$30 Million Received to Improve the Energy Efficiency of Homes

AUGUSTA—
Vice President Joseph Biden has announced 25 communities across America that have won a total of $452 million in “Retrofit Ramp-up” energy efficiency grants, as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Maine has been awarded $30 million to help fund energy efficiency efforts in the state.
“As we prepare to mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day it is great to show that Maine is a leader in taking action to reduce our energy consumption, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and also reduce costs for Maine consumers,” said Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree. “For Maine to win this grant shows that we have one of the top energy efficiency programs in the country and that is something we should be proud of.”
The Retrofit Ramp-up initiative included a competitive grant application process that the Obama Administration says received nearly $3.5 billion in application requests. Because of actions taken by the Legislature in the last several years to create an infrastructure to assist businesses and homeowners undertake the task of making their structures more energy efficient, Maine was well positioned to compete for a share of the funds.
“Last year we established the Efficiency Maine Trust as a way to consolidate various efficiency programs so that Maine people could more easily find help in reducing their energy bills,” said Rep. Jon Hinck, the House chairman of the Utilities and Energy Committee. “This grant will also specifically take advantage of a process that we enacted this year. The Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE bill, will help cities and towns access these funds.”
PACE programs allow municipalities to raise money and lend it to property owners who apply for financing. Property owners repay their loans through an assessment on their property tax bill. The program is strictly voluntary, with municipalities deciding whether to establish PACE programs, and property owners participating if they want to.
“PACE programs are a great opportunity for property owners to weatherize their homes and save energy and money,” said Rep. Patsy Crockett, D-Augusta, the sponsor of the PACE bill. “These federal funds will ensure that the programs can be a success throughout the state and more Maine people will have the ability to make their homes and businesses energy efficient.”
Those interested in finding out more about how to make their homes or businesses more energy efficient should log on to Efficiency Maine’s web site for links to all of their programs: www.efficiencymaine.com.

Tourism Association Hosts Southern Maine’s First Hospitality Expo

YORK COUNTY—
The Maine Beaches Association is pleased to be hosting the 2010 Southern Maine Hospitality Training & Attractions Expo on May 11, 2010. This free event, the first of its kind in southern Maine, is sponsored through a grant from the Maine Office of Tourism and will be held from 1-6 p.m. at the beautiful Coastal House in Wells. The program is designed to support the tourism industry by offering training sessions on “Making the Maine Beaches Experience Great: It All Begins With ME!”, as well as an opportunity to network with and learn more about local attractions in a trade show setting. In addition to the program, there will be refreshments and hourly giveaways of tickets, passes and other prizes provided by participating attractions.
“We’re really excited about this event and the opportunity it gives to our local tourism industry,” says Karen Arel, President of the Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce and Maine Beaches Association board member. “With so many seasonal positions and staff turnover, there’s a definite need for this kind of training. Making visits to the south coast of Maine great so that people will return time and time again is a goal shared amongst all of us in the tourism industry, and this event is a great way to expand our toolboxes and make that happen.”
Attractions currently registered for the event include museums, amusement parks, arcades & mini golf, recreational programs, cruises and fishing charters, retailers, transportation providers and local arts venues.
While this event is focused on people working in the hospitality industry, members of the public wishing to learn more about the area and talk to representatives from local attractions are also invited to attend.
For more information and to register for the event visit: www.mainebeachesassociation.com.

