Category: Maine Real Estate

10 Best Maine Towns To Visit, It’s Not What You Think

10 best Maine towns to visit, it’s not what you think.

Maine is loaded with small towns. All unique and special but not all get the press and attention that a small handful do.

You Hear Them, Admire Them And Shoreland Zoning In Maine Protects Them. Maine Lake Loons, Other Wildlife, Fish!

So when you see the headline 10 best Maine towns to visit highlighted in a blog post or splashed across a magazine cover in a grocery check out line, it happens.

You and I are looking for shortcuts, suggestions to save time. Some free or paid advice. Maybe it’s a little bit of FOMO, fear of missing out mixed into the decision making. Watch out for the here it comes, the spin. Or it’s more simple than that. You just have only a short amount of time and traveling to Maine from many hours away to pack it all in. That’s a major component creating all the added vacation planning pressure.

No People, No Man Made Structure Or Noises. Welcome To Baxter State Park’s Mt Katahdin.

Like going to the Moon, you just get there and well, better thing about packing up and returning to far away planet Earth.

Maine is like that to many. Like planning a trip to the moon or a far away galaxy. That little extra drive or flying time away from the hustle bustle is what insulates, not isolates us. So back to the 10 best Maine towns to visit. It’s a list you chisel out for yourself because of personal preferences through life in Vacationland.

Small town charm, Maine has nearly 500 communities that are all top ten, worthwhile to visit in that department.

Technically, you count up 721 cities, towns around the state of Maine. So many are unorganized territories served up in six by six mile squares of woodland. Maine is 91% wooded remember? Some want to homesteading in Maine.

Wide Open Space. More Farms, Wooded Land And Fewer People. That Is What It Is Like In Maine.

So who decides which are the best towns in Maine to visit?

Advertisers do. The publications generating the press about Maine get paid for what and where in Maine gets promoted. You want coverage, you need advertisers to pay for the ads wedged in between the tourist information.

The Maine information promotion rides on a business chassis fueled by advertising.

The thickness of your newsprint edition or four color glossy magazine publication all revolves around advertising. Underwriting, subscriptions, donations, advertising dollars to carry the overhead expenses.

Downeast Coastal Lobster Boats In Maine.

But why wouldn’t a great community or any area of Maine be kept such a secret?

It isn’t now that everyone is a cub reporter that can share experiences around social media platforms.

The blog post image from Gulf Hagas, long form video from the dog sled races below or Maine soap box derby race, short video or reel on a small town dance recital.

Which small Maine towns make the list as the best of the bunch?

Besides advertisers who have enterprises in the top 10 Maine towns panned by the hot bright promotion spotlight, location comes into play. The southernmost coastal towns in Maine get the visits.

You can sample Maine easily with the up and back across the big green bridge in a small manageable amount of time. But the “what’s on the menu” for best Maine towns to visit expands greatly.

Budget a little more time to arrive at and enjoy a new list of top ten Maine towns to experience. The southern most towns and cities in Maine are the low hanging expensive tourism locations close to population center.

I’m happy for the handful of Maine coastal towns that attract tourists to visit and spend money in the state.

Because each new dollar turns over six to seven times to feed the local economy.

But I suggest to you, budget a little more time, venture deeper up into Maine.

See small Maine towns that host spring kayak canoe races.

Grab A Paddle, Load Up The Canoe, Launch The Kayak! Spring High Water Time Is Here!

Take in an event seen by 55 million people from around the globe, a World cup biathlon.

Sample a friendly, small Maine ski area mountain.

Try out a bigger Maine ski area mountain.

Watch a farmers market video and meet the friendly people, your local farmer.

Climb in a boat. Take a spin, fish, enjoy a Maine lake.

Learn about cross country skiing in Maine.

Take a bog walk in Orono Penobscot County Maine.

Sample a lighthouse in Maine.

Maine Lighthouses, Collect Your Favorite! Revisit Every Season!

Float Your Boat, Lots Of Places To Do That In Maine, “Vacationland”. Somehow Water Is Involved In So Much Of Our 4 Season Recreation!

Maine has lots of top 10 experiences, towns to visit.

There are a handful of cities in Maine to enjoy. But small town, quaint and friendly Maine communities. You and I decide what the 10 best Maine towns are and for a slew of reasons.

I service daily a certain set of Maine communities. But there are so many to explore and expose which is what this Maine blog post platform strives to do.

Maine has what you need.

Vacationland is the way life should be but travel up into Maine. Budget some extra time. To experience what is most personal and private and to areas of Maine that don’t make the default list as most worthwhile to visit.

