blaine, who had been Speaker of the House, served in the Senate and ran for President. He also served as Secretary of State. Maine was also represented in the Senate by Eugene Hale of Ellsworth, one of that body’s more powerful members of the period. In addition, former Maine gov-ernor Lot M. Morrill served as Sec-retary of Treasury. None of these left a mark like Thomas Brackett Reed, though. And Asher Hinds was the indi-vidual who best understood the nature of Reed’s legacy and Reed’s Rules.

Reed was serving as Speaker of the House in 1890, when the Democrats instituted one of the — up to then —time-honored delaying tactics, the silent quorum. Under the silent quorum, Rep-resentatives, who were present, simply refused to answer the role call. They did so in order to prevent the House from voting on an issue they were sure to lose. In January of 1890, Democrats opposed Republican attempts to seat duly elected African-American Repub-


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licans, and refused to answer the role call. Speaker Reed was three votes short of the quorum needed to call for a vote. He therefore directed the Clerk of the House to mark the silent Dem-ocrats as being present. The resulting turmoil lasted several days. By the time it died down, the House of Represen-tatives had the beginnings of a new set of rules, Reed’s Rules, for doing busi-ness, and Thomas Reed had a new title, “Czar.”

Asher Hinds concluded his third and last term as a member of the House of Representatives on March 3, 1917. His great retirement project was to be a bi-ography of Thomas Brackett Reed. He never wrote it, though. Ill health pre-vented him working on the project. He died May 1, 1919 in Washington. His remains repose in Portland’s Evergreen Cemetery.

Though Asher Hinds never wrote

his magnum opus, that does not mean he is ignored as a source of information on figures like Thomas Reed, Joseph Cannon and Charles Clark, the three Speakers who are sometimes lumped together as representative of the “Era of the Czar” in Congressional histories.

In researching “Uncle Joe” Cannon, Keith Krehbiel of Stanford and Alan Wiseman of Ohio State determined that Cannon was “anything but a majority party-tyrant during the important com-mittee assignment phase of legislative organization.” Using Asher Hinds ref-erence materials in the National Ar-chives, the two scholars determined Cannon duly applied Thomas Reed’s principles in a balanced bipartisan manner.

Thomas Reed has come down through history as “Czar” Reed, the ty-rant who ruled the House with an iron will. This reputation is unjust and un-

true. “His ways” as Mark Twain said in Harper’s Weekly upon his death, “were frank and open.” Twain went on to say that if Reed had enemies, “they did not know the man... His services to his country were great, and they were gratefully acknowledged.” This analy-sis seems in the process of being res-urrected, as Asher Hinds’ five-volume Precedents of the House of Represen-tatives receives the scholarly attention that is its due.

❦Other businesses from this areaare featured in the color section.


Gourmet Hand-dipped ChocolatesHomemade Baked Goods

Corporate GiftsHuge Selections

877-90063 Cushman Road • Winslow, Mainewww.maynardschocolates.com

B & F Fresh VegetablesVegetables

Flowers Lobsters • ClamsChristmas Trees

& Wreaths

Open 7 Days A Week7am-7pm ~ Year Round

Frank Kent, proprietor

873-4345327 China Road, Winslow, Maine

Post Office in Winslow, ME. Item #102939 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collectionand www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org


Girls Camp on Great Lake in Belgrade, ME, ca. 1910 from the collections of the Maine Historical Societyand www.VintageMaineImages.com

HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESSSINCE BEFORE 1963?

OR WAS YOUR BUSINESS ESTABLISHEDBEFORE 1963?

We can present to our readers a very special full page ad at a very special price.....

You are part of Maine History!

