I’M JUST CURIOUS: Other uses for booze

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by Debbie Walker

I do enjoy discovering the different uses for ordinary things, some I cannot imagine how people discover these uses. Seems a lot of the uses come up just by accident such as using Preparation H for the bags under our eyes. That one I just do not think I want to know.

The information I am passing on today may come as a disappointment to some of you. However, some will be relieved to discover a use for left over vodka, whiskey, etc. if it is not your drink of choice but a bottle is left at your house. The following will be those suggestions:

VODKA:

Washing clothes: kills bacteria, odorless and colorless. Put some in a spray bottle and spray on clothes before hanging them to dry. Great freshener for the. Think I’ll try that one.

Shinier hair: Single shot of vodka mixed in your shampoo bottle. Stimulates hair growth, remove toxins, and gets frizzy hair under control.

Dandruff Shampoo: Combine a tablespoon of dried rosemary and a cup of vodka, strain the liquid and then rub into your scalp to remove dandruff.

Lighter Pie Crust: Replace one-third of the water with vodka to create a pie crust that is softer and more enjoyable.

Cure Poison Ivy: Just pour a little bit of vodka on the afflicted area.

Beautify face: Mix a cup of green tea with one-fourth teaspoon of vodka, then dabbing the liquid over your face with a cotton ball, it can help close pores and tighten your skin.

Toothache: Swirl a shot of vodka around your mouth, especially around the painful area to disinfect it and numb the pain a bit.

Removes Stains: To remove ink, red wine, and other food stains. Apply with vodka-soaked rag and dab area gently.

Relaxes Muscles: (I bet!) Combine water and vodka in a zip-lock bag and then freeze the entire thing. Vodka prevents it from freezing completely, slush is great for aching muscle.

Stinky Feet: (Don’t hurt the messenger!) Pour some on your toes.

Laundry: On vacation keep clothes smelling fresh by filling a spray bottle with vodka and spraying your clothes. Leave the now clean clothes out to dry in a well-ventilated area.

Repels Insects: Spray bottle and vodka. Spraying it on will defeat mosquitoes and other insects who like the taste of your skin. (If a policeman stops you and figures out what it is, just tell him it’s for medical purposes!)

Cleans cutlery: Soak the pieces for about five minutes in vodka before rinsing and drying off.

Cuts rust: Soak rusted items like screws, scissors, etc., in vodka for a few hours before rubbing rust off.

Dries out clogged ears: vodka can dry out your ears after swimming. Put a few drops of vodka in to dry them out.

Cut flowers live longer: A teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of vodka to the water in your flower vase will keep the flowers looking good longer.

I am running out of room so I will just add vodka at below 60 percent alcohol as a disinfectant.

Spare your liver and put the vodka to better use! (Just being funny, I hope!)

I’m just curious if you have ever used any of these. Let me know, please. Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Soprano: Licia Albanese; Poet: Alice Christiana Meynell

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Licia Albanese

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Soprano: Licia Albanese

Parnassus recordings, PAR 1001, lp reissue of 78s and live arias recorded from 1936-46.

Licia Albanese (1909-2014) had one of the most magnificently beautiful soprano voices ever to be heard on record and I say this as a big fan of Maria Callas, Angela Gheorghiu, Mirella Freni, Victoria de los Angeles yada yada. This LP gathered a number of 78s she recorded for the Italian label, La Voce Del Padrone, between 1936 and 1940, the latter year being when she made her debut at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera and became a regular for 26 years; the program of 13 selections also contained three live radio appearances during World War II and encompassed Neapolitan songs and operatic arias from Bizet’s Carmen, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly and Turandot. And every selection is a gem.

But instead of trying to use my own words in describing these gems, I will provide what the annotator for this album wrote:

“Magic is a mysterious thing, and there was no mystery about Licia Albanese’s greatness. She was perpetually engaged in a quest for beauty in opera, and she sang with beautiful tone and beautiful art. To Albanese, every movement and every sound was meant to express the character she was portraying-but never at the expense of beauty. She was a beautiful woman and opera at the Metropolitan during the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s was more beautiful because of her.”

Her most famous role was Cio Cio San in Madame Butterfly, which she sang more than 300 times. A lot of her singing, along with interviews, can be accessed on YouTube.

