York Land Trust Members Host Highland Farm Grand Opening Ceremony

YORK—
The York Land Trust Annual Members’ Meeting and Highland Farm Grand Opening Ceremony were rescheduled from September’s Hurricane Irene weekend to this Sunday, October 2, 2011, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday’s activities will take place under a tent at the Highland Farm Preserve at 321 Cider Hill Road (Rte. 91) in York. A one-hour Members’ Meeting will begin at 3 p.m. and will be followed at 4 p.m. by a Grand Opening and Trails Dedication Ceremony. The public is welcome.
The program will include remarks by long time York Land Trust Executive Director Doreen MacGillis. In addition to highlighting the scope of the effort, MacGillis will thank key project leaders, supporters and the community of York for unanimously approving a $500,000 bond appropriation that was critical to acquiring the 151-acre property in 2009. With assistance from David Mallard, Stewardship Director, a new information Kiosk will be unveiled near the entrance to the property’s ADA (handicapped-access) trail, a first in this region. To enhance the visitor’s experience, the 24 sq. ft. sign features a large map of the Preserve’s trail system, use guidelines and ecology facts. In addition, as a tribute to four years of hard work, millions of dollars, and thousands of volunteer hours, a comprehensive list of contributors is included on the Kiosk to acknowledge that the Preserve is forever protected and open for public access thanks to the generosity of many individuals, foundations, partner organizations and the Town of York.
At the conclusion of the Grand Opening Ceremony, attendees will enjoy a guided interpretive walk to explore the property’s rich history and biodiversity.
Led by the York Land Trust and the Trust for Public Land, in partnership with the Kittery Water District, the Highland Farm Preserve was purchased in 2009 as part of the Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative. Conservation of the property is considered significant for water quality based on its proximity to the York River and Boulter Pond, which serves as a drinking water source for the Town of Kittery and parts of York and Eliot. In addition, through a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 30 acres of the property are being managed as early successional habitat (thickets) to support the return of the state-endangered New England Cottontail (NEC) to the property. With as few as 300 individual NEC rabbits thought to be left in the state, restoration efforts at the Highland Farm Preserve may prove to be critical to the species survival in Maine.
Photo caption: Highland Farm Preserve view overlooking the York River. (Photo by Karen Arsenault)

Blue Star Service Banner Presented to Mother of Three Servicemen

CAPE NEDDICK—
Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the American Legion reestablished a tradition dating back to World War I, when banners were given to parents as an unofficial symbol that they had a child in active military service. The blue star on the flag represents one family member serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, and a banner can have up to five stars.
While many one and two star service banners have been given out over the years, it is very rare for a parent to have three or more children serving simultaneously in the service.
The members of Charles S. Hatch Post #79 recently presented a “3” Star Service Banner to Ms. Tracy Steeves of Cape Neddick, Maine. Tracy has three sons serving on active duty in the Air National Guard, the Army and the Marine Corps, respectively. They are: Staff Sgt Jeffrey Greenlaw, currently stationed at Pease International Trade Port in Portsmouth, NH; SPEC4 Jake Greenlaw, currently serving at Ft. Drum, NY and Pvt Jared Greenlaw, stationed at Camp LaJune, NC.
The members of Charles S. Hatch Post #79 salute Jeffrey, Jake and Jared for their patriotism and service and thank Tracy for instilling in these young men the courage and character to serve our country.
Photo caption: Recently, members of Charles S. Hatch Post #79, The American Legion, presented a three Star Service Banner to Ms. Tracy Steeves. Shown from left to right: Post Commander Ronald Vigue, Tracy’s mother Ginny, Tracy and her father, Mr. Warren Steeves. (Photo by Robert Place)