Volunteers Needed for Cleanup of Town’s Oldest Cemetery

SOUTH BERWICK—
A cleanup of Old Fields Burying Ground on Vine Street will be held on the morning of Saturday, May 1 from 7 a.m. until noon. The rain date will be Sunday, May 2.
Neighbors and everyone who appreciates old cemeteries are invited to stop by any time, don gloves and pick up brush and leaves among the old headstones. Organizers Bruce and Vicky Whitney will provide free lunch at noon.
Located near the corner of Vine and Brattle Streets, the Old Fields Burying Ground was once South Berwick’s chief cemetery and dates from the 1600s.
“For the past two years, the neighbors of Old Fields and members of the Old Berwick Historical Society have joined together to help clean up and bring new life to the historic Old Fields Burying Ground,” Bruce Whitney said, adding that all ages and all talent levels are welcomed.
“It doesn’t matter where you live in town,” he said. “If you have an hour or two on May 1, please join us. If you have a rake and a ground cloth, please bring them. And everybody should dress with long pants and long sleeves.”
So far over the past two years, volunteers have removed 40 trees from the overgrown cemetery, which covers 1.75 acres overlooking Leigh’s Mill Pond. Some eight tons of leaves, logs, branches and brush have been cleaned up and hauled off, said Whitney.
The number of volunteers grew from 24 to 44 last year, and Whitney is hoping to see 50 helpers this year.
“The transformation of this cemetery is not complete but great and noticeable progress has been achieved,” he added. “You will work hard and you will work constantly, but you will also be rewarded for your efforts.”
Also known as Vine Street Cemetery, the Old Fields Burying Ground contains 339 known graves, including South Berwick’s founders and veterans of the World Wars, Civil War, French and Indian Wars and the American Revolution. It is no longer cared for by local cemetery authorities and currently depends on volunteers for maintenance.
One of the interesting graves is that of the early colonist Hetty Goodwin, who was captured by the Indians and carried to Canada in 1689.
Veterans’ graves include those of a Civil War brevet major, and soldiers of the American Revolution. The cemetery is also the resting place of early Congregational ministers, including Rev. Jeremiah Wise, ordained here 300 years ago when this area was the center of town. The community’s main church stood here and residents worked at sawmills on the Great Works River and a shipyard near the Hamilton House. Jonathan Hamilton’s grave is in the burying ground as well.
For more information about the cleanup event, please contact Bruce Whitney (207) 384-384-2051, 384-2753 or BWHITNEY@GWI.NET. History information about the cemetery can be found at the Old Berwick Historical Society’s website, www.oldberwick.org.
Photo caption: Volunteers are needed to clean up Old Fields Burying Ground on Vine Street in South Berwick on Saturday, May 1, from 7 a.m. to noon. Shown here are some of last year’s spring cleanup volunteers. (Courtesy photo)

May Day Festival in Kennebunk

KENNEBUNK—
Kennebunk’s 12th Annual May Day Festival will be held on Saturday, May 1, 2010 and promises to be a full day of family-friendly activities throughout Downtown Kennebunk. Look for our new maps on Main Street to plot your course and join us for some or all the excitement that day!
Important note: The May Day Parade will begin at 1:30 p.m. and will include all the Kennebunks’ Little Leaguers in full uniform! (Everyone connected with the Little League is asked to park behind the Lafayette Center – routes from there to your games will be provided!) There will also be some well-known Mascots, antique/classic cars, the Shoe String Puppet Theater and Shriners!
Visit the open house at The Brick Store Museum (make your own May-basket), stop by the faerie garden planting and book/bake sale at The Kennebunk Free Library and celebrate opening day for The Kennebunk Farmers Market just off Main Street in the public parking lot. Check out the Maine Women in the Arts exhibit at The Kennebunk Inn, the craft market booths with artists/craftspeople at Lafayette Park on Storer Street and try your hand at chalk art at We Care Cleaners on the way by (no experience necessary!). There will be May-pole dancing, a rock climbing wall and all the usual Main Street shops will be open along with restaurants, and miscellaneous food vendors.
Multiple live bands will be playing in Lafayette Park on Storer Street, as well as the gazebo on Water Street throughout the afternoon. Come hear Ray Brown House Band, The Kennebunk River Band, Ketchfish Blues Band and Bob Cangello. Also performing will be Starbird Life Players and The Little Melodies Band. Don’t forget your lawn chair or bring a blanket!
A complete schedule of events, and list of sponsors who make this event happen, will be available soon at www.kennebunkdowntown.com; go to Calendar and scroll down to May.