Poet: Alice Christiana Meynell

Alice Christiana Meynell

Victorian poet Alice Christiana Meynell (1847-1922) was a devout Catholic and feminist and actively campaigned for women’s rights and against poverty and cruelty to animals. She is little read today, which is an unfortunate omission. I offer her very eloquent, powerful poem, The Lady Poverty, published in 1895:

The Lady Poverty was fair;
But she has lost her looks of late,
With change of times and change of air.
Ah, slattern! she neglects her hair,
Her gown, her shoes; she keeps no state
As once when her pure feet were bare.

Or — almost worse, if worse can be —
She scolds in parlors, dusts and trims,
Watches and counts. Oh, is this she
Whom Francis met, whose step was free,
Who with Obedience caroled hymns,
In Umbria walked with Chastity?

Where is her ladyhood? Not here,
Not among modern kinds of men;
But in the stony fields, where clear
Through the thin trees the skies appear,
In delicate spare soil and fen,
And slender landscape and austere.

What resonates so much is this poet’s sense of anger and heartbreak and how beauty, truth, honor and justice are so elusive in this world. Things do not seem to have changed much in the 125 years since this poem was published.

A history of Hussey’s General Store

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by Mary Grow

Hussey’s General Store, at 510 Ridge Road (Route 32) just south of the Route 105 intersection, has a website and its own Wikipedia entry, both quoting the store’s slogan, “If we ain’t got it, you don’t need it.” The business has operated for 97 years and is now owned and managed by the third and fourth generations of the Hussey family.

Harland B. Hussey opened the original store in 1923 in a former stable in the northwest angle of the Windsor Corners intersection, Linwood H. Lowden says in good Land & fine Contrey but Poor roads a history of Windsor, Maine (1993). Harland Hussey’s son, Elwin Hussey, recalls that the stable belonged to the Dutton family, who had for many years owned what Lowden calls the Haskell lot, where Hussey’s now stands. Lowden, who did his typical comprehensive research in deeds and other documents on the Haskell lot, writes that Harry Pinkham was running the Dutton store on the Haskell lot when it burned in 1923.

Harland Hussey, his son says, was a cousin of Pinkham’s wife and was running a car dealership half a mile south. He says Harland Hussey sold Stars and Durants (both manufactured in Lansing, Michigan by Durant Motors, Inc., from 1921 to 1931).

When Harland Hussey learned that Pinkham did not plan to rebuild, he bought the whole property, Elwin Hussey says, and opened his store. The stable-become-store building, which is now used as a warehouse, was expanded at least twice, Lowden writes, for the second time in 1947 when Elwin Hussey joined his father in the business.

Elwin and Shirley Hussey had two daughters and one son, whom they named Benjamin Jay. Jay Hussey’s daughter, Kristen (Hussey) Ballantyne, says her grandfather was born in 1923, the same year the store opened. He started working there in his ‘20s, as manager of the electronics and appliances department, and later took over the business.

In 1953 the family built the present store on the southwest corner of the intersection. Ballantyne says her great-grandmother, Harland Hussey’s wife Mildred, took advantage of the expanded space to start the store’s bridal business in 1953 and 1954, and in April 1954 organized a celebration of the new building and the new department.

Jay Hussey and Kristen Ballantyne now co-own the business. Ballantyne says she has worked in the store since childhood; after college, a short career in social work and marriage, she returned to Hussey’s in 2009 and describes herself as co-owner/general manager and overseer of the clothing and bridal departments. Her half-sister, Lindsay French Hannon, has worked in the bridal department for the past 10 years, she adds.

Lowden writes that the first Haskell store was started in 1837, where the north end of Hussey’s store is now, and by 1841 Ambrose Bryant had a second store on the next lot south, under the middle of present-day Hussey’s. Both disappeared in the early 1850s, and the lot was vacant until in September 1874 the Dutton building was moved from South Windsor.

Lowden quotes part of the description of the move from Roger Reeves’ diary (even though, he writes, it had previously been quoted in the Windsor sesquicentennial history). Reeves, who headed the movers, says the building was put onto skids and rollers, and 56 yokes (pairs) of oxen – “the best team that I ever saw together” – were able to move it; but there should have been another 60 oxen, in Reeves’ opinion.

The move took two full days. By the end of the first day, Reeves wrote, “Men worked hard and ate a barrel of crackers and most of a 46-pound cheese with codfish for dessert.” His comment at the end of the second day was, “There has been one heavy hauling without rum!”

