A Maine Fish Story.Source: The Indiana Progress, 7/17/1889, pg 8
A fisherman in Winthrop tells that he caught a pickerel through the ice on Lake Marancook, last January, and found in its stomach a roll of undigested bank bills amounting to $300.
He thinks that the money was lost by a sporting man whose boat was upset on the lake more than a year ago. —Bangor Commercial.
Clown prop stolen from truck in LewistonSource: http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/04/22/news/clown-prop-stolen-from-truck-in-lewiston/
By Mark LaFlamme, Sun Journal
Posted April 22, 2011, at 9:36 a.m.
Sun Journal photo courtesy of the Lewiston Police Department
The Kora Clowns Weight Loss Machine in action at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
LEWISTON, Maine — The tension is thick.
A large clown named Kracker has crawled into a bright yellow box. Bulbs are flashing, blue, green, red. A buzzer sounds. Smoke pours from the magical box. Confetti flies into the air and moments later, the clown emerges, half the size he was moments before.
It’s called Kora Clowns Weight Loss Machine and it dazzles audiences wherever it goes. Only now, the machine is missing, the target of thieves who swiped it from the back of Kracker’s truck.
The theft was a trick in itself — at 400 pounds, the bulky box could not have been an easy thing to carry away.
“The machine is very large and heavy,” Lewiston police Lt. Michael McGonagle said, “and would need more than one person to move.”
Detectives are on the case. Real police, not the Krazy Kops. And they are not clowning around. Leads have already been developed. Police and the Shriners who use the box to entertain crowds at the circus are hoping the thieves will bring it back.
“It’s not a high-value item,” Shriner Michael Morin said. “But it means a lot to us and to the kids.”
On Thursday afternoon, there was a report that the Weight Loss Machine fell off the back of a truck on Interstate 295 in Freeport. Police were checking into that report while chasing local leads.
“If anyone has information,” McGonagle said, “or knows of someone who has lost a lot of weight in the past day, have them contact Detective Roland Godbout.”
Cue rim shot.
It’s hard not to joke about a device used by a bunch of clowns. But the Shriners are serious about getting it back.
The prop was taken from the back of a pickup parked on South Lisbon Road the night of April 12-13. Its absence leaves Shriners without one of their more popular gags with which to wow audiences.
“The guys are scrambling now to put something together for the Augusta circus shows on Friday and Saturday,” said Jim Bennett, also known as Ginjo the clown. The box was constructed by — no, really — the Shriners Klown Unit. It’s a simple box with attachments for the bulbs, smoke and confetti. It’s Kracker who goes into the machine but a slimmer clown named Stumpy who comes out.
Which Rob Farrington, of the Klown Unit, feels is fairly important to note. Who knows if the thieves are crawling in and out of the box, waiting for the pounds to magically disappear?
“It’s a pretty cool little skit,” Farrington said. “But it doesn’t really work.”
Clown prop recovered. Sort of.Source: http://www.sunjournal.com/city/story/1019444
By Mark LaFlamme, Staff Writer
Apr 23, 2011 12:00 am
LEWISTON — The Kora Clowns Weight Loss Machine, reported stolen earlier in the week, more likely fell off a clown's truck in Freeport, police said Friday.
Police said it appears the 400-pound wooden box was not stolen after all. Indications are that the gizmo may have fallen off of a pickup driven Richard Nadeau, aka Kracker the clown, after the Shrine Circus show in Portland on Tuesday night.
Highway officials apparently found the box along Interstate 295 in Freeport late Tuesday or early Wednesday. It was in less than prime condition, police said, and the Weight Loss Machine was disposed of.
Nadeau had been hauling the box and told police he did not notice the item missing from his truck parked on South Lisbon Road until Wednesday morning. When he discovered it was gone, he told police he assumed it had been stolen, police said.
It was not reported to police until Thursday. They began looking into the matter and by the end of the day, they discovered that the box had been found on the interstate in Freeport.
The Weight Loss Machine featured flashing bulbs, ominous smoke and a buzzer that heralded the seeming transformation of a big clown into a little one.
"It was a pretty popular skit," Shriner Mike Morin said.
It had been constructed by the Shriners and was valued at about $500. With more circus appearances on the schedule, Morin expects the Shriners will waste little time in constructing a new and improved Weight Loss Machine to continue the business of shrinking clowns and wowing crowds.
