Portland part of Worldwide Obscura Day

A guest post by Loren Coleman:

On Saturday, March 20th, at 80 different sites around the world, an international celebration of wondrous, curious, and esoteric places will be occurring. It is called "Obscura Day" (http://
atlasobscura.com/obscura-day), and is the brainchild of the people behind Atlas Obscura, a compendium of the world's wonders, curiosities, and esoterica.

A location right here in Maine has been chosen to be one of the special sites, the International Cryptozoology Museum at 661 Congress St., Portland, from 10 am to 7 pm. The event at the museum will occur for their usual small admission fee of $5.00 per person, but with a wide variety of extras too.

"Since the Obscura Day celebrations are fast approaching this coming Saturday, March 20th, we recommend visitors merely show up; no reservations necessary at this point," said Jeff Meuse, the museum's chief docent coordinator. "We will have staff available to assist in signing up people for the tours of the museum. We'll have special Bigfoot cookies and Loch Ness Monster treats for sale for people who
are waiting for the short time until the next tour begins. Also the unique Green Hand Bookshop is at this partner location for visitors to browse."

Here is Atlas Obscura's paragraph on the Maine event from their website:

PORTLAND, ME
TOUR OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRYPTOZOOLOGY MUSEUM WITH LOREN COLEMAN

Over the years, Loren Coleman has amassed an unrivaled collection of replicas and artifacts relating to world's famous and lesser-known cryptids, ranging from the fanciful (P.T. Barnum's Feejee Mermaid) to the factual (like the coelacanth, long thought to be extinct but discovered alive in 1938). For Obscura Day, Coleman has generously agreed to lead a band of curious souls on a tour of his newly opened
International Cryptozoology Museum.

"I think this happening on the same weekend as the 50th anniversary of my getting into the field of cryptozoology, which is the investigation of all kinds of little-known cryptids, in addition to
the better known Abominable Snowmen, Bigfoot and Nessies, seems more than a coincidence," noted Loren Coleman, director of the International Cryptozoology Museum. "It feels like a cosmic acknowledgment of the wonder of all those new species that remain to be discovered and the hard work it took to have this museum come to life. For Maine, my home for the last 30 years, to be picked this
way, is terrific."

For further information, please email Loren Coleman at lcoleman[at]maine.rr.com or for a phone interviews, contact the museum at 207-518-9496, Wed-Fri this week, from 11 am to 6 pm Eastern.

Ay, caramba! Cryptids!

Loren Coleman spoke up alongside some of New England's other premier cryptozoologists in the latest issue of the Portland and Boston Phoenix, part of an in-depth article about cryptids and their popularity in New England. The article includes a link to the "Cryptids in Maine" photo gallery that accompanies the story.

Coleman approaches each supposed sighting with healthy skepticism. Fully cognizant that pop culture influences cryptozoology — and vice versa — he always checks to see what's playing at local movie theaters before attempting to verify each cryptid report.

In fact, he says, "when I go talk to a Bigfoot crowd, the first sentence I say is, 'I do not believe in Bigfoot.' I accept or deny evidence. You true believers over here, you're very interesting, but that's not me. You skeptics and debunkers, that's interesting, too. But I really am the open-minded person in the middle.

"I've done a lot of screening, and excluded 80 percent of [the evidence] as misidentifications, hoaxes, or mundane. But there's still that 20 percent of what I feel is unknown. There's a lot of mysteries out there, and this one may interest you. Here's the data. You decide."

[Source]

The unknown is really the crux of the cryptid world. It is the thought that perhaps there is something that we haven't seen before that keeps us all looking.

Please feel free to check out my own photos from the Cryptozoology exhibit from a few years back, where portions of Coleman's International Museum of Cryptozoology were shown, as well as wonders and marvels from all over the world.

Illustration by Michelle Souliere.

EVENT: Cryptozoology benefit Nov 22

My blogging has suffered lately due to a recent, unexpected moving-of-house, but I would be remiss to lose a chance to remind folks of this very important event, a huge effort to assist our own Loren Coleman in his work to open a more public version of his International Cryptozoology Museum!

WHAT:Bene-Foot: A Comedy Benefit for the Cryptozoology Museum
WHEN:Saturday, November 22nd, starting at 8:00pm
WHERE:The EMPIRE Lounge, 575 Congress Street, Portland, Maine
FMI:See Cryptomundo.com, or call the Empire at (207)879-8988

If you are unable to attend, you can still donate. Just use the mailing address given below, or scroll down to the bottom of this post to click on the blank PayPal button to do it electronically.

