Yes folks, it is going to happen. ZOMBIE KICKBALL III!!! The frolicking of the happy undead on the Eastern Prom will take place sometime very soon. I have spoken with the top secret Representative Zombie and I have been assured that all we are waiting for is a field reservation.
Once we have this exciting information in hand, dear friends of zombiedom, we will assuredly let you know!!!
Plans are in the works for an Undead Lemonade Stand to provide much-needed refreshment for the languishing teams in the heat of their sportsman-ish-like competition. We are hoping the cheerful band of zombie musicians will be there once again, doing their own special brand of rabblerousing and jazzing the crowd up with their unique razzmatazz whizzbang ditties!
Depending on the situation, it may or may not happen Memorial Day weekend, as is customary, so please don't show up to terrorize any Little Leaguers without the rest of the group. It just wouldn't do! For glimpses of our coverage of past years' activity, please click here. Zombie Kickball is for all ages! Kids, parents, student, senior citizens, you name it! And if you don't feel like wearing zombie makeup and whatnot, come and cheer everyone on, or throw a "ZOMBIE FOOD" nametag on and go for it. It is the silliest of all ways to welcome summer.
Last year there were zombie nurses, zombies in wheelchairs, zombie slayers, zombie accident victims, zombie kindergarteners, zombie musicians, and many many other zombie characters too numerous to mention here. Want to see what it looked like? Click here to see my photos on Flickr! Come one, come all, and join the fun!
You might remember that back in April I mentioned that Dan Knight, who hosts the bi-weekly show "Random Thought Crime Generator" on WMPG in Portland ME, was going to interview me live on the air April 14th, 2008. It did happen, and was great fun. We talked about the Strange Maine Gazette and the Strange Maine blog, and delicious topics -- from cryptozoology to the world of zines, and beyond.
Tonight, I finally finished squaring away the audiofile, got it formatted as an MP3, and edited it to exclude the musical playlist of the show to bypass copyright issues, and found an online home for it so folks could finally hear it.
Click the player below to listen, or visit the hosting site here.
If you want to download the file, just go to the hosting website here, and where the link to "Original" is, just mouseover and either right-click to "Save As" (PC users) or hit CTRL and click to "Download Linked File" (Mac Users). It's about 35MB.
Frank Turek, collector of curiosities, recently pointed out to me a site about what is perhaps one of Maine's most historic religious sects, known familiarly as "The Kingdom." According to the website, The Kingdom was "founded in 1897 by Frank Weston Sandford of Bowdoinham, Maine," and grew steadily towards "the turn of the 20th century in the town of Durham in the State of Maine." The sect continues in a more modern form today, as readers will find, but still maintains itself as a strong religious presence in the state. The site is very comprehensive, and produced from within the viewpoint of those involved in the sect. If you're curious, take a look for yourself at http://www.fwselijah.com/. As the editor notes:
For many years the complete history of the Kingdom was available only to the members of the church on a "need to know" basis, and that history presented in such a manner that a certain palatable image was deliberately cultivated. Few individuals born since 1925 are aware of the movement's real roots, and it has been the lifelong ministry of some within church leadership to keep it that way. It is our intent to present the past as objectively as we can, by posting as many original uncensored articles as space or time permits and are available to us.
Those in the know may recognize this group as the basis of Shirley Nelson's book, Fair, Clear and Terrible, which I have a copy of on my shelf but unfortunately have yet to get a chance to read.
I recently read an account of the experiences of some of the folks who went on a missionary crusade to the desert from Maine that may be of interest to students of examples of Mainers' religious fervor, which I will see if I can dig up again.
Of special interest in the list of events from Fort Knox this year is the increasingly popular Paranormal/Psychic Faire in July, featuring Maine's own Loren Coleman, and paranormal groups from across New England. From the Ellsworth American:
Special Event Schedule Released for Fort Knox Thursday, May 01, 2008
PROSPECT — The Friends of Fort Knox organization has released its special event schedule for 2008.
The group has added four full moon viewing dates at the Penobscot Narrows Observatory, which will stay open until midnight on July 18 and 19 and Aug. 15 and 16. The observatory’s regular daily operating hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. expand to a 7 p.m. close during the months of July and August.
The Scottish Tattoo sponsored by the Maine St. Andrew Society and the Friends will take place on Saturday, July 12, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The event will feature traditional Scottish bagpipers, precision marching bands and a patriotic salute to America.
Tickets are available in advance at the FFK gift shop or by calling (207)469-6553.
The Psychic/Paranormal Faire takes place the weekend of July 5 and 6, headlined by renowned cryptozoologist and author Loren Coleman, who has appeared on the Travel Channel’s “Weird Travels” and whose new book, “Mysterious America,” has been published by Simon & Schuster.
The Central Maine Paranormal Investigation group will team up with the Massachusetts Paranormal Team to provide lectures and hands-on ghost hunting tips.
Yearly Friends-sponsored special events such as the 20th Maine Civil War encampments, cannon firings, Will Cotton’s Civil War Battery and a five-night Fright at the Fort will return for visitors to the fort.
Tickets for the fort and Penobscot Narrows Observatory go on sale to the public at Fort Knox beginning Monday, May 1.
The Friends of Fort Knox will sell advance tickets for the fort and observatory to groups of 10 or more. Fort Knox and the observatory are open to the public from May 1 to Oct. 31. For a complete list of Friends of Fort Knox special events and to check fort/observatory admission fees, visit fortknox.maineguide.com online.
Please note for this event there is a suggested donation of $5-10! WHO:Spiritual Horizons Maine hosts a Freddy Silva presentation WHAT: "Orbs, Crop Circles and Sacred Spaces: The Manifestation of Soul" WHEN: Tuesday, May 6 at 7:00pm WHERE: 75 State Street, Portland. Entrance to event is through Gray Street side entrance.
"In recent years, the phenomenon of orbs and other luminosities, captured on cameras around the world has raised intriguing debate on the origin of angels, ET contact, even the human soul. Tonight, researcher Freddy Silva will share a 90-slide presentation examining various personal and eyewitness interactions with these fascinating light forms. He will also share the results of experiments that attracted orbs in Egyptian temples, their relationship to crop circles and sacred sites, and how their origin may be associated with the 'giants' or 'tall ones' from our ancient history. Talk about a 'standing room only' event! Suggested donation $5-10."
Open to all. Refreshments served. Donations are welcome.
On my way to get coffee this morning, I was shocked and saddened by the huge story on the front page of the Portland Press Herald in the vending box I passed. Going online to find out what had happened, the story unfolded, as well as a posting on Craig's List with a plea for help. I'll post both the story and the link for assistance to Norlands below.
WMTW posted a terse article about the fire, which has video footage included:
Washburn-Norlands Fire Deemed Accidental POSTED: 10:41 pm EDT April 28, 2008 UPDATED: 3:29 pm EDT April 29, 2008
LIVERMORE, Maine -- Fire heavily damaged the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center in Livermore Monday night. It broke out just after 9 p.m. in the barn and by the time firefighters arrived, there were flames shooting out of the building.