Call or Email Us Today for details207-874-7720

[email protected]


Buddies Meats & Groceries

COMPLETE GROCERY STOREDeli • Bakery

Fresh Meat & Produce... and best of all

FRIENDLY SERVICE!43 Main St. • Oakland, Maine • 465-2621

Hours: Mon.-Sat. 7:30am-9pm • Sun. 8am-9pm

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

buddiesgrocery.com

Weeks & Sons WELL DRILLING

Family Owned and Operated For Over 50 Years

Specializing in Hammer Drilling

29 County RoadOakland, Maine

Land & Lakes Realty11 Church Street

Oakland, ME 04963(207) 465-3340 • (207) 557-3331

email: [email protected]@c21landandlakesrealty.com

www.c21landandlakesrealty.com

Post Office in Fairfield Center, ME. Item #100730 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collectionand www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org


BROZ DRYWALLFully Insured

Free Estimates

Over 10 Years ExperienceJamie K. BrozOwner/Operator

Cell: 207-242-1315Home: 207-465-2039

17 Horseshoe Lane, Belgrade [email protected]

Award-winning fi ne dining and distinctive lodging

Winter & Spring SpecialsCakes & Catering

495-2400www.wingshillinn.com

Cell 314-6402

168 Warren Hill RoadSmithfield, Maine

362-5652

Today we think of the man who makes his living in the woods as a logger, wielding a chain saw,

driving a pulp truck, or manhandling a tree with a giant piece of equipment which strips branches. He starts his workday by driving to work. A hundred and more years ago he was called a lumberjack, and made his living by the sweat of his brow and muscles of his arms and back. He went to the woods in the fall and came out in the spring. In the 1920s the image of a lumberjack changed to that of a logger.

The decades of the 1920s and ‘30s was the era when big northwoods op-erators like Hollingsworth & Whitney, Great Northern, and Eastern Fine Paper revolutionized the Maine timber indus-try. They replaced small family-run op-erations which had been the suppliers for the mills down river on the Penob-scot, Kennebec, and other Maine rivers.

Hollingsworth & Whitney was one of the first to treat the northwoods as a cut-and-dried big business, as it was the first multinational company to log in Maine. It was based in Boston, and maintained operations also in Can-ada. Its largest mill in Maine was in Winslow, and it owned or controlled some twenty-six townships, according to sources. It was eventually bought by

Wood Chips And BeansWorking for the man in the woodsby Charles Francis

Scott Paper Company.Loggers who worked for Holling-

sworth & Whitney viewed the compa-ny with a jaundiced eye and said they were working for wood chips and beans when they signed with the company. The beans reference had to do with the poor quality of their meals, unlike the higher quality of meals provided by the Coburn Brothers operations. The wood chips remarks were about the amount of axe-work they were expected to per-form.

Hollingsworth & Whitney did hire top quality managers and took care of them. Their chief surveyor was Lou-is Oakes, a forestry graduate from the University of Maine. He was the broth-er of Sir Harry Oakes, and a Greenville benefactor. He trained as a survey-or under his father, William Oakes, a registered Maine land surveyor. Lou-is Oakes surveyed much of Holling-sworth & Whitney’s holdings, and his maps in the area of Sebec Lake still serve as references. He became one of the company’s superintendents of oper-ations, and his career is an example of how the company treated its manage-ment people. The company was largely responsible for the funding of Green-ville’s hospital.

The lumberjacks who went into the

company forests were axe-men, saw-men, and swampers. The first state-of-the-art axe was the Blenkhorn, and the men were required to buy their own, and if the haft split they had to pay for the replacement themselves. The cost then was about a dollar and a half. That axe was thick and heavy at about three pounds without the haft. Anoth-er good axe was the Spiller, which was thin, and didn’t require a lot of grinding to re-sharpen it, as the Blenkhorn did when a rock was hit.

The axe or chopping crew consisted of two men chopping while a third man was getting ready. They put a notch in the tree in the direction they planned for its fall. Once the notch was at the proper depth and angle, the saw-men brought out a crosscut saw. This was in the days before the pulp saw. The saw cut had to be even and at the same height on both sides of the tree. Once the saw cut was the right depth, a wedge was pounded into it to tip the tree. Then the swamper cut the branches off the tree so it could be pulled out of the woods by a team of horses. Management of the horses was the job of the yard teamster who was a step above the others up the manage-ment ladder. This was the time when wood chips and beans were the way of life for the northwoods lumberjack.



Arrowhead Hunting The Solon/Embden area is particularly richby Charles Francis

Eventually the ages will see great works of art, paint-ings and sculptures, pass.