"I'd be really surprised," he said, "if they don't build another one right away."
Ghost hunters summoned for trespassing in OronoSource: http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/05/18/news/bangor/ghost-hunters-summoned-for-trespassing-in-orono/
By Dawn Gagnon
Posted May 18, 2011, at 11:28 p.m.
ORONO, Maine — Four area adults were summoned on trespassing charges shortly after midnight Tuesday after they reportedly scaled a barbed-wire-topped gate leading to Ayers Island with a baby in tow.
“They said they were looking for ghosts,” Orono police Officer Wilfred King said Wednesday evening. King said one of the ghost hunters brought along a camera in hopes of documenting paranormal activity on the island, which is privately owned and off-limits to the public. Several large signs there make that point.
King also said that the ghost hunters picked late Tuesday night because they said there was a full moon.
Sgt. Scott LaJoie said the group didn’t quite make it onto the island, however. King, who was patrolling the area that night, spotted their vehicle shortly after they arrived.
Charged with trespassing, but not arrested, were: Eric Roy, 23, of Bangor; Kimberly Patten, 19, of Orono; and Chauncey Hulbert, 27, of Bradley, and Hulbert’s 25-year-old wife, Suzanne Hulbert, King said.
King said that the Hulberts had brought along their 15-month-old child and that Chauncey Hulbert was taken to a Bangor hospital for treatment of leg injuries he suffered while climbing over the gate, which King said is about 8 feet tall and topped with barbed wire.
According to published reports, Ayers Island is home to the former Striar Textile Mill, which was built in 1890 and last operated in October 1996, as well as the former Orono Pulp & Paper Co. Most of the buildings that remain there were built around 1907, according to local histories.
It has been, among other things, the focus of redevelopment efforts and an environmental cleanup.
It also has a reputation for being haunted. In the summer of 2006, the cable network VH1 filmed two episodes of “Celebrity Paranormal Project” on the 62-acre island titled “Tanner’s Ghost” and “Wooden Lucy.” (Video here: Tanner's Ghost -- http://www.hulu.com/watch/120375/celebrity-paranormal-project-tanners-ghost Wooden Lucy -- http://www.hulu.com/watch/120374/celebrity-paranormal-project-wooden-lucy)
According to local legend, the island in the Penobscot River, located two miles from the University of Maine campus, is haunted by the ghost of a foreman killed in a mysterious accident who is said to haunt the mill seeking revenge, and the ghost of a young girl whose father accidentally killed her after being tricked by a 300-year-old American Indian curse.
Roy and Chauncey Hulbert were among three men arrested in 2008 in connection with the theft of $6,000 in electrical wiring from a Bradley contractor. (Story here: http://new.bangordailynews.com/2008/08/01/sports/3-men-arrested-in-theft-of-wire-worth-6000/?ref=relatedBox)
Roy later was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury and sentenced the next year to 30 days in jail and $500 restitution. He also has a theft conviction from March of this year and convictions for possession of drug paraphernalia and driving without a license.
Hulbert has been convicted of criminal mischief in 2010 and 2009, and assault in 2009.
Toilet fire reported in RockportSource:
By Abigail Curtis, BDN Staff
Posted May 01, 2011, at 4:03 p.m.
ROCKPORT, Maine — A would-be arsonist used a dollar bill and alder branches Saturday night in an attempt to set a fire in a portable toilet outside a Route 90 convenience store.
“That is odd. That is very bizarre,” said Traci Cultrera, a cashier at the Tolman Pond Market. “I’m blown away that they used their own money.”
She said that staff had discovered Sunday morning that there were a bunch of “brambled sticks” in the urinal, along with the dollar bill. Not much damage was caused by the fire in the toilet, which is adjacent to the store.
“Just a little charring on the Porta-Potty,” she said. “Good thing it didn’t manage to catch. If it did, we would have lost the whole store.”
Patrolman Dana Smith of the Rockport Police Department said that he had been called to the scene to investigate.
“It started to burn, but either somebody showed up, or they got sick of waiting for the green branches to burn,” he said. “The dollar bill was pretty much gone.”
He said that he encouraged the store’s staff to get better security cameras. Smith said that he thinks he has a suspect in the matter.
“You just never know what you’re going to get,” he said.