The fire also spread to the middle house connecting the barn to the original mansion. The president of Washburn-Norlands, Cathy Beauregard, said the good news is that the mansion itself was spared. But the barn was destroyed and some of the livestock died in the fire.
The Maine state fire marshal's office said a heater set up in the barn sparked the fire. It was put there to keep several newborn piglets warm. The fire marshal's office has ruled the fire an accident.
Firefighters from several towns helped fight the fire and shuttle water to the scene. Beauregard said about 100 neighbors also showed up to help out.
While no one was hurt, and the fire spared the historic mansion, headquarter of so many historical activities for the region, assistance is still needed. On Craigslist.org, a plea was posted by a local who wants to get the word out about how people can help:
Last night (Monday, April 28), a devastating fire ripped through the barn of the Norlands Living History Center in Livermore. The barn—along with several animals—was lost. The extent of the damage to the mansion has not been fully determined at this time. More information about this sad event can be found on the Lewiston Sun Journal’s web site at www.sunjournal.com. For those who are not familiar with the Norlands, their web site is www.norlands.org (NOTE: there is a link to send donations via the web on their front page as of late this morning).
For decades, the Norlands has offered the community an opportunity to travel back in time to explore Maine’s rich history. Thousands of school children have enjoyed field trips to the school & mansion (I went as a child back in 1980...and my daughter enjoyed a school outing there just last year). For thousands of local residents, their annual Heritage Days has been a tradition not to be missed.
As the embers are still cooling, the Norlands Board of Directors is already committing to rebuild—no matter how long or how hard the task will be.
I’m just a citizen (not associated with the Norlands) that was saddened by this event, and who recognizes the value of this organization. Those wishing to help are instructed in a Sun Journal article:
To donate grain, hay, money or other goods to Norlands, call the center’s main number and leave a message at (207)897-4366. Mail can be sent to: 290 Norlands Road, Livermore, ME 04253. Drinkwine can be reached by cell at (207)740-0777, or by e-mail at vlnorlands[at]megalink.net
No pressure. Just letting folks know in case they want to help.
Motion Media, the Maine entertainment company we know and love for bringing us the zombie flick "2" and the Bigfoot comedy "Monster in the Woods," is gearing up for its newest production, "The Adventures of Teeni the Wonder Dog." This family film tells the story of Christina, a young girl living with leukemia, and the little dog that enters her life and helps give her hope.
WHEN: Saturday, May 3rd, from 10:00am-1:00pm WHERE: The Kennel Shop, Millcreek Shopping Center, 50 Market Street, South Portland WHAT: Bring yourself and your dog for a canine casting call! FMI: Contact Olin Smith at olinmmfv[at]gmail.com
Primary casting is done, with production to begin in May/June, but plenty of canine roles are still available. If you think your dog has what it takes to be a movie star, an open casting call will be held at The Kennel Shop at Millcreek Shopping Center in South Portland on May 3 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Some shooting for the film may be done that day.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see your dog up on the big screen," said producer Olin Smith, whose dog will play the title role in the film. "We need dogs and lots of them, so bring yours down and make them a star."
"TEENI" is based on a story by Producer Olin Smith ("Monster in the Woods," "Mud") and was written by Al Lamanda ("2," "Dunstan Falls"). It will be a family drama in the spirit of "Benji" and "Old Yeller." John Lane (Lobsteroids, 2) Executive Produces this touching drama.
Members of the press are welcome, but are asked to contact the Producers beforehand to receive a press pass.
The Forecaster brings to our attention that it is that time of year when the peepers start their peeping, and the Maine Audubon Society seeks for volunteers to keep track of all those little green and brown guys. Ribbit! Hop to it, oh ye green-loving citizens of Maine! Need is strongest in northern and downeast areas of the state. Photo by Michelle Souliere (c)2007.
Volunteers sought for frog survey (published: April 24, 2008)
FALMOUTH – It’s the time of year when noisy Maine peepers herald the beginning of spring.
It’s also the time that Maine Audubon is sending out a call for volunteers across the state to listen for and note the sounds of frogs on several evenings through the early summer.
Although the heavy snow cover and a cold spring delayed the season by about two weeks, the spring peepers can now be heard along the coast of Maine and as far north as Acadia National Park, Maine Audubon wildlife biologist Susan Gallo said.
Gallo is asking for volunteers to help in the Maine Amphibian Monitoring Project, which will survey Maine’s amphibian populations for the 12th consecutive year.
Volunteers are asked to conduct two-hour roadside surveys and commit to helping with the project for three years. Ideally volunteers will have e-mail and Internet access, Gallo said.
People who want to volunteer will be asked to take an online quiz on frog calls before being asked to make 10 stops along an assigned route, waiting five minutes at each stop to list the frog species they hear.
Maine has nine species of amphibians, and usually only a few are heard at any one time, Gallo said.
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Gallo at 781-2330, ext. 216, or sgallo[at]maineaudubon.org . Potential volunteers can take the frog quiz, designed by the U.S. Geological Survey, at www.pwrc.usgs.gov/frogquiz [Source]
An updated list of areas still in especial need of volunteers can be found here. At the time of this post, the following areas were targeted for recruitment: St. John, Chapman, Greenfield, Madison, Caucomgomoc Lake, Bridgewater, Moose Mountain, Dickey, Bootford, Penobscot Lake, Musquacook Lake, Oakfield/Stair Falls, Patten, Pittston Farm, Ellsworth, and Tunk Lake.
Shown here: "Lori Higgins, owner of Jack & Jill Hair Fashions & Gnarly Nails, in the basement of her Main Street business in Fairfield on Thursday. Higgins and other employees have seen unexplained movement and heard noises throughout the building." Photo by David Leaming, Morning Sentinel, 2006.
From one of last week's issues of the Kennebec Journal comes an interesting tale of ghosthunting:
FAIRFIELD -- Ghost hunters think there is indeed something funny going on at Lori Higgins' Jack & Jill Hair Fashions on Main Street. ... While exploring the building, at the invitation of its owner, founders of the Maine Ghost Hunters Society say they found what they call "an extensive amount of evidence indicating high amounts of paranormal activity."
Digital photos exhibited by South Gardiner ghost hunters Julie Velez and Robin Coleman show what they call "orbs" floating in a room. They claim that digital-sound recordings taken from the salon, and posted on the group's Web site www.maineghosts.org(scroll about halfway down the page), capture an unearthly voice asking for help. ... Unexplained activity began occurring at the 150 Main St. location in August 2004, Higgins said, when she began remodeling the store front in the brick Masonic building. ... After seeing a 2006 Morning Sentinel article online about Higgins' claims, Velez and Colman contacted Higgins for permission to poke around. (See below for 2006 article)
The Society, currently with seven members, was founded last year. The group has posted its adventures in what they call haunted homes in Gardiner and in Monmouth, as well as the Fairfield location.