Here is more detailed information about the event from his post on Cryptomundo:

A wonderful groundbreaking event to support the International Cryptozoology Museum has been planned by Boston comedian Shawn Donovan.

Coming on Saturday, November 22, 2008, at the Empire Lounge on Congress Street, downtown Portland, Maine, the “Bene-foot: A Comedy Benefit for the Cryptozoology Museum” will kick off at 8 PM.

Besides Shawn, who has been part of the Boston Comedy Festival for the last 3 years, the other comedians confirmed to be performing will be Paul Nardizzi (Late Night w/Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central) and Dan Sally (Comedy Central, Just For Laughs). Shawn told a popular comedy forum this morning that he would “leave it up to Sally to bump with the Patterson/Gimlin film.”

“Bene-foot: A Comedy Benefit for the Cryptozoology Museum” is being held to support the museum, and all proceeds go to the museum. No corporate fiscal umbrellas in the mix here. Although tickets can be bought at the door for $25, I’m going to begin selling tickets online via my PayPal account and through the mail at a pre-event discount.

Here’s the rundown for ticket sales:

Pre-event tickets: $22.00/one ticket ($20 + $2 service charge) ~ Via PayPal (to LColeman@maine.rr.com ) or via snail mail (International Cryptozoology Museum, attn: L. Coleman, PO Box 360, Portland, ME 04112).

Pre-event tickets plus a signed book by Loren Coleman = $45.00/one ticket/one book.

One of eight tickets to the VIP table, $100 per ticket.

Special to someone, have dinner with Loren Coleman, $250.00, before the Bene-Foot or perhaps at a time convenient to you.

Additional donations to the Bene-Foot, $25 to $1000, will be appreciated for the museum fund. Use PayPal or the mailing addresses above. DO NOT use the PayPal button for Cryptomundo on the upper right corner on this page. Use the instructions above for funds, thank you.

Shawn is also taking donations for raffle items that will be announced closer to the event (gift certificates to eating and entertainment locations to objects you wish to donate are what he is thinking about).

Further details on event poster art, possible tee-shirts and more will be forthcoming.

Fund Bene-Foot, support the Museum!!

All donations are greatly appreciated, and they are not tax deductible due to the home museum not being a 501(c).

View his original post for video clips of the performers and more: Source

You can click the blank button below to link to PayPal to donate to the museum:

Call for help: Endangered Cryptozoology Museum!

Loren Coleman, Maine's famed and friendly cryptozoology expert, has emerged from an encounter with the IRS with a new mission and a serious goal -- to finally get the International Cryptozoology Museum set up for regular public access, to set it up to sustain itself, and to enlist the help of anyone who is excited about that prospect. If you would like to read the whole story, or if you know it already and just want to make a donation to the museum, please go to its new website, which has a "donate" button right at the top of the page: http://www.cryptozoologymuseum.com/

The long and the short of it? According to Coleman, "Realistically, for the museum to continue alone, I have set a goal of $15,000 to raise for the museum in the next three months, to keep the International Cryptozoology Museum alive and deal with finding and moving into new space. I need to find a location that is affordable, which gets good people traffic. In the future, in a new location, the museum will charge a bit and be set up to sell many kinds of cryptozoology books (beyond my own) and cz objects."

He goes on to say: "If you wish to contribute now, a little bit or a lot, I thank you. You can use my email (lcoleman@maine.rr.com) to send me money via PayPal. Or you may directly send a check made out to:"

International Cryptozoology Museum

c/o Loren Coleman

PO Box 360

Portland, ME 04112

For those of us who have been lucky to spend a little time amidst the cryptozoological and cultural wonders of the Museum's collection, it is easy to vouch for it and to say that it is something that everyone should be able to see for the price of admission. Loren is a hard worker, who has traveled many miles and many years in quest of the mysteries that fascinate so many of us sitting in our armchairs (so to speak). This is a tremendous opportunity to step forward and give his work the little push it needs to wind up on top for years to come. Hear, hear!!!

Loren Coleman: At Home with Weirdness

Like myself, Kathryn Skelton of the Lewiston Sun Journal recently found herself with a chance to visit Loren Coleman in his Portland home, which doubles as the International Cryptozoology Museum. Loren reports on the visit here.

Kathryn's original article, with photos, is online at the Lewiston Sun Journal website.

Loren's collection is truly a treasure, and an intriguing and fun one at that. Perhaps some philanthropic local will offer him public space for the museum in the future! Just an idea, folks...

Photo by Amber Waterman of the Lewiston Sun Journal.