Wells Reserve at Laudholm to launch EcoSports Day

WELLS —

The Wells Reserve at Laudholm is launching a new annual event to encourage people of all ages to get active, be fit, and go green while enjoying sports of the land, sea, and sky in one of Maine’s most beautiful locations.
The first EcoSports Day will be held rain or shine on Sunday, September 26, from 10 am to 3 pm at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm. The event is free for Laudholm Trust members, $3 for non-members 17 and older, $1 for those 6 to 16, and free for children under 6.
According to Diana Joyner, president of the Laudholm Trust, attendees should be ready to participate in activities. “This is not just a vendor show where companies simply show products and services,” notes Joyner. “This is an active event where attendees are heavily encouraged to participate by trying out surfboards, paddleboards, kayaks, canoes, yoga or even zumba.”
Joyner notes that paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing, yoga, zumba, fitness gear, and golf, are a few of several activities. This will also be an opportunity to ride in the tethered RE/MAX Realty One hot-air balloon above historic Laudholm Farm and the beautiful Little River estuary (additional fee).
The day begins with the second annual Laudholm 5K Run and 2.5K Walk. The run follows a scenic route mostly on the trails of the Wells Reserve at Laudholm. Sign-in starts at 9 am. The 5K Run and 2.5K Walk start at 10. Advance registration is preferred.
“The concept for EcoSports Day originated with our NextGen Council, a committee of young Laudholm Trust members who are taking an active role in planning exciting new events designed to promote active lifestyles and local businesses who share our mission,” says Joyner. “All of our vendors will be encouraging attendees to try out their equipment, experience their sports, and discover new ways to enjoy indoor and outdoor sports. We are hoping to attract people of all ages, especially young adults and families who want to become more involved in the Wells Reserve at Laudholm.”
According to Joyner, members of the Nor’easters Kite Flying Club will be hoping for a good breeze so they can display a variety of spectacular kites, flying techniques, and designs. The reggae group Pressure Points will perform between 11 am and 1 pm. New England Brisketeers will offer fresh-smoked barbecue and Duffy’s Tavern & Grill will serve beer and non-alcoholic beverages.
Vendors on hand for EcoSports Day will include Wheels n Waves, Liquid Dreams, Aquaholics, Sacred Movement Yoga, Purvida Studio, Kennebunkport Bicycle, Mim on a Whim, Hillcrest Golf, HydiGolf, Follow Delaine, Hyperlite Mountain Gear, Quest Fitness, Mountain View Golf, Southern Maine Aviation, Kennebunkport Marina, the RE/MAX Realty One Hot Air Balloon, Prime Toyota, and The Landing Boat School.
EcoSports Day is sponsored by Sevigney-Lyons Insurance Agency and Dietz Associates Inc, creative marketing and design. Proceeds from the event benefit Laudholm Trust, the nonprofit organization that supports coastal research, education, stewardship, and preservation at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve.
The Wells Reserve is located at 342 Laudholm Farm Road, just off Routes 1 and 9 near the Wells-Kennebunk line and just 7 minutes from Maine Turnpike exit 19. The site boasts several historic buildings, excellent exhibits, and seven miles of easy hiking trails through fields and forests to salt marshes and a sandy beach.
For more information, visit wellsreserve.org or call 207-646-4521.
Photo caption: EcoSports Day offers attendees a chance to try out surfboards, paddleboards, kayaks, canoes, yoga or even zumba. (Courtesy photo)