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Windsor

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by Mary Grow

Introduction: so far this series of historical essays has focused on towns along the central part of the Kennebec River between Augusta and Fairfield–Benton, and on the river itself. Next we’ll move inland to four towns farther east: Windsor, east of Augusta; China, east of Vassalboro; Albion, east of Winslow and southeast of Benton; and Palermo, east of China and barely touching Windsor on the southwest and Albion on the northwest.

Windsor, China and Albion are in Kennebec County; Palermo is in Waldo County. Windsor, China and Albion are in the watershed of the Sheepscot River. The main river flows southwest from Sheepscot Pond in Palermo; the West Branch originates in northwestern Palermo, flows through Branch Pond and joins the main river between Coopers Mills and North Whitefield.

Albion is in the Sebasticook River watershed; the Sebasticook flows into the Kennebec at Winslow.

* * * *

Unlike the Kennebec River towns, towns like Windsor were not always surveyed and settled from the coast or river inland. In his comprehensively researched good Land & fine Contrey but Poor roads a history of Windsor, Maine (1993), Linwood H. Lowden writes that Windsor was settled initially from Bristol via Whitefield to the south, later from China and Vassalboro to the north and northwest. Moving directly inland from Hallowell (later Augusta) on the Kennebec was discouraged by an intervening area of swampy, boulder-strewn land that would not appeal to aspiring farmers, he suggests.

How much Windsor’s settlement lagged behind its northern and southern neighbors depends on the source of information. Lowden says the first documented Windsor resident was Ebenezer Grover, who came from Ballstown (now Whitefield) and took over meadowland in southern Windsor, northeast of the current junction of Routes 17 and 32. Grover came in 1781, but kept his Ballstown farm until December 1786. Lowden cites deeds showing him in a house on the west bank of the West Branch of the Sheepscot River by 1793.

Another early settler was John Linn, who brought his wife and 10 children from Bristol in 1801 and settled in the Windsor Corner area in the middle of town. Windsor Corner, also called Windsor Corners and Windsor Four Corners, is the intersection of Route 32 (also Ridge Road) and Route 105 in the middle of town. In 1807 Linn wrote a letter about his property deed in which he used the phrase that is the title of Lowden’s book.

Henry D. Kingsbury says, in his 1892 Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892, that Walter Dockindoff (or Dockendorff, according to Lowden) who came from Bristol around 1790, was the first settler. Dockindoff’s land, Kingsbury says, was “about a mile west of Windsor Corner.”

Kingsbury says Dockindoff planted the first apple orchard in Windsor. Lowden believes Linn also started growing apples very early. When Linn sold his property in 1811 to his son, he reserved the right to continue to tend his trees and to move them later (which Lowden says he apparently did).

Lowden adds that by the 1860s Windsor was known for its apples, and they remained important in the agricultural economy until a hard freeze in the winter of 1933-34 killed many trees.

[See also: A history of Hussey’s General Store]

Kingsbury comments that Windsor is unusual in having all or parts of seven separate ponds within town boundaries, none of them very big. Some modern maps, like the 1984 edition of DeLorme’s Maine Atlas and Gazetteer and Google Maps, show six of them and identify five.

The south end of Three Mile Pond juts into northwestern Windsor. Southward is Mud Pond, between Weeks Mills Road and Route 105, unnamed on Google.

Moody or Moody’s Pond, presumably named after an early settler, is north of Route 17, almost due west of the fairgrounds on Route 32. South of that, on the Whitefield line, Windsor includes the northern tip of Given’s or Givens Pond, formerly Longfellow Pond.

In northeastern Windsor, north of Route 105 and northeast of Greeley Road, are Fox Pond and slightly larger Savade Pond. Kingsbury says Fox was named because people saw foxes in the area and Savade is a corruption of “surveyed.”

Kingsbury’s seventh pond, to which he devotes half a paragraph, is extremely small, with steep sides; is in the center of town about three-fourths of a mile south of Windsor Corner; and was first named after Rev. Moses Donnell, renamed Grant Pond by 1892. Kingsbury says it has two significant features, no outlet and, as far as was known in 1892, no bottom.

Rev. Moses Donnell, born in Wiscasset Aug. 25, 1789, was a Methodist preacher who came to Windsor in the spring of 1818. He kept detailed records from which Lowden took information about his strenuous life and how much – or little – money he earned. Lowden lists various houses Donnell probably owned at different times and says he preached in Windsor in 1822 and from 1832 until his death October 2, 1861. After 1838 he was appointed to different “circuits,” preaching in several towns and traveling thousands of miles.

