Musing on Chickens, the Freight Shed Alliance, and Cherry Ames

On a quiet, starry night in early October, my husband and I pulled out of our driveway and followed detailed instructions to a bucolic place on Whiskeag Road to join our friends for Friday Wine Night. We needed the road map because this was the first time Wine Night was taking place on the north end. Since Joe and I are both from away, and we’re still relative newcomers, Whiskeag Road was unfamiliar territory, and we were grateful for an invitation to explore it. With my smart phone in hand, I happily read our hosts’ email out loud: “…head toward the golf course...There’s a sunflower on the mailbox…Pull forward around driveway, then back in on the grass on the right side…Watch out for chickens. Bring a flashlight.”  I thought the part about chickens was comical, but as we pulled on to the grass, I heard some loud clucking, and when I stepped out of the car, I saw a mother hen wandering dangerously close to the rear tire. Our hosts weren’t kidding, and their loving instructions probably saved the life of at least one chicken!

In the middle of a field, I looked up to see a cozy house with its windows all lit up and a side porch filled with friends, and I instantly felt the magic of Whiskeag Road. Within a few minutes of entering the house, I met a smart, young woman, who told me she was a junior at the University of Vermont, and she was studying nursing. We started to talk about health care, and how important the nurse’s role was for a patient’s recovery. It was a rather serious exchange of ideas for a Friday night, but that’s why I love Wine Night and Bath so much.  Before we closed our conversation on medicine, I confessed to the young student that I was a teacher, but I came from a family of nurses. In fact, all of my female cousins had attended hospital nursing programs in New York City. I was the only one who had chosen a different path. But to this day, I hold all nurses in high regard. That comment must have pleased her because she answered it with a smile so genuine that my heart filled with hope. Funny, the orange and gold hues of autumn are beautiful, but falling leaves can also bring us down. As a high school teacher, I’ve come to believe that talking with a bright, young person can be incredibly uplifting. On October 7, 2016, a student nurse’s positive energy lifted my spirits higher than wine ever could.

Wiebke Theodore shares Bath Freight Shed Alliance plan

With a renewed spirit, I woke up the next morning and convinced Joe to accompany me to the Farmers Market. It was the sunniest Saturday in all of October, and it was also AutumnFest! What a great day to be in Bath! Along with all of my favorite vendors, like Beryl’s Pastries, Big Barn Coffee, and Sheepscot Flowers, there were almost 40 tables set up by non-profit organizations to celebrate Citizens Involvement Day. Our first stop was at the table for the Bath Freight Shed Alliance. Lucky for us, the BFSA representative was Wiebke Theodore, one of the founders who established the alliance in 2009. Now in its seventh year, the alliance may merge with Maine’s First Ship. The Virginia Project hopes to launch its completed ship within the next few years, and it plans to keep it afloat on the Kennebec as an educational vessel.

 Looking forward, the alliance anticipates converting the Virginia's boat shed into demonstrational gardens while they continue to improve the Freight Shed. Built in 1894, the Freight Shed is now home to the Winter Farmers Market, which will be opening on November 5^th for its fifth market season. It also serves as an inviting space for community events and exhibits. The alliance plans to continue developing the role of the Freight Shed as an access point to Bath’s RiverWalk. Joe and I were first introduced to the Alliance's cause when we attended a New Year’s Eve fundraiser at the Freight Shed in 2014. With a bonfire blazing outside, and twinkle lights glowing inside, the historic shed was completely transformed, and the Bath community was able to rock in the New Year with live music! As Wiebke Theodore’s tenure as President of the Board comes to a close, it was a joy to meet her and thank her for her vision and leadership. In addition, we had the opportunity to see her just-off-the-press print of what the Bath Freight Shed will look like when the RiverWalk, the Virginia, and the demonstration gardens are complete! Looking back, it was fortuitous for Bath that Wiebke and her husband opened up an architectural office in the Customs House overlooking the tired, old freight shed. Together, they imagined a revived space that an entire community could enjoy, and then helped bring that dream to life.

