Category: Things To Do in Maine

State Of Maine Agricultural Fairs | Which Ones, How Many Do You Attend?

State of Maine agricultural fairs, there are twenty five last count that start the end of June and run until October.

The number of local community members working year round on Maine fairs is staggering. Pitch in, find areas you can add something to is a common pursuit of many small town local Maine community members. Here is more on Maine state fairs. And for dates and times of fairs around Maine, visit this schedule link.

Maine Four Season Recreation. See Maine On An ATV ITS Trail Ride, On A Snow Sled, Hoofing And Hiking It.

Why are Maine state agricultural fairs so much fun?

Because they are family orient, there is something for everyone. From 4H exhibits from photography to cooking and the ability to walk through the stables to visit with goats, chickens, cows, and to attend horse shows, truck and tractor pulls, the list of why fairs in Maine are attractive is a long one. I relish a foot long Italian sausage with the fried green and red peppers, the grilled onions in a fresh bread roll. Walking through the Midway if the state fair is lucky enough to have rides and game exhibits, you feel like a kid again. And you realize how important, how special this fair is when you consider the rides through a pair of eight, ten, twelve year old eyes. The Ferris wheel to look over all that

Midnight Madness In Houlton Maine, Aroostook County Seat Or Shiretown.

gets set up quickly by the carnies and the locals who join forces for a state fair.

Once fireworks were legalized in Maine, it seems the ground and sky shows took on a new level of excitement.

More competition, more options all out in the open for the consumer and communities alike. The fireworks cost came down as the legality improved to remove the black market sales and to regulate the sky shows and ground displays for safety sake. What it is about a state fair that makes you come back year after year? Proud to be an American and 4th of July displays hit a patriotic nerve? Or hands on displays of simple living or reminders of why you live in Maine rubbing shoulders with your fellow man part of it?

Food, fun, fair rides, games, horse shows, farm animal and tractor exhibits all add to living in Maine.

Animals, People Of Maine Get Along Just Fine. Because It’s Not Crowded. We Need Each Other.

The Maine state fairs often have a theme and beside local and national music acts, the state of Maine gets in on the action. Take for example the Common Ground Fair… there are hands on demonstrations for living off the land. Better living with farm to the table food that you know was never gassed or sprayed with who knows what to push production. New ways to live better, healthier, to squeeze more joy, to increase awareness of improved living options.

The Common Ground Fair is in September in Maine. You are what you eat, your lifestyle is up to you. Your kids are watching and learning from the example you set for them to 5, 6, 7, 8. Plus you always get a neat t-shirt, something in the take away from a state of Maine fair experience stays with you.

Or you work a component of it to make the experience extra special for others. Holding down a tent location or working behind the scenes in a state of Maine agricultural fair exhibit. It is all about others and sharing what you and I have learned. Comparing notes, helping improve others life by sharing, caring and making an effort for your fellow man. That’s what it’s all about. Hey. (Said, sand, recited to the tune of Hokey Pokie.)

Would You Take Driver’s Education From This Demolition Derby Driver?

Antique car shows, everything from souped up lawnmowers to race to demolition derby crash up car competitions. Maine state fairs offer more than beano or bingo, fair food vendors and carnival rides. Buying a raffle ticket on a worthwhile local cause. Little Miss or Mr Fire Cracker competitions. Local talent, there is lots in a Maine small community.

If a small Maine town is still able to be a state fair venue, it is a sign of strong local volunteers that work tirelessly year after year to sustain and improve the event.

Liability insurance if a big expense. We live in a time where some people sue for a living, for revenge and there are fewer and fewer honest mistakes or good Samaritan acts.

The local Maine weather can wreak havoc with the best laid plans on the fair brochure line up. Lots of planning, plenty of seed money goes into the line items for a state of Maine fair venue schedule.

State fairs of Maine, is it the dough boys with white confectionery sugar or cinnamon dusting?

The Carnival Food, Fun, Games, Rides. Did You Get Your Fill This 4th Of July In Maine?