WHEN: Monday, May 16th from around 10:00pm to 11:00pmI saw two bright lights out the window. The lights came from the east and headed west. It appeared to look like a jet headed for a landing in my driveway.(I have corrected a few minor and obvious single-letter typos for readability.)
When I went outside, it changed direction towards my property which is in a rural area. I then noticed there were two sets of lights. As it got closer I could see two triangular shaped vessels. They were very close to each other. There was the sound of machinery, engine. But it was not like the sound of a jet engine, helicopter, prop plane or automobile. The air was still underneath it. It was not a very loud sound.
I called for my friend in the house to come out and see it. There were many white lights underneath. There were bright lights at each corner of the isosoles triangle. When looking up you could see inside the vessel. It appeared to be about 20 ft across. As you looked up into it seemed to be constructed like a pyramid. Inside the lights you could see geometric patterns.
Lights like search beams eminated from it. The light was very bright but not blinding. At one point the light fixated on me for a few seconds and the vessel continued on like what seemed to be a walking speed. As I stared up at the vessel I knew it was other worldly. It came in from the east and then proceeded south southwest.
I took my dog out for some business about 12:10 this morning. I went out on my stoop and I always look at the sky. Having moved here a little over a year ago, I enjoyed the night sky because it had so many more stars than where I lived before.
I noticed what appeared to be a plane above and to my right. It had a couple of lights on, flashing but not going on and off. They seemed to twinkle more than flash. I assumed it was a plane and continued to watch the dog as she sniffed around. After a few seconds, I looked up again and there was one steady light. I thought I must have been mistaken about the additional lights and thought maybe it was a star. Then they came on again. It wasn't moving but it was hovering, and I realized after a minute or two that this was something unusual.
The lights flickered, and then it started moving extremely slowly toward me, with no sound at all. That freaked me out a little and I went inside. I looked out the window of the door, and I saw it moving side to side, slowly. Then it stopped and continued to flicker.
At first I thought it looked like it was a boomerang shape. But it could have been a disc. It definitely had an angle to it. It reminded me of a wedding band that had diamonds all around it. Like I said, they were white and flickered, sometimes all of them, sometimes a couple and sometimes just one.
It was hovering out towards Lewiston, ME and it was about the height and size of a plane. I watched for about 15 minutes, but because of it moving toward me, I decided to stop watching. It definitely gave me an eerie feeling. I've seen UFOs in the past (many years ago) and they didn't evoke that feeling in me. This just seemed different, maybe because I was by myself and it was so dark out. I watched the news hoping to hear of other reports, but so far there haven't been any. I thought I should mention it to someone. Thanks.
Three of us, July 1978, teenagers at the time, were night fishing for eel on the shore of the Sandy River in Strong Maine. We heard a whooshing sound, like the wind, directly overhead, we looked up, and said at the same time, "Wow look at that", and there was a black triangle, with rounded points. Each point had a fixed colored light, (not blinking)red, blue, and green. The round lights were at least 10 feet in diameter, much bigger than any man made aircraft lights i've seen otherwise. The triangle was an estimated 300 feet each side. The craft was approximately 300 to 400 feet above us and made no noise except the sound of the craft cutting the air. The speed of the craft was about 20 miles per hour, too slow to be a conventional aircraft. It was below stall speed and should have crashed, but it kept slowly flying west, up river until it went out of sight. Time span was about 30 seconds. my brother still thinks to this day that it was an experimental military aircraft. In my opinion, it was a technology out of our reach and beyond our capabilities at the time. This is the only flying triangle I have seen. I have had 9 other experiences that I will share at another time, 4 of which were during my childhood in the 1970s. Keep looking skyward my friends. Phil62.Just one more example of the high-strangeness era of the 1970s! Even Maine wasn't immune to a rash of UFO sightings. In the September 7, 1976, issue of the Biddeford Journal, mixed in with all the other classified ads for lost wallets and "Hairdressing in your home" by Mr. Andre, the following ad was run:
Source:
http://mufoncms.com/cgi-bin/manage_sighting_reports.pl?mode=view_long_desc&id=28639&rnd=378201303516069
PLEASE report UFO sightings or encounters in your area to:
Shirley C. Fickett, 797-2664, International UFO Bureau, East Coast Headquarters, 482 Auburn St., Portland Me. 04103.
We are serious about UFO's and need information. They are also being seen in other areas. We will be confidential, we are not with the government.
