First Congregational Church in Kennebunkport to Celebrate 280th Anniversary

KENNEBUNKPORT—
Come celebrate 280 years with two events! Members of the First Congregational Church of Kennebunkport and their minister, Rev. Derek White, are pleased to announce they will hold a lobster roll luncheon with strawberry shortcake for desert on Sat., Aug. 14th from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., or until sold out. This event is part of the church’s 280th anniversary celebrating the proud history of First Congregational as the oldest church in town, having been founded in 1730. The original building was burned to the ground, but rebuilt in 1789. A gallery of pictures, photos, and artifacts depicting the history of the church and Kennebunkport over 280 years will be on exhibit at the church for the public to view.
The second event will take place the following Sunday, Aug. 22nd at the 9 a.m. service. There will be a dedication of a new plaque with the names of all the previous ministers of the church. Special music will be included as part of the ceremony.
First Congregational Church located at 141 North St., is three miles north of Dock Square, Kennebunkport, where Arundel Rd. and Log Cabin Rd. converge. The church will be on the right from this direction. The church may also be reached via US Route 1 and then 3.95 miles on Log Cabin Rd. The church will be on the left from this direction.
For more information, you may call the church office (207) 967-3897. The church’s website is www.firstchurchkennebunkport.com.

Photo capton: First Congregational Church in Kennebunkport (www.firstchurchkennebunkport.com photo)

Wells Resident Mary Jordan to Compete in World Equestrian Games

By Larry Favinger
Staff Columnist
WELLS—
Mary Jordan and her horse, Paxton Abbey, will represent the United States in the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Ky.
The Para-Dressage competition for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games begins Oct. 5. Riders will compete on a world-stage in front of international judges, following FEI rules, and top international competition in the Covered Arena.
The Individual Team Test begins Oct. 5 and riders will compete with their horses for six days ending with the Individual Freestyle Test Oct. 10.
Jordan earned a spot on the national team at a competition in Wayne, Ill. This is the first time in the Games’ history that para-riders, those with disabilities, will compete in their own category at the international event, according to Jessica Corcoran, assistant account executive with Rx Mosaic Health of New York.
Jordan has relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
“It’s a dream of a lifetime,” Jordan said in a telephone interview from her home in Wells, of making Team USA for the competition. “It’s always been a dream of mine to ride for my country.”
“I’m so looking forward to the opportunity,” Ms Jordan, the only New England rider to make the team, said. “It’s just an incredible honor.”
“For me this journey started more than a year ago and it has spanned two continents, two coastlines, multiple horses, multiple languages, a new car engine, transmission and many miles by moped, truck, trailer and plane not to mention all kinds of weather,” Jordan said.
“It is not often as a rider that you get this type of opportunity and it is not often as a Multiple Sclerosis patient you even dream of this opportunity of riding at an international level,” she said. “Lastly, it certainly is not often that you get to ride the horse that was born in your lap, at the World Games.”
She said the inclusion of the para-rider category is “a historic event” for those with disabilities who love the sport and competing in it. She said this is “really catching on in the United States.”
In order to gain enough competitive points to make the trials in Wayne, Ms. Jordan and Paxton Abbey had to travel extensively to take part in meets.
“I’ve lived in my car the last three months,” Ms. Jordan said, noting she had taken part in competitions in Lexington and Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Wayne.
She also took part in the European Championships after going through what she described as a “three-week boot camp” in Holland, riding a borrowed German stallion. This was possible, she said, because of friends and family in Europe.
During all this travel, training and competing she was able to continue her job as a representative of the Pennfield Corp. of Lancaster County, Pa., working with farms in New England and New York state.
“I love what I do and I do what I love,” Ms. Jordan said.
And all the time she was continuing her regimen to keep her MS at bay. She was originally diagnosed in 2002 and, she said, has thus far been relapse free.
She works out, keeps active and continues her drug therapy with daily shots of Copaxone. Ms Jordan said there are several different drugs for battling MS but “Copaxone works really, really well for me.”
“I do not take my health for granted,” she said. “I work very hard at it.”
The competition Ms. Jordan and Paxton Abbey face takes place in a 20 by 60-meter area. The initial event requires movements from memory by horse and rider at specific spots in the arena requiring harmony between rider and mount.
“It is sometimes a lot like ballet,” she said. “It is time consuming to train for it.”
Next is the individual class test that requires “more difficult maneuvers,” she said, and finally there is the musical freestyle, much like the free program in figure skating once the required figures are complete.
Ms Jordan was familiar with MS before she was diagnosed since she is the third member of her family to suffer from the disease. He father, a quadriplegic, was diagnosed before the current treatments were available. Her older sister Mary was quickly treated and is active today.
“There is no cure,” Ms Jordan said in a previous interview, but treatment and drugs “do an amazing job of halting the progression of the disease.”
At that time she said people “get shell shocked” when they are told they have MS and immediately picture themselves in a wheelchair. “That’s not today’s reality,” she said.
Ms Jordan’s riding career includes a national equestrian reserve championship and three national year-end awards from the United States Eventing Association.
Paxton Abbey was named the 2007 Horse of the Year by the United States Eventing Association, in competition with all horses nationally at the training level of competition.
Jordan was in the barn when Paxton was born and it was a good thing.
The foal was born in the sac in which horses are delivered but the sac failed to tear. Jordan said there was a 100-pound foal in a big gooey bubble.
Acting quickly, Jordan tore open the sack “and there she was and she wasn’t breathing,” she explained. Jordan cleared Paxton’s nostrils and breathing began. “There she was right in my lap.”
They’ve been together ever since.
Photo caption: Wells Resident Mary Jordan and her horse, Paxton Abbey, will compete in the World Equestrian Games this year. (Courtesy photo)

