Food Network Comes to Wells to Feature the Maine Diner

By Candi Enman
Staff Columnist
WELLS—
It’s shaping up to be an exciting year for the Maine Diner. The iconic Wells eatery received the prestigious Maine Restaurant Association’s 2010 Restaurateur of the Year Award; was invited to be part of the New Orleans Roadfood Festival, a French Quarter street fest “honoring legendary eats;” and recently the Diner was voted by NECN viewers as the Best Diner in New England.
And it just keeps getting better.
The Diner had to close its doors to unsuspecting guests on two separate days - May 30th and June 2nd - for the filming of an upcoming episode of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.” The wildly popular Food Network series features a road trip concept with host Guy Fieri traveling around the country in his ’67 Chevy Camaro SS Convertible to spotlight small, independent eateries. Food Network viewers recommend their favorite local dining spots to be featured on the show and the Maine Diner was a top pick.
“Show producers told us we had been on their radar for a number of years,” said Maine Diner co-owner, Myles Henry. “They seemed to love the restaurant and the crew and complimented our cleanliness and organization. They said they had never seen a place pump out such high quality food.”
With his trademark bleached blond spiky hair, “Triple D’s” host, Fieri, a chef and restaurateur, has become somewhat of a culinary rock star. He also hosts Food TV’s “Guy’s Big Bite” and “Guy Off The Hook,” as well as NBC’s primetime series, “Minute to Win It.”
“Guy was great. He interacted with the staff and interviewed our customers. He’s down to earth and humble, with real people skills,” remarked Henry. Fieri left behind his insignia just above the kitchen door, a tattoo-like painted image of his face and the words “Guy Ate Here.”
Relying on his family’s home-style recipes, many that were his grandmother’s, Henry and the Diner staff served up Seafood Chowder, New England Cod Fish Cakes and their scrumptious signature Lobster Pie for the show taping.
Now in its 27th year, the Henry family is very proud of the staff, many of whom have worked at the Diner for more than a decade, or even two. They eagerly await the episode’s airing, anticipated to be sometime in the next six months.
“Food Network will let us know within one month of the air date and we’ll post it on our website and on our Facebook page,” added Henry. Friends of the Maine Diner can also stay up to date by signing up for email announcements on their website at www.mainediner.com.
If you’ve never eaten at the Maine Diner, you might want to get down there soon to see what the buzz is all about. Summer is just around the corner and in the next few weeks you may have to wait in a long line to sample their tasty, regional road food creations. Five million customers can’t be wrong.
“Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” airs Mondays at 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Fridays at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. (all times Eastern).
Photo caption: Fieri’s insignia above the Diner’s kitchen door (Candi Enman photo)

Berwick Veterans, Families Prepare to Salute ‘Old Glory’

BERWICK—
On a day to celebrate the American Flag, members of Charles S. Hatch Post #79, The American Legion, will also honor “Old Glory” in a special outdoor flag retirement ceremony.
On Monday, June 14th, at 7 p.m. at the front entrance of the Berwick Town Hall on Sullivan Square, the citizens of Berwick are invited to join us for our Flag Day ceremony. Anyone who has a worn, torn or tattered “Stars and Stripes” can bring it to the Berwick Town Hall before close of business on June 14th for inclusion in this ceremony.
The American flag was authorized by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, but commemoration of this significant event was slow in its development. The Stars and Stripes first flew in a Flag Day celebration in 1861 in Hartford, Conn. The first national observance of Flag Day came on June 14, 1877, 100 years after the original resolution establishing the nation’s symbol.
On June 14, 1916, President Wilson issued a proclamation calling for a nation-wide observance of Flag Day and while Flag Day was a popular celebration for many years after this proclamation, it didn’t receive its official congressional designation until 1949.
Please come join the members of Post #79, our auxiliary and local Scouts on June 14th as we properly retire unserviceable American flags. In the event of inclement weather, this ceremony will be rescheduled for 7:00 PM on 21 June. Can’t make it? Then remember Flag Day, June14, 2010 where you live and/or work. Show your colors!

Friends of the Ogunquit Heritage Museum Hosts Its First Open House

OGUNQUIT—
On Sunday, June 6, 2010, the Friends of the Ogunquit Heritage Museum held an open house to welcome members and the public to the 2010 exhibition. In spite of very stormy weather, the event was attended by almost 100 guests and members of the Friends, as well as a number of celebrated political names such as Barney Frank, Congressman from Massachusetts, and Chellie Pingree, Congresswoman representing Maine’s first district in Washington.
This year, the Friends of the OHM used the open house as the occasion to present to long-time curator, Barbara Woodbury, and her husband, Peter Woodbury, a bronze plaque dedicated to their long and devoted stewardship of the Ogunquit Heritage Museum. Without the Woodburys, it is likely that the Museum would not have survived and thrived as it has since its inception in 2002.
Highlighting the Ogunquit Beach this year, the Museum posted photographs from the earliest days of the beach, along with an historical recounting of how the beach was saved from private development and kept as a public park for use by the public today.
On view in the same room are clippings and photos of the storm of 1978 that sent the Lobster Bar crashing against the bridge and out to sea. Also featured is Isabel Lewando’s coverage of the repair of the dunes by the Army Corps of Engineers, and the subsequent battle fought by SCROD (the organization formed to challenge the work carried out by the ACE and return the dunes to their former state). Of special note are the 1900s photographs taken and preserved by Florence Whittier Tyler.
In the Museum’s Art Room, there are numerous artists’ renderings of the Ogunquit Beach, along with a very powerful oil by Channing Hare of Richard Perkins at the beach.
The Architecture Room this year is dedicated to an exposition of the construction of Dunelawn, its history as a hotel for more than 30 years, and its eventual conversion into the present-day Dunelawn Condominiums.
As in the past, a refurbished fisherman’s shack has been assembled by the Museum to illustrate the paraphernalia and necessities of early fishing life in Perkins Cove.
Visitors to the Museum will be welcomed from Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free, though donations are greatly appreciated. The Ogunquit Heritage Museum is located at 86 Obed’s Lane in Ogunquit. For more information, please contact the OHM at (207) 646-0296.