Lowden gives Donnell Pond another name, Dorr or Dorr’s Pond. It is nameless in the 1984 DeLorme atlas and on current Google maps, but the 1856 and 1879 maps reproduced in Lowden’s history show Donnell Pond on the east side of Route 32 a little south of the present Windsor School. Harland Road leaves Route 32 north of the pond and curves southeast around its northern and eastern shores.

(To this writer’s unscientific eye, Donnell Pond appears to be what geologists call a kettle pond. Kettleholes are created when a retreating glacier leaves behind a block of ice that gets covered with sediment and slowly melts, leaving a hole in the ground. Depending on depth, size and location, such holes can become dry land, bogs or ponds. Kettleholes are fairly common in Maine; Stuart and Hamilton ponds in Belgrade, west of the town office, are examples of kettle ponds.)

Another transplant who followed Dockindoff from Bristol was Thomas Le Ballister (Leballister, according to Lowden; Labalister, according to Geo. J. Varney’s 1886 Gazetteer of the State of Maine), who settled on 300 acres in the southeastern part of town and, Kingsbury said, found squatters already there, including Grover and the Trask brothers, Edward and Joseph.

Josiah Jones surveyed 6,000 acres in southeastern Windsor in 1797 on behalf of Grover and others. They called the area Pinhook, apparently because of a kink in the nearby West Branch of the Sheepscot River. By 1799, Lowden writes, it was generally known as Waterford, later sometimes New Waterford. He suggests the name might have been proposed by Richard Meagher, an early land speculator and agent for the Kennebec Proprietors, who came from Waterford County in Ireland. Lowden also cites a single 1805 reference to New Windsor.

On March 3, 1809, Kingsbury writes, the town was incorporated as Malta. That name was an error, according to Lowden, who quotes a petition to the Massachusetts General Court, signed by 43 residents, asking that New Waterford plantation become an incorporated town named Alpha. Legislative documents approved incorporating Alpha; but the final act incorporating the new town in February 1809 showed the name as Malta. Lowden blames “the slip of a clerk’s pen.”

Residents did not like the name Malta, and in the fall of 1820, town meeting voters approved a petition to the Maine legislature to change Malta to Lexington (Lowden does not say why the name was chosen). Again they did not get their way. On March 10, 1821, the legislature passed a bill renaming the town Gerry, honoring Eldridge Gerry (July 17, 1744 – Nov. 23, 1814), Massachusetts governor and later James Madison’s vice-president and the politician after whom “gerrymander” was named.

Residents promptly appointed a six-man committee to choose another name. On Jan. 9, 1822, the town became Windsor. Lowden cannot say why, or even whether, the committee recommended that name. Ava Harriet Chadbourne, in her Maine Place Names and the Peopling of its Towns (1955) says that Windsor is the name of the British royal family but does not explicitly say that Windsor, Maine, honors them.

The main settled areas in early days were in the southern end of town, where Routes 17 and 32 now intersect, and in the middle where Routes 105 and 32 meet. Lowden says the road connecting them, the current Route 32 (Ridge Road), was “an established way” by 1798. There were smaller areas of settlement in West Windsor and North Windsor.

As more people moved to town, the West Branch of the Sheepscot and several smaller streams provided water power for numerous mills, mostly sawmiils and gristmills, and Kingsbury and Lowden list 19th-century stores, blacksmith shops and other businesses scattered throughout.

Although Windsor is not on the Kennebec (it is about 10 miles from the river), Lowden gives three examples of Windsor people involved in Kennebec River activities.

Before 1810, a large seine net at the mouth of Seven Mile Brook, in Vassalboro, trapped alewives that people from Vassalboro, Malta, Sidney and Belgrade shared. The fish were food for the settlers, especially important to poor families, Lowden writes.

In 1810 the Massachusetts General Court passed a law that, as Lowden presents it, explicitly forbade that seine. Lowden does not give a reason. Vassalboro then established its own net farther up the brook and trapped alewives there. Residents of other towns were allowed to buy them, after a delay and at an inflated price.

Lowden quotes the letter Malta selectmen sent to Massachusetts legislators in 1816 asking them, unsuccessfully, to repeal the law. The three selectmen who signed the letter were William Hilton, Walter Dockindorff and John Linn Jr.

In 1834, when the Kennebec Dam Company proposed the first dam across the Kennebec River, Windsor was one of many towns and cities submitting opinions to the legislature. Windsor’s petition, with 57 signatures, supported the dam, saying it “would be of great benefit and utility,” according to Lowden. (See The Town Line, May 7, for more on this and other dams.)