There’s something in the water. Something dark, mysterious and possibly hostile. Everybody on the small, insular Maine island knows about it, but nobody much wants to talk about it directly — except one newcomer, who appears determined to figure out what exactly is going on.For those who want to dig further, there is a blog with lots of behind-the-scenes material here:
That’s the basic premise of “Ragged Isle,” a 10-part Web series that launched online at raggedisle.com on March 9, with a new 10-15 minute episode premiering each Wednesday through May 11. The series was written, produced and directed by a group of Portland-based filmmakers and writers called the Entertainment Experiment, led by the husband-and-wife team of Barry and Karen Dodd, both natives of Waldo County and graduates of Belfast Area High School.
Read full article here: http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/03/21/lifestyle/maine-island-of-mysteries-featured-in-web-episodes-of-the-new-%E2%80%98ragged-isle%E2%80%99/?ref=latest
WHAT: Death and Survival in the Civil War, lecture | |
| Hirosaki Castle in Aomori Prefecture |
Linked by disasters, sister-states bond
March 16
By Bill Nemitz, Staff Writer
Late last week, as the horror of Japan's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe was just beginning to unfold, Gov. Paul LePage issued a statement of condolence and prayer for the victims of that country's worst calamity since the end of World War II.
LePage also noted that Maine "has a sister-state relationship with the Prefecture of Aomori," about 150 miles north of the all-but-obliterated city of Sendai.
Sister state? When, some Mainers undoubtedly wondered, did that happen?
Well, it depends on how you look at it.
The formal relationship was struck by Gov. John McKernan in 1994.
But the story, as told in a 1997 speech in Aomori by a local resident, Kou Ootaka, goes back more than a century.
It was late October of 1889. The Chesebrough, a three-masted ship built by Arthur Sewall and Co. in Bath, had sailed from Maine to Japan with a shipment of case oil, refilled its hold with 2,300 tons of sulfur and was just getting under way on its long voyage back to the United States.
It had been a rough trip. A typhoon the previous month had heavily damaged the Chesebrough, forcing its 23-member crew to lay over in the port of Hokkaido for 34 days while the vessel was repaired.
Their luck would be no better as they finally set sail on Oct. 28. Another ferocious storm hit the Japan Sea the next day, toppling the ship's main mast and leaving Capt. Peter Erickson and his men helpless as the Chesebrough broke up and sank within sight of the Japanese village of Shariki.
Villagers came running to the shore and built bonfires. Fishermen boarded a rescue vessel and headed out to search for survivors.
They found only four.
"Are you Napoleon? Are you Bismarck? Are you Washington?" asked a policeman, trying to determine the sailors' nationality. At the mention of "Washington," they replied, "Yes! Yes!"
"They are Americans!" the policeman announced.
One of those pulled from the water, a man named Wilson, was unconscious and appeared to be near death. But something remarkable happened.
"At this time, one of the women who had brought food from the village, Mrs. Han Kudo, 45 years old and the wife of Mr. Yoshiemon Kudo, did not hesitate in public," Ootaka recalled. "She took off her clothes and hugged Mr. Wilson in the sleet to warm him up. People still say she looked like a heavenly maiden. Miraculously, Mr. Wilson was revived."
For days, even after the survivors recovered from their ordeal and departed for their long trip home, Japanese villagers found the bodies of other crew members washing up on their shore. All of them, including 40-year-old Capt. Erikson, received solemn burials.
And the Japanese never forgot.
At the top of a hill overlooking the village is a religious shrine. And near that is a stone commemorating the wreck of the ship from faraway Maine.
"Every year since the disaster, the people of Shariki hold a service for the sailors who lost their lives on that night in 1889," Ootaka said. And for 100 of those years, few if any Mainers even knew about it.
That changed in 1990, when the mayor of Shariki sent a letter to Bath City Hall to tell officials of the annual memorial service, and to lament the fact that in 100 years, no representative from Bath had visited the village.
That simple communication, and the visits between dignitaries from both communities that soon followed, led to the establishment of a vibrant sister-city relationship between Bath and Shariki in 1996. (The connection was expanded in 2006 to include the city of Tsugaru, which encompasses Shariki.)
It also spawned the sister-state connection between Maine and Aomori Prefecture, which in the past 17 years has included a variety of trade missions, cultural exchanges and business deals.
And now this.