Growing Without Sprays, Chemicals. Organic Maine Homesteading Happens Around Maine!

10 best towns to visit in Maine.

Don’t stop at ten. More than you can count using both hands. Create your own list and never think it’s only 10 or 5 or 3 as the absolute list. We all gravitate to a different list of what we enjoy in Maine. And depending on which of the four seasons the calendar hanging on the kitchen wall reveals, the what to do for fun changes.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

May 23, 2023
Canoe River Races In Maine

Canoe river races in Maine.

It’s spring, the Maine rivers are swollen, bloated with fast moving water caused by melting winter snow. Might as well dig out the blue, green, natural wood look canoe or whatever color water ride. Time in Maine to head to the nearest canoe and kayak river race on the circuit. Looking for canoe river races in Maine schedule?

Here’s the list of Maine canoe kayak river races.

Just snapped some images of the Meduxnkeag River river race in Houlton Maine.

Grab A Partner To Canoe River Race In Maine. Kayaks, Paddle Boards Welcome Too!

You don’t have to be a black belt paddler to take part in canoe river races in Maine.

Saturday’s race in Aroostook County’s oldest town, Houlton ME had 97 participants, 52 boats. Oh and two paddle boards.. see the tether hooking the board to the paddler so the two stay together in the ice cold fast moving Maine river water?

Been On Your Feet All Day? Er I Mean Through Maine River Rapids, Twists And Turns? River Race Paddlers, 2 In The Meduxnekeag River Race.

The Meduxnkeag River Race In Houlton Maine is one of the earliest ones on the spring calendar.

Ricker College started the Meduxnekeag River Race. And eventually after the college closed, the Houlton Rotary Club took over the orchestration. Food booths at the end that was at the covered bridge on the Framingham Road in Littleton Maine.

There are ten spring whitewater river races in Maine.

The 2023 Meduxnekeag River Race took 26 people to hold down the registration, launch, timing, trophies, food concessions and safety.

Promoting the event to draw canoe river race participants is a year round endeavor.

The Kenduskeag river race in Maine is the next one on the calendar in the Bangor Maine area.

Higher faster water on a Maine river means faster times, maybe an canoe upset into the cold clear water. The mix of adrenaline fear and excitement make another river race under your belt a real natural high. Great exercise, everyone in the small Maine town or village gets out to take part. It’s spring, the rip off another month on the kitchen calendar. Ever paddled across a Maine lake or took the wild river Maine whitewater rafting?

Hang On, Keep Paddling. Paddling Harder, Strong. Then HOLD! Hold On To The Short Rope. Put Your Paddles Straight Out!

Family river race canoes with 2two kids, four racers total in them.

Longer Canoes, Like River Race Minivans. You See All Types, Ages And Reasons To Hit The River Race In Maine Circuit.

Gramp is up front leading the river race canoe strokes.

Follow his lead kids. Dad did the same Maine river race circuit when he was a little shaver. Single canoes or kayakers paddling for all they are worth. Some river race entries are taking their time. Others are on a mission and trying to win the ribbon or trophy or wooden mini paddle.

It’s all good and lots of common reasons to hit the fast moving, higher level river water.

Water in Maine, the recreational kind comes in many forms. Tubing on a Maine lake behind a jet ski or motor boat. A pontoon boat, party barge slowly plying the Maine lake. A sailboat out in the Atlantic Ocean or tacking across a lake or pond.

There is something about looking at, being on or in the water in Maine.

Depending on the season, how you enjoy the Maine water best revolves around temperatures and layers of clothing needed. But year long, everyday living in Maine. We are outdoors getting some fresh air, moving around and enjoying the four seasons of outdoor Maine.

Looking For The Best Time Or Slow Down. Let The River Do The Driving Down The Maine River. No Reason To Kill Ourselves.

Things to do for fun in Maine.

Put down canoe river races in Maine as one more possible outdoor recreational option up here in the state bordering Canada on two three. Reach out and share your adventures on the Maine river and send along images or video links if you have them!

Maine river races, they are in full swing and why not try to paddle down a few Maine rivers and whether you make it a race or pleasure cruise, it’s something you will never regret.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com | MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

May 1, 2023
Maine Maple Sunday

Maine Maple Sunday, a yearly event in Vacationland.

Heading to the maple grove woodlots to tap trees, run lines for the golden syrup. Or the Maine home owner digs out the spouts, the snowshoes. Who taps the stately maple shade trees using buckets out front their house.

Sugar Shacks Open House In Smyrna Maine.