The paintings will disintegrate, the sculptures will somehow be damaged. There is one artistic work of man that may just balk the passage of time though, the arrowhead. Not even the most industrious of vandals can de-stroy the arrowheads. There are too many, both found and hiding beneath our feet, thou-sands upon thousands likely never to be seen.

Arrowheads are everywhere, in every county in Maine, in every state and every country. And here, as elsewhere, they are still being formed of flint. Modern day knappers keep up this age-old, prehistoric craft. Oddly or ironically, knappers — or at least some — don’t look for arrowheads. Scott Foster has panned for gold in streams of western Maine. Foster became a Revolutionary War re-enactor in the 1970s. He has done the Penobscot Ex-pedition re-enactment and oth-ers in northern New England. As part of his re-enactment, Foster knapps flint. Even with

his interest in panning for gold and knapping flint as a re-enac-tor, he doesn’t look for arrow-heads, though. His comment when I asked him if he does, was “I never thought to look down.” Others, however, look for arrowheads on a regular or somewhat regular basis.

In 1969, a significant cache of prehistoric artifacts was found on the bank of the Ken-nebec in Solon. The loca-tion may have been that of a

permanent Native American campsite. Charcoal and cook-ing stones were found. There were a number of large fire pits. Their size was indicative of communal usage. Shards of reddish-brown pottery deco-rated with etched line designs were found. A myriad of stone and flint tools were unearthed. The tools included scrapers for removing hair and flesh from animals, long knives, and pro-jectile points. The projectile points were for spears and ar-rows.

Large artifacts like pestles or axes can be broken, but flint arrowheads are as close to in-destructible as anything can be. It is as if an arrowhead, wherever it lies, is winging its way through the ages bearing a message from the hand that made it. It is as if the arrow-head bore a particular senti-ment, a fossil thought.

The Solon artifacts were uncovered by young archeolo-gists working with the Maine State Museum apprentice pro-gram. The location for the dig was chosen as having once been a likely one for spring



Todd West welcomes you toJIMMY’S MARKET

Convenient to ITS 87

• Custom Fresh Cut Meats• Fresh Produce

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672-5528JIMMYSBINGHAM.COM

Main Street in Fairfield, ME. Item #100721 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org



fishing. This area of the Ken-nebec once teemed with salm-on.

The site chosen for the Solon dig was across from extremely remarkable ledges on the west-ern bank of the Kennebec. The ledges are on the Embden side of the river. What makes the ledges unique are the prehis-toric carvings there. The carv-ings show animals, humans and what have been taken for tally marks. At one time there would have been many, many more carvings. Unfortunately, huge sections of ledge were blasted away in the early twen-tieth century to expedite log driving.

The figures and tally marks on the Embden side of the Kennebec are petroglyphs. One figure is said to resem-ble a dragon. It has a horse’s head, two sets of legs and an arrow-shaped tail. The “drag-on” is one of over a hundred petroglyphs.

The petroglyphs are the products of subtle minds. They, like arrowheads, are fos-sil thoughts. The destruction of so many by blasting speaks to their transitory nature.

The petroglyphs were done over a long period of time. There are older pictures un-der more recent layers. All are “dinted.” Dinted is an archaeo-logical term, meaning chipped

or pecked out. More petro-glyphs are to be found upriver. Were there some downriver?

In the 1950s, the US Army Corps of Engineers dug an enormous canal called “The Cut” on the Kennebec below Caratunk Falls. “The Cut” al-tered the mile-long, ages-old, channel of the Kennebec, and replaced it with a giant ditch extending from Caratunk Falls to the Route 8 bridge over the river. The cut was made with the instigation or approval of the State of Maine and/or pa-per mills and timber compa-nies. One might compare the creation of the cut to the sack-ing of Rome by the Vandals. A natural museum was lost for-ever. Arrowheads cannot be so destroyed.

A farmer may look to his field and swear to leave no stone unturned. He plows and then he hoes. Arrowheads are the least likely of artifacts to be damaged or destroyed. To turn up a few is only to bury others the more securely. They rest at peace even with the changes to their immediate surroundings. It is as if they promise to out-last all of time.