Society members said they used "electromagnetic field detectors" to reveal the presence of an entity perhaps trying to materialize for them. They also said they detected unexplained noises, movements and temperature drops.
As for the 1791 date, Mark McPheters of the Fairfield Historical Society said the brick structure where Jack & Jill is located on the ground floor -- the Masonic Building -- was constructed circa 1900.
"Before that, there were wooden stores side-by-side from when the town was built," McPheters said. "Fairfield was founded in 1788. Buildings were put along the street, shoe stores, harnesses and a hardware store at the corner, whatever people needed." ... Read full article here: [Source]
Here is the 2006 Morning Sentinel article that made the Maine Ghost Hunters Society interested in exploring Jack & Jill Hair Fashions:
FAIRFIELD -- As far as anyone knows, this ghost does not go bump in the night -- it goes bump in broad daylight and has been known to toss a spoon and a beach ball across the room.
The specter at 150 Main St. even showed himself once to a little boy who was playing while his mother got her hair done.
Lori Higgins, owner of Jack & Jill Hair Fashions and Gnarly Nails on Main Street where the unexplained activity has been occurring, even has a name for it.
"We named him Harold," Higgins said. "I don't know why, it's just Harold."
Higgins said most of the creepy stuff began around August 2004, when she remodeled the store.
Loud, head-turning squeals, moving furniture and unintelligible mutterings since have become a frequent happening at the salon, not just for her, she said, but for her employees and customers alike.
"If this wasn't anybody but myself just experiencing this stuff, I probably would have gone, 'Well, who's going to believe me,'" Higgins said from the back room of the beauty parlor where most of the sounds and sights have been happening. "But it's not just myself, it's clients, it's past workers, present workers."
She said the loud sounds include the dragging of a chair across the floor, but nothing is moving and nothing is seen. There are sounds of someone banging their feet in the basement or on the stairs, but again, nothing is seen, Higgins said.
On another occasion, she and a another woman were sitting at the break table in the back room, when the darndest thing happened.
"We were sitting there finishing up lunch when a spoon just up and -- whoop -- flew right to the wall right there," Higgins said. "She saw it, she actually saw it, so ..."
Other happenings include low, unintelligible whispering, she said.
"You can hear garbled whispers sometimes, that happens from time to time," she said. "We can't tell what he's saying, it's jumbley. It's garbled. You can't tell."
Higgins said there also are cold breezes that sneak up on employees and customers, even in the summertime.
On another occasion, Lui Giordano, the Gnarly Nail man at Jack & Jill's, was finishing new tiles for the floor and went to a store room for more adhesive, when the darndest thing happened -- again.
"This was after hours in August and I was finishing up painting and we needed more materials out back," she recalled. "He went in first and went to reach for more glue and a beach ball came out of nowhere and hit him in the head.
"He was all set. He was done for that night. I had told him of all these weird happenings we couldn't explain and he was 'Ya, Yeah, whatever.' It happened to him and I said, there."
Giordano said the episode made his hair stand up.
Another time a client brought her little boy into the shop with her, Higgins said. The boy's toy truck skipped into the back room and the child retrieved it.
"He proceeded to come out front and ask us who the old man was out back, right at that stairway," she said. "If you don't experience something, then you're not going to believe."
Higgins said the building was built around 1907 as a five & dime store at one time and a ladies' clothing store, as well as a beauty parlor before she took over.
She said the presence is fun, not scary.
"He's playful. He's funny. He's not threatening, I talk to him," she said. "I just know it's a him, but I have not visually seen him here -- yet." [Source]
Christina White of Spirits Alive sent along a note inviting interested folks to enjoy the Eastern Cemetery as spring blooms within its gates, and also to apprise us of upcoming events. Here it is! (Photo from one of the 2007 Workdays).
Good Afternoon,
The Accolade Cherry Trees are in bloom at the Congress gates of the Eastern! Pick-up the gate key at Carlson Turner bookstore (right across the street from the Eastern) and take a stroll, have a seat, enjoy! (This 6 acre cemetery is located on Congress/Mountfort/Federal Streets at the foot of Munjoy Hill.)
On Saturday, May 10th from 9a till 1p, Spirits Alive sponsors its third year of Work Days at Portland's oldest burial ground, the Eastern Cemetery. We host a Saturday Work Day each month beginning in May and concluding in October. Meet at the Congress Street gates.
We'll be planting/watering/mulching about 40 small caliper saplings and it looks like we'll also install two new flowering shrub beds at the Congress Street entrance. With the installation on the 10th, Landscape Architect Barry Hosmer and Spirits Alive volunteers will have installed about 150 trees and flowering shrubs. Each season, this historic site is transforming into an inviting site with offerings of color, light shade, texture and even habitat for birds and insects.
All are welcomed, green thumb or not. Wear sensible shoes, bring work gloves, a bottle of water and sunscreen or a hat. Bring tools if you have them-- a rake, shovel, pruning shears, and wheelbarrow are very useful. We also take loan of City tools so those will be available.
Not up to planting trees? We have light pruning and trimming to do as well, and though volunteers have already done a trash pick-up, there's more to do.
Each May 10 volunteer will receive a ticket for a free 2008 Spirits Alive tour of your choosing as a "thank you." And, once again, Shipyard Brewery is donating their delicious Capt. Eli soft drinks.
Every hour volunteered on this site makes a great difference. Join this great group of Master Gardeners, green-space advocates, history buffs, neighbors, and Spirits Alive volunteers.
Let us know if you'll be joining us!
Best, Christina and Spirits Alive christina[at]spiritsalive.org
In Search of Sarah Ware: Reinvestigating Murder and Conspiracy in a Maine Village by Emeric Spooner has been eagerly awaited by local history fans, as is attested to by his success so far in selling copies of the small self-published first edition. This well-printed volume arrived in my mailbox hot off the press, and over the last couple of weeks I’ve stolen time here and there to read it.
The most compelling element of this book is precisely what drove Spooner to write it – the tragedy of an unsolved murder with an innocent victim. Swept under the judicial rug after a late trial of the primary suspect, who was acquitted, Sarah Ware’s case has continued to call out from the mists of the past to Bucksport residents such as Spooner, who is the assistant librarian at the Buck Memorial Library. When I asked him what the starting point had been for him, he replied, “The place where Sarah lived, and the beginning of [Miles] Lane -- in my backyard, literally. The house lights I see at night are from the house that Sarah lived in, not more then 150 yards across a field and bush.”
Men in the village turned out for the initial organized search effort on October 1st. On the second day of their search, when their eyes turned to the pastures near Mrs. Miles’ house, they found Sarah’s deteriorating corpse. Found as it was, with terrible damage to the skull, the state of the body was enough to arouse dire opinions about the method of her demise. A few optimistic men tried to put forward theories of what sort of “accident” might cause such a death.
