4th Annual 2009 Festival of “Fostering” Trees

YORK—
The Festival of “Fostering” Trees is back for another year and we’ll continue our mission of joining the entire community together by providing a beautiful festival of decorated Christmas Trees for your viewing pleasure while giving back to our community - all at the same time.
How it works:
The Festival of “Fostering” Trees raffles off decorated artificial Christmas Trees that were donated from the community! Come stroll through our enchanted forest of beautiful trees and take a chance on your favorites, no two trees are alike!
All proceeds will help youth living in York County Foster care.
Location, dates, and times: American Legion Post #56 function facility.
Friday – Dec. 4th – 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday – Dec. 5th – 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday – Dec. 6th – 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday - Dec. 6th - Raffle @ 4:15 p.m.; Calls placed to winners 6 p.m.-9 p.m.; Monday - Dec. 7th - Pick up of all trees 8 a.m.-noon.
Entry Fee: Support the American Legion’s Toys for Tots Program by donating a new, unwrapped toy and/or gift card or support the York Food Pantry by donating a non-perishable food item or support both by making a monetary donation at the door and this will serve as your entry fee to the Festival. You do not have to purchase raffle tickets in order to stroll around and view all of the beautifully decorated trees and enjoy the Spirit of the Season.
Refreshments served each day. Raffle Tickets are 25 for only $5.FMI Call Janalee @ 361-2116 or 423-4281, or Email @ janaleemoquin8@yahoo.com.
Photo caption: The 4th annual Festival of “Fostering” Trees kicks off Dec. 4. (Courtesy photo)

Bashaw named Chairwoman ofOgunquit Chamber Board of Directors

By Jim Kanak
Staff Columnist
OGUNQUIT—
Carla Bashaw has added some new responsibilities to the ones she routinely executes as the owner of Genesis Day Spa in Ogunquit. She was recently named Chairwoman of the Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce’s 12-member Board of Directors. She takes the post at a time when the Chamber is taking on some new things.
“We want to do fun and family oriented things to get businesses and residents together,” Bashaw said. “Our focus is pulling the community together as well.”
Most immediately, Bahsaw, Chamber President/Executive Director Karen Arel, and their colleagues on the Board are looking to the upcoming Christmas by the Sea weekend on Dec. 11 - 13. “We’re looking for it to be one of our best events,” said Bashaw. “We’ve added a bell choir concert and will continue with carolers at different locations. The carolers will be at the Tree Lighting at Veteran’s Park on Friday night. The Village Spirit Committee is putting on the parade again. We’re still having the chowder and chocolate fest. It’s always fun.”
Bashaw noted that the Chamber puts on events throughout the year, including the OgunquitFest weekend in October, the Patriot’s Day weekend in April, and the Sidewalk Art Show in August.
“In the past few years, we’ve started the Mardi Gras event in the winter and Cinco de Mayo in May,” Bashaw said. “We just did Celebrations by the Sea, where the Dunaway was transformed into an Expo. We’re currently working on a restaurant week in the spring, a new and different way to showcase restaurants. It may be a progressive supper. We’re hoping it will culminate with a wait staff Olympics, with events like hurdles for food servers. We think it will be fun.”
The events aren’t the only thing the Chamber does, Bashaw said. “The Chamber facilitates interactions among members, through things like our monthly Business After Hours,” she said. “We have put on seminars in the past, that have been free to members. We’re working on getting promoted in places like Boston. We use co-op ads that allow members to have exposure at lower cost. We have a calendar of events on our website where members can post events. We try to keep members informed about anything political that might affect them. We offer different services and benefits.”
In the past in Ogunquit, as in many resort communities, there have been some tensions between businesses and the police, particularly over things like parking and traffic enforcement. Bashaw said that situation was much improved. “It’s going great,” she said. “The police and fire chiefs and the Town Manager have taken great strides in creating more of a feeling of unity. The selectmen have been a big part of it as well. It was apparent this summer when we put the fireworks on again.”
Looking to the future, Bashaw said the Chamber wanted to take advantage of the growth its experienced. “The Chamber has grown in the past three years,” she said. “We need the members to get involved and give us their ideas. The Board looks to members for ideas on what would help them.”
Photo caption: Carla Bashaw (Jim Kanak photo)