In the 1870s and 1880s, men from Windsor were among the crews cutting ice on the Kennebec. (See The Town Line, May 14, for more on the ice business.) Lowden quotes from Roger Reeves’ diary about both winter and summer work in 1876. In February, Reeves wrote, two men were hired at $1 per day.

Main sources:

Kingsbury, Henry D., ed. Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 1892
Lowden, Linwood H. good Land & fine Contrey but Poor roads a history of Windsor, Maine 1993
Hussey, Elwin, and Ballantyne, Kristen (Hussey), emails

Web sites, miscellaneous

Free invasive plant management plans available

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Surveying several large, invasive autumn olive shrubs at the edge of a field, in Sidney.
Photo courtesy of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

Farm and woodland owners and operators in five Maine counties may be eligible to receive a free invasive plant survey and management plan, prepared by a natural resource professional from the local Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). Staff of SWCDs serving Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Somerset, and Waldo counties are looking for landowners or operators who would like to learn more about the invasive plants on their farms and woodlands.

Invasive plants like Asiatic bittersweet vines, thorny multiflora rose shrubs, sprawling Japanese barberry, and others can create dense tangles in forests, wetlands, and fields, crowding out native plants and young trees. Along forest edges and hedgerows, thickets of invasive shrubs can reduce the area of productive fields. Some invasive plants create habitat for ticks, cause skin rashes, or are harmful if eaten by livestock.

Many farmers and woodland owners know that invasive plants are present but aren’t sure what to do about them. Others may not know how to recognize invasive plants. Having a site visit and survey from the local SWCD is a chance to talk with a natural resource professional, learn to identify harmful plants, and get guidance on how to manage them. Survey data also help scientists understand invasive plant distribution in Maine because data are contributed to the online mapping tool iMapInvasives (imapinvasives.org), the central repository for invasive plant data in Maine.

This service is free to farm and woodland owners or operators thanks to a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS) administered by the Maine Natural Areas Program (maine.gov/dacf/mnap) in the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The project is also funded in part by the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund (maine.gov/ifw/mohf), in which proceeds from the sale of a dedicated instant lottery ticket are used to support outdoor recreation and natural resource conservation. Space is limited and landowners/operators must meet basic USDA – NRCS eligibility requirements. Site visits will be conducted during the growing season, but sign ups are open now.

Participating landowners and operators are encouraged to act on the management plans they receive by implementing invasive plant treatments. Treatment funding may be available by applying to the USDA NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program through the local USDA NRCS office (nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/me/contact/local/).

To learn more and sign up for a free survey and management plan, please contact the SWCD in the county where the farm or woodland is located:

Somerset County: Joe Dembeck at jdembecksc15@gmail.com or 207-474-8323 ext. 3.

Kennebec County: Dale Finseth at dale@kcswcd.org or 207-621.9000.

Knox and Lincoln Counties: Rebecca Jacobs at rebecca@knox-lincoln.org or 207-596-2040.

Waldo County: Aleta McKeage at aleta.waldosoilandwater@gmail.com or 207.218.5311.

Walk-a-thon becomes Exercise-a-thon at St. Michael School

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Travis Mills, center, with students at St. Michael School, in Augusta. (contributed photo)

For five years, the St. Michael School and Travis Mills Foundation Walk-A-Thon has steadily grown into a heart-warming fundraiser that annually displays the importance placed on service and kindness at the Augusta school. Students walk laps around the block of the school, located on Sewall Street, raising money for the foundation and the school through pre-obtained pledges. The event also features an inspirational speech from Mills before the walking begins, and a barbecue lunch at its conclusion.

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent distance learning, changes were needed to ensure the event would flourish once again.

“Students will be challenged to perform designated exercises for four days, from Tuesday, May 19 through Friday, May 22,” said Kevin Cullen, principal at St. Michael. “Travis and I will kick off the Exercise-A-Thon on Tuesday morning with a Zoom call on Facebook Live at 9 a.m.”

The four-day challenge will have a different theme each day, both in exercise and attire, with the amount of exercise time increasing with the ages of the students:

Tuesday: jumping jacks and star jacks while wearing St. Michael School colors.

Wednesday: sit-ups and dancing while wearing “crazy outfits.”

Thursday: students’ choice for exercise while wearing the uniform of their favorite team.

Friday: run/walk while in patriotic clothing.