A handful of local men preparing to lift her remains into a coffin at the site discovered, on jostling the body, that she had not only been bludgeoned, but also decapitated, as her head dislodged and rolled away from the corpse. When all was said and done, the inquest jury came back with the judgment that Sarah Ware had “met death at the hands of a person or persons unknown.”
Spooner has transcribed the available documentation of the proceedings, giving us the rare chance to examine what emerged in them for ourselves. What is immediately apparent is that, from the beginning, her death was the cause of conflict and supposition among the townspeople.
The text does not include the questions levied upon witnesses by the examiners, so we are unable to know how much of each person’s statement was volunteered, and how much was steered by questioning. Statements regarding supposed knowledge of Sarah Ware’s habits, morals, personality, mental health, and all manner of details of her personal life are peppered throughout the testimony, leading the careful reader to believe that although a murder may have been committed, in some people’s minds the victim herself was on trial as well.
This is the state of affairs as Spooner launches us into the complicated morass that is the search for Sarah Ware’s murderer. Having spent so much time wading through this material, the author has had time to piece together theories of his own and develop opinions about some of the town characters that people the landscape of this case.
Additional materials are provided here and there to flesh out otherwise unattached names, and to give the reader a feel for how all of the lives in this tiny Maine town intertwined at the turn of the century. Even if there had been no murder, this material would make for a fascinating read, enough to make even Agatha Christie herself inspired.
The accounts of surrounding events vary from witness to witness, and even from one telling to another. People contradict themselves regularly, and some, including William Treworgy, the defendant in the eventual murder trial, avoid explaining themselves entirely. It is no wonder that over a hundred years later the story is still not resolved, if the community was unable to determine the truth of the matter at the trial four years after the killing.
Spooner has been researching the story of Sarah Ware for over two years, and has dug through piles of old newspaper clippings, court documents, and other historical ephemera in his quest for answers. Most recently he was rewarded by finding a photo which includes among its members a woman he thinks can only be Sarah Ware. The resemblance to newspaper portraits of her is indeed startling.
In addition, he interviewed every living descendant of the people mentioned in the newspapers and court documents that he could find, in the hopes of gleaning insight into what the families of the area thought or knew about the murder. “About 80% of the witness list, both defense and prosecution, still have family members who live in town today. It is these people who I interviewed.” A few declined to divulge all the sensitive details they knew, but most were very open with their information.
When I asked Emeric Spooner what his goal was in publishing this book, he replied, “My hope in publishing the book is to set the record straight with the true facts behind the mystery, while making it interesting to read, and spur those families still around to check in their attics for trunks full of photos, diaries, and [examine these] belongings for any piece of evidence that might shed light on the case. That, and slap any of the professionals investigating cold cases, with today’s technology, across the face and say, ‘We have the blood stained cape!’ We have the personal effects and evidence taken from her murdered body. Do DNA testing on it! Check the bloodstains to see if they are all hers.”
Spooner has certainly succeeded in making the subject interesting to read. While some tangents of his arguments and suppositions are at times hard to weave together in the sequence presented by the book, one only has to look at the maze of information to realize that the task was a difficult one at best, and, as Spooner himself says in closing, “The investigation is ongoing.”
The publishing quality is very good, especially impressive considering it was self-published. The restrained design of the front cover features a photo of the area near which key elements of the story take place, while the interior pages are printed on a very pleasant antique white paper stock, which I must say made turning the pages an enjoyable experience.
Readers may have some trouble with Spooner’s syntax and sentence structure, but after a while this seems to blend in with the somewhat archaic tone of the court transcriptions, and the interest of the material itself in many cases makes up for the lack of an editor. Researchers may find themselves frustrated by the lack of citations, leaving this book out of the running as a scholarly historical text, but this could easily be amended with an appendix in a future printing. No doubt Spooner himself will be happy to furnish any necessary information in the meantime, as his meticulous research bespeaks a record-keeping nature.
All in all, the book is well worth the read, and as Spooner sets to work on his next book about another local mystery, the historic Trim family triple homicide of 1876, we can only hope that someone in the publishing world will pick up on this book and, with some careful engineering, set it on the right track for a full-scale printing, so that it reaches a wider audience.
In Search of Sarah Ware: Reinvestigating Murder and Conspiracy in a Maine Village is for sale at BookStacks, at 71 Main Street, and Bittersweet Gift Shop, at 81 Main Street, both in Bucksport, or online at Amazon.com. Readers may also visit http://mysite.verizon.net/espooner/ to purchase the book and find out about other area mysteries.
NOTE: In an effort to expand ourselves into the the wide world of Strange Maine related books, historic and otherwise, this post represents the first of hopefully many book reviews. We hope these will help our readers find even more material that is of interest to them. If you have a book that you think would fit our interests, please feel free to mail review copies for consideration to:
Michelle Souliere, Editor Strange Maine Gazette P.O. Box 8203 Portland, ME 04104
Our readers may also be interested to know that there is a short video clip from the Boston Chronicle’s television segment about the Sarah Ware murder and Spooner’s work on it here:
Among Maine's extraordinary entertainers is Fred Garbo, of Norway, Maine. The press of Springfield, Illinois geared up for his company's much anticipated performance with an April 17th article by Tamara Browning. Among the tidbits of information about what the audience can expect, Garbo's history and ingenious ideas are mentioned.
Garbo has been a professional performer since 1974 (when someone gave him money for doing card tricks). On “Sesame Street,” Garbo was the acrobat inside Barkley the Dog. On Broadway, he was the chief juggler in the musical “Barnum,” and he’s also toured Europe, Hong Kong and Australia with the Obie Award-winning Foolsfire, with Bob Berky and Michael Moschen.
Garbo also has tumbled for the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center and danced with the dance company MOMIX in Brazil.
The 53-year-old Garbo founded the inflatable theater company nearly 18 years ago, when he took a break from show business to do skydiving. While packing his parachute, he was struck by its bright colors, strong material and portability, he says in an artist’s statement.
“The parachute material inflates into a huge, big prop and then deflates down to nearly nothing,” Garbo says in the statement. “I took this idea to my friend and hot air balloon artist, George York. Between us, we devised what would be the first in a long line of strange new props.”
Among the props in the New Victory Theater show was an inflatable dog.
“It’s an ‘Air-dale,’” Garbo exclaims[...]. “Good dog!”
WHAT: Maine Historical Society invites you to... a screening of Song of the Drum: The Petroglyphs of Maine WHEN: Thursday, May 1, 7:00 pm WHO: Donald Soctomah, Historic Preservation Officer and Tribal Representative to the State Legislature, Passamaquoddy Tribe WHERE: Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress Street, Portland
Historian Donald Soctomah will screen the documentary "Song of the Drum" and discuss efforts to research and preserve the distinctive Passamaquoddy petroglyphs of Machias Bay. These rock carvings, some of which are more than 3,000 years old, reflect powerful spiritual beliefs and the rich cultural heritage of Native Americans in Maine.