New Guide Helps Identify Maine’s Natural Communities

AUGUSTA—
It’s easy to say – almost to the point of being clichéd -- that Maine people live in a unique region of the U.S., but two state ecologists are proving just that with a new book that’s just been published.
Susan C. Gawler, regional vegetation ecologist with NatureServe, a non-profit conservation science organization, and Andrew Cutko, a Maine Natural Areas Program (MNAP) ecologist with the Maine Department of Conservation, are co-authors of “Natural Landscapes of Maine: A Guide to Natural Communities and Ecosystems,” recently published by MNAP.
The new guidebook outlines and defines the 104 distinct, natural communities of which the state is comprised, proving just how special Maine really is. From the rare-to-Maine alpine bogs found in the Mahoosucs to the globally rare riverside seeps on the St. John River, Maine has some truly unusual landscapes, and Cutko and Gawler are helping everyone from conservationists to teachers to backyard naturalists discover that fact.
“We recognize that Maine is a special place that many people take for granted,” Cutko said recently. “Part of the message of the book is to give readers a real sense of place about where they live.”
“Conservation practitioners can use this as a technical guide, but more broadly, people who love the outdoors and the natural beauty of Maine can learn more about its diversity both statewide and close to home,” Gawler said. “There’s so much to see when you look closely! Appreciating the diversity of Maine’s habitats is the first step in their conservation and sensible use.”
The unique field guide has been more than10 years in preparation and came about when Gawler and Cutko perceived different needs for clear, concise information about the various habitats in Maine. A licensed forester by training, Cutko pointed out that the MNAP works with hundreds of foresters, environmental consultants and developers who need the program’s ecological information for conservation planning and development to minimize impact.
Much of the program’s information already existed in a notebook format with highly technical verbiage, definitely not the most user-friendly. “Some of our constituents can digest that type of information,” Cutko said, “but we recognized there was a much broader segment of the population, such as the weekend naturalist or fourth-grade teacher, who had an interest in the world around them.”
Gawler, who previously was a MNAP ecologist, did the bulk of the initial information analysis and crunched the technical data, undertaking the process of determining landscape types. Cutko, who previously was director of NatureServe’s forest program, used his field knowledge to refine the definitions of the various communities. “Dozens and dozens of people” did the actual field work of collecting data in various habitats, notating the plants and animals that live in them around the state, he said.
What has resulted is a guide that is a significant tool for the identification and conservation of special places throughout the state that meets the technical and general description needs of both audiences.
In identifying the 104 unique communities, the two ecologists used a “top-down” approach, Cutko explained, starting with four specific subgroups that are color-coded in the book: wooded uplands; wooded wetlands; open uplands; and open wetlands.
“Even a grade-schooler can figure out if they’re in a forested upland or an open wetland,” the ecologist said. “One of the first questions we ask is: Are your feet wet or dry? Are there trees there or not? … By grouping them that way, we try to make use of the book compatible even to those with much less knowledge and experience.”
Under each subgroup, readers will find a two-page description of each type, including attractive photographs, maps and helpful lists on trees, shrubs, wildflowers and wildlife, and most importantly, where on Maine’s conservation lands each habitat can be visited. Introductory material includes a diagnostic key and how each classification fits into a bigger picture for conservation; appendices include a cross-reference to other classification types and a glossary.
An interesting aspect of the guide is the inclusion of rankings by rarity. Some habitats are rare to Maine, but more common in other states, such as the oak-hickory forest found only in southern Maine but common from Massachusetts to West Virginia. Other habitats are “truly globally rare,” Cutko pointed out. These include the pitch pine-scrub oak barrens in southern Maine that require periodic burning to be maintained and the riverside seep in the St. John Valley, home of the Furbish’s lousewort, a rare and endangered snapdragon that grows nowhere else in the world.
The book was carefully designed by Cutko, Lisa St. Hilaire, MNAP information manager, and designer Cory Courtois of Waterville to be accessible and attractive. About 3,000 books have been printed through grants from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, the Maine Forest Service and the Sweet Water Trust of Boston. Initial responses, mostly from the environmental community, have been positive; an enthusiastic reader called it “one wicked nice book.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” Cutko acknowledged, “but we’re pretty confident it’s going to be useful to our constituents. What I am hopeful about are the high school kids or the amateur naturalist who want to know more about the woods and wetlands they’ve been walking through. Those are the Maine folks we also hope we reach.”
For more information about “Natural Landscapes of Maine,” go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/nrimc/mnap/publications/community_classification.htm. (Courtesy photo)