Maine and the surrounding region is rich in arrowheads. A 1980 dig at Aziscohos Lake near the Maine-New Hamp-shire-Quebec border uncov-ered some 15,000 arrowheads,

scrapers and knives. You can find displays of arrowheads and other stone tools at muse-ums all across the state. The Fryeburg Historical Society has a display of Pegwacket weapons and tools. The Uni-versity of Maine has displays. So does the Maine State Mu-seum.

There all sorts of arrowhead and long knife designs. There are triangle, stemmed and leafed arrowheads. There are corner-notched, basal-notched and side-notched arrowheads. Why are there many arrow-heads in this region and why are there so many types or styles?

The number of arrowheads that have been found in this re-gion and the variety of styles relate to the availability of flint here and the ingenuity of the particular knapper.

There are pockets of flint to be found all over Maine. The Passamaquoddy used one in the Machias area. The greatest de-posit in Maine, however, is Mt. Kineo. Rounded Mt. Kineo is composed of flint. Tribes from all over the northeast and as far away as Nova Scotia came here for flint. Too, there is the theory that they also came for the abundant iron pyrites to use for firestones. Stone im-plements believed used in ear-ly Native American workshops



E.W. Moore & SonPharmacy

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Small Enough To CarePrescriptions • Health & BeautyBoyds Bears • Yankee CandlesMaine Souvenirs & Postcards

Jewelry • Toys, Games & ModelsChet Hibbard, R Ph.

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337 Main Street, Bingham

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have been found at the foot of Kineo.

The preceding explains why there are so many arrowheads in this region. It doesn’t ex-plain the variety in design, though.

The arrowhead is like a mind-print of its creator. It is a winged-thought. But while its actual flight was short, the message it carries is ageless. Why was an arrowhead made in a certain manner? Custom, of course, played a part. But that only explains a part of the design of the finished product. What did the knapper think as he looked upon a particu-lar sample of flint? The next time you see or perhaps even find an arrowhead, look upon it as something more than a bit of craft-work, look at it as an aesthetic statement. The ar-rowhead bore a message from he who shot it. More though, it carries a message from he who made it.

❦Other businesses from this area are featured in the color section

Tent at Idlewild, Palmyra, ME. Item #114374 from the Eastern Illustrating &Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarine Museum.org

Has your business been operating for 50 years or more?

If so, give us a call.

Discover Maine Magazine(207) 874-7720 • 1-800-753-8684

We may feature your business in an upcoming edition.


Main Street in Bingham, ME. Item #104257 from the Eastern Illustrating &Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org


414 Lakewood Rd, Rt 201 | Madison ME

Jean Paul CarrierLOGGING CONTRACTOR

207-668-4457PO BOX 489 • JACKMAN, ME 04945

Email: [email protected]

The Potting ShedFlowers for all occasions

Weddings, Funeralsand Specialty Bouquets

(Always cash & carry)

Gifts • Cards • Handcrafted JewelryGreenhouse open from Mother’s

Day until the fall mums.

Animal Feed • Deer GrainDeer Blocks • Chicken Feed

Come check out our selection of items!

207-668-5761 • 724 Main St., Moose River, ME

Main Street in Bingham, ME. Item #104257 from the Eastern Illustrating &Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

Ferry in Bingham, ME ca. 1904, Item #23398 from the collections of the Maine Historical Societyand www.VintageMaineImages.com


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Street view in Jackman, ME. Item #107183 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collectionand www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org