Is the horse show, the animal exhibits, the fireworks, the carnival midway rides and games that make you return to see what you are missing? Our local Rotary Club used to man the gates into the state fair. You did your shift, met lots of local folks coming through the gates and it was like old home week with your relatives that were in the mix of people heading in to the state fair. Here is a video of one local Maine state fairs, usually the first on the list. The eager beaver in Maine in my home town of Houlton, the oldest town in Aroostook County.

I am spoiled because I live in Maine. I am a local, a native and have access to all the wonder that happens year round, season after season up here in the northern most New England state wedged up against Atlantic Canada and Quebec. This summer and early fall I pledge to visit some of the state fairs in Maine I have missed and to report back to the readership. To post a blog post or video clip and some imagery to showcase what you are missing faithful Me In Maine blog post readers. To display what happens at each of the unique state fairs, the agricultural presentations that dot the state of Maine. That put each vibrant community and area of one of the sixteen counties of Maine on the map. Maine is the way life should be.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

June 24, 2018
Maine, She Starts Slow And Slowly Grabs Every Single One Of Your Heart Strings

Maine, what’s the big attraction?

For many it is a lot of little things. But always, a major part of the pull to Maine is the friendly nature of the small communities that dot Vacationland

Lots of space, plenty of fresh air, clean water and drop dead gorgeous Maine scenery.

But it is more than the elbow room and hard working family oriented folks that call Maine home.

Horsing Around In Maine. What Is Your Hobby, Passion, Pastime That Recharges You?

The location wedged up into Canada adds a two nation vacation aspect to those who discover Maine. The state of Maine can boast 3,478 miles of rocky, sandy, scenic coastline. That weighs in more than California and if you add in the islands, the shoreline tally jumps to over 5,000 miles of land bordering water. Water fixes everything remember?

And lakes, think there is enough waterfront to enjoy with 2677 lakes or pond in Maine? An extra 222 lakes or ponds without names are on that list too if you add them in to the tally. There are also another 1022 too small lakes that were catch and released, thrown back in small fry.

But there is more than the blue green of the water and heavily forested lush landscape of Maine to grab your attention on Vacation here. Hiking up Mount Katahdin or a slew of other trails. Ski Sugarloaf USA or Sunday River or one of the smaller low cost family friendly peaks.

Explore, Discover Maine. The Back Roads, The Hiking Trails, The Water Ways. We Are Outdoors More Than Inside All Four Seasons In Maine! Like That Where You Hang Your Hat Now?

Biking around a Maine island that a ferry delivers you to or sitting down at a snow sled club or grange hall type public supper to get close to the locals breaking bread. That is the best way to go to a deeper level with the Maine natives. That often leads to more than vacation visits but a permanent relocation to Maine when the timing is right to head north. And leave the city crowds, the urban hustle and bustle, shuck and jive behind in the rear view mirror as you head up I-95.

Low cost properties help remove the sting of a move to Maine too.

No mortgage and being free and clear is a better feeling than saddled with debt. You can enjoy living more, avoiding the race through life if you don’t have to hold down three jobs to barely cover expenses. To keep the wolf from your door. You don’t need to make a lot of money to live in Maine because the outdoor recreation does not come with a high price tag to sample. And people help in the DIY, pitching in to help with house hold projects, splitting winter heating wood. Everything is community minded and the folks are intimately connected. It is home grown not store bought and more involved. The kids have work ethic, everything is not handed to them and there is less entitlement in Maine small town living.

Loons On A Maine Lake. They Put You To Sleep. Sometimes They Wake You Up! Maine Lake Vacations Are Reasonably Priced.

No traffic, less people. Camping is big too in Maine and the wildlife, the back drop of Mother Nature is more than enough to make it memorable. Check out the Maine communities. Find a section of Maine beach to dig your toes in. Bring your fishing rod, strap on a bike to your rear trailer hitch receiver. Pack the picnic basket. Don’t forget your swim wear.

So it starts with an innocent vacation to Maine and mushroom clouds or snow balls from there for most people.