Legislature Sends Jobs Bond Questions to June Voters

AUGUSTA—
The Maine Legislature has voted to send a $57.8 million jobs bond package to Maine voters. The House and Senate agreed to a bipartisan, compromise package on April 12 that is smaller than the one passed by a two-thirds majority in the House last week but, if passed by voters, will make substantial investments in Maine’s economic infrastructure and create or save thousands of jobs this construction season.
“Putting people to work was our number one goal,” said Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell. “While I would have preferred to invest $85 million and put more people to work, this package will still make it possible for thousands of Maine people to earn paychecks this summer.”
The compromise package, which was enacted by a vote of 102 to 44 in the House and 30 to 5 in the Senate, contains $24.8 million for road and bridge construction, $6.5 million for the construction of a deep-water port, $500K for the Small Harbor Improvement Program, $5 million for investments in advanced equipment for wind power at the University of Maine, and $5 million for the construction of a community-based teaching clinic operated by a college of dental medicine and for upgrades to health and dental care clinics around the state.
“This is a timely and targeted jobs package that will make key investments in our infrastructure and keep Maine people working,” said Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree. “Unemployment is too high. We need to ensure that this summer is a busy one for Maine’s construction industry. This is a package that we can afford and one that we need to send out to Maine voters.”
The package, if approved by voters, also would include funding for the preservation of several key rail lines around the state. Most notably, the package includes a plan for keeping a section of rail connecting Aroostook County to the rest of the continent operational, preserving thousands of jobs there. The original bond package included $17 million for the preservation of the Aroostook County line. The compromise package includes a proposal to fund the acquisition of the rail line with a three-pronged approach. The package would ask voters to approve $7 million in bonds, which would be matched by $7 million in state funds from the Budget Stabilization Fund and $3 million from the shippers who utilize the line.
“It is imperative that we maintain these tracks,” said Rep. Ken Theriault (D- Madawaska.) “The number of businesses, communities and people that depend on these rails for the transport of lumber, wood chips, pulp wood, and heating fuels, are too numerous to count. Many businesses would lose their competitive edge if they are not able to receive and ship via rail. This abandonment will trickle down to many throughout the state. A state without rail in the North Country would not be inviting to new businesses, and the end result will be lost jobs.”
The $57.8 million package makes changes to questions that were already on the June ballot, reducing those by $13.5 million and $44.3 million in new proposed bonding. Items already on the June ballot that are being amended include the elimination of a proposal to bond $12 million for the weatherization of homes and businesses, reducing funding for the Working Waterfront program by $250K, reducing funding for the Small Enterprise Growth Fund by $1 million and reducing funding for the Maine Historic Preservation Commission by $250K.
According to the rating agency Standard and Poor’s, Maine has a “…favorable debt position with a low debt burden and rapid amortization of debt…” Maine has a low amount of debt per capita, ranking 33rd in nation according to Moody’s, and pays off debt over 10 years, rather than 30, like most states do.

Faith and Flesh

By Chip Schrader
Book Review Editor
“The Body of This” by Portland, Maine author Andrew McNabb, is a collection of short fiction, mostly flash fiction, depicting the spirituality, sensuality and architecture of Maine lives. While it is focused on sites like Marginal Way, Congress Street, and towns “forty five miles up the Maine coast from Portland” as far down as Boston, the stories, or better yet, snippets of each character’s life pulls this collection from regional fiction to a literary study.
The first story, “The Architecture of Things,” skims the back story of John Thomas, a tattooed blue collar worker and his lover Aoife, a devout Catholic who found true love in her opposite. The architecture of the story is sparse framework, many details are spared, and some sensual details and observations remain. Setting the tone of religion, eccentricity, sensuality, and nakedness, the story is well placed at the beginning.
To draw out the theme of eccentricity, “The Artist” begins with “My name is Trevor. I want to die.” As he tells his story about a moment in his life as an art student at the Maine College of Art in Portland, he watches a retirement home and paints it stating he wants to see it “breathe.” He observes the elderly people in a state of suspended animation by our culture. They waste away with nothing to do. But, as the story winds down, we begin to understand, in a way, where he is going with his fascination with dying, or being alive just before that time might come.
There are some very short pieces that McNabb somehow manages to wedge a complete story into, as well. “The Hunchback of Munjoy Hill” is about as long as this review, maybe shorter, and depicts an elderly man who suddenly takes to swearing in his old age. The reason springs up at the end like a riddle, and indicates a possible commentary on the change of human values without really judging the situation or character.
Such is the case with every story. The initial actions and descriptions make the reader shrug and wonder “so what,” and as the story winds to a close, there isn’t always a resolution, but the cryptic details make sense. McNabb spares the reader of any judgment or blame; snippets of their lives are just economically documented. The temptation is to blow through each story, but they demand the reader to meditate upon them. Like poetry, the reader should take each paragraph, and use the sparse wording as an opportunity to observe what is, and is not written.
From a character going back to their childhood home after years of forgetting their past, like in “Piles,” to a character who has never been naked before his wife in his eight decades, all of McNabb’s characters try to resolve the conflict between the spiritual and physical world. The common theme is managing one’s way through a strange life that follows no convention or norm that the architectures of society or religion, have failed to dictate. “The Body of This” is a wonderful surprise from a collection that could fit into a Sunday devotional.
Photo caption: (Courtesy photo of book cover)