Soctomah will also share information about the collections and stories that are being gathered in the museum of Passamaquoddy history and culture in Princeton, Maine.
The above event is FREE and Open to the Public.
For more information call 207-774-1822 or email info[at]mainehistory.org
Who knew? Patrick Dempsey started out his young entertainment career juggling in Buckfield, Maine. On an Australian news site, he is interviewed about his upcoming film, Enchanted, and reveals all:
Q: Is it true that you began your entertainment career as a juggler, when you were in your teens? A: "As a kid I started off juggling and loved it. I was second in the International Jugglers' competition in the junior division in 1982. I loved ski racing, I was a big skier and I remember my ski teacher was in a vaudeville troupe and he happened to be juggling and I told him I would like to learn, I was naturally good at it. I went home and practiced all night and he introduced me to some great clowns and jugglers. Then suddenly the town where I lived in Maine had become the hotbed for a new Vaudevillian movement and juggling opened a whole new world for me and started me off as a performer." [Source]
There's an extensive 2002 interview with him about his Maine connections here, and about his home on Harpswell Neck, on aroundmaine.com, from Portland Magazine's Mark Griffin.
Maine does not have a large body of publicly reported ritualistic animal sacrifice (more often misuse of animal remains is a prank or a protest), but every now and then something weird and disturbing turns up. And then that turns out to just be something random, like a hunter baiting coyotes. Here is the sequence of events:
Slain goat prompts police investigation By Eric Russell Friday, April 18, 2008 - Bangor Daily News
STONINGTON, Maine - Hancock County Sheriff’s Department deputies and a local animal control officer are investigating a bizarre case involving a slain goat that they said could be anything from a ritualistic killing to a disturbing prank.
A woman from Stonington called authorities shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday after her teenage daughter came across the dead animal, according to Deputy Jeffrey McFarland. The girl was walking in a wooded area near an all-terrain vehicle trail off Route 15A.
"It looks like she came across a goat hung in a tree with its belly slashed open," McFarland said Thursday. "The area where it was found is set back a quarter mile in the woods, and it doesn’t appear that there were any houses close by."
Charles Berhalter, the animal control officer for the town of Stonington, investigated Wednesday night and referred the case to the sheriff’s office. Berhalter said it looked to him like a ritualistic killing of some kind.
"I didn’t get too close because it was getting dark, but it was disgusting," he said. "It was cut open and they had taken some of the innards out. The girl that discovered this was upset horribly. Her mother said she was hysterical." ... "These things really irk me. I’m 76 years old and I love animals. I don’t know how anyone could do this," Berhalter said. "People in town need to know that this happened."
...McFarland said he knew of only one small farm in the general area, but the sheriff’s office had not received a report of a missing goat as of Thursday evening. Both he and Berhalter said they couldn’t remember a case like this.
The authorities didn't mention how deteriorated the body was, but the date hardly seemed likely for a sabbat celebration, and it was a little early for a moon sabbat (the full moon was April 20th). All in all, it seemed like a pretty nasty affair. But then it turned out to be fairly innocuous (by comparison -- in reality it's still pretty creepy):
Goat killing not ritualistic, official says By Eric Russell Saturday, April 19, 2008 - Bangor Daily News
STONINGTON, Maine - The mystery of a slain goat that was discovered late Wednesday is over not long after it began.
Charles Berhalter, the town’s animal control officer, confirmed Friday that the animal was not the victim of a sacrificial killing or a disturbing prank as was initially suspected. Instead, he said, a local resident had bought the goat from a farmer in Surry and then hung it up with the intention of catching coyotes.
"I thought for sure when I first saw it [late Wednesday] that it was some kind of ritualistic killing, but I’m sure glad it wasn’t," Berhalter said. ... "We have seen some satanic signs and things up here on Route 15, so that’s why I initially thought it could be related," Berhalter said. ... Other than the paperwork, he said, the incident is history.
Well, much to my delight, the Strange Maine blog won "BEST BLOG" in the Portland Phoenix's Best of Portland annual awards. Yippee! All within one week, I was interviewed on WMPG, and then honored by this big fat kudo. Excitement! So thank you, thank you, thank you, all you readers out there who took the time to vote, and thank you to all of you who didn't even know who we were but voted for us because you liked our name (I can guarantee there are at least a few of you out there).
I would also like to thank Wil Whalen over at Where There's Wil, There's Always a Way, who won last year's Best Blog of Portland, for so graciously mentioning that there's a tiara involved. Who knew?! I'm wearing it now. Sure, it's invisible, but *I* know it's there. (ha, you're all thinking, "Michelle in a tiara?!" Truth is stranger than fiction, always!)
WHEN: Monday, April 14th from around 10:15pm to 10:45pm WHERE:WMPG, 90.9 FM and 104.1 FM in the Greater Portland area, or listen online here to their streaming broadcast. WHAT: DanK of the Random Thought Crime Generator show interviews me about the world of Strange Maine
Who knows what will surface? According to the WMPG website, the show customarily features a mix of soundtracks, novelties, spoken word, experimental, and instrumentals from all genres, especially jazz, surf, and r&b, but when Dan approached me about doing an interview, I was very pleased and not a little excited (that means "a lot excited")! Nifty dandy!!!
Portland metal band Man-Witch has announced a terrifying new prospect for local artists -- The Man-Witch Art Show!
Draw the Death Truck! Draw the Flaming Pillow of Fear! Draw the Necro-Atomic-Abominomicon! Heck, draw the Super Ultra Mega Terrifyafearinator! (...if you dare)
The dates:
Open Submissions will be accepted at Geno's Rock Club from July 11 to July 25. Art must be ready to hang! Sorry, no freestanding sculpture (the lobby is a little too trafficked and hazardous for freestanding art to survive long). Limit 3 pieces per artist, please. Entry forms will be provided at drop-off.
On August 1st the First Friday Artwalk opening for the show will be held, followed by live rock with MAN-WITCH!!! ARRRGHHHHHH!!!!
The Man-Witch Art Show will be available for viewing at Geno's from August 1 to September 3.
Use any media you like -- photos! comic strips! collage! paint! ink! ...and other things too numerous to be mentioned without causing insanity!!!
Other subjects for prospective artists to ponder include Thunderhog, Ape Bait, Some Sword, Skull Island, Zombie Zü, not to mention the unmentionable band members Stella Hell, Max Headwound, Jurgen A. Rocknow (see flyer image above), and The Doctor & Benjamin Von Franklinstein! Do not hesitate to plunder their origin stories and more from their MySpace site, http://www.myspace.com/rimeoftheancientmanwitch, or simply listen to their downloadable song samples for hours on end and thereby inducing an art frenzy of epic proportions (it happens)!
Sponsored by the Art Horde!
Photos of Jurgen and the band as shown here are all by Chris Wallace (Flickr links feature photos by yours truly).