Business Page Business Page Business Page

Directory of AdvertisersA to Z Custom Picture Framing ....................................50A.E. Hodsdon Engineers ..............................................57A.J. Levesque Excavation, LLC ..................................46A.P. Lawrence & Daughter ..........................................54A-1 Seamless Gutters, Inc. ...........................................15ABT Plumbing, Heating & Cooling .............................31ADA Fence Co. ............................................................36Advance 1 Cleaning Services, Inc. ...............................57All-Seasons Automotive .............................................. 22American Lung Association .........................................59Appearances In Hair .....................................................57Armstrong Forestry & Landscaping .............................12At Home Electric ..........................................................19Augusta Civic Center ................................................... 16B & F Fresh Vegetables ................................................60Ballards Meats & Seafood ............................................28Beer Bottle Bob’s Redemption Center .........................46Bennett’s Custom Carpentry ........................................54Berry’s Store .................................................................67BK Construction ...........................................................41Blanchet Builders, LLC ................................................35Bob’s Cash Fuel ........................................................... 47Bonnie’s Diner ............................................................. 55Bowens Tavern .............................................................22Boy Locksmith ............................................................ 56Bread Crumbs Deli & Pizza Shop ................................57Broz Drywall ................................................................63Bryant Stove & Music, Inc. ..........................................14Buddies Meats and Groceries .......................................62Cacciatores Italian Steakhouse .....................................37Cafe de Bangkok ......................................................... 17Capilo Institute .............................................................16Capitol City Tire & Service ..........................................17Carlow’s Countryside Auctions ....................................37Caron & Son Screening Company.....................................5Carrabassett Real Estate & Property Management .......43Castonguay Meats ........................................................20Central Maine Driving Academy .................................24China Area Wash & Dry ...............................................23C.M. McCormick & Sons .............................................11Colonial Valley Motel .................................................. 32Computer Improvements ..............................................50County Seat Realty .......................................................46Cushing Construction ...................................................29D.B. Industries ...............................................................4D.H. Pinnette & Sons, Inc. ............................................ 5D.R. Salisbury & Son, LLC ..........................................44DAC Distributors .........................................................54Damon’s Beverage Mart ...............................................15Dan’s Used Cars & Parts ..............................................54Daryl Horak Logging ................................................... 12Dave’s Barber Shop ......................................................56Davis Dirt Works & Excavation ...................................14Decato Builders ............................................................34Dionne & Son Builders ................................................36Doug’s Garage ..............................................................54Downtown Diner ..........................................................14Dube Environmental, Inc. ............................................ 40Dunkin Donuts .............................................................51Dunn & Pakulski ..........................................................51Dynamic Vinyl .............................................................32E.H. Ward & Son ..........................................................48E.J. Carrier, Inc. ............................................................69E.W. Moore & Son Pharmacy ......................................67Earthbound ...................................................................40Ed Hodsdon Masonry ...................................................10Ed’s Construction .........................................................14Evergreen Self Storage .................................................56Fairfield Antiques Mall ..................................................7Family Pet Connection & Grooming..............................49Farmington Farmers Union ..........................................46Fayette Country Store ...................................................20Finish Line Construction ..............................................34Fireside Inn & Suites ....................................................40Fleet Service .................................................................27Fox Small Engines .........................................................9Francesca’s Restaurant ................................................ 26Franklin Savings Bank ...................................................4Franklin-Somerset Federal Credit Union .......................6Gallant Funeral Home, Inc. ..........................................56George’s Banana Stand ................................................ 49Goodwin’s Roofing ...................................................... 38Graf Mechanical ...........................................................49Great Northern Motor Works ........................................29Green Bean Coffee Shop ..............................................23H.L. Plumbing & Heating ............................................55Half Moon Gardens ......................................................23Hammond Lumber Co. .................................................30Hardy’s Motorsports .....................................................48Hayden Bros. Shoe Co. ................................................ 31HealthReach Community Health Centers ......................5Heywood Kennel Dog Sled Adventures.......................26