Christmas on the Coast in Kittery

KITTERY—
The Seacoast Kiwanis Club for the 16th year is sponsoring the Kittery Holiday Parade on Saturday, Dec. 5th. The parade theme is Christmas on the Coast.
The parade begins at 3 p.m. from the Post Office Square on Shapleigh Road, with judging of various units beginning at 2:40 p.m. (Late arrivals will be accepted but may not be judged.) We recommend that participants arrive at around 2 p.m. to allow time for set-up and alignment. Trophies will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each division of the parade.
When the parade leaves Post Office Square it will turn left on Shapleigh, right on Whipple, left on Wentworth, then through the Square, right on Government and finally circling John Paul Jones Park finishing at the Christmas Tree.
At the Park a musical selection will be played by the combined Traip and Shapleigh School Bands followed by the announcement of award winners and lighting of the Tree by Santa and Mrs. Claus.
The Kittery Rotary will serve hot cocoa and cookies. Every one is invited to stay and enjoy the refreshments.
Additional information is available at www.seacoastkiwanis.com and www.facebook.com or by contacting any Kiwanis Member or Glen Philbrook at 439-0721 or Norm Leon at 439-9292.

Golden Harvest named Employer of the Year by Center for Entrepreneurship

By Devin Beliveau
Staff Columnist
KITTERY—
For an old business, a new accolade.
Golden Harvest, a local produce market and specialty foods store, has been named Employer of the Year at York County Community College’s 5th Annual Entrepreneur Awards.
“I was really shocked. It was wonderful. We were flattered,” said co-owner Carla Spencer, who has owned and run Golden Harvest with her husband Jim since September 1998.
The Spencers received the award from the Center for Entrepreneurship at a ceremony at The Coastal House in Wells on Nov. 4th. Other finalists for the award were Province Automation in Sanford, and this newspaper, The Weekly Sentinel.
Eligibility for the award required that a business “maintained or added to staff levels in the past 12 months, and demonstrates stability as an employer.”
“We have a lot of long-term employees, some that have been with us 30 years,” said Jim Spencer. “We don’t turn over a lot of people. We bring people in, they stay with us. We bring them along. That’s been really good for us. That’s the key to what we do.”
Golden Harvest has continued to add employees over the past year despite the difficult economy. “We’ve added a couple of management positions and a couple of wholesale positions,” said Jim.
Since May 2006 the Spencers have also owned Carl’s Meat Market, which is located next door to Golden Harvest. “Between the two places it’s about 50 employees right now, and around 55 or 58 in the summer,” said Carla.
The economy has been a concern for the Spencers. “The economy effects the way things are. People spend less money,” said Carla. “But we are consistent with our numbers from last year, which is good,” added Jim.
Golden Harvest is a landmark business in Kittery’s “Gourmet Alley” on Route 1. “The community is very supportive, and they tell us what they think frequently, which is nice because it tells you how you’re doing,” said Carla.
Golden Harvest was nominated for Employer of the Year by Sen. Peter Bowman (D-Kittery). Jim Spencer believes that Golden Harvest’s willingness to go the extra mile for customers is what inspired Sen. Bowman’s nomination. “If you want something special, a unique bottle of wine, we’ll bring it in. People will ask for this and that and we’ll try to accommodate them,” said Jim.
Golden Harvest has been around “since the late 50s,” according to Jim. The Spencers purchased the business from Dominick Peluso, who started and ran the business for its first 40 years.
Carl’s Meat Market has been in and out of Carla’s family since the 1930s. “Carl Peschel, my great-grandfather, started it,” Carla explained. “After Carl Peschel passed away his son Ken took the business over. Then he sold it to Frank Belleville, who worked for him. Then we bought it from Frank.”
The Spencers are clearly proud of the long local histories of these two community markets. “Our goal is to always maintain what the Golden Harvest was, but also keep changing with the times,” Carla said. Jim nodded in agreement, and also added that as Employer of the Year, “We’re happy just the way it is.”
Golden Harvest and Carl’s Meat Market are located at 47 and 25 State Road (Route 1) in Kittery.
Photo caption: Carla and Jim Spencer of Golden Harvest in Kittery. (Devin Beliveau photo)