Lots of Mainers own woodlots to heat their homes and for recreation camp getaways.

Many Maine home owners have maple tree lined driveways. Dotting, shading along the street or road out front of their houses. Maine Maple Sunday is a big deal and it’s the 40th event this weekend. Always remember, it’s the last Sunday in March when sugar shacks and maple syrup producer distilleries open up their operations for old and young alike.

Inviting you in to witness up close and personal the 40 to 1 boiling down evaporating process. Before that the trip to the Maine woodlot to collect what runs in the lines or fills the galvanized buckets. You will also see the finished products made with pride of Maine produced pure maple syrup. Not some watered down from who knows where and all those artificial additives and colors.

Watch A Maine Maple Sunday Weekend Open House Sugarhouse Video Tour!

Tap It In, Open Up The Faucet To Maine Maple Tree Sap. That’s The Easy Part.

Many Maine land owners have forest timber stands of maple hardwood trees that are idea for tapping the sap to make syrup.

The old fashion bucket collection system is slow and labor intensive but still fun to celebrate the approaching spring. Colder nights, warmer days and being outside collecting sap is a family tradition. I grew up doing it with my Dad who loved the woods. Creating home grown tap sap for your own Maine maple syrup! Ever done it? Would you like to?

It Costs More, But Maine Maple Syrup Is Pure And Natural. Not Loaded With Fructose, Additives, Preservatives.

Many trips to the Ludlow Maine woodlot to collect annual renewable firewood and the maple tree sap for syrup.

It’s all about just enjoying a Sunday afternoon picnic in your private woodlot loaded with wildlife. Just wildlife, nature to witness, no two legged critters to spoil the experience.

Maine Maple Syrup Sunday Weekend! Ever Toured A Sugarhouse In Maine? Watch Maine Maple Syrup Video.

Snow still on the ground, its is always the last one at the party to leave in wooded tracts of Maine land.

Hanging around in the Maine woodlots and when warmer day temperatures happen. Snow in Maine, always the last place to melt and disappear in woodlots. It’s why diehard snowmobiling continues longer on forest trails.

Maine Maple Sap Bucket Collects The Clear Watery Sap That Boils Down To Thick Amber Maple Syrup.

All those tall stately trees shading out the growing strong sun. That’s what extends winter snowscape a tad longer if you want a little more Maine snow sled trail riding time.

It’s more than the ritual of collecting maple tree sap to boil it down for the amber elixir that’s all natural.

Maple Sunday Weekend in Maine represents spring. One more sign that winter is waning, the long shadow of the low on the horizon sun is shifting its angle. Hope and faith that spring is ahead helps true Mainers dig out their garden and farm seed catalogs. It shows acceptance that winter is passing by and ready to fill the rear view mirror.

What you See On Maine Winter, Early Spring Recreation Trails. Wildlife, Scenery, A Bald Eagle, Moose.

Buds on the trees, early bulb flowers poking up through the ground around your Maine house foundation.

Snow banks receding, peppered with road sand and salt remains. Dusty, dirty. battle weary. Some lawns look like a bomb hit and a war was fought. Deep gouges with missing sod, thanks to the snow plow operator who did not lift the blade an inch or two when the ground is soft. Lots of gravel and road sand needing raking to remove. Spring run off from months of Maine snow increasing the smelting speed. The width of brooks, streams and rivers that grow exponentially this time of year.

Some places in rural Maine there is flooding that crosses back roadways for a few hours or a couple days.

Excitement about new flowers, the fragrant and colorful floral displays that happen on their own in Maine. It’s all ahead and exciting. Every Maine season offers it’s own special version of outdoor beauty. They work together. Like fall explosive colors are a second bloom of what happened over summer. There is overlap and tag team tug of war in the Maine season transition. It’s not snap your fingers quick and easy.

The Many Flowers You See On Your Orono ME Bog Walk. Bring Your Camera!

Dig out your kayak and canoe to ride the waves around the state of Maine canoe race circuit.

We’re Going In, Gonna Get Wet.

Potholes blooming along streets and frost heaves forming in the old familiar places on Maine highways. Smelts running to fish net.

Maine maple Sunday, it happens for the 40th year on March 26th, 2023.

Sap collection, it’s a form of farming. Just like harvesting fish off the coast of Maine is too. Not just rows of planted seeds or seedlings. More than just fence posts planted or straighten and lines run around Maine pasture fields for critter containment. And to keep the wildlife on the other side where they belong.

Homesteading in Maine.