Maine is the way life should be. Everyone who visits or relocates, moves to Maine has different connections. Some remember being a kid and visiting a grandparent’s farm. Their parents grew up in Maine but had to seek employment outside the state after a war ended or a poor farming or timber year forced the shuffle of feet.

Renting a lake camp in Maine for a long weekend. Picking one spot to come back to or exploring to find your favorite nook and cranny. Relax, you have a life time to get to know Maine better. Are you looking for your next mailing address and considering Maine?

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

June 12, 2018
Fenway Park, Ever Been To A Red Sox Game In Boston MA?

Fenway Park, touted as America’s most beloved major league baseball stadium. Fenway opened April 20, 1912

And when you live in New England, you see lots of Red “B’s demonstrating the loyalty of the Red Sox Nation following. Oh sure you have a few wearing the emblem of the Evil Empire, mostly to be rebels. To get a rise out of the rest of the Red Sox diehards that like their parents before them follow the team through nip and tuck seasons. The ups and downs of the wins and losses. Play ball.

Heading Into Fenway Park. You Can Take The Train, Or You See Some Exotic Cars Along The Way Cruising In From Wherever You Live In Red Sox Nation.

Listening on the radio is a summer ritual for Red Sox Nation fans of all ages.

Being “up tah woods camp or lake cottage” and tuning in with just your ears. It’s summer time, lemonade, hot dogs, baseball time to celebrate the months in the middle of the calendar year. There is something tapping into the old time radio ritual of listening. And at the same time creating the picture in your head. Playing on the inside of the back of your head on the mental projector.

The announcer who can “take you out to the ballpark” and cause you to smell the popcorn and peanuts, to hear the vendors peddling them. To visualize the green monster as if you are there to hear and watch the going, going, gone. Fenway Park is one of the best known sports venues in the World!

Heading Into Fenway Park. Some Fans From All Over Red Sox Nation Vast Territory Make The Trip Often!

There is nothing like the feeling when the home town wins in Boston and you just witnessed another game for the play books. With the Red Sox coming out on top. Especially when the opposing team in the other dug out is filled with Yankees.

Swarming the ballpark like aggressive ants at a well stocked New England / Red Sox Nation picnic spread. Oh sure, you will have Oriole fans in the audience, those who root for the Mets, the Expos, LA, the Indians, the Cardinals, etc. Some how above all the teams played, a win over the Yankees at Fenway or in NYC feels like as close as most folks ever get to the World Series experience. At least it works that way in my head. When a bases loaded home run changes everything. And the wind is blowing just right around the Pesky pole so it was not foul and the fans ignite in excitement. Go Red Sox!

When you are on your way to Fenway Park, the closer you get to Boston, you feel the swarm of support for the Red Sox ramping up.

Look around. It’s written on the faces, across the T-shirts fronts and sew on in bold letters on knock off baseball jerseys. Even the ads on the billboards. “Kid’s eat free if the Red Sox win at Ninety Nine”. You know who their favorite team is without any doubt as you travel 128, RT 1, I-93 or 495. And even more than that small fact, often the favorite player picked out of the squad is spelled out for you and the name often just barely fits across the shoulders.

Hot Dogs, Sam Adams Or Whatever Summer Ale To Quench Your Thirst. It’s Summer In Red Sox Nation!

Petrocelli, Conigliaro, Yastrzemski, Papelbon, Unless it is a short Ortiz, Lee, Tiant, Fisk or a little longer Pedroia. Each fan wonders what the next few hours hold in store for their beloved Red Sox team.

Did you collect baseball cards, trade them growing up?

Buying the trading cards and tossing away the gum?I remember a neighbor of mine obsessed with baseball cards who told his sixth grade teacher Mrs Barker it was his mother’s birthday. And he bummed twenty dollars from her to buy a new shipment of major league baseballs card at lunchtime from Woolworth’s.

The same kid to impress a girl that did not like him ate a giant night crawler. A fellow school classmate who sold bait for fishing brought in his largest, most active one. I swear it could do pull ups on a chin up bar, it was huge and active. (MEMO: Girls are not impressed or more inclined to date and kiss guys who eat night crawler worms of any size.) The thirty two dollars in money raised probably was used to buy the latest baseball cards to add to his collection.