Collaboration in the Air with Libraries in the Berwicks

By Jim Kanak
Staff Columnist
THE BERWICKS—
In the face of shrinking resources and a desire to maximize library services for their constituents, Librarians Sandy Broomfield (Berwick), Mamie Ney (South Berwick) and Beth Sweet (D.A. Hurd, North Berwick) took an historic step recently. They agreed formally to a reciprocal arrangement that allows legal residents of each of the three towns to sign up for free library cards at all three libraries.
“We have been collaborating, but not formally,” said Ney.
“We decided the three of us could have patrons from each town share the library,” said Broomfield.
It wasn’t a simple matter, however. To complete the agreement, the librarians had to get their boards (in the case of Berwick and D.A. Hurd) and town officials (in the case of South Berwick) to go along with the idea. The different organizational structures of the three facilities complicated things. Only the South Berwick library is a town department; Berwick and Hurd are non-profits directed by boards of directors.
They convinced folks that collaboration was a good thing.
“For example, it saves us from inter-library loan costs,” Sweet said. “Usually, books are mailed between libraries and $2.45 is the average mailing fee. So giving people cards helps with that. We’re also all small libraries, so jointly hosting events can draw larger audiences.”
In fact, joint events are already on the drawing board, thanks to a grant the group got from the Maine Humanities Council to support the formation of a book discussion group.
“The grant will provide a facilitator to run five book discussions,” Sweet said. “It will also provide the books to lend.”
“The Council was looking for libraries to work together, so that worked in our favor,” said Ney.
“The hope is that we’ll alternate the discussions among all three libraries, so people will get familiar with (ones outside their towns),” Sweet said.
The discussion groups will likely begin in March. But that’s not the only shared activity. Museum passes is another area of collaboration.
“We got a $2,500 grant from Kennebunk Savings Bank for all three to get museum passes, to places like the Maine Children’s Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Portland Museum of Art, Strawbery Banke and Willowbrook,” Broomfield said.
The trio continues to explore other possibilities. “There are so many ways to cooperate, like ordering supplies together (to get better prices),” Ney said. “There’s a lot we can do internally and externally. It also gives us a good excuse to get together, to see how we’re dealing with similar things.”
Sweet agreed. “We could do staff training together and fundraising,” she said. “Maybe we could do an annual golf tournament. If we combined forces, we could see larger fundraising events.”
Like many industries, the landscape for public libraries is changing and that motivates the need for creative thinking.
“Our mission is changing,” said Ney. “We’re becoming an information town commons. That’s been important to all libraries.”
And that also drives the desire to collaborate. “We’re trying to unite so that we can present the greatest opportunities for all our residents,” Broomfield said.

New Owners Re-Open Litchfield’s

By Jim Kanak
Staff Columnist
WELLS —
There’s a new dining and entertainment venue in Wells at a familiar old location. Litchfield’s Bar and Grill, under new owners Elaine and Bob Stone and Execuitve Chef Tom Perron (Elaine’s brother), opened its doors on Nov. 18. Located at the site of the former Litchfield’s Restaurant, the new operation offers not only an extensive dining menu and full bar, but also a video game room and pizza parlor that offers a variety of pizzas, subs, appetizers, salads, and Italian dishes.
“We make almost everything from scratch,” Perron said. “We make our own burgers, pizza sauce, ribs, even the batter for fried chicken. All our soups and stews are homemade. We try to do as much as we can.”
Indeed, the dinner menu is five pages long, and offers everything from soups to salads to sandwiches to steaks, chicken and seafood. And the menu is reasonably priced, with no entrée above $20.
And there is full bar service as well. “We have a new tap system, with 14 beers on tap and two separate taps,” said Perron, noting also that the bar was fully stocked with wine and other spirits.
Separating the dining area from the pizza parlor is a game room, with a multitude of game options. “It’s a full game room,” Perron said. “There’s Guitar Hero, poker, classic Pac-man, NBA Showtime, things like that.”
There’s even a game that offers an opportunity to win Coach bags.
The pizza parlor also offers specialty pizzas like shrimp and sweet sausage, clams casino (clams, bacon, and bell peppers), eggplant and feta cheese, and Hawaiian ham and pineapple, to name just a few.
“People can dine in, carry out, use curbside pick-up, or have delivery,” said Perron. For now, delivery is limited to Wells only, though that could change in the future.
The operation uses the shell of the former restaurant, with the interior fully renovated. The dining area seats 150, with the familiar atrium room still an attractive feature of the dining room, giving it a bright and airy feel. The bathrooms were completely redone also and are handicap accessible.
Perron said there are plans to expand in the future. The plan is to use the land to the rear of the building to put another, adjoining structure with a capacity of 150 that would allow the restaurant to handle functions, and offer music and entertainment.
Perhaps the most unique feature of the restaurant, though, has nothing to do with food. There’s a memorial to the victims of the 9-11attacks – a fountain – that sits between the entrances to the restaurant and the pizza parlor. Perron said it will be dedicated on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, at 2 p.m. The dedication will be attended by firefighters from throughout southern Maine.
Litchfield’s, 2135 Post Road in Wells, is open seven days a week from 11 a.m.
Photo caption: Bartender Deb Vaughn at the new 14 beer tap system at Litchfield’s Bar and Grill in Wells. (Jim Kanak photo)