It’s picked up a resurgence since COVID turned on the bright harsh last call lights indicating you have to go. We don’t care where you go but you can’t stay here. It’s plenty sobering when home does not feel so home sweet home anymore.

Pack up to move to Maine.

Lots are doing it and I have read the state of Maine is number two for where folks pick for their new home base. Maine Maple Weekend Sunday is one more fun thing to do. To get out and observe when you are lucky enough to spend more than just a long weekend or seven day string of rest and relaxation in Vacationland.

Agriculture, Farm Food Grown Close To Home, Locally Sourced Is The Best Tasting. Want To Homestead In Maine?

In Maine grocery stores, you have lots of choices for maple syrup.

You find your log cabin or lady with the head scarf brands of maple syrup to drizzle. Most from Vermont, some from Canada, more and more from Maine. But searching for the Maine made all natural maple syrup, the little jug of close to home grown oozing sweetness is not always there.

Or the $15 dollar sticker price can cause pause, temporary pain and suffering in the grocery aisles.

Until you remember how good, how natural and nothing artificial Maine maple syrup is. And you have a local farmer tending the Maine maple tree sap collecting operation. Support your Maine producer because no farmer, no food.

The Solitude, Peaceful Feeling Of The Maine Woods In Winter. Don’t Miss Maine Maple Sunday This 40th Year.

See the list of all the open houses for Maine Maple Sunday weekend outlets and visit one or two near you that dot the link map.

Maple syrup is not just for lathering up pancakes and waffles with melting butter as a playmate. Lubricating stacks of jacks at breakfast time wakey wakey is not the only time to enjoy maple syrup.

Maple syrup is a sweetener for anything from candy to cake to pies, for dressings, a companion to scoops of ice cream.

Coffee for many just tastes better with a shot or two of Maine maple syrup. Discovered long before the turbo this, double shot of that mist topping of caramel swirl.

Coffee Early In The Morning The Old Fashion Way! Get To Maine, Relax, Breathe.

Try a little maple syrup for the home brewed cup of Joe.

Instead of shelling out daily for the expensive red, blue, whatever exotic dye color addiction drive through fix. The reach for the gotta have the designer hot or cold coffee mainline or you will die right here and now. It’s an expensive daily ritual of hot and ready for many. You see the long long lines outside the drive thru of all the Maine coffee hound baristas locations.

The life or death sustenance of artificial life, fill it to the brim to win la-di dah latte.

The burn your hand even with a double sleeve, lava hot center of the sun blistering temperature money grab. The first thing on your mind when the eyelids go north.

The addiction that kept you awake half the night.

And Chummy, if you don’t get your special blend of foo foo coffee concoction with a triple pump of extra coconut oat almond milk shot please. Well now, life as you know it wired on caffeine is just not going to be as brightly colored orhalf the fun. Just sayin’.

Sorry for the rant. Don’t get me wrong. I love my basic black fresh brewed cup of coffee without all the Hollywood after affects. Missing the boat on all those extra expensive, time in line consuming ingredients to jazz up the coffee break experience.

Maybe I am missing something.

Just want a quick pit stop and not a coffee snob. Keep it simple. Make it black. Pitch black. Darker than the inside of a color black. (Pouring in a jigger of pure and natural Maine maple syrup) It’s always a good time for a cup of coffee and fellowship, communion in the great state of Maine outdoor landscape. Early morning parked next to a Maine lake is my happy place. Have another cup? Well, yes please if you’re up and pouring. Hit me with a little maple syrup, gotta give it a try.

Back on blog post topic for Maple syrup, the sugar shack open house weekend for local Maine producers.

Every maple syrup producer in Maine can claim to be the best and they are all right.

Fresh Hot Coffee, Whatever Meal Tastes Improves After Maine Farm Chores Complete. Try Some Maine Maple Syrup On The Flap Jacks, In Your Coffee.

These hard working Maine maple grove tree tapping sap collecting folks want to share an experience.

To show you how the process goes and all the many maple syrup by products out there to enjoy. Maple syrup, more than just a pancake or waffle meal pleasure experience.

Have you ever been to a Maine maple syrup open house Sunday? You know what all the ink spilling is all about then. If not, you should celebrate spring. Support your local Maine maple syrup producer.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

March 22, 2023
Small Town Living In Maine

Small town living in Maine.

If you’re a life long native, you’ve known many of those in your daily small Maine town circles for life.

Had a classmate drop in who was looking for a piece of Maine waterfront lake property, land just land.