Tuesday morning, representatives from four Maine organizations that have strong tethers to Japan – the Japan-America Society of Maine, the Maine-Aomori Sister State Advisory Council, Friends of Shinegawa (Portland's sister city) and the Maine International Trade Center – met in Portland to compare notes about the still-unfolding disaster and explore what might be done to help.
The news from Aomori could be much worse – the port of Hachinohe on the east coast sustained considerable damage from the post-earthquake tsunami, but nowhere near the widespread death and destruction that occurred to the south. (Shinegawa, near Tokyo, also escaped the brunt of the disaster.)
Still, Steve MacDougall, chairman of the Maine-Aomori Sister State Advisory Council, said the various groups feel a need to do something – starting with contacting their counterparts in Japan to ask how Maine can help.
They've also created a Facebook page – Maine Japan Earthquake Relief Effort – where they hope to provide firsthand reports and images from Japan and, just as important, links to various relief organizations that are collecting donations.
"We are so saddened by the tragic images coming out of Japan," MacDougall said. "We have no doubt that Mainers will want to come to the aid of one of our country's and Maine's closest friends."
One last thing about the wreck of the Chesebrough, as recalled in that speech by Kou Ootaka:
Not long after the Maine ship went down, a villager named Nakamura found a pear that had washed ashore from the Chesebrough's food stores. It was much better tasting than the smaller ones grown locally, so he planted one of the seeds in his backyard.
The tree – still there in 1997 – grew to 24 feet, Ootaka said. And every year as it bore its delicious fruit, Nakamura would pick 19 pears and lay one as an offering at each Maine sailor's grave.
Concluded Ootaka, "We have such wonderful history. We won't forget this."
Nor, in Japan's hour of need, should Maine.
Source:
http://www.pressherald.com/news/linked-by-disasters-sister-states-bond_2011-03-16.html
 |
| The Congregational Church, New Home to the Historical Society |
No ghost hunters yet for Hallowell City HallBack in January, Ms. Cooper broached the subject of an investigation at the council meeting. According to the meeting minutes, the request is very mild and unobtrusive in nature: "She asked to be able to come into city hall at night for a few hours to record some of the strange paranormal activities that have been reported. She will put together a package of what they document."
March 9
By Betty Adams, Staff Writer
HALLOWELL -- Paranormal investigators won't be seeking poltergeists at Hallowell City Hall anytime soon.
City councilors on Monday sent the investigators' requests back to the Property Committee to resolve some confusions.
In January, Holly Cooper of Central Maine Paranormal Investigations asked to observe City Hall for evidence of paranormal activity. The matter was referred to the Property Committee.
The committee then recommended the paranormal investigators carry liability insurance naming the city as insured, and that a police officer supervise the setup and takedown of equipment.
City Manager Todd Shea said one of the paranormal investigators he spoke with indicated the group does not purchase liability insurance.
Other councilors too wanted to be sure that the investigators would pick up the cost if police are called to for special duty to supervise the setup.
Mayor Charlotte Warren suggested possibly requiring a deposit.
Councilor Peter Schumacher will seek clarification of the issue at the next Property Committee meeting.
Hallowell City Hall, at 1 Winthrop St., was constructed in 1898-1899 in the Classical Revival style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, because it located in Hallowell's Historic District.
[...]
Read full article here:
http://www.kjonline.com/news/ghost-hunt-stalled-at-hallowell-city-hall_2011-03-08.html
TV show to air about Maine man who disappeared in 2004Source: http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/02/06/lifestyle/tv-show-to-air-about-maine-man-who-disappeared-in-2004/
By Abigail Curtis, BDN Staff
Posted Feb. 06, 2011, at 8:00 p.m.
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a feature called Follow-up in which BDN staff update stories from the past to inform readers of the status of subjects covered in initial reports and any new developments.
NORTHPORT, Maine — Almost seven years ago, Jeremy Alex disappeared in the woods of Northport under mysterious circumstances.
Despite a $20,000 reward for information on his whereabouts, his family is still left with many questions, no answers — and no Jeremy.
They hope that a television program about him that airs Monday night on the Investigation Discovery channel’s series “Disappeared” will change that.
“There’s not too many things left to do that will spark an interest again,” his father, Ted Alex, said Friday from Portsmouth, N.H., where he lives. “We’re optimistic … Hopefully, somebody will call and give us some information.”