$1 Million Federal Award advancesConservation of York River

YORK—
York Land Trust (YLT) and the Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea conservation partners (MtA2C) announce the protection of an ecologically significant property on the York River in York. In 2005, aided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gulf of Maine Program, the partners made a “federal case” for supporting York River conservation and won a million dollar North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) award. It was recently used to purchase 240 acres of pristine saltmarsh, shorelands, field and forested uplands from the Davis family, one or York’s founding families and long time supporters of community conservation.
“Our family settled this land in the 1600’s and lived on it continuously until 1963, when our great aunt Alice R. McIntire died and our mother Mary McIntire Davis inherited the land. Before her death, it was our mother’s fondest wish that the land remain undeveloped and in its natural state in-perpetuity. We believe conveying the land to the good stewards of the York Land Trust will ensure our mother’s legacy and provide for the enjoyment of the citizens and visitors of York. My brothers, Dan and Jim, and I are pleased to be able to continue our family’s affiliation with the York Land Trust,” said Mal Davis.
“We are grateful to the Davis Family for working with us to protect this spectacular property and for their generosity in selling the land for less than its market value, as a donation to the York Land Trust. The success of the project was due in part to this important gift,” said Doreen MacGillis, Executive Director of York Land Trust. “In addition, the value of a partially donated conservation easement to Maine Coast Heritage Trust by the Delano family on a 390-acre parcel on Gerrish Island in Kittery last year provided critical match necessary to secure the federal NAWCA grant.”
The NAWCA proposal was a rigorous process that focused national attention on the York River System’s distinctive preservation arguments including 1) that the River’s estuary, shoreland and contiguous forested uplands provide priority habitat for 100 types of waterbirds, or nearly every species regularly seen in the entire Atlantic Flyway, 2) that conserving the lands connected to the River and its source wetlands and streams protects many non-bird species including half of the entire possible diversity for estuarine fishes in Maine, rare turtles, amphibians, invertebrates, and mammals, and 3) that the rich marshes of the York River comprise one of the largest intact coastal wetland areas in southern Maine. Project leader Stewart Fefer with the USFWS Gulf of Maine Program said, “This York River project protects forever a diversity of nationally significant coastal wetland habitats for fish, wildlife and people. We are delighted to have been able to assist in this important conservation partnership.”
According to aquatic biologist Michele Dionne, PhD. director of research at the Wells Reserve (WNERR), “from harbor to headwaters, the York River, an exemplary New England coastal watershed has retained an impressive degree of ecological integrity. The ecology of the River is directly connected to the ecology of its surrounding landscape. If the shorelands lose their natural functions, so do the brooks, streams, creeks and channels of the watershed and estuary. As an aquatic scientist, I greatly appreciate the timely and critically important work of the Mt A to the Sea Coalition in protecting the lands that protect the River. As a local resident, I understand the depth of commitment required to pursue this far-from-simple mission. As a parent, I am truly grateful for the Coalition’s growing natural legacy - a gift beyond measure to us all.
This is one of 45 projects, representing a total of 2,746 acres that the Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea Coalition has completed since its inception in 2002.
Photo caption: Conservation lands conserved by the Mt. A to the Sea project (Courtesy photo)