“Each day, students are asked to take pictures or videos of themselves doing the exercises and post them on the St. Michael School Facebook page,” said Cullen. “The suggested donation for each video and picture is a minimum of $5. We are asking school families to share the videos with friends and family and support our students in raising money for this amazing cause. All donations will be split 50/50 between the school and the Travis Mills Foundation.”

Mills, a retired United States Army Staff Sergeant of the 82nd Airborne, is one of only five quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was wounded by an improvised explosive device during his third tour in Afghanistan in 2012. During his recovery, Mills discovered a passion for inspiring fellow wounded servicemen and women. He founded the Travis Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization, formed to benefit and assist wounded and injured veterans and their families. He has traveled around the country as a motivational speaker, inspiring thousands to overcome life’s challenges and defy odds. In 2015, his book, Tough as They Come, was published.

“We will have so much fun this week exercising our bodies and showing support for our veterans,” said Cullen. “I’m so grateful that everyone was enthusiastic to find a way to continue the fundraiser during the pandemic.”

To donate to the Exercise-A-Thon, visit https://stmichaelmaine.weshareonline.org/ws/opportunities/TravisMillsExercise-a-Thon.

Waterville farmers market open every Thursday…rain or shine!

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The Waterville Farmers Market is now open every Thursday, from 2 – 6 p.m., at the Head of Falls, off Front Street. You must order ahead.

Contact your farmer to order your goods ahead of time. Here is a list of all members – and whether and how they handle ordering ahead for pickup at market. For more info about each market member, visit the market members page at the market’s website.

To order ahead for pickup at market, order from each market member who you want to buy from. Since the farmers’ market is a group of individual producers, they each have their own way of going about placing a pre-order with them. Most of them are pretty easy and straightforward, and many even allow you to pay online via a credit/debit card, paypal, etc. Here is a list of all of the members and whether and how they handle ordering ahead for pickup at market. For more info about each market member, visit the market members page at the market’s website. It is noted below which members are attending market now.

Apple Farm, 207-453-7656, email mainecider@gmail.com.

Burke Hill Farm, 207-460-6215, burkehillfarm@gmail.com We are not at market until harvest time, but we deliver frozen organic Maine wild blueberries all year long. If you would like a delivery, contact me by phone, email, Facebook, or telepathy.

Cornerstone Farm, cell: 207-416-2676, email: HanneTierney@gmail.com.

Eagle View, 207-660-5179, email frednas@gmail.com.

Good Bread, cell 207-368-4788, email info@good-bread.com. Attending market now.

Heald Farm, 948-2111, email penobscotrider@yahoo.com.

The Highlands, 207-938-2710, email thehighlands55@gmail.com. Check out our FaceBook page, The Highlands & Gracie’s Food Truck, for a current list of available meats, prepared meals, etc. Attending market now.

Hridaya Hermitage, see Sat Manav Yoga Ashram.

Humble Forge, 207-877-5963, email roger@humbleforgeblacksmithing.com.

Junction Garden, https://JunctionGardenME.square.site, 207-518-8661, email JunctionGardenLLC@gmail.com. Attending market now.

Kennebec Cheesery, 207-480-0431, email kennebeccheesery@gmail.com.

LOMAH, https://lomahfarmstead.com/store/, 207-924-0954, email lomah207@gmail.com.

Marr Pond Farm. Pre-orders (and a great new website!) coming soon.

Marr Pond Farm will be attending market in late May with greens, storage crops, and seedlings. Check our Facebook, Instagram, and website for the most up-to-date info. Traditional ‘Pick-up CSA’ shares available at market this year, limited availability – sign up here. Market Shares can be used for pre-order sales, email to sign up, 207-717-3571, email info@marrpondfarm.com.

Sat Manav Yoga Ashram, 207-485-1228, Sunyatashyam3@gmail.com.

Snakeroot Organic Far. Early Seedlings Order Form for 2020, Warm Weather Seedling Order Form for 2020. Online Organic Produce Store for delivery to Orono or Waterville Farmers’ Markets or pickup at the farm. CSA members, please check what’s available at the above online store, then email us your order directly and tell us your preferred pickup location (Orono, Waterville, or our farm). Attending market now.

Stone Fox Creamery, 207-323-2850, email stonefoxfarmcreamery@gmail.com.

Winterberry Farm, https://winterberryfarm.square.site/. Attending market now.

Wise Acre Farm, https://wiseacresfarm.square.site/.