Respect As One Of The Hardest Songs To Sing But Most Touchy One Is Sung. And The Baseball Hats Go Back On, And Announcer Near The Organ Player Shouts “Pay Ball!”

Do you dream of fantasy major league baseball teams combinations of players? Lots of folks are driven by baseball, the America past time at ball parks across the land.

The crowds of people coming in from all directions around Fenway Park. Holding tickets to their baseball stadium seats to watch the Red Sox play ball. Is this the season they go all the way to the World Series now that the curse is broken? You don’t have to be a Peter Pan to believe. Just believe.

Have been to a game between the Red Sox and Yankees where the Boston team trailed in the eighth inning.

But the Sweet Caroline song shot in the arm boost sang by the crowd, the “wave” of fans up and down around the park as the chatter increases and support bubbles over. The chemistry and pitching rotation, something in the magic of Fenway all combines to cause the “W”.

Hey Batter Batter SWING! Or Wait For The Pitch To Fuel The Red Sox To A “W” At Fenway Park, Boston MA.

Nothing compares to the feeling as you walk shoulder to shoulder with happy fans, some with a healthy amount of barley pop in their system. Who are on cloud nine because the Red Sox won. The rest of their personal life could be struggling but something good happened here today in Boston, not Mudville folks.

This past Saturday, headed down to Boston from Wells Beach and watched the Boston Red Sox pull off a victory at Fenway against the opposing Atlanta Braves team.

Beautiful sunshine, a packed stadium and a win for the home team, the Boston Red Sox. Would love to insert a video highlights of the game but not worth the copy right warning penalties.

Get your major league baseball game tickets and maybe you go on a regular basis and live close to Fenway Park, whatever stadium is your regular haunt. To root, root for the home team. Any ball team. Pick yours to support and listen on the radio, grab some tickets and visit during a home stand. Introduce a young member of your family to Red Sox Nation. Or whatever baseball team you watch, listen to, follow. We were lucky to have a family member who lives in Boston loan us a parking spot only a few blocks from Fenway Park this time in Bean Town.

The Green Monstah… Fenway Park’s Broadcast Team.

Little league baseball players watch and learn from the big major American and National team players.

Living in rural Maine where parking, traffic is never ever a problem, it is easy to forget how coveted a secure parking spot is to city dwellers. Here’s the latest Red Sox News. Learn about baseball trades, getting Fenway tickets, what the schedule is so you can pencil in a trip to the ball park with the Green Monster, the history, the hot dogs, barley pop and food vendors!

What’s your favorite baseball team and we’re stick licking out wounds about the Celtic’s loss to the Cavs in the basketball playoffs in game seven. Watched that one on TV during the Memorial Day Vacation at Wells Beach. Do you watch your Red Sox game on the big screen hanging on your living room or den wall? Do you follow the Red Sox out of state or during spring training wintering outside of Maine? When was the last time you took in a major league baseball game at Fenway Park as a member of Red Sox Nation?

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

May 30, 2018
Snowmobiling In Maine | Hitting The Snow Sled Trails

Fresh dragged, groomed snow sled trails carved and made smooth during the middle of the Maine winter night

And this fine next morning you, your snowmobile party can’t wait to try them out to discover new places, old haunts in Maine. Just had a local home made breakfast with plenty of talk about today’s snow sled trip. Are you in this dream? There is nothing like the pleasure of trail riding in winter in Maine. Seeing wildlife in their natural habitat. Crossing a river by a new bridge built by hard working local snow sled club member volunteers this past summer. Using a trail system kept brush free and safely marked by snowmobile enthusiasts of all ages. Who pitch in to create interesting courses, loops, to groom their section of an ITS snow sled trail that passes through their part of Maine. The support also from local businesses, with a little help from the snow sled dealers, and the state of Maine. With permit money funneled back from a portion of the snowmobiled machine in state, out of state registration fees.

Follow Me To Maine. Explore ME Riding The Snowmobile Network Trails System Of Groomed Trails!