He and his wife think parked next to a Maine lake and watching the seasons change is direction he wants for quality of life. And in the course of sharing information on where he would like to build a waterfront retirement home on a small Maine lake property acreage, we started childhood flashback experiences.

He had roots in Calais, Downeast Maine and his family rounded up the kids and relocated north.

Downeast Coastal Lobster Boats In Maine.

His Dad worked on the border at a custom’s brokerage house business.

His friends called him Ace. I remember his mom working at Day’s Jewelry Store where I bought black and white Poloroid film in expensive packages of only eight exposures each. Small town living in Maine is like that. You don’t just know the person but everything, anything about his or her family connections. In small Maine towns, you bump into each other often several times a day.

Attending St Mary’s catholic school in Houlton ME until high school and said he was a cold lunch bagger.

Some in his Water Street school enjoyed hot lunch. Delivered via bus, created each day at Lambert School, the old high school brick building next to Central.

One day snowballs pummeled at a school lunch bus seemed entertaining for he and a group of his friends.

All fun and games until a sister wearing a habit learned about the activity. Hauling in the crew, using a thick wooden paddle with individual helpings of discipline. Designed to make sure the activity did not occur again.

Early Maine Potato Farm Machinery At Local Littleton ME Museum

Hands extended to receive the one by one down the line punishment.

Remember the spare the rod, spoil the child adage. The punishment dished out down the line leaving no snow ball throwing hand left out from the cure. My friend’s mother reminded him at home he and his crew got just what they deserved. Kids had a lot more responsibilities at school, at home and working to earn their keep.

We moved on to Maine fall harvest picking potato experiences, making your own spending money.

Kenny’s first day was almost his last picking potatoes.

The field boss on the Maine farm had assigned him an end section in the potato field. All by himself at the end of the row.

If you have never picked barrels of newly dug potatoes laid out in two rows by a mechanical digger pulled by a Maine farm tractor, you wonder what’s the big whoop?

Early Maine Farm Life At The Homestead, Surrounded With All The Wooded And Pasture Field Land To Scratch Out A Living.

An end section extends and contracts with the surrounding tree line defining the Maine land potato field shape.

Not only do you get behind as your potato picking field section grows larger. But you get discouraged with fewer potatoes and wrestling to find them under large dirt clods where they are hidden.

It truly is one potato, two potato pick ’em up and put them in the woven basket and your barrel production suffers greatly with an end row section.

It takes four big heaping baskets made of brown ash and dumped in a plywood or cedar stave wooded potato barrel for the 25, 60 cents or whatever unit payment. Mark that barrel with your ticket number for the daily count back in the farmer’s house kitchen tally.

Agriculture, Farm Food Grown Close To Home, Locally Sourced Is The Best Tasting.

If your end section shrinks row by row of unearthed potatoes to pick, low barrel count for you that day in the hot harvest fall sun or rain, maybe spitting snow.

Kenny had enough and slipped away, hiding in the woods to avoid detection on this way walking home.

Potato picking was not for me he surmised. The was a potato field MIA loose, sound the air raid alarm. His Dad got wind of the news, found him, put him in a car, delivering him back to the field with a stern warning. Don’t do it again.

Small Town Public Suppers! Great Meal, Friendly Servers, Good Causes. Win, Win, Win!

The beauty of potato picking besides making your own money to manage as a kid, no one leaves the field until everyone is picked up is a valuable lesson.

We are all in this together to clean up before we can go home. The money you make in the potato field used to buy your fall school clothes. Kids helped shoulder some of the household expenses and learned to shop wisely, develop spending impulse control. To take care of whatever they “earned” with their own money a potato barrel at a time.

Meet Neighbors, New Friends, See Family Members. Local Public Suppers That Kind Of Experience.

No one is abandoned and left behind alone in the Maine potato field.

No rows and rows behind discouragement howling at the moon for anyone on the potato picking crew.

Pick ’em clean. Helping the local Maine potato farmer get the crop out experience was part of growing up in Aroostook County.

Hard Work With The Right Tools Is The Most Productive, Rewarding In Small Town Living In Maine.

I think small town living in Maine makes your connection with others in it much stronger for lots of reasons.

One, knowing a person in your class or neighborhood growing up provides a wealth of experiences. We are more connected, have spent more time together through out life so we know each other better.

Second, working on local community events whether coaching a youth hockey team or raising money for a Rotary project just helps strengthen the connection. When you have personal experiences with someone, you understand them better. They accept you too. Each know where the other is coming from, their strengths and weaknesses and why or how they react to anything.

The many Maine small town experiences through out life help the community.