Village Voices Come to Life at Counting House Museum

SOUTH BERWICK —
A new exhibition, Village Voices: Tales of Enterprise and Endurance, opens at the Counting House Museum on Saturday, September 25 for the remainder of the fall. The public is invited to a reception from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
The largest expansion of display space in decades at the Counting House, Village Voices occupies the historic second-floor hall. The exhibit chronicles four centuries of enterprise in the region through the lives of residents who have shaped key trades. The role of ingenuity and adaptation in sustaining work life is a primary theme of the exhibit.
Stories of six individuals are presented: sawyer Humphrey Chadbourne, farmer Benjamin Gerrish, sea captain Theodore F. Jewett, shoemaker Francis Raynes, textile manufacturer Samuel Hale, and small business owner Placide Gagnon. Their tales are told using an array of historic objects, photographs, and maps that illustrate the transformation of work life in this region from 1630 to 2010. The display will be on view permanently.
Drawing on objects owned and used by local residents, curator Nina Maurer developed the exhibit, with guidance from academic historians Emerson Baker, Jeffrey Bolster, and Richard Candee. Local historians Nancy Cook and Bradley Fletcher also contributed as content advisors.
“For 400 years, generations of South Berwick residents have sought a connection with the greater world for their livelihood,” explained Maurer. “From shipping lumber to the West Indies in the 1700s to supplying fuel oil from Saudi Arabia today, enterprise entails risk--to homeland, habit, property and identity. Those risks have yielded wealth, but also misfortune. To six who ventured, success came through daring, but also endurance.”
The exhibition was supported by a grant from the South Berwick Strawberry Festival Committee. The exhibit is presented in display-storage cases custom made by Salmon Falls Woodworks of South Berwick and designed by architect Philip H. Kendrick. The cases were made possible by support from the Maine Humanities Council, P. Gagnon and Son, the Davis Family Foundation, the Maine State Museum’s New Century Community Program, and individual donors. The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation underwrote curatorial expenses.
The Portsmouth Athenaeum, Maine Maritime Museum and Maine Historical Society loaned collection items during fall 2010. The exhibit was designed by Susan Hamilton of Phineas Graphics, and conservators Michaela Neiro and Catherine Badot-Costello treated objects for display. Other project participants are research volunteers Margaret Brentano, Norma Keim, and Beth Tykodi; exhibit production volunteers Rick Coughlin and Dana Hughes; OBHS members Harland Goodwin, Sally Hunter, Dick Lunt, Gretchen Straub, Mary Vaughn, and Puff Uhlman; and project supervisor Wendy Pirsig.
The Counting House Museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 pm through the end of October, and year-round by appointment. More information can be obtained at 207-384-0000 or info@oldberwick.org.
Photo caption: The story of shoemaker Francis Raynes in South Berwick, is one of six tales of enterprise and endurance that trace the transformation of the town as shown in a new exhibit at the Counting House Museum. (Courtesy photo)

Pumpkin Patch Trolley Event Coming Soon

KENNEBUNKPORT—
Seashore Trolley Museum will host its twelfth annual Pumpkin Patch Trolley event over the weekends: Sept. 25-26 and Oct. 2-3 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. This event is one of most anticipated in the community as it features a free pumpkin with each paid admission.
Pumpkin Patch passengers are transported to Meserve’s Crossing on one of the Museum’s authentic antique streetcars. After disembarking from the platform, passengers pick pumpkins from an adjacent field (at no charge beyond the regular admission fee). Children may choose to decorate their pumpkins with paints supplied by the Museum.
The pumpkins are then “checked” with Museum volunteers and transported back to the Museum Visitor Center. Pumpkin Patch passengers then choose between completing their round-trip ride and returning to the Museum campus to continue visiting the Museum’s exhibit barns, restoration shop, exhibit gallery, and Museum store. At the end of their museum experience, Pumpkin Patch visitors may match their claim check ticket to their pumpkins prior to leaving the Museum with their orange commodity. During rainy days, pumpkins and related activities are held in an exhibit barn and/or under a tent.
Pumpkin Patch Trolley has become a tradition for many local families. Riding a trolley on a crisp fall day, experiencing public transportation history, and picking the first pumpkin of the year add up to a great start to the upcoming Halloween season.
Kennebunk Savings is the proud sponsor of this event.
This year there is an additional treat for Pumpkin Patch visitors. A new exhibit titled “A Seat for Everyone” is being introduced. From our “History in Motion: Discovering History and Science through Public Transportation,” exhibit programming, this new exhibit focuses upon the Civil Rights chapter of transportation history. Visitors enter the interior of a 1964 Washington, DC bus and view student-produced art panels that express the artists’ feelings on the subject.
Kennebunk Savings and VIP Tour & Charter Bus Company are the proud sponsors of the exhibit.
Seashore Trolley Museum’s regular operating hours: Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Columbus Day and then weekends only until the end of October.
Regular admission: Adults - $8; Children 6 to 16: $5.50; Seniors; $6; Children under 5 – Free. Admission includes unlimited railway rides. Last trolley ride leaves at 4:15 p.m.
Photo caption: Kids decorate their pumpkins at the Seashore Trolley Museum’s annual Pumpkin Patch Trolley event. (Courtesy photo)