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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Vicki Sprague, the Chair of Main Street Bath's 15th Anniversary Gala |
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| Several photographs above were taken at the gala by Maine Magazine for Faces Maine |