Worcester’s Wild Blueberries, https://wildblueberryproducts.com/shop/.

Please be aware that the information booth will only be processing EBT/SNAP cards.

The first half hour of market is dedicated to seniors and immunocompromised folks.

Vendors will be taking cash, check and most of them will be processing their own credit/debit.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Kitchen Design with Health and Ergonomics in Mind

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A well-designed sink can enhance the workflow.

(NAPSI)—Whether you’re among the 50 million Americans over 65 (90 percent of whom hope to continue to age at home), the 60 percent of families with children at home, have other ability issues or safety concerns or think you could someday, incorporating ergonomic elements that promote a seamless experience in the kitchen can make it a more comfortable place for everyone for many years to come.

Smart Sinks

Given the amount of time spent in front of the sink, selecting one that considers your lifestyle and how you cook should be a priority. Details such as the durability and hygienic qualities of a sink’s material along with its style and size can impact efficiency and comfort.

For example, the latest sink from BLANCO, a manufacturer of finely crafted sinks, is designed to enhance workflow and accommodate all users. A first of its kind, the IKON® 33” Apron 1 3/4 Bowl with Low Divide sink is made with the brand’s exclusive SILGRANIT granite composite material. Easy to clean and scratch resistant, patented SILGRANIT material is a repellent, nonporous surface that eliminates the need to use harsh chemicals when cleaning.

The IKON sink also has a convenient low divide that sits just 5 1/2” from the sink bottom, making it easier to handle large pots and baking sheets while still dividing the sink into cleaning and prepping bowls. The apron front or farmhouse design, minimizes the need to lean over as much and so helps reduce strain.

Optional accessories further enhance comfort and workflow. A floating grid provides an extra level within the sink so handling hot and heavy pots can be safer and easier. A Floating Cutting Board that fits right on top of the sink instantly creates another workspace beyond the countertop.

Faucets

Semi-professional and pull-down faucet models help make clean-up more efficient with their easy-to-maneuver design and powerful dual spray features. To make washing hands, food and dishes easier, consider a faucet with sensor technology such as the BLANCO SOLENTA™ Senso Semi-Professional Kitchen Faucet that lets you turn on the water with a wave of your hand. You don’t have to touch the faucet with your hands to get them clean—or if they’re full.

Other ways to enhance the ergonomics in your kitchen include:

  • Use drawers instead of cabinets for storage so there’s less reaching
  • Install different countertop heights to accommodate various users
  • Raise the height of the dishwasher and oven if you can
  • Select nonporous counter materials like quartz that are easy to keep clean
  • Use LED lights for more brightness from less energy and that are cool to the touch
  • Consider an easy-to-clean induction cooking surface—it can reduce energy costs, too

Learn More

For further facts about sinks and faucets that can make your kitchen safer, more efficient and even better looking, visit blancoamerica.com.

CRITTER CHATTER: Speaking of quarantine… Part I

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A pair of young fox became new residents recently. (photo courtesy of Don Cote)

by Jayne Winters

As we try to adjust to social distancing, I wondered about what warrants quarantining at wildlife rehab centers. Indoor and outdoor caging is required to separate incoming injured, and perhaps sick, wild animals from people as well as other wild or domestic animals on site. It is imperative that personal safety and confinement protocols be strictly followed to prevent the transmission of disease and parasites. A “simple” scratch or bite could easily result in serious infection and costly treatment. Let this serve as another reminder that handling wildlife can be risky business and should be done by individuals with knowledge and experience.

When a new animal is admitted to the Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center, it undergoes a physical examination and is assessed for age, injuries, symptoms of illness and general demeanor. Initially, it is kept separated (litter-mates are usually kept together) so that caregivers can observe its activity, feeding habits and temperament (shy, assertive), as well as treat any wounds. If the animal is large enough, a rabies shot is administered as soon as possible. Those who work at the Center are required to have preventative rabies vaccinations if they will be handling any animals to protect themselves before possible exposure to the virus. If there is any evidence of rabies, the animal is euthanized immediately and sent to the state lab for confirmation. Booster shots are given for additional protection to anyone who came into contact with the animal.

Rabies is the disease most of us think of when discussing quarantine, as it is found in our domestic pets as well as wildlife. It is a zoonotic viral disease, meaning it can spread between animals and people. The rabies virus affects the central nervous system, eventually causing inflammation in the brain. It is usually transmitted through the saliva (spit) from the bite of an infected animal, but sometimes young animals can contract it from their mothers through broken skin or mucous membranes (eyes, nose or mouth). Any mammal can be infected with rabies, but raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes and bats are the most common carriers. Deer, rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, rats and mice are susceptible, but rarely diagnosed.