Joe and I had another serendipitous moment as we strolled through Waterfront Park on that sunny Saturday morning. We bumped into the student nurse from UVM and her mom, and I had a chance to introduce them to Joe, another native Vermonter. In our group of four, I was the only non-Vermonter, but I didn’t feel left out or disconnected. I understand that Vermonters need to share their love for Burlington, Rutland, Bread Loaf and skiing whenever they can. When there was a brief pause in the conversation, I felt compelled to mention that my favorite book series as a young girl was Cherry Ames, which started with Cherry Ames, Student Nurse in 1943 and ended with Cherry Ames, Ski Nurse Mystery in 1968. (For the record, I read these romantic stories in the 1960’s.) The series consisted of 27 volumes. Helen Wells wrote volumes one through seven, and seventeen through twenty-seven. While Wells took a hiatus, Julie Campbell Tatham authored volumes eight through sixteen. Frankly, it’s a mystery to me why I shared this memory of out-of-print books, but I suspect it’s because the young student nurse standing by the Kennebec reminded me of the rosy-cheeked heroine, Charity "Cherry" Ames. And to my delight, the UVM student and her mom expressed an interest, so I decided to share a secret: Bath’s used book store as well as an antique shop in Brunswick occasionally obtain copies of this treasure. In fact, I found and purchased two first editions! With that revelation, the lovely ladies from away were hooked and planned to go book-hunting that afternoon! We said goodbye with an amazing lone guitartist singing folk songs in the background. Does anyone know his name?

            

The Distinguished Judges of AutumnFest

               In hopes of extending the good feeling of AutumnFest, Joe and I strolled up the street to the polyrhythmic music of the Maine Marimba Ensemble, and I took pictures of the scarecrows in front of the shop windows. Along the way, we encountered the distinguished Scarecrow Judges from the Land of Oz! They were the happiest judges I have ever seen. Perhaps that’s because they were in Bath! I don’t know all of their final decisions, but I do know that Lisa-Marie’s Made in Maine entry, a moose lobsterman, won the prize for “Most Hilarious,” and I whole heartedly agree! Lots of children, young and old, wanted to pose with that scarecrow. Even Oakie, the acorn, tried to make friends with Lisa Marie’s whimsical scarecrow! I have the picture to prove it, and I believe the biggest snowstorm and the coldest winter night, will not be able to erase the golden memory of autumn in Bath!

A boy, an acorn, and a moose lobsterman scarecrow on Front Street, of course

   

Dancing Over the Moon and Under the Stars

Pat Colwell and the Soul Sensations

It was raining as the sun set on gala night, August 13, 2016, but Pat Colwell and the Soul Sensations kept playing under City Park’s umbrella, the gazebo! Two hundred guests in pretty dresses and summer blazers splashed and danced “Over the Moon and Under the Stars” to celebrate Main Street Bath’s fifteenth anniversary. Joe and I were happy to be there, and we felt like a part of the home team even though we’re from away. 

Jake Korb and Elizabeth Knowlton start the party.

We attended the gala to say thank you to the scores of volunteers who help bring us Heritage Days, Autumnfest, an Old-fashioned Christmas, Blarney Days, and Mayfair. Joe and I may not move like Channing Tatum and Jenna Devon Tatum in Step Up, or glide and twirl like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Top Hat, but like our neighbors we danced like no one was looking on a shimmering deck in Bath! By the time we sat down, it was dark except for the moon, the stars, the twinkle lights, and the balloons that were glowing on the pond near Zorach's sculpture, Spirit of the Sea.

Gayle Hunt, the President of Main Street Bath

Jake Korb, the executive director, and Gayle Hunt, the president, planned a fabulous party with the help of some talented friends, like Vicki Sprague, the Chair of the planning committee.  Just before the rain started, Gayle presented Vicki with a beautiful bouquet of sunflowers. Her timing and words were perfect. Two big tents and the gazebo protected us all from the rain that playful summer night, but I suspect the founding members of Main Street Bath felt a few teardrops as they listened to the music of Soul Sensations and witnessed our gratitude.            

Vicki Sprague, the Chair of Main Street Bath's 15th Anniversary Gala

Greg Grondin, Brian Hatch and Gayle Hunt

     At the end of the party, I had a moment to talk with Brian Hatch, the 2015 Citizen of the Year, and a former president of Main Street Bath. That conversation proved to be the frosting on the gala’s cake, because Brian shared with me the history of Bath's downtown. As I listened to his smiling voice, I spied the magic of Bath --- optimism! In 2001, when Main Street Bath was born, most of the cities and towns in southern Maine had already lost their Main Street. Across America, shopping malls and big box stores were replacing friendl, neighborhood shops.
       In Bath, however,there was a group of people willing to move in a different direction. They worked to save the heart of Bath by encouraging shoppers to buy locally before that trend became popular. This summer there was an online contest, the 10 Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards, to determine the best Main Streets in the USA, and Bath placed ninth in a field of twenty. Clearly, Main Street Bath has been on the right side of change.