The biggest obstacle for the success of the winter snow sled season is the white stuff.

If it is scarce, the out of town snow sledders uses radar and the grapevine to find out where the flakes are piling up to play on this coming weekend. Some snow sledders do local loops and mostly to places to eat and socialize and then back to their Maine lodge log cabin or motel room. The local Maine snow sled clubs all take turns with their winter celebrations that are ideal to visit on a snowmobile. Ever been on a poker run to collect your hand at different snow sled stops? Ice fished in Maine using your snow sled to visit the shack over the five inch hole to wet the line?

Some hard core snow sledders with more time to logged behind the handlebars join Canadian snowmobile clubs.

To gain entry to the International trail system across the Canadian border. To head up to Labrador, Quebec, New Brunswick. But Maine has 14,000 miles of snow sled trails to entertain and keep it new and different. In a state nine hours long, you can spend a lifetime plying the trails, crossing the frozen lakes, hitting the kill switch to stop and gawk. To develop the million dollar stare from a mountain top or elevated ridge section of the snow sled trail.

By George We Have The Snow Your Machine Needs! Visit Aroostook County To Snow Sled This Winter!

Bring your go pro camera, pack a smart phone with decent video and picture taking. And use that cell to stay connected with the outside world when you enter the pure white landscape of Maine. Let’s check in to find out where’s the snow in Maine trail report latest news round up.

I have three snow sleds registered with new stickers in Maine this year.

We get over 100 inches of snow annually! There is plenty of snow and it is being shaped and groomed to create perfect conditions to make your trail ride memorable. Safety first and the trails are so so well marked with signage and mapped. To make it easy getting around. No one is going get lost. Come up up to Maine!

Tips for Maine Snow Sledders New To The Winter Sport.

Stay on the trail. Unless you want a good work out digging out of a hole that only gets deeper the more you squeeze the throttle.

Respect the Maine landowner’s property you are crossing on your snow sled. There are small trees in a plantation on one side, obstacles like parked farm equipment on the other that are trail hazards. You want to visit Maine and stay outdoors not hit the emergency room right? Don’t go home with a neck brace, a cask or worse in a casket. Stay on the right on trails and don’t shut down the machine on a blind curve. That’s a recipe for disaster and getting hit. Don’t over drive your lights at nights. You may have carbide steel ski runners, lots of titanium picks on your spinning track but high speed means longer distance needed on the trail to stop.

Remember These 8 or 10 horse power Ski Doo’s? Narrow to fit the trails that did not exist. Leaning into corners, bogie wheels and no frills snow sledding. Where you tinker for two hours to ride for one. Kids learned about mechanics.

Look for local newspaper advertisements about public suppers.

Study bulletin boards and social media portals from the snow sled clubs. These local feasts are low cost, home made by the best chefs in the land. Someone like your grandmother that cook you and I under the table.

Enjoy home style baked bean crock pots, the sliced just so coleslaw, potato salad, ham or turkey or roast beef, the corn bread, the pies. Well what we are trying to say is get one heck of a feed. While at the same time breaking the bread with the locals.

Learn more about the areas you are snow sledding in Maine from the folks who live here. Not just a brief conversation with a hotel front desk clerk, the gas station attendant or local waitress. Become part of the local fabric of Maine by eating with the locals at a public supper or weekend breakfast that’s raises money for the snow sled club to benefit the trails. Or that is a fund raiser for someone locally suffering with cancer treatments, battling recovery after losing everything in a house fire, some other personal disaster. Mainer’s help each other out.

Public Suppers

Any season Vacationland is worth your time to visit.

But during winter especially the locals are even more friendly and extremely glad to see you. They open up to share their communities if you like to play in the snow flakes like we all do. Come meet the down to Earth people who will share with you where the best trail rides are. Custom made suggestions considering the age of your party and your particular interests. Maybe it is to see a Maine moose, other furry creatures who live in the woods, around the lake, rivers, streams. Or to park by a roaring water falls and learn about the local history of lumbering when they used the waterways to move the logs to the mill downstream. And steam engine Lombard forestry machines before the gas and diesel modern machines took over the woods operations with grapple hooks and skidders doing the tree yarding when someone hollered “TIMMmmmmber.”