The incubation period for rabies – the time from getting infected to showing symptoms – can be from five days to 12 months, with an average of just less than three months. The animal has no symptoms of illness during this time, but when the virus reaches the brain, it multiplies quickly and the animal begins to show signs of the disease. Symptoms vary: some animals appear shy and fearful; some are aggressive; others stumble as though drunk or appear lame. Extreme salivation (foaming at the mouth) and convulsions can also occur. Once the clinical symptoms are seen, the animal usually dies within five days.

There is no cure for rabies and if left untreated, is fatal. If an individual has been bitten by or exposed to a rabid animal, s/he should immediately clean the wound with soap and water for 10-15 minutes, contact the local game warden or animal control officer and seek medical attention for treatment (a series of injections over several weeks’ time). In humans, the rabies incubating period usually develops within 3-8 weeks after the bite, although in some cases symptoms can occur within 10 days after being bitten.

NOTE: Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife reported 89 cases of rabies state-wide in 2019, the majority (38) of which were in raccoons.

Next month I’ll write about mange and parvovirus – both treatable diseases, but highly contagious with often heartbreaking results.

Donald Cote operates the Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center on Rte. 3 in Vassalboro. It is a non-profit federal and state permitted rehab facility which is supported by his own resources and outside donations. Mailing address: 1787 North Belfast Ave., Vassalboro ME 04989 TEL: (207) 445-4326. EMAIL: wildlifecarecenter@gmail.com.

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: This was their finest hour

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Growing your businessby Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

“Do not let us speak of darker days, let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not darker days, these are great days, the greatest days our country has ever lived.” – Winston Churchill

The great orator was talking about the bombing of London when he said these words. A time, far more serious and scarier even than what we are going through at this time. But instead of talking of gloom and doom he was talking instead of greatness, the greatness it takes to not only endure but also strive to thrive in serious and dangerous days, like the ones we are experiencing right now.

Dangerous times do make great times. Perilous times tend to force people to find the greatness in themselves.

And then there is this quote from Churchill, “Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.”

Yes, we are in one of those times. Times when we are all facing challenges. The interesting thing is that this time the enemy is not some other guy, some other country, no this time we are all on the same playing field, globally we are all facing this challenge.

If you, at any time in your life wondered how you would have reacted in a dangerous situation. If you have read books, or watched movies, or heard stories of brave men and women doing great, and courageous deeds of heroism and wondered how you would have reacted in the same situation. If you would have literally risen to the occasion and faced that same danger the same way these people did, then this is your time to find out. Your time to learn what stuff you are made of. This is your time to rise above the fray and show your courage, your strength, your endurance in the eye of the storm and stand up to the challenge.

I know how hard things are for people with small businesses right now. Your restaurant is closed so you have been reduced to take-out service. If you are a contractor, jobs are being postponed or even cancelled as customers are in lock down and are not comfortable with you being in their homes. Retail business have reduced hours. Things look bleak right now, but we have to keep on keeping on if we are going to not only just survive but thrive doing these times.

So, during the next few weeks we will be addressing these issues and helping you to find ways to survive and maybe even grow your business during these trying times:

Here are three strategies to get your started:

Contractors: because many buildings are empty right now, municipal buildings, office buildings, public buildings this is a good time for you to go into these buildings and work on projects. Market your company as someone who could do some painting, or flooring, or wiring while these buildings are empty.

Retail stores: Offer special sales. Offer door pick-up or better yet delivery. If you have a website use that for communications, advertising and payment collection. If not, then take ten minutes and set up a Facebook account to do the same thing. Or there is always the USPS.

Landscapers: You have it better than most since you work outdoors. Offer special early bird specials. Early spring clean-up, anything that will help keep your team employed.

And finally, find a way to keep your spirits up. As I said earlier, this is our time, our generation will be judged by how we dealt with this situation. We will be remembered for what we did when the world was at a crisis point and how in the end, we came out of it better, better people, better companies, better countries and a better world.

I’ll leave you now with another quote from Sir Winston Churchill, “Let us therefore embrace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”

Stay safe.

Note: I have put together a short plan of ideas on how to keep your business going through these hard times. If you want a copy email me at danbbeaulieu@aol.com or call me at 207-649-0879.