Some interesting items are emerging from the subterranean world of Bangor, as recorded by the Bangor Daily News. I wonder if the Bangor Explorers Guild has been in yet?
PHOTO shows Stephen Wintle of Facility Management Group Incorporated peering into a tunnel which was discovered in the basement of the Penobscot County Courthouse. The four foot deep tunnels snakes under the building and was used for ventilation. Photo taken Friday, March 28, 2008 for the Bangor Daily News by Kate Collins.
Bangor: Courthouse work yields surprises, hazards By Judy Harrison Friday, April 04, 2008 - Bangor Daily News
BANGOR, Maine - Murphy's Law has been hard at work in the basement of the Penobscot County Courthouse. Since renovations began last fall, the century-old building has revealed a few hidden secrets and more hazardous material than expected. ... The latest discovery (a system of tunnels that appears to have been part of the original building's ventilation system> came last week when workers removed the concrete floor. The original building was completed in 1833. The tunnels are not on the plans for the courthouse that was constructed between 1901 and 1903.
Davis speculated that the system might have been left over from the original courthouse built on the same site. It was torn down when construction on the current building began as the 20th century dawned. ... The entire concrete floor, several inches thick, was removed by hand, a few chunks at a time, in wheelbarrows last week. A new concrete floor is expected to be poured later this month once it's determined how to keep the ventilation system from being filled in, according to Collins.
"When they peeled the onion, they found more things that we did not know existed," Collins said. "We found silica that had to be removed along with more asbestos and more lead paint. One of the bigger secrets is that we've found more tunnels that we didn't know existed." ... As the project began last fall and the walls came out in one room, old steam pipes and a tunnel, believed to have been installed when the building was completed in 1903, were uncovered. They have been sealed off.
They appeared to go under Court Street to the former YMCA building. That building was constructed in 1890 and replaced in 1970 with the current structure.
... The tunnels yielded yet another unwelcome surprise -- several 5-gallon cans that contained a chemical that has yet to be identified. In addition to testing the cans, soil in the tunnels where they were found will be tested for contamination.
From a historical perspective, the finds have been exciting but sometimes a little scary, Collins said.
"We've truly peeled back the onion skin and we're making it a much better place and a safer place," he said. "One of the things we found was an electrical conduit laid in the floor that had rusted away. There were exposed live wires under the floor. That's simply too dangerous." ... Read full article here: [Source]
It was 35 years ago this year that the Durham, Maine, area was flooded with sighting reports of a gorilla-like creature. Loren Coleman has the scoop on Cryptomundo!
This is the same sighting we discussed back in a January 2007 post about the sighting, which includes my favorite Bigfoot quote ever: "I fell right down in front of him and all he did was look at me. I would have known if it were a hippie or something. But it had a regular monkey face. You have seen a monkey before, haven't you?"
Wow! Okay, this should be a fun show -- submit your art now!!! (see below for more info from Chris Dingwell at Sanctuary)From Chris:
HEY EVERYONE, I wanted to let you know about our JUNE art exhibit -- "YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE"
I'm very excited to announce that we are going to be doing a group show of really crazy, whacky, totally screw-ball LIGHTHOUSE ART! the show goes up in June; June 4th to be exact, and anyone can participate.
The only stipulations are:
The work must be about or include some form of LIGHTHOUSE image
It must of course be your own original artwork
It must be non-traditional in some form; how is up to you, as long as it goes beyond the usual Maine Lighthouse postcard art. Using such images for the sake of satire is of course totally appropriate as well.
We already have a bunch of great local artists on board, but we always need more! Show us what you have. If you are intending to submit three-dimensional work, please contact Chris Dingwell at the gallery first, otherwise no pre-approval is necessary. All work must be delivered to the gallery by Wednesday, JUNE 4th. Work that doesn't meet the criteria will not be included.
For more information, contact CHRIS DINGWELL Sanctuary Tattoo and Art Gallery 31 forest Ave. Portland, Maine 04101 207-828-8866 e-mail: chris[at]sanctuarytattoo.com
Most peculiarly, the Bangor Daily News reported that a rash of various animal body parts and animal home invasions peppered the Hancock area the other week. Even more oddly, it all seemed to be the result of perfectly natural animal behavior. Shown here is a more traditional "with garland" version of a boar's head, as opposed to the more contemporary "at the end of the driveway" Maine version.
Woman finds boar's head in driveway By Bill Trotter Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - Bangor Daily News
BAR HARBOR, Maine - A wild boar's head was found Monday in the driveway of a local home, but at this point there is no reason to think there is anything suspicious or criminal about the incident, according to police.
A woman returned to her home on Sand Point Road around noon Monday to find the severed head in her driveway, Officer Thom Tardiff said Tuesday. The head seemed to be the result of a recent kill, he said. ... The woman is a dog sitter and speculated that one of the dogs she is taking care of may have found the head somewhere and dragged it into the driveway, the officer said. He said the woman had the head moved into the nearby woods. ... "Hopefully, it’s the last boar head I see in the near future," he said.
It’s not the only strange animal incident Tardiff has dealt with this week. The officer also received a report of a severed deer leg found March 12 on Route 3 between Champlain and Dorr mountains. The leg bore old wounds, he said, and could have been severed when the deer was hit by a vehicle. No three-legged deer was found at the scene.
Also on March 12, Tardiff received a complaint about a basement being trashed in a home on Barberry Lane. Someone or something broke in through a window, knocked over furniture and tore down exposed insulation, but did not go through any unlocked doors, he said. A basement door that leads outside had been forced outward, bending a bolt that had held it shut.
Based on the damage and the apparent path the invader took in getting into and out of the basement, Tardiff said, it appeared a bear was to blame, though there was no sign of claw marks or bear tracks in or outside the home.
Strange Maine readers who enjoy the company of the good old wireless- be it a high-tech receiver or an old vacuum-tube antique, can tune in to Portland-based WLOB on Sunday evenings and listen to radio dramas and the Twilight Zone. The frequencies are AM 1310, or 96.3 FM, and the entertainment begins at 6pm with the Twilight Zone, and continues with a variety of classic programs (including The Green Hornet, for example) and concludes at 11pm with another one-hour Twilight Zone episode. Great listening for the living room or the front yard- and the price is right!
I wonder if these boys are going to take up their father's trade of reporting after this early start to their investigative careers? See link below story for the latest.
BODY DISCOVERED: Man's death ruled 'suspicious' By Alan Crowell, Morning Sentinel staff 03/17/2008
Morning Sentinel staff photo FOUND BODY: Jake Hickey, left, and his brother, Ben, of Watervillle speak on Sunday about finding the body of a male down by the Kennebec River behind the Morning Sentinel building off Front Street. The teenagers were down by the river while waiting for their father, reporter Colin Hickey, inside the building. Police officers, from left, William Bonney, Tim Hinton, Chief Joe Massey and Kris Mckenna wait for state police investigators in the back parking lot.