USS Pasadena Arrives in Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD/ELIOT—
Attack submarine USS Pasadena (SSN 752) and her crew of 18 officers and 126 enlisted personnel arrived recently at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
While at the Shipyard, Pasadena will complete various maintenance work and several system upgrades. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is committed to maximizing the material readiness of the Fleet by ensuring every ship is ready to respond to the Navy’s missions.
Pasadena is the U.S. Navy’s second “Improved” Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered submarine. Originally assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, Pasadena conducted an inter-fleet transfer in October 1990 to San Diego, Calif. and became an integral part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Force. In April 1996, Pasadena changed homeports to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where she was assigned to Commander, Submarine Squadron Seven.
Throughout the submarine’s proud and illustrious 20-year history, Pasadena has conducted operations in virtually every part of the Pacific Ocean, from the west coasts of North and South America to Australia. Pasadena’s participation in exercises with various foreign navies from around the Pacific Rim has produced numerous firsts for U.S. nuclear-powered submarines and solidified the United States’ important role in international maritime operations.
Pasadena’s Commanding Officer, Commander Luis Molina, earned a bachelor’s of science in Electrical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Commissioned in May 1993, Cmdr. Molina reported to USS Grayling (SSN 646). During this tour, he completed two Eastern Pacific deployments, a Mediterranean deployment, and a ship inactivation. Cmdr. Molina then served as an instructor at Nuclear Propulsion Training Unit, Charleston, S.C., where he was assigned as a Shift Engineer and Staff Training Officer.
Cmdr. Molina then reported to USS Jefferson City (SSN 759) as the Combat Systems Officer in November 2000. During this tour, he completed a Western Pacific deployment.
In January 2003, he reported as the initial manning Engineer Officer, PCU Hawaii (SSN 776), and was reassigned in November 2003 as Engineer Officer on board USS Virginia (SSN 774). In August of 2005 Cmdr. Molina attended the Naval War College, Newport, RI where he graduated with distinction and earned a master’s in National Security and Strategic Studies and certification as a Joint Planner.
In March 2007, Cmdr. Molina reported to USS Kentucky (SSBN 737) (BLUE) as Executive Officer, completing two strategic deterrent patrols. Following this tour, in December 2008, Cmdr. Molina reported to Headquarters U.S. Special Operations Command, where he served as a future Operations Joint Planner.
On July 22, 2011, Cmdr. Molina assumed command of USS Pasadena (SSN 752).
Pasadena’s host community is the town of Eliot, Maine.

Mills and Valente Named Semifinalists in National Merit Scholarship Program

WELLS—
Wells High School seniors Jesse Mills and Michael Valente have learned that they are Semifinalists in the 57th Annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) formally made the list of Semifinalists public September 14th.
Last year, 1.5 million high school juniors throughout the United States took the 2010 PSAT/NMSQT. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation then selected 16,000 Semifinalists based on the PSAT/NMSQT results.
As Semifinalists, Mills and Valente have the opportunity to compete to become Finalists and qualify for over 8,300 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $34 million. These scholarships will be available in the spring of 2012. To become a Finalist, students must meet high academic standards and all other requirements. According to the NMSC, “…more than half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.”
“I am pretty excited,” said Valente in an interview about becoming a Semifinalist. Mills shared Valente’s excitement and added that he found it hard to take a test at school after learning the news.
Mills is a member of the National Honor Society, the Math Team and plays club tennis, a non-varsity sport at WHS, in the spring. He indicated that he would like to attend Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania next fall. As of now he is undecided about a college major. Mills is the son of Wesley J. Mills and Cheryl Dearman Mills of Wells.
Valente is the Treasurer for the Class of 2012 and for the National Honor Society chapter at WHS. He says he would like to attend Boston University or Tufts University to major in pre-med. Valente is the son of Dawn Valente of Wells.
Photo caption: Michael Valente and Jesse Mills. (Photo by Reg Bennett)

Emmy Award Winner Richard Kahn Presents ‘An Arctic Wilderness Journey’