Oh sure, there can be differences and personality clashes. But first hand personal knowledge of all the skills and talents in a small Maine town can be a beautiful thing. Like a team that pulls together and knows what has to happen for success before the buzzer sounds.

Makes for a better working relationship, the quality of life too because nothing is surface or unknown about the others in your small Maine town.

The small town community members understand each other deeply because there are not strangers. Accepting, needing, proud of where we live. Knowing we all have an important role in creating and sustaining the small Maine town living experience.

Simple Survival And Quality Of Living In A Small Maine Town.

My advice for folks relocating to Maine, is get involved.

From day one and never let off the throttle. Be productive rather than petty. No time for personality attacks and everything about pitching in and combining talents.

And for locals to realize all these new fresh ideas from folks who did live somewhere else can be weaved into what we could do to help the small Maine town prosper.

Realize there are community members who have full, rich experiences and will adopt you as one of their own. But not so much if you bitch and complain and find fault constantly. Easy does it as we all get to know each other and divvy up who does what and when.

Outdoors, Do It Yourself More Independent! That’s Living In Small Towns In Maine!

Brand new to the area transplants need to know the lay of the land and for locals to show them the ropes. To explain traditions and the history lessons they missed.

Volunteering is what small Maine town living is all about.. has to be.

No money to hire it done and what would be the fun in that?

Sure there is room for improvement and change is inevitable in a small Maine town. But easy does it on the “back home we always did it this way, that way”. It can get tedious and make locals wonder then why did you leave?

Hard Honest Work, No One Lazy! Expecting Setbacks In Rural Maine.

Something in the where you lived before location exchange before the move to Maine must have made it worth it.

But sharing and comparing what works and why or why not is important in brainstorming. Remind yourself of those reasons you moved to Maine. All this four season drop dead gorgeous beauty.

Maine is smaller sparse spread out populations, vast unspoiled terrain.

Working Outdoors In The Fields. Amish Farmers Produce Quality Local Food.

You daily travel much smaller local circles really getting to know others living in the village size population. Maine is over 450 small towns, plantations and only a handful of cities.

Here’s some reasons why I know, what I love living in a small Maine town.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

February 9, 2023
Soap Box Derby Racing In Houlton ME

Soap box derby racing in Houlton ME.

June 24th, 2023 is the race date for the 27th running of the soap box derby race in Houlton ME. Today, if you want to derby race in Maine, “Derby Hill” in Houlton ME is the one state site for gravity racing. Once upon a time, there were five local derby racing site locals in Maine. The Northern Maine soap box derby built a two lane racing hill.

I think the big reason Houlton ME survived the one by one closure of the other four local Maine soap box derby programs.

The Road To Race In Akron Ohio’s All America Downhill Event. First You Have To Win A Local.

The Soap Box Derby youth car racing program began back in 1933. World Championship finals are held each July at Derby Downs in Akron, Ohio.

Un-powered cars bit from a kit compete using only gravity for fuel. Kids between 7 to 20 years of age are eligible to race in the All American soap box derby program.

Getting a car sponsor or buying a derby car to assemble is part of the education.

Workers to set up a hill, tear it down after a derby race is one of the biggest cost in manpower and logistics. Someone needs to be on the top of the hill to load cars into the gates. To launch each heat from “Topside”.

Other individuals at the bottom of the race course to help pull cotter pins, rotate wheels, load cars on trailers to head back to the top of the hill.

To keep racers with their cars for quick pairing.

So the day is no longer than it has to be to determine your winners in each division.

So we can move on to have the big soap box derby party and lots to eat. While watching the awards presentation after all the fun winds up in this year’s local Maine soap box derby race.

Timing the lane heats to determine who advances up the soap box derby racing brackets.

Lots of jobs for volunteers to fill year after year. Weather is always an unknown but heck, we live in Maine. Get lots of different types of weather to work around all year long.

Our Houlton Maine derby racing program trains drivers and their support teams to expect blistering hot, pouring rain, maybe even snow and gusty wind conditions on the track.

If you live in Maine, if you want to sponsor a soap box derby car, visit this link for the costs involved buying a stock racer. For larger, older racers, this is the link for buying a super stock derby car.

All Colors, Styles Of Graphics Make Each Soap Box Derby Car Unique Like Their Drivers.

There is a master division to keep the interest of the oldest derby racers.

I helped one of my four kids who all soap box derby raced and can attest from experience. It takes way more than 30 hours to build a masters kit car. Here’s the link to the newest version to buy a soap box derby master kit car.

We Have A Green Light On Derby Hill! Heat 109, Drivers Ready..