Kittery Estates Hosts Special Supper Buffet

By Candi Enman
Staff Columnist
KITTERY—
Kittery Estates was the place to be for dinner on Thursday, July 15th as residents of the State Road independent senior living community and their invited guests were treated to a very special supper. The event was the result of a Creative Buffet Workshop, one of two held each year for residents of the local community, which is part of the Holiday Retirement system of all-inclusive senior living facilities.
Under the direction of Regional Chef Chris Lyons, Kittery Estates’ resident chef, Christopher Kennard, together with his staff and four other visiting corporate chefs created an eight table buffet that filled the facility’s atrium. The bountiful display featured regional favorites and Italian-inspired recipes, all made from scratch.
“We use fresh, locally grown and harvested foods to prepare the recipes,” said Richmond, VA-based Chef Lyons. The smorgasbord included locally caught, hand-picked steamed Prince Edward Island mussels and fresh haddock skewers, a pasta station with handmade linguine served with Roasted Tomato Marinara sauce, as well as Chicken Parmigiana and a crusty lobster-topped Bruschetta. Locally grown corn on the cob, fruit and cheese platters and salads were prepared with fresh produce from Kittery’s Golden Harvest market.
Holiday Retirement Divisional Chef, George Merritz, explained that the Creative Buffet Workshops and scratch-based cooking programs are unique to their company. Every year one Holiday Retirement regional chef, along with one chef from each region, travel to Hyde Park, New York to attend a cooking program at The Culinary Institute of America. Working with professors in the prestigious cooking school’s kitchens, the chefs learn cooking styles and recipes that they then bring back to share with other corporate chefs as a workshop. “Our program is the only out there and we’re very proud of that,” said Merritz.
With little room left, most of the 150 plus residents and guests who filled the dining room made their way back to the buffet tables for a big finish. Desserts included Fresh Berry Shooters, a delectable concoction of mascarpone cheese layered with fresh blueberries and raspberries, along with Lindt® chocolate truffles and homemade Sweet Potato Pie.
The residents of Kittery Estates were the real beneficiaries of the chef’s training and the workshop. “I ate too much,” said 94-year old Barbara Millar, who sold her Portsmouth home and moved to Kittery Estates in just June of last year. Millar not only delighted in the evening’s dinner, she went on to say how she enjoys her new carefree lifestyle. “It’s wonderful not to have to cook or do dishes. I now spend my days relaxing or doing activities I like, and there’s always someone friendly to talk to here.”
Photo caption: Chef Christopher Kennard serves resident Frank Putnam a Fresh Berry Shooter dessert and server Lola Johnson helps Frank juggle everything. (Courtesy photo)