KENNEBUNK—
Emmy award-winner and documentary filmmaker Richard Kahn will offer “Travels by Canoe in Alaska’s Western Arctic,” a wilderness journey of words and pictures, at the Kennebunk UU Church at 7 p.m., Friday, September 30. Sponsored by the Sierra Club, the event is free and open to the public. Dessert will be served at 6:30.
An independent filmmaker, Kahn has had his work presented on The Discovery Channel, CBS, WGBH-TV and WBZ-TV in Boston, as well as Vermont Public Television.
Kahn has spent the last twelve summers paddling wilderness rivers in the Brooks Range and North Slope in Northwestern Alaska. He has traveled extensively in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, spending more than 300 days on the Colville River and its tributaries.
His talk will focus on spending time traveling wilderness rivers, in an area with which few people are familiar. A question-and-answer period will follow his presentation.
The inappropriately named National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) is 23.5 million acres of wilderness. It is home to the Western and Central Caribou herds, wolves, bears, wolverines and a rich assortment of raptors, songbirds and waterfowl. Kahn’s photographs and journals record intense light, an ocean of unnamed mountains, crystal clear rivers, delicate wild flowers and glimpses of the animals whose lives are woven into the fabric of the place.
Kahn’s credits also include MSNBC, NOVA, Frontline, and Bill Moyers Journal. The filmmaker received an Emmy in 1983 for “7 North,” a documentary on nurses in a neurological unit and in 1973 for “A New Beginning,” about four teenage patients in a spinal cord injury unit. While he has made films on a great variety of topics, Kahn has spent the most time and feels the strongest connection to films concerning health care and ethical decision-making as well as end-of-life issues.
The Unitarian Universalist Church is located at 14 Main Street (Route One) in Kennebunk.
Photo caption: A lone caribou grazes on the Brooks Range in Northwestern Alaska. Filmmaker and ardent canoeist Richard Kahn will share his photographs and observations in “Travels by Canoe in Alaska’s Western Arctic,” a Sierra Club presentation, at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 30, at the Kennebunk Unitarian Universalist Church at 114 Main Street. (Photo by Richard Kahn)

What the…? A Review of Stephen King’s ‘Mile 81’

By Chip Schrader

Book Reviewer
Stephen King continues his experiment with publishing with “Mile 81,” a story that is published strictly as an eBook to be downloaded to a Nook, iPad, Kindle or any of the other e-readers edging their way into the market. King is known to play with publishing formats: electronic, serial (“The Green Mile”), and comic and graphic novel re-releases (“The Dark Tower”), to name a few. With this eBook, it is evident that King is still having fun writing and publishing his stories, and he is taking his fans with him for the joyride.
As any Maine resident knows, Exit 81, under the new exit naming system, stands at 81 miles north of the Maine border on I-95. The whole story takes place at the abandoned rest area on this exit.
Long-time readers will be taken back a few years with this story. King’s main character is a ten-year-old boy, Pete Simmons, who wants to prove he is rough enough to hang out with his brother’s gang. With a half-full bottle of vodka and his favorite magnifying glass packed in his bag, he decides to hide out in the abandoned shack at this exit. For a ten-year-old, Pete has a precocious knowledge of the female anatomy, and a sense of mischief that is almost impossible to believe.
The chapters of this novella, clocking in at the equivalent of 80 print pages, are divided into the characters that will meet their untimely demise at this exit, and the make of their car. For example, Chapter 3 is named “Julianne Vernon (’05 Dodge Ram).” Known as the horse lady, Julianne stops at the exit curious about a Prius parked with a mucky station wagon. As time moves along, she gets eaten by that muddy wagon. Yes, she is eaten by a car.
The story is strange, not unlike “Christine,” which he references in this story, but it works. “Mile 81” is gruesome, bizarre, and silly, but also inventive and fun. King has an imagination that makes most of his contemporaries scoff in envy, perhaps the reason for the literary snobbery that he has been the target of in the past. Sometimes King goes out to the edge – a car eating people isn’t exactly in our realm of believability – but he weaves the campiest concepts into the kind of fun storytelling that hearkens back to old Americana.
Moreover, as he did in “Under the Dome,” he doesn’t just mercilessly slaughter character after character without a care. The characters in each segment are believable, and the reader pities their demise. In each character’s backstory, King reminds us these are loved ones with real souls who have reached out to others in their lifetimes. There is a sense of tragedy in their passing, this is where King’s genius as a horror writer shines through. He never forgets these people are human. The grisly horrific occurrences are actually episodes of high drama that ends these everyday lives.
The narration is quirky, preadolescent, filthy and very funny. At times the pop culture references and youthful tone seem a little forced, but still attention grabbing. To figure out why in the world (and how) this car is eating people is the driving force to finish reading the story, the answer is pure campy delight, and possibly predictable to select King fans. The style of storytelling and bizarre plot are classic Stephen King that references to the early short stories, novellas and novels that put him and the state of Maine on the modern literary map. Not his best work to date, but highly recommended!
File Size: 213 KB. Print Length: 80 pages. Publisher: Scribner (September 1, 2011).
Photo caption: (Courtesy e-book cover image of Stephen King’s “Mile 81”)