There are lots of existing soap box derby cars around the state of Maine.

You see them for free and wearing layers of thick dust and rust from laying around the back or up over head a Maine garage.

Sometimes you see them in sell swap trade guides. A Maine stock or super stock soap box derby car will be mingled in among the list of for sale item bargains. Most seem to be free to a good home.

The only problem with old derby race cars is having to update floor boards, making sure the axles or other parts are not outdated.

There is time, expense, dedication and a lot of gravity aerodynamic science that goes into building or maintaining a soap box derby car.

Kids grow up and learn to drive real cars out into the big wild World. But they never forget what an allen wrench is for or an lock washer. How to adjust weights, tighten a steering cable or change a brake pad.

The derby race cars that impress me the most are not the ones where one sponsor or someone’s parent bought the kit out of pocket.

But rather the derby race cars passed down with many sponsors each contributing the money to buy them, splitting the cost of paint, updates, helmets, new brake pads, graphics, etc.

Rather than read read read, let’s watch a couple Maine soap box derby race program videos.

It’s all downhill, gravity racing where weight, alignment is your “engine” with the trick to get from top to bottom quicker than the other lane driver.

Thank you for helping spread the word on the state of Maine soap box derby race held in Houlton ME’s on Derby Hill.

The Houlton Maine local derby race was the largest five years in a row. It takes 66 volunteers, around 200 derby race car drivers. Lots of car sponsors, program advertisers to pull off that kind of accomplishment! Kids are king and queen and the whole village raises the youngsters in rural small town Maine! That’s why year after year, Maine soap box derby has kept rolling in “The County”, in “Vacationland”.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

February 2, 2023
Maine Shoreland Zoning Waterfront Properties FAQ

Maine shoreland zoning on waterfront property.

Protecting water quality, the Maine wetlands wildlife regulating the use and construction in the shoreland area. Maine shoreland zoning regulations are the do’s and don’ts for the permitted use and new construction along the waterfront today. And Maine’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance is a working document steadily being amended and improved to preserve and protect this precious natural resource.

Crystal Clean And Maine Shoreland Zoning Protected Waterfront Property.

Prior to 1971 when the Maine legislature passed the mandatory shoreland zoning act, there were no statewide standard rules for waterfront use and development.

This blog post about Maine shoreland zoning regulation of waterfront property.

Shoreland zoning in Maine established land use regulations for real estate properties within 250 feet of ponds, freshwater wetlands that are 10 acres or larger. Maine shoreland zoning rules cover development and use of rivers with watersheds 25 miles or more and land within 75 feet of specific streams.

Maine’s many small towns needed help in coming up with a set of rules to follow for new waterfront construction or use and expansion of existing structures.

Soil erosion control, heck a cutting operation many miles away can affect a Maine lake’s quality because of run off and contaminants dumped into from the watershed drainage.

Watch a Maine shoreland zoning regulations video for the do’s and don’ts around waterfront properties.

Maine shoreland zoning regulations are all about controlling erosion in drainage areas, coastal wetlands and tidal water to protect the natural resource.

Prior to 1971’s enactment of shoreland zoning regulations, a Maine lake property owner might not have thought much about a woodlot cutting operation many miles away. But environmental education, best practice workshops, media coverage and shoreland zoning regulation enforcement changed all that. It spelled out clearing your lot, what you had to keep, what could be pruned and opened up or not.

Shoreland zoning defined conforming or non conforming uses and limitations or presented an outright ban on what a property owner thought they could do on their property.

Maine Shoreland Zoning Waterfront Regulations< Check With DEP Before You Buy Existing Or Building. !

The shoreland zoning in Maine statutes increased awareness of what helps or hurts the waterfront environment. It provides constantly update rules each Maine community has to adopt.

The 450 townships, plantations and unorganized areas of Maine not just the handful of Maine cities all have waterfront development and use rules. Some stricter than the Maine shoreland zoning ordinance allows. So check with your local Maine code enforcement official empowered for the area of the big state of Maine you want to develop or are thinking of buying before you do.

Protecting Maine Precious Natural Resources. Maine Shoreland Zoning Does That.

Protecting the Maine environment through adoption of shoreland zoning rule and regulations.

So current land owners and future generations can appreciate the waterfront that makes Maine such an attractivr state and vacation destination for many.

Before the standardization for the state to follow or elect to beef up with something stricter for shoreland zoning waterfront land use, it was anything goes.

Maine lake loons, fish swimming in the water out front, wildlife around the waterfront has little protection. Development done the wrong way around the Maine waterfront shoreland zones threatened their natural habitat.