Jane Parker Morse

     Several of the founding members of Main Street Bath were present at the gala, but Jane Parker Morse was sadly absent. Ten days later, on August 23, 2016, Jane passed away. Last Sunday, she was remembered at a memorial service in Phippsburg, her hometown. I wasn’t there, but I’m sure the church was full because Jane was a beloved champion of Sagadahoc County. She played a key role in preserving Maine’s maritime history and Sagadahoc County’s architectural treasures. After practicing law in Boston for many years, Jane returned to Phippsburg in 1993 to to become the vice president of the Sagadahock Real Estate Association, her family's business.   

          Because of Jane's vision and commitment to building a vibrant downtown community, Jane was able to attract new and diverse businesses to Bath’s Front and Centre Streets. According to Amy Lent, Maine Maritime Museum’s executive director, one of Jane’s last and most poignant contributions to our City of Ships was coordinating efforts to install a historic maritime image of downtown Bath in the new Press Hotel pocket park on Front Street. Jane was a great negotiator!

          As fate and Bath would have it, as soon as I stepped into Phippsburg’s Town Hall to buy a ticket for my first SPI House Tour, I noticed Jane’s name tag. Since I’m curious, I asked her if she was related to the local high school’s namesake. She smiled and said, “Probably, there are a lot of people named Morse around here.” I asked Jane why some surnames, like Morse and Coffin, were all around the city, and I appreciated her logical answer. She told some of the founding families had seven or ten sons, and the offspring of those sons multiplied the name. Shortly after meeting Jane, I learned that she had written most of the SPI guidebook for the Phippsburg house, which I read from cover to cover. Ironically, last year our home was on the SPI tour, and Joe and I served as docents. It was a fabulous experience because we learned so much about Bath’s history from our fellow docents and from our well informed visitors.

Looking back, I realize that the 2015 SPI House Tour was the last time I saw Jane. I ran into her as I was leaving the Winter Street Center at the end of the day, and I introduced myself. To my surprise, Jane told me she recognized my name because she had read my blog and liked it. I think my heart skipped a beat. I felt like a school girl who had just received an A from one of the most adored teachers in the building! I hardly knew Jane Parker Morse, but I liked her instantly, and I know that Main Street Bath, the Maine Maritime Museum, the Patten Free Library, the Bath Historical Society and Sagadahoc Preservation, Inc. will miss her guiding light. Remembering Jane, I wish fair winds to Main Street Bath!

Several photographs above were taken at the gala by Maine Magazine for Faces Maine

Changing Seasons

        My challenge today is to tell you about the dramatic changes that are going on in Bath. It’s a herculean task because there is so much happening this summer in Maine's Cool Little City, and I tend to be wordy. Every time I walk my dog down Front Street or up Washington Street, I notice construction and change everywhere. Bath seems to be revisiting the boom year of 1854! I wish I could craft words as skillfully as Ana María Matute, one of my favorite Spanish authors, who has mastered the art of telling short, compelling stories. Sadly, I don’t think I've ever told a short story, but I am going to try.

In the interest of time, I'm going to focus my lens on three specific newcomers to Bath: Run with Soup, the new café at 1356 Washington Street, Salt Pine Social, the soon-to-open restaurant at 244 Front Street, and the Bath River Walk Residences that are presently under construction on the waterfront in the historic “coal pocket.” But before I begin to comment on noteworthy events, I feel it’s the right time to quote Ana María Matute: “Todo pasa y todo se queda.” That translates to “Everything changes and everything remains the same.” In any language, Matute’s poetic wisdom rings true. I believe the faces and storefronts of Bath are ever changing, but the history of Bath is carved in stone, and the spirit is everlasting. 

What is worse than a speeding ticket? If you drive too fast up the hill at the north end of Washington Street, you will miss the Run with Soup sign, a stick-figure in motion holding a bowl of soup, and that would be devastating because Charlene Tuplin and her team (Jess and Steve) make spectacular homemade quiche, soups, salads, sandwiches, pies, cherry and peach turnovers, blueberry-zucchini bread and chocolate chip with coconut cookies that may have a drop of Merlot. I literally discovered Run with Soup when I was running one morning, and now I have two addictions: running and Run with Soup! It’s one of Bath’s many blessings that Charlene had the vision to transform what was once Southern Maine Community College’s coffee shop into a thriving breakfast and lunch spot for local residents and their visitors. Charlene’s sweet café is nestled in the back corner of a red brick building that over a dozen years ago was home to Mid Coast Hospital. Bob Smith, the building’s new owner, also deserves praise for imagining something new for what was a dormant commercial property. In a historic city, it’s encouraging to see that old buildings, like old homes, are being renovated and sometimes even repurposed. 

