EVENT: Shoestring Theater Halloween Parade!

Hold onto your horses, it's October again, and that means fun things like the Shoestring Theater's annual Halloween parade are lining up and ready for you to join them for some Halloween fun!

WHAT: Shoestring Theater's annual Halloween parade
WHEN: Monday, October 31st @ 6:00 - Participant lineup starts @ 5:30
WHERE: meet at 155 Brackett Street, Portland ME

This annual parade is Portland's howling, dancing, and drumming reminder of what Halloween is. Everyone is invited, all ages are welcome. If you'd like to participate in the parade, either in your own costume, with your own instruments, or by using some of the Shoestring puppets and instruments that are available, please arrive at 5:30 so they can get everyone settled in time for departure at 6:00.

The parade leaves the Shoestring Theater's home at 155 Brackett Street, across from Reiche School, and winds its way through the shadows of the West End, bringing a little bit of Halloween brouhaha to everyone in its path. Come and have fun! The Portland Police Department provide an escort car, and the event is wild but family-friendly for sure.

Here is a really long video of 2009's parade by Aaron Woodbury -- unfortunately you can't hear the wonderful raucous madness of percussion and cheering that is the parade itself over the soundtrack song, but the visuals are there -- up to the 2:45 mark it shows the preparations for the parade, and then it really kicks in.

Shoestring Theater's Annual Halloween Parade from Aaron Woodbury on Vimeo.

However, if you watch this video of the 2007 parade, you can get a real sense of the noise and fun that awaits you!

EVENT: Irish settlers in Western Cemetery

Via Ed King of the West End News:

Early Irish Settlers to be Honored at Western Cemetery

The Ancient Order of Hibernians will honor more than one thousand early Portland settlers with a Mass and a ceremony at the Western Cemetery at 1:00pm on Sunday, August 15th, 2010. The event will also mark the 11th anniversary of the dedication of the Memorial Stone, which memorializes the early Portland Catholics, mostly Irish, who are buried in the cemetery's 'Catholic ground.'

The settlers, most of whom are buried in unmarked graves, came from Ireland during and after the 'Great Hunger' in Ireland in the 1840s, which resulted from the potato crop failure. The annual Mass will be followed by a reception at St. Patrick's Church on Congress Street. In case of rain, the Mass will be held at St. Patrick's.The Western Cemetery is located at the corner of Danforth and Vaughan Street in the West End.

For more information, contact James Avjian at 799-3606.

Doggy disaster avoided

The West End News reported on a June Portland pet-related incident that turned out much better than it might have, thanks to a daring rescuer! This episode has a number of captivating elements in it, including but not limited to an already-injured hero risking life and limb, a tiny dog named Tuck Tuck, and the need to go to the bathroom really badly -- not to mention yet more effects, small but cumulative, of the recent drastic City of Portland budget cuts.

Stay tuned for more odds and ends (especially the odds) as I continue to catch up on my web backlog.

Dog Rescued from Winter Street Roof
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A dog who wandered onto the pitched roof of a Winter Street residence through an open attic window was rescued by the quick actions of a neighbor and a local contractor on June 2nd.

Barbara Ward, owner of The Danforth Inn, spotted the dog on the roof's edge, about 25 feet above the ground, at about 10:30 AM. Ward and a housekeeper at the inn dragged a mattress off a bed, down the stairs and across the street, in the event that the dog, named Tuck Tuck, slipped off the roof. 911 was called but police policy does not allow them to respond to dog rescues, and the animal control officer was not available till noon.

Ward also alerted Bob Graham, owner of Bob's Coastal Contracting, whose company is doing remodeling work on a house at Winter and Gray Street. The contractor, whose arm is in a brace because of a broken wrist, grabbed an extension ladder and rushed across the street.

The dog was eventually coaxed to the side of the roof where he could be reached from the ladder. Before being rescued, Tuck Tuck reportedly completed the business that compelled him to climb out on the roof in the first place.

[Source]

If you want it done right, sometimes you've just got to do it yourself.