Jeremy, a landscaper who was in the process of moving to Northport from Islesboro, was 28 when he last was seen running into the woods off Pound Hill Road the evening of April 24, 2004. Although the disappearance was treated initially as a missing-person case, his family believes that the man they describe as kind and a free spirit may have been murdered.
[...]
Deputies found Jeremy’s car nearby, but were unable to locate him. A search was mounted immediately, but nothing was found. After the public was notified that Jeremy was missing, a second witness recalled seeing a man who matched his description run across Route 1 near Northport Marine at about the same time. That area also was searched extensively, but nothing was found.
For years, there were no more reliable clues, Ted Alex said last week. But about 2½ years ago, Jeremy’s driver’s license surfaced at a home on the shore in Northport along with a story of missed opportunity.
In 2004, a Northport couple was building a house on the ocean, and about a month after Jeremy disappeared, money started washing up onshore. Workers found about $30 in all, according to Alex.
About two weeks after that, Jeremy’s driver’s license washed up, too.
The couple had a bowl on their coffee table that was filled with everything that had floated in on the tides, and they put the license and the money in that. They never made the connection to the missing man. After the husband died, friends came to a get-together after his funeral. A retired highway patrol officer saw the driver’s license in the bowl and remembered hearing about Jeremy Alex.
“He called the police,” Ted Alex said. “He ended up e-mailing me about it, saying ‘I have $30 of Jeremy’s money and his license,’ which was obviously really bizarre.”
[...]
The $20,000 reward, too, has led to nothing more tangible than rumors, he said.
[...]
He remembered his son as a nice guy who struggled with addiction but loved snowboarding, chess, music, gardening and Maine.
[...]
Anyone with information about Jeremy Alex should call Trundy at the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office at 338-2040.
For more information, visit www.jeremyalex.com.
Boots the Cat Endures Two-Day Ordeal in Maine Storm DrainSource: http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/15233/Default.aspx
The seven-year old feline's head was stuck in the storm drain for two days.
02/17/2011 04:32 PM ET
A South Berwick veterinarian encountered an unusual case today--a cat that was brought in with a 300-pound sewer grate attached to its head.
Authorities say Boots the cat got it's head stuck in the grate on Highland Avenue in the southern Maine city and was trapped for two days. A passerby finally noticed the trapped feline and called the highway department for help.
After chipping ice away from the grate, crews brought the cat, sewer grate and all, in to Dr. Amanda Rizner at the South Berwick Animal Hospital. "And we extricated the cat from the sewer grate," Rizner says. "She just has some bumps and bruises and she was really cold from being stuck it the sewer grate, so we treated her hypothermia and her bumps and bruises."
Rizner says Boots, a seven-year-old spayed female, was scheduled to return home today and is expected to make a complete recovery.
'Ghost Hunters' wraps Fort Knox investigationFull article source: http://capital.villagesoup.com/ae/story/ghost-hunters-wraps-fort-knox-investigation/380561
Show to air late March or April
Feb 12, 2011
Prospect — The Friends of Fort Knox, working in partnership with the Maine Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks and Lands, has announced that the SyFy Channel’s "Ghost Hunters" TV program has concluded its paranormal investigation of the state historic site.
The investigation and filming began late Feb. 6 when the 19-member production crew arrived at Fort Knox. Leon Seymour, Friends of Fort Knox executive director, provided the investigators a tour of the site and recounted visitor reports of paranormal experiences. After the initial tour and overview, SyFy "Ghost Hunters" stars Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson began their investigation of the fort. Their efforts extended to approximately 3:30 a.m.
The investigation continued the evening of Feb. 7 into the following morning amidst brief snow showers. On the afternoon of Feb. 8, the "Ghost Hunters" production company interviewed individuals who had reported as having a paranormal experience at the fort to the Friends. One of those interviewed by the crew was local radio personality Sky Taylor, who reported hearing various sounds and even seeing an apparition. On Feb. 9, Bureau of Parks and Lands Historic Site Specialist Tom Desjardin provided the production company with a brief history of Fort Knox. The "Ghost Hunters" film crew spent the rest of the day shooting exterior shots of the fort from various locations and some shots of the town of Prospect.
On Feb. 11, Hawes and Wilson, presented their paranormal investigation findings to Seymour. This portion of the investigative process, known as "the reveal," will be kept confidential until the TV program airs.