Hight Auto Dealership...................................................52Hillside Homes, LLC ................................................... 30Hilltop Antiques ...........................................................51Hilltop Store .................................................................13Holly & Doug’s Country Diner ....................................22Hoyt Chiropractic Center .............................................19Hydraulic Hose and Assembly .......................................3Jackman Auto Parts ......................................................69Jackman Hardware & Sporting Goods.............................6Jackman Power Sports ..................................................44James A. Wrigley Well Drilling ......................................8Jason A. Langlais Building & Renovation....................36Jean Castonguay Excavating ........................................30Jimmy’s Market ............................................................65Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center.............................18JT’s Finest Kind Saw ....................................................48K.V. Tax Service, Inc. ...................................................10Katie Q. Convenience, LLC .........................................51Kennebec Cigar Co. .....................................................26Kennebec Guns ............................................................15Kennebec Metal Recycling ..........................................53Kennebec Montessori School .......................................38Kennebec Valley Chamber ...........................................14Kimball Pond Boat Barn ..............................................57Kim’s Garage ............................................................... 57Kincer Funeral Home, Inc. .............................................9Kitchen Solutions ...........................................................4Kokernac Generator Sales & Service............................18KSW Federal Credit Union ..........................................56L.N. Violette Co., Inc. ..................................................55Ladd Logging ...............................................................32Ladd’s Plumbing ..........................................................23Lakepoint Real Estate ...................................................43Lakeside Antiques ........................................................19Lakeview Lumber Co. ..................................................12Land & Lakes Realty / Century 21 ...............................62Lavallee’s Garage .........................................................67Le Club Calumet, Inc. ..................................................25Leland’s Masonry .........................................................41Liberty General Store ...................................................23Linkletter & Sons, Inc. .................................................49Lucas Construction .......................................................23Luce’s Maine Grown Meats .........................................33M Thai Restaurant ........................................................35Macomber, Farr & Whitten ..........................................16Mac’s True Value ..........................................................13Maine Guide Snowshoes & Furniture............................65Maine Historical Society ................................................3Maine State Credit Union .............................................25Maine Veterans’ Homes ................................................24Maine-ly Elder Care .....................................................42Marshall Swan Construction ..........................................8Maynard’s Chocolates ..................................................60Maynard’s In Maine .....................................................45McAllister Accounting & Tax Services ........................20Merle Lloyd & Sons .....................................................47Merrill’s Bookshop .......................................................17MerryMeeting Electrical Services ..................................8Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce .............................39Mid-Maine Self Storage .................................................9Mike Wainer Plumbing & Heating ...............................42Mike’s Towing ..............................................................11Milestone Communications ......................................... 28Ming Lee Chinese Restaurant ......................................39Mixed Up Cooking & Baking Supplies........................ 32Monkitree .....................................................................27Monmouth Federal Credit Union .................................10Moonshadow Farm .......................................................34Moosehead Sled Repair & Rentals, LLC ......................45Morrow’s Garage ......................................................... 43Motor Supply Co. ..........................................................6Northeast Laboratory Services ......................................5Oakland Redemption & Discount ................................41Old Mill Stream Ice Cream Shoppe..............................20Olde Mill Diner ............................................................12Ollie’s Place ..................................................................11Orr Excavation .............................................................32P & P Roofing ...............................................................18Patriot Vinyl Siding Co. ................................................25Patterson’s General Store .............................................53Paul Bernier Builder, LLC .............................................9Paula C’s .........................................................................9Penobscot Marine Museum ..........................................21Peppers Garden & Grill ................................................19Perkins Tree Climbers ..................................................37Personalized Plumbing & Heating ...............................28Peterson Hill Farm ........................................................13Phil Carter’s Garage .....................................................55Pine Grove Lodge .........................................................65Pine Tree Timberframes ...............................................13Pine View Homes, Inc. ..................................................7