Charlene used to work in her  kitchen at home to prepare her signature soups for delivery, but as her client list grew she realized she needed more space and a few extra hands. Ergo, she transformed a dusty, old coffee shop into a modern hub for Navy crews, office workers, circles of friends, mothers and daughters, and anyone who happens to need breakfast or lunch on the go. Without a doubt, some people are born to run! With it’s inviting chalkboard menu, Charlene's perky place might be a little off the beaten path, but it is definitely situated on a field of dreams. And now I feel an urge to quote a Kevin Costner movie: “If you build it, they will come.”

An Irish stone wall around a new dining spot on Front Street

In the near future, Salt Pine Social, will add a different flavor to Bath cooking. The owners, Eloise Humphrey, and her sister and brother-in-law, Daphne and Paul Comaskey have a sterling reputation in the restaurant business. They opened El Camino Cantina, a popular Mexican style restaurant in Brunswick in 2004, and they decided to bring a new culinary experience to Bath in 2015 when they purchased a 3,000 square foot building, which included an antique house and a garage at the corner of Linden and Front Streets. Ironically, the old building used to be an antique store called Tintypes, which for some odd reason reminds me of the Girl Scout song: “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” Antique stores seem to be fading away in Bath, but sometimes their treasure resurfaces in new homes and businesses. Perhaps Pine Tree Social will use antique tables and adorn their dining space with artifacts from the shipyards of Long Reach. This new restaurant promises to showcase locally grown and raised food, offer seasonal dishes, prepare great seafood and pour good wine. And their outside seating area is already surrounded by a stone wall, which was artfully built by Green Island Stonework, a company that specializes in building one-of-a-kind walls stone by stone.               

A work of art by Green Island Stonework

When I first arrived in Bath a few years ago, I crossed over the Sagadahoc Bridge and visited the Nequasset Meeting House in Woolwich. According to the historic marker, this pre-Revolutionary War building served as the first Congregational Church east of the Kennebec as early as 1757. In order to enter the nearby cemetery, I had to pass through the opening of a magnificent stone wall. On that day, I took a lot of pictures of the wall because it struck me as an enduring work of art. I also assumed the wall was as old as the meeting house. A few weeks later, I attended a talk by the Bath Garden Club, and one of the master gardeners, Barbara Richards, mentioned the construction of a new stone wall with an old Irish design at her home in Woolwich. Later, I asked her about the wall at Nequasset, and she told me that the same company of artisans that built her wall also built the Nequasset wall. The beautiful stonewall that I admired next to the old church really wasn’t old at all! Everything changes and everything remains the same. Whether it’s 1757 or 2016, great walls are built stone by stone!

A new JHR showroom in a historic brick building

Sometimes we welcome change, and sometimes we resist it. Last year, after a heated debate,the City of Bath approved JHR Development’s plan to construct five buildings along the waterfront in the historic “coal pocket.” Some local residents vehemently opposed the project because the buildings would block the viewshed of the Kennebec River. In order to win the city’s approval, Mr. Hilary Rocket, the president of JHR, promised to build a river walk in front of the condominiums that the general public could freely access. Consequently, the development now underway is called The Bath River Walk Residences. Hopefully, when this ambitious project is completed, the community of Bath will embrace it as a positive change. In the meantime, growing pains can hurt.

As fate and Bath would have it, JHR set up their showroom in the old Morris S. Povich building at 143 Front Street. The former occupant of that historic space was Brick Store Antiques. For twenty-five years Polly Thibodeau, with the help of her sister, Jan, sold antique furniture, collectibles and vintage items of every kind in that classy store, and I was a satisfied customer. Today, the treasure for sale is different: luxury condominiums with a fabulous view in the City of Ships. With luck, the new owners of the River Walk Residences will appreciate history and love antiques, and the community of Bath will continue to follow the Girl Scout rule: “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.”

An angel with flowers next to Claudette Gamache's Gallery on Front Street