"Ghost Hunters" producer Patrick Powell, based in California, told Seymour that he expects the Fort Knox episode to air in late March or April. The Friends of Fort Knox are giving some thought to having a screening party the night the episode airs on the SyFy channel. The organization says that they will release details and how the public may obtain tickets in the near future.
[...]
Individuals interested in learning more about the Friends of Fort Knox, special events and the history of the historic site are encouraged to visit fortknox.maineguide.com.
Orland woman: I was run over by a mooseRead full article and see photo on the Bangor Daily News site:
By Karen Douglas, Special to the BDN
Posted Feb. 18, 2011, at 11:44 a.m.
ORLAND, Maine — [...] This winter’s exceptional snowfall prompted me to take up snowshoeing, and lately my three dogs and I have been regular visitors to the woods.
[...]
My dogs caught scent of something and took off. [...] I could hear them all barking like mad in the distance, which is generally not a good sign. My first thought was that they had encountered a porcupine and all I could think about as I made my way toward them was how much a veterinarian visit for quill removal was going to cost me this time.
[...]
As I clawed to the top of the embankment on the other side of the stream I saw him — a bull [moose] about 6 feet high at the shoulder. I’m 6 feet tall, and he was looking down at me. Mature bulls drop their antlers after mating season, to conserve energy for the winter, and this one was not sporting a set, so I assumed he was an adult. He also had a large “bell” on his neck.
The moose didn’t seem especially concerned about the three dogs barking at his heels. All three were keeping their distance, just making a lot of noise. The moose was standing under a grove of trees, where there was relatively little snow, munching on vegetation. I had heard that moose can be aggressive, but I was fooled into complacency by this moose’s calm demeanor. I thought the best thing to do was to grab the dogs’ leashes and lead them away before the moose got riled.
I made a wide circle as I approached. When I was about halfway to the dogs and out in the open, the moose charged. My right side was to the moose. I was trying to avoid direct eye contact, so I only saw him from my periphery just before he rammed me.
The force threw me to the ground. I stayed down, stunned, in a fetal position. I wanted to make certain that he wasn’t coming back to trample me or kick me in the head. All three dogs came over to empathetically lick my face, and I was able to grab the leash of the largest and loudest of the three dogs. I figured if I could lead him away, the other two would follow.
Content that the threat was gone, the moose went back to his spot under the trees to stand his ground.
I crawled with the leash in hand to a stand of trees where I could be out of sight before I stood again. [...] I realized that one snowshoe had been knocked off in the attack. I scanned the ground for it, but I didn’t see it. I wasn’t fond of the idea of revisiting the moose to fetch it. Had I realized how difficult it was going to be to hike out of the woods without snowshoes, I probably would have risked going back. I abandoned the remaining snowshoe because it wasn’t doing me any good.
[...]
Many times I had to crawl across the snow to make headway, pausing often, exhausted, wet and freezing, wondering why I had left my house without my cell phone that morning. I knew I was getting hypothermic because I was trying to tell the dogs that had now rejoined me to “just go home!” afraid that they would freeze. I heard myself slurring words. My feet and lower legs felt like slabs of meat fresh out of the freezer, but I didn’t dare pause to look closely. I just wanted to get myself to the safety of home, then worry about frostbite.
[...]
If properly used under adult supervision, fireworks are no more dangerous than sparklers. But everybody forgets that last part about adult supervision. Adults have a hard enough time supervising themselves in this state, evidence being on the weekly police blotter. Let’s not add to the number of folks nicknamed “Lefty.”Read the full run-down here:
“Ghost Hunters” to Visit Fort KnoxPhoto by Michelle Souliere, (c)2009.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011 at 4:10 pm
PROSPECT — SyFy television network’s “Ghost Hunters” program will film an episode of the popular series this month at Fort Knox.
A video crew will spend six days at the fort looking for evidence of “ectoplasmic apparitions,” according to a press release from the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.
[...]
“The fort has the feel of a big, medieval dungeon, so it’s really natural for people to wonder if it’s haunted,” Desjardin said.
The park historian said there are no official reports of hauntings at Fort Knox, and only one soldier on record died while at the fort.
The fort’s barracks were not located in the fort, but in an unspecified wooden structure located somewhere on the fort property, Desjardin said. In 1866, an artilleryman, a new recruit that spoke only German, died of disease while stationed there.
“He was buried at the fort, but we don’t know where,” Desjardin continued. “No one knows where the burial ground is. It was never fenced off — and he’s the only occupant.”