You Hear Them, Admire Them And Shoreland Zoning In Maine Protects Them. Maine Lake Loons, Other Wildlife, Fish!

Prior to 1971, creating a land bridge to an island, putting out a gravel pier or altering the shoreland by removing rocks or adding a load or two of sand or gravel.

Anything goes with no boundaries set backs to follow for where you could build. No concern on how many trees you can clear and in what period. Missing enforceable regulations lon size and density limits. Or number of structures you can build what size and where had no regulation.

It was take a bulldozer out into the water to move rocks more to your liking. Bring in a dump truck load of sand or gravel to have it your way along the Maine shoreline. Throw in a 55 gallon drum for a septic system. That no one needed to use disclosing tablets down the toilet or camp kitchen sink. To see what is leaching into the water out front of your crudely built cabin or camp with no water resource protection supervision

Forget what Mother Nature provided and rework the shoreland landscape as you see fit for your own personal enjoyment consideration only.

Maine shoreland zoning standardized regulations were much needed in Maine. To set up procedures, what to do in this case, that one. Plus the penalties for enforcement teeth if you were a renegade. Causing havoc and harm for neighbors, wildlife, fish, loons and anything around or in the Maine waterfront.

Maine’s Waterfront Shoreland Zone Is The Protected 250′ Buffer Strip Of Land Surrounding, Bordering The Wetlands.

Human nature kicks in and removing lots or all of trees to improve the view or ripping out protective shoreline vegetation. That’s not what protects the waterfront natural resources Maine is fortunate to possess.

The septic system to handle sewerage loads of laundry or a swinging door of too many guests next to the delicate Maine shoreland waterfront was up to the property owner. Along with Maine shoreland zoning regulation, much was done to tighten up the state’s plumbing code to protect and preserve the waterfront.

Leachfield designs to handle seasonal or more demanding year round Maine shoreland loads kept the wastewater on shore instead of dumping it into the fragile waterfront.

Maine Waterfront Rules & Regulations. 450 Maine Small Town Communities, The Handful Of Cities All Adopted Shoreland Zoning Regulations To Go By.

More on Maine shoreland zoning and waterfront development now and over the years.

How Many Trees Can You Clear, Which Ones And Where Are Untouchable? Study Maine Shoreland Zoning Regulations.

Maine shoreland zoning helps waterfront property owners know how to protect against erosion while affording scenery and preserving recreation.

Protecting resale value of the Maine waterfront real estate should not be the driving force to do your part to protect the natural resource you are lucky to border. Although the Maine REALTOR’s Shoreland Handbook is a valuble resource.

Being a good steward, passing on the waterfront property to the next person in as good or hopefully better shape than you received it. That is what Maine shoreland zoning is all about… resource protection. Before expanding an existing waterfront property structure, check with the local shoreland zoning officer in your area of Maine.

What Can You Do Around A Maine Waterfront Property?

Don’t just start building. And a seasonal camp needs to go through some inspections and certification to show you are allowed the conversion to a year round residence.

Ever heard of milroil in a Maine lake, pond, watershed?

This is what it looks like and you don’t want it in your waterfront resource. It messes with oxygen levels for the fish, affects the water temperature and enjoyment with the invasive vegetation of a milfoil family plant.

Milfoil Free Lakes In Maine, Go Further North, East, West. Away From Development And Population Centers To Avoid Already Infested ME Waterbodies.

I hope this blog post, video and photos on Maine shoreline zoning is helpful. Please reach out if you have any waterfront development questions about existing or new construction projects you are considering. Here is another excellent state of Maine soil and water erosion protection publication to glean.

Stay tuned for more on Maine shoreland zoning developments and best practices.

For many years I was president of a Northern Maine lake association in Aroostook County. All the camp waterfront owners learned much from the workshops on what causes the harm. We were lucky to get funds to study the entire shoreland of Drews Lake and where to identify problems needing solutions.

Protecting Maine’s Waterfront Shoreline Takes All Of Us. Get Involved! Be A Good Steward To Help Our Natural Resource.

Money from soil and water conservation awards help our lake association from successful grant writing to protect the Maine shoreland.

To address non source point pollution, constructing riparian buffers, how to slow water from racing down a hill, what to do to battle milfoil, etc. It’s our Maine waterfront to protect and if we don’t, it’s gone and wasted. You stuck around to the very end of the blog post. Thank you! See you next time on ME In Maine blog and thank you for being a loyal follower.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

January 6, 2023