WATERVILLE -- Police are investigating the suspicious death of an unidentified man whose body was found behind the Morning Sentinel building off Front Street Sunday night.[...]
"We are treating it as a suspicious death," said Gould late Sunday night after the body was recovered.
The body, that of a white male with short dark hair, was about 20 feet down a steep embankment that ends at the Kennebec River. It was between 5 and 10 feet from the river, near a platform that juts out from the bank. It was lying face down on top of the snow, clothed in blue jeans but naked from the waist up. Blood was clearly visible on the upper part of the back. One arm was folded under the corpse.
Waterville police strung yellow crime scene tape over a section of the river bank about 100 yards long Sunday night, as they waited for state police and a representative of the chief medical examiner's office.
At about 8 p.m., a hearse from Gallant Funeral Home arrived, and police used a section of rope to pull the body, encased in blue plastic, up the embankment. ... The body was discovered by two brothers who were waiting in the parking lot for their father, a Morning Sentinel reporter.
Ben and Jake Hickey, the children of reporter Colin Hickey, discovered the remains at about 5 p.m. Ben, 17, said he and his brother had planned to climb down the bank to watch the fast-flowing river, but got no further than the top of a snow bank.
Jake, 14, was the first to see it.
"I said, 'Oh my God, is that a dead body?'" said Jake Hickey.
He then ran into the Sentinel and told his father. Matt DiFilippo, a sports reporter, said the boy seemed shaken after running up the stairs. Leaving the office with the boys and their father, DiFilippo saw the corpse and ran across the street to the police station to report it to a dispatcher.
"He said 'Are you sure it is not a mannequin?'" said DiFilippo.
"I said 'No, I don't think so, there is blood on his back,'" said DiFilippo.
OOOOOOOOOoooo, who could do this to someone?! Mean, mean, mean, and so close to Easter, too. I bet it set the bunny's egg production back at a terrible rate. "The 17-year old, who's being held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center, is accused of breaking into another teen's apartment and stealing the gray pygmy rabbit. Police say he then telephoned the rabbit's owner demanding repayment of a $100 debt or else the rabbit would be hurt. Police Lt. Tony Ward says officers recovered the rabbit in good condition. They charged the 17-year-old with burglary and theft in connection with the break-in."
The final talk in the Spirits Alive winter lecture series is on March 29th!
WHEN: Saturday, March 29th at 10am WHERE: One Longfellow Square (at the corner of State and Congress Streets) WHAT: Earle G.Shettleworth, Jr., State Historic Preservation Commission Director will be presenting, "The Day Portland Burned: July 4, 1866."
This illustrated lecture is free and open to the public. A brief Q&A will follow. Beverages will be available for purchase. Donations to Spirits Alive are always appreciated.
Notable for being the worst urban fire of its time in the United States, The Great Fire struck just as Portland was recovering from its active role in the Civil War. Within 24 hours, the center of the peninsula lay in ruins with 10,000 people left homeless. It was estimated that there was over $12 million in damage. Even the Eastern Cemetery was affected as the inferno swept up Munjoy Hill.
True to its motto "Resurgam", the city quickly rebounded by constructing a Grand Victorian business district and establishing new residential neighborhoods on the east and west ends of the peninsula. The lecture traces the dramatic destruction and rebirth of a great American city.
A Portland native, Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. attended Deering High School, Colby College and Boston University. At the age of thirteen he became interested in historic preservation through the destruction of Portland's Union Station in 1961. In 1971 he was appointed by Governor Curtis to serve on the board of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, for which he became architectural historian in 1973 and director in 1976. Shettleworth has lectured and written extensively on Maine history and architecture, his most recent publication being Portland in the Arcadia postcard series. He currently serves as chair of the Capitol Planning Commission, the Blaine House Commission, and the State House and Capitol Park Commission.
In March 2004, Governor Baldacci appointed Mr. Shettleworth as State Historian.
I was just informed that the Strange Maine blog has been nominated for inclusion in the Portland Phoenix's Best of Portland poll, under the Blog/Podcast category! Wheeee!
And while you're at it, please note that Emptyhouse Films is up for best filmmaker, and it wouldn't hurt to fix up the Portland Author category by writing in Loren Coleman. Seriously, I don't think Carolyn Chute lives in Portland. Am I wrong?
This sounds like a real treat -- I'll be going myself tomorrow night to check it out!
Barring the Unforseen by Mike Daisey
March 6-15, 2008
Woven together from Maine ghost stories, the history of 19th century spiritualism, H.P. Lovecraft, and the unspeakable dread lurking under your bed, Barring the Unforeseen explores why we tell ghost stories, and the precious, terrifying gifts they bring us. Visit play's website here.
Performance Schedule remaining: • Wed., March 12 at 8:00 pm • Thurs., March 13 at 8:00 pm • Fri., March 14 at 8:00 pm • Sat., March 15 at 4:30 pm and 8:30 pm
All tickets are $15 Order tickets by phone: (207) 774-0465 Order tickets online: click here (be warned, a $3 internet order fee will be added to the price)
Well, it's been a great week in Strange Maine land, with some stand-out talks by local experts, from historical mill girl murders to monsters in our midst!
First we had Loren Coleman giving a great presentation at both the Belfast Library (Monday, read a terrific article about it on Cryptomundo) and the Portland Public Library (Wednesday), which resulted in an article on the Portland Phoenix's website, titled "Have You Ever Seen the Maine Mutant?"
I had the great pleasure of introducing Loren to the noontime crowd which attended the Portland Public Library talk. He gave a terrific overview of the current state of the cryptozoological field, as well as filling in the history for those curious souls in the audience who have yet to explore that field. His presentation include a wealth of pop-culture artifact examples, and plenty of intriguing slide imagery not often seen by the public. I was curious to find out what he viewed as being the most important Maine cryptid sightings. On his list are, among others, the sightings of the Casco Bay sea serpent, a.k.a. Cassie, and the Specter Moose, which I and others have pondered over the last couple of years.
Alex at the Museum of Hoaxes has dug up the actual newspaper articles about the moose
Second, Elizabeth De Wolfe gave a lively talk about her recent book, The Murder of Mary Bean and Other Stories, which is also the topic of a current exhibit at the Saco Museum put together by a very talented group. De Wolfe read and illustrated excerpts from the book, summarizing the sensational case, and enthusiastically answered a round of detailed questions in the intense question and answer session held following the reading. Great stuff!
The Saco Museum exhibit is titled Murder, Mystery & the Mills: The Story of Mary Bean, and it is open from Feb. 28 - May 25, 2008. We strongly recommend you both read the book and see the exhibit! The hours of the museum are Tue., Wed., Fri. Sat: 12 - 4 p.m., and Thur.: 12 - 8 p.m. Admission varies for adults ($4), seniors ($3), students/children ($2), but best of all, supervised children under 6 are FREE, and there is universal Free Admission on Thursdays from 4 - 8 p.m.