Desjardin said he will give the video crew a tour of the fort, help with setting up and do a historical interview. The crew is expected to do two nights of investigation, the park historian said.
“We hope the crew will be prepared for winter nights on the Maine coast,” Desjardin said.
Leon Seymour, executive director of the Friends of Fort Knox, will serve as “the client” who points out where visitors have had unusual experiences.
For more information about “Ghost Hunters,” visit http://www.syfy.com/gh/.
Source: http://fenceviewer.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58445:%E2%80%9CGhost%20Hunters%E2%80%9D%20to%20Visit%20Fort%20Knox&catid=1:latest-news
I did and have seen something like this several times. I was at my mothers yesterday [Feb 4, 2011], in Vassalboro, Maine. It was around 3:10 pm and I was taking the dog out.The National UFO Reporting Center site (NUFORC) lists multiple sightings in Vassalboro, ME, both recent and from the 1960s (you can click on links for additional details for each reported incident):
I saw an extremely large, sort of oval shaped object in the sky, it was not very high up or far away. It was super bright!!! Silver and light like a window (maybe) towards the upper part. It dissapeared within seconds. It was not a jet or plane. There were no clouds around it and no lines left behind as there are with jets.
I would like to know if anyone else saw it?
About the year 1820 an attempt was made to manufacture a velocipede in Gorham. The idea was suggested by a rough woodcut in an English magazine which had come into the possession of some one in the village.
A number of men subscribed small sums toward defraying the expense, and Mason Frost and George Hight undertook its construction; their only guide being the picture and its description in the book. The machine was built in the shop afterwards owned by Capt. Bailey, and which at that time stood close to the street, but was moved back about 1840 to its present location in Alfred Bailey's yard. Mason Frost, who was a carriage maker, got out the frame and wheels, while George Hight undertook the iron work.
The machine consisted of a stout piece of white oak, supported at each end by a sturdy oak wheel. The rider sat astride of this backbone, and propelled the vehicle by striking his toes against the ground. There were no pedals or other machinery to it. It was steered by an iron bridle, attached to the forward wheel; and, as represented, was able to go up hill as fast as an active man could walk, while it could spped down a moderate slope at the rate of about ten miles an hour, and on level ground nearly as fast.
At last the thing was completed, and a trial was made of it in the presence of a throng of interested spectators, but no one could do much with it, excepting to amuse the crowd. At this time there was no saddle or seat on it, but one was afterwards added. Frost was the only one able to make any headway at all on level ground, and he but little, while as to riding up hill, it was no go. The velocipede was finally stowed away in some corner, and the experiment abandoned.
So far as the foundation remembered by the reader goes, "The heating plant and boiler room is in a separate building a short distance from the Hospital. The garage, laundry, and engineer's rooms are also in this building, in addition to accommodations for the help." This location matched with his recollections of the location of the foundation.DR. COUSINS' PRIVATE HOSPITAL
SAINT BARNABAS
A private institution for the care and treatment of all Surgical Diseases
Thoroughly modern in every respect, steam heating, vacuum cleaning, electric lighting and electric elevator, most modern fire protection including private alarm box, extinguishers in each room, corridors fitted with hose and water mains, and fire escapes surrounding the building. Abundance of private baths, latest and most approved operating room and laboratory facilities.
Complete X-Ray Outfit. Special attention given to diseases of the gastro-intestinal tract.
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR FIFTY -- Rates given upon application.
EXTRAS—Patients' private laundry, drugs, laboratory fees, operating room and special nurse. This latter is $2.50 per day.
SAINT BARNABAS HOSPITAL TRAINING SCHOOL FOR NURSES
Course of training extends over a period of three years, embracing instruction in both medical and surgical nursing including special branches. A maternity department offers valuable training in this important line of work. Nursing in private cases which forms such a very large portion of the work will be found of especial value as representing the class of practice encountered after graduation. Applicants must present satisfactory evidence of good health, morals and a degree of education equivalent to a four years' high school course or certificates from normal schools, academies and institutions of like standing.
SAINT BARNABAS HOSPITAL REGISTRY for GRADUATE NURSES
is run in connection with the Training School for the assistance of physicians employing graduate nurses.
For information, write or telephone
Supt. Saint Barnabas Hospital
231 Woodford St., - Portland, Me.
TELEPHONE NUMBER 82440