We Should Take This Route Over By Bible Point When President Teddy Roosevelt Started His Vacation Day Hunting / Fishing In Maine. See? It’s Right (Squinting) There On The Trail Map.

Make sure your vacation on snow sleds in Maine is unforgettable.

Try new areas you have not visited before and experience more to add to the vacation collection. Visit up in the St John River Valley where there are two sets of trails, just like the North and South bound of the Intertstate 95! Make snowmobiling a healthy habit for your family and friends. When you need to take a much needed vacation during the winter months. Don’t just think of summer at the Maine coast only. Or a trip to hunt and fish or hike and bike in the fall only. Snow lubricates the machines and helps you glide up and over hill and dale. The white new fresh blanket makes Maine truly a winter wonderland. Everything is sugar coated and sparkling under the gaining strength sunshine of longer days. For those under the moonlight night sled trail rides.

Hasn’t it been too long since you spent time in Maine? Hold everything. Plan the trip, make the call, google Maine snow sledding options because the coast is clear. We have plenty of snow to open up all parts of Maine to you and your party on the fun to ride machines.

Rent Snow Sleds From Northern Outdoors! But You’ll Want To Buy Your Own After Catching The Snow Sledding Fever.

Low cost, high scenery, fresh air, sunshine, wide groomed safe marked trails and all kinds of local cuisine. That’s what waiting for you now in Maine!

Break up your winter running the channel changer and snacking too much. Get off that couch. Shake it up. If you do snow sled in Maine it is preaching to the choir. But if it is something new you have not considered, catch the sled head bug. Once you do, the entire family will be right with you on the snow sled trails in Maine. Here are some images of Maine snowmobiling to motivate you to get that winter clothing just hanging in the closet assembled for your next trip north. Catch the fever for new snow. It’s in the air in Maine.

There is no reason to be chilly and the new snow machines have thumb warmers, heated handlebars, radiation under your feet. Strap on your snowmobile helmet, pull on the snow sled moon boots, zip up your action hero looking suit. It’s time to turn the key or pull the cord to begin your snowmobile adventure in the vast state of Maine. Bring your own machines or rent them in Maine. Hear from those who use the snowmobile trails! Tap the video for Maine snowmobile riding. Maine winter snow sled riding, take a trip where cars, truck and man don’t go much or at all.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

February 18, 2018
Maine Winter Fun | Sliding, Sledding, Ice Skating, Skiing.

When old man winter arrives in Maine for another visit, the simple outdoor outdoor traditions return.

The ones started in our youth and preserved into adulthood. You begin to know how much fun you forgot climbing on a pedal bike is when you push up the kickstand. And take it to new unexplored places in Maine which is a six hour long state. That has so many choices for outdoor fun not matter which of the four seasons you find yourself enjoying.

Maine Outdoor Living, We Keep It Real, Simple, Honest.

Ever used pedal power, two wheels and commanded a bike to tour a Maine island? The same joy you remember as a kid returns when you bundle up and grab a snow sled. Trudge up a hill to climb aboard and let gravity be your engine to pick up speed. Heading to the bottom with family and friends of all ages. To do again, just one more run.

Traditions in Maine, the best ones started as a kid.

Introduced by older brothers and sisters. Where you used your imagination, were not parked on a couch killing time inside just because the thermometer mercury sits a tad low in the glass tube.

Sliding downhill in Maine means fresh air, crisp clear scenery, seeing your breath. Exercise, hot chocolate after you hang up your wool mittens. Climbing out of the layers of outerwear to cozy up to a wood stove crackling fire. Falling asleep tonight happens quicker, goes deeper when you downhill slide in Maine.

Sugar Coated Maine, Don’t Miss A Season, Make Winter Sparkle Part Of Your Vacation Plans.