Pinkham’s Elm Street Market ......................................47Plum Creek ...................................................................39Poor Bob’s U-Store-It ...................................................38Poulin-Turner Union Hall ..............................................3Pour Boyz, LLC ...........................................................22Prime Financial ............................................................40Quinn Hardware ...........................................................49R.F. Automotive Repair ................................................50R.J. Energy Services, Inc. .............................................15Rapid Redemption ........................................................12RDM Electric ...............................................................47Reappearances ..............................................................17Re-Books ......................................................................56Redington-Fairview General Hospital ..........................35Remedy Salon and Spa .................................................39Rick’s Garage ...............................................................33Rick’s Repair ................................................................53RiverBack Dance Club .................................................24Riverbend Campground ...............................................10Riverfront BBQ & Grill ................................................24Rob Elliott Excavation & Trucking ..............................33Robert M. Sillanpaa & Son Logging ............................33Rolfe’s Well Drilling Co. ..............................................25Route 17 Auto Sales & Scrap Yard ..............................17Russell’s Gems .............................................................18S. Masciadri & Sons .....................................................18S.W. Builders, Inc. ........................................................33Sackett & Brake Survey, Inc. .......................................50Sara Sara’s ....................................................................27Sassy Sizzors, Inc. ........................................................20Shamrock Stoneworks & Landscaping, Inc. ................29Shelly’s Hometown Market ..........................................31SignWorks ....................................................................31Silver Street 18 Below Raw Bar & Grill Lounge.........Back CoverSkowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce ....................53Skowhegan Electric Motor Inc. ....................................34Solon Corner Market ....................................................43Solon Superette ............................................................44Somerset Stone Center .................................................38Sparrow Farm ...............................................................11Sprague & Curtis Real Estate .......................................25Spray Foam of Maine, LLC .........................................26Spruce Gum Books .......................................................31Spruce It Up ...................................................................8Stevens Electric & Pump Service, Inc. ...........................4Stevens Forest Products ...............................................41Sun Auto & Salvage .....................................................49Swift Carpentry ............................................................53Taylor’s Drug Store ......................................................33Team EJP Racing / PEP Classic Car Co. ......................28The Canaan Motel ........................................................36The Carrabassett Group, LLC ......................................43The Depot .....................................................................27The Framemakers .........................................................39The Gin Mill .................................................................24The Girltrend Shop .......................................................27The Litchfield Country Store ..........................................9The Maine Real Estate Network ..................................22The Meadows ...............................................................10The Potting Shed ..........................................................69The Riverside Inn .........................................................44The Sterling Inn ............................................................44Tire King ......................................................................50TJ’s Place ..................................................................... 22Tom Finn Shoe Repair ..................................................15Top Kick Army & Navy Store ......................................17Town & Country Styling and Tanning Salon ...............13Triple D Redemption & Tanning Spa ...........................48Tri-State Staffing Solutions ..........................................15Two Hogs Winery .........................................................12Upright Building Services ............................................30Vasvary Electric ...........................................................18Village Market ..............................................................55Visage Salon & Dayspa ................................................16Visions Flower & Bridal Design ..................................42W.D. Bickford Machinery ............................................37Warren Brothers Construction ......................................63Webb Development ......................................................10Weeks & Sons Well Drilling ........................................62White & Bradstreet, Inc. ..............................................24White’s Auto .................................................................11Whitney Building .........................................................42Wholesome Holmstead ................................................19Willette Roofing ...........................................................37Wilson & Son Logging .................................................43Wings Hill Inn & Restaurant ........................................63Winthrop Area Federal Credit Union ...........................29Winthrop Lakes Region Chamber ................................29Wolf Ledge Refuge & Educational Training .................3Woodlawn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center .............35Wood-Mizer of Maine ..................................................20Yonder Hill Campground .............................................47York’s Market ...............................................................48

72 Greater Kennebec Valley 2013 Greater Kennebec Valley Edition

Welcome to Waterville’s New� t R� taurant

TUESDAY ~ SATURDAY 4PM~1AM18 SILVER STREET • WATERVILLE • 861-4454

TRENDY AND BEAUTIFUL LOUNGE

RAW BAROysters on the half shell

Little Neck Clams

APPETIZERSOysters RockefellerMaine Crab Cakes

P.E.I. MusslesPan Seared Yellow Fin Tuna

ENTREESBermuda Onion Crusted

Yellow Fin TunaPanko Crusted Lobster CutletsCaramelized Diver Sea Scallops

Maine Crab Stuff ed HaddockChipotle Grilled Collossal ShrimpMaple Glazed Cedar Plank Salmon

Seafood PaellaRosemary Marinated Rack of Lamb

Char~Grilled Prime NY StripSpinach & Roasted Tomato Stuff ed

PortabellasAll Items Listed On � is Menu Are

Fresh, Never Frozen, Locally ProcuredWhen Possible From Maine Farmers &

Fishermen. Enjoy!

AMAZING FAREPLEASING ATMOSPHERE

CORRECT SERVICE

THINK GLOBALLYACT LOCALLY

DRESS CASUALLY








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