CALL FOR PAPERS "Mainers and Their Neighbors Who Went Out into the World"
--where we look at the stories of Northern New England and Maritime people who ventured beyond the region's boundaries. Some, like the Washburn family of Livermore, Maine, found fame and fortune. Most went voluntarily. Many did interesting things.
The conference is sponsored by the WASHBURN HUMANITIES CENTER in association with the University of Maine at Farmington and St. Michael's College, Vermont.
With this year's broad theme we are seeking the participation of both professional and lay scholars and students from across the spectrum of academic disciplines.
We encourage proposals from new presenters; presenters from previous conferences are encouraged to return, present a paper, and meet old friends.
Previously published material should not be submitted.
Presenters are given two nights lodging and breakfasts free of charge at local homes.
The conference will be held at the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center, a 445 acre site containing a restored one room school house, farmer's cottage, 1885 granite library (housing the extensive Washburn family collections), a 200 seat 1828 Universalist Church, and the 1867 Washburn mansion.
------------------------------------------------- Submit 150-word abstract and one-page vita by MARCH 7, 2008 TO: Billie Gammon 42 Hathaway Hill Road Livermore, ME 04253
A front-page story in today's Lewiston Sun Journal on "Weird Maine inventions" seems oddly familiar, right down to the illustrations used and examples chosen. There are some differences, though. I wrote that "no fewer than six patents for cow-tail holders were issued between 1890 and 1936." She was able to find "No fewer than seven cow-tail holders" patented between 1889 to 1936. That's why I'll never be a professional journalist.
On a snowy day, please allow me to mull some things over online for the rest of you to read.
Sitting here in Portland as the storm seems to be winding down, I've been reading through Alton Blackington's Yankee Yarns. While some of the stories are whimsical, others follow tragedies that seem far away and unlikely to happen again in this day and age. Mixed in with these accounts are an element that also seems to have gone from our world -- the real reporter, who from the look of things, is all but gone from the modern world, leaving few successors to that mantle of honor. Illustration from Allie Ryan collection, Maine State Museum, as found on the very interesting site Hunting New England Shipwrecks.
What do I mean by a "real reporter"? I mean someone who digs for a story, someone who tells what's really going on. Someone who is not just a complicit party to the selling of ad space. Someone who walks up to another human being, shakes their hand, and finds out what is really going on. Beyond that, a real reporter is someone who takes a risk when that sixth sense, the sense that tells you a story is there, kicks in.
Let me tell you about some of the reporters who caused this little mulling session this morning. The whole episode you see before you is mostly the fault of Blackington's chapter on the sinking of the steamer Portland, lost with all hands off the coast of Massachusetts on her way back to Portland's harbor in the middle of the Thanksgiving weekend storm of 1898. I am not going to recount that tragedy, in which 176 souls were lost, for many before me have this sombre job already.
Instead, I am going to mention a few stalwart men who were charged with telling the world what had happened, and did this and more.
Charles Ward, the Chatham reporter for the Boston Herald, slogged on foot and by horse for miles through flooded railroad tracks and more to eventually deliver the verified news of the Portland's terrible doom to the Herald's office in Boston, because the telegraph lines, like the rail lines, were torn apart in the storm. His determined effort resulted in the headline you see here.
Frank P. Sibley, a young man of 26 years and just starting his as-yet-part-time career at the Boston Journal, was set the task of getting the first list of those who had perished on board the Portland, a list which this early in the sequence of events was thought to be much shorter than it turned out to be. He found himself in the India Wharf office of the Portland Steam Packet company, which was "jammed with anxious people, all asking about the missing steamer and its passengers." A single company bookkeeper was keeping watch behind the counter, answering the phone and giving answers as well as he could to every soul that walked through the door looking for news of their relatives.
The passenger list was not on hand -- Sibley was told that it was on board the boat itself. Instead of walking out of the door emptyhanded, he offered his assistance to the exhausted clerk, and entering the ticket booth, sat down with notebook and calm voice to answer the ever-ringing phone, taking name and address of each caller as well as the name of the passenger they were inquiring after. With this he got the first list of passengers -- a bare start of thirty names, but more than anyone else had managed, which was delivered by runner to the Journal -- while at the same time stepping in where help was needed.
Frank Stanyan was working for the Boston Globe on that fateful weekend, and was sent by the city editor along with a sketch artist to Cape Cod, where in Orleans they set up base with the rest of the press corps. Stanyan, along with others like Dr. Samuel T. Davis, who was in charge of identifying the victims, spent the next two days trudging up and down the desolate coast of Nauset Beach, "where for miles wreckage had been hurled ashore, in some places ten feet high."
Working amidst beachcombers who were hauling away the ship's broken timbers and metalwork, as well as other salvage items, from tubs of butter to bolts of cloth, as the waves tossed them up onto the beach, Stanyan struggled to retrieve any items or remains from the flotsam that would help identify the victims of the wreck, who were body by body rolling in with the breakers as the days wore on. After two days another storm threatened to roll in, and Stanyan, discouraged and weary, packed his notebook away in his pocket and headed back the miles to Orleans, where his reporter brethren were tucked in against the cold.
On arriving, he was told by his fellows that the wires were down, and his terrible labor in retrieving the victims' names would have to sit heavy in his pocket until line repairs were made the next day. Unsettled, he roamed out of the hotel, and following the lights of a small building through the snow, thought he heard the click of a telegraph key from outside the edifice. Poking his head in, he found the Cape Cod end of the French Cable Station, where a young clerk was working late sending signals under the ocean to France, many miles away.
Inspiration struck, and he convinced the fellow to send, via roundabout means, his story to the Globe office in Boston -- from Orleans on Cape Cod, the signal went out to "St. Pierre and Miquelon, then under the wild, dark Atlantic Ocean to Brest, France... from Brest to London, and from London via British Postal Service to Ireland, then, roughly, 2500 miles to Canso, Nova Scotia, and down the storm-swept coast of New England into Boston," where noted and delivered, the message arrived on his editor's desk:
TO THE BOSTON GLOBE BOSTON MASS USA... ORLEANS MASS DEC 1ST 1898. THE FIRST FIFTEEN BODIES FROM THE STEAMER PORTLAND TO BE POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED ARE AS FOLLOWS...
And so, as the snow comes down outside, and I am snug in my modern-day livingroom with my laptop and this good book, I feel like there should still be room in the world for people such as this, people who will hunt a story and help the people in it as they go.
As a sidenote, in September of 2003, the more-than-century-old wreck of the Portland was explored and documented. You can read about it, and see lots of images, too, on the NOAA's Steamship Portland Exploration site. Boston headline image (above) from NOAA's site.
For glimpses of our coverage of past years' activity, please click here. Zombie Kickball is for all ages! Kids, parents, student, senior citizens, you name it! And if you don't feel like wearing zombie makeup and whatnot, come and cheer everyone on, or throw a "ZOMBIE FOOD" nametag on and go for it. It is the silliest of all ways to welcome summer.