What else happens in Maine winter? Ice fishing with pretty elaborate shacks for the social aspect. Snow sledding the ITS trailers with motors, carbide runners, radiation under your feet and electric thumb warmers. Downhill and cross country skiing. If you are cold, you are not dressed right or need to pick up the pace in whatever outdoor pastime you picked for pleasure. Shovel a walk way, clear off a porch roof and you don’t need a coat zipped high with a scarf wrapped around your neck. You are plenty warm and full of energy to do more outdoors in Maine.

Kids know how to have fun in a marshmellow world all around Jack Frost had a hand in creating. Maine is like the snow globe kids buy or make for their parents for Christmas. When someone took the time to snow plow or shovel off a small pond. And drops the black circle that causes the spirited pond hockey game to begin in earnest. Skating, puck handling combine with the lines formed for a friendly hockey contest. Bonfires to warm your bones and to detach, dream, stare into the dancing flames.

The simple pleasures are not store bought or needing batteries during any of Maine’s four seasons. There is no software associated and it is a return to your childhood rituals.

Walking on cleared sidewalks in a small town under street lights or around town to window shop. Sure, being careful for slipping up on the ice down under means easy does it. But get outside. To enjoy the splendor day or night of Maine communities or the deep woods, an open field with a white cover frosting. Depending on what type of snow you have outside to work with, snow men, digging tunnels and making forts to defend the backyard is one option. If thick snow that supports someone’s weight on bear paw snowshoes is not crusted over and offers crust sliding on flying saucers and slippery magic carpets. The pattern of ice crystals, snow flakes and magic of crisp, clear frost add a sparkle to Maine winter living.

Small Maine Town Christmas Light Parades Welcome Santa, Entertain The Little And Old Alike.

Winter in Maine is peaceful.

There is a silent roar as new snow falls and everything gets muffled sound wise. Crunching snow under your boots, the sharp sound of scraping a windshield to make it safe for winter travel. The distant whine of a two cycle snowmobile with tuned exhaust. Or a chainsaw working it’s way through a thick hardwood tree trunk or dissecting a smaller limb.

The snow plow rumbling by on a country or US highway. The pulleys of a ski area rumbling as your pommel t-bar or chairlift pass by the galvanized tower. The sound a toboggan makes as it eats up a run down over an iced over groove loaded with laughing passengers. Hanging on to the one in front of you with feet tucked around them in one long human chain ready for what’s ahead. But preparing for what to do if things go sideways.

All those sounds help the journey back into what you did as a kid in Maine when the calendar months are those of winter. Maine winters are not harsh or scary and we still spend our recreational time outdoors. Ask a kid, be one again. Don’t black out winter in Maine or you miss out big time.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

December 25, 2017
Portland Stage, Finding Common Connections Within The Community.

Back in an earlier life as a Bangor Maine broadcast news director, I interviewed Eaton Tarbell, a patron of the performing arts.

New At Acting Old. The Potter In This Play Is A Lady Playing The Business Angles Expertly.

He designed lots of buildings around the state. Tarbell was a regular on the airwaves for colorful sound bites. On the show often to check in and update the listening audience with the latest happenings behind the curtain at Lakewood Theatre , Maine’s oldest summer theatre in America. Lakewood Theatre raises the curtain on first rate performances of comedies, dramas, musicals, and children’s shows. The productions at Lakewood run on stage from late-May through mid-September. This year marked the 117th season for Lakewood. Where is Lakewood Theatre? Find the productions, a restaurant to at 76 Theatre Road, Madison, ME 04950 • (207) 474-7176.

Maine, A Fun Place Inside And Out. Drive The Back Roads Outside And Discover Much About Maine, Yourself. Hit A Play Production Inside.

This past weekend, I was fortunate to take in a live show at the Portland Stage.

The live radio broadcast simulated for the holiday play production Of “It’s A Wonderful Life”. In the handout Anita Stewart, the Portland Stage Executive and Artistic Director spells it out simply. The mission to discover the character who you think you know from your introduction during the first scene. But as the play progresses the unexpected side of the character appears. The unexpected happens. It points the process we all do in quick scans, sudden judgements as we filter all we think we need to know to sum it up nice and neatly.