Kennebunk Elementary School’s Harvest Fair to Bring the Community Together

KENNEBUNK—

Members of the public are invited to attend a Harvest Fair at Kennebunk Elementary School on Thursday, September 22, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. The Fair, part of RSU 21’s celebration of Maine Harvest Lunch, will be held rain or shine in the garden area behind the school gym. The Harvest Fair is an opportunity for students, families, and community members to meet many of the farmers who have grown and raised food for the school cafeterias.
A Farmer’s Market, where fairgoers can purchase produce, will feature a number of farms including: Archer Angus (beef), Chick Farm (organic chicken and vegetables), Fenderson Farms (fresh produce), Groundwork Farm (organic and heirloom vegetables), Pullen Manor Farms (with goats and other live animals), Santoro’s Honey, and Tibbetts Family Farm (corn, tomatoes, winter squash & pumpkins).
The Fair will also include tours of the K.E.S. vegetable garden, storytelling, a scavenger hunt, and a craft project for kids. Admission to the Fair is free.
The Harvest Fair is part of a larger event RSU 21 students will participate in during the school day. This is the 10th year that the district has participated in Maine Harvest Lunch, an event promoted by the Maine School Nutrition Association. RSU 21’s Food Services Director Ellen Demmons and her staff are busy preparing recipes for this year’s celebration. Demmons has created a full week of school lunch menus around the Maine Harvest theme—although the original goal was to develop only a single lunch menu.
Throughout the week of September 19th, school staff will be demonstrating that healthful eating can be done with locally available foods. “It is a lot of extra work,” says Demmons, “but well worth the effort.” On Monday, students will be served Sloppy Joes with Archer Angus Farm’s beef, Maine broccoli, and blueberries and cream. Menu options later in the week include Maine fish tacos with Harris Farms corn on the cob on Tuesday; and baked ziti with summer vegetables and a tossed salad made from Maine Romaine lettuce on Friday.
Although this is a special occasion, Demmons works with local Maine suppliers whenever she can. Giles Farm Apples, potato products from Penobscot McCrum, and Hood dairy products, for example, are staples in the cafeterias. In addition, Tibbetts Family Farm in Lyman collects food waste from the District’s cafeterias to help create compost for use in gardens such as those at the Nonantum Hotel in Kennebunkport.
Mary Gaucher, whose two children attend K.E.S., is working with teachers and parents to plan additional events for the Harvest Week. First graders will be harvesting vegetables from the KES garden to make their own vegetable soup, tying in with the book they are reading, “Stone Soup.”
Gaucher says, “We are excited to invite Tom Reagan, a chef from the community, to give a cooking lesson to the entire grade.”
Additional in-school activities will include a discussion with a local farmer and a “taste-test contest” of different recipes for zucchini and tomatoes to be held during lunches. Nutritious, kid-friendly recipes for the contest were researched by Kennebunk High School student Laura Broderick.
For more information, contact Jennifer Niese, 985-1656 H or 294-2961 cell, turnstone@gwi.net.
Photo caption: John Tibbetts of Tibbetts Family Farm will be among the farmers at the Kennebunk Elementary School Harvest Fair on Thursday, September 22, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Tibbetts provides pork for pulled pork sandwiches in the school cafeterias and collects leftover food waste to create compost. (Courtesy photo)