The connective play thread this season at the Portland Stage according to Stewart is to open up the possibility that there is a different way of approaching one another. The play characters help us understand the World is full of complex people if we just open up to take the time to go beyond that initial layer when we size them up maybe just a little too pat. And if you see yourself in the characters, maybe it will help accepting others in the community. Small towns, the handful of cities in Maine and our families, in our lives that are comprised of folks just like you and me. And many others that are not carbon copies. So we learn to embrace those differences that help us grow and learn that benefits us all.

Learning Over The Play Scenes, That It Is A Wonderful Life George Bailey. An Angel Is Finally Going To Get His Wings.

If you can rip yourself away from the holiday carol singing, the mad dash to present shopping ’til you drop.

Take the time to squeeze in a play performance at the Portland Stage for “It’s A Wonderful Life; A Live Radio Play.” An adaptation by Joe Landry to help you celebrate the Holiday Season with a beloved classic. The show bill teaser promises “This heartwarming story of renewal is retold as a 1940’s radio broadcast. Complete with sound effects performed live on stage. With the help of an ensemble and angle called Clarence who has been waiting around 200 years to get a set of wings. George Bailey discovers the million ways we are tied to those around us.”

The play runs from November 24 through December 24, 2017. There’s even a Christmas carol or two that the audience gets invited to sing. To warm up the audience because they are part of the radio theatre broadcast. You feel part of the production because the audience is relied on to put their hands together when the applause light shines.

Looking Into Their Lives Played Live Before You At The Portland Stage Play House In Maine’s Largest City.

When the hand held signs instruct to “hiss” or “ahhh” or a variety of other commands right on cue. To help the at home audience fill in what they can not witness first hand watching the stage production. That radio land audience that only has their ears to guide the vivid imagination parked behind their unused eyes.

Amidst AM static with the reception degree of crackling tied to the weather, the type and height of antennae. Or the distance away from the transmitted filled with tubes and causing cancer to the majority of first class engineers keeping the signal pumping, the radio station on air.

The audience of thousands tuned into the broadcast signal beamed into each and every living rooms. Where families crowd around the wooden early radio cabinet using the all there was medium for family entertainment. The same device connecting them to the outside World. Used to collect most of their important news from stock market crashes to Pearl Harbor Sunday morning bombings. To follow the radio serial shows, the baseball games and to catch musical performances. Along with the nightly news, crop reports, local weather forecasts and political race results.

The Theatre Production “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play”. The Portland Stage Curtain Raises.

The play production intermission means tasty cookies, fresh moist cakes and other delicacies with a variety of refreshments all calling you in unison from your theatre rows and rows of seats. As the house lights come on you rise to saunter to the lobby. To stretch your legs between play production scenes for a little snack.

The chatter is loud after being silent so long. Knowing whispering is really talking. While all attention is eyes forward to follow the unfolding story line. Watching the play line by recited line develop the characters carefully from out in the audience.

Talking between scenes now about the play characters, comparing notes on how the performance is hitting each of those sitting around you. Studying the large black and whites on the wall. Peeking at upcoming play productions and cursing yourselves for past ones missed and still talked about because they were that

Making A Point, To Help The Plot, Develop The Play. Taking Turns Reciting Lines. It’s Show Time For The Portland Stage’s “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

good. Milling around and exposed to new people you get to know that love the same performing arts. Performed under hot spot lights,bathing your favorite characters in colorful pools, inside the shadows of the gels. The audience that follows the actors, the series of season play productions through out the year once the bug bites you. To challenge, inspire, to reflect. That is what the Portland Stage acting troupe strives to do and puts the mission in writing so they never forget either.

Have you been in community theatre as a character, playing in a cast? Do you make it a habit to attend plays, to follow the productions of a acting group? Break a leg. Maine has lots of folks dedicated to small town community theatre. This blogging channel on Maine has featured community theatre before and will again. The play production live audience makes the stage characters soar, stay flat or flop badly. That audience is the reflections, is the indicator of just how are we doing behind the footlights. Maine, so many sides to this jewel. Her facets are many and life is so short.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

December 10, 2017