Out of the mower & into the phonebooth

The man who once took a record-breaking 2,801 mile long lawnmower ride from Old Orchard Beach, Maine, to Los Angeles, California, is at it again.

Life in a phone booth -- and he's no Superman
Posted by Barbara Hijek on April 13, 2009 04:15 PM

Everybody needs a goal, we guess.

Otok Ben-Hvar's has to do with a phone booth.

On April 1, he climbed inside a 1940s-era phone booth with wheels.

He had everything he'd need to live inside the red, white and blue booth until his 72nd birthday on April 29. reports the St. Petersburg Times.

Why?

He wants to set a Guinness world record for the longest time spent in a phone booth.

He's probably up to it.

He once drove a lawn mower 2,801 miles from Maine to California.

He was a U.S. Army paratrooper, played Santa Claus in Moscow and became a greeter and dancer on cruise lines.

What the heck. Here's hoping the old dude makes it.

We'll know on the 29th.

[Source]

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, as Ben Garcia, Ben-Hvar has a long and weirdly wonderful history. His name change honors the Croatian island of Hvar. The reports of his lawnmower riding alone are legendary: "Hitting speeds of up to 35 mph, Garcia wore out one engine as well as five pulleys, was ticketed for driving too slowly near Austin, Texas, and had a minor fender-bender with a Jeep outside Twentynine Palms." [Source]

The St. Petersburg Times reported on his remarkable life story in 2003, including some of his connections to Maine:

Through the 1980s, he also became a motel owner in Maine, suffered a string of heart attacks, and landed in the Guinness Book of World Records - twice.

The first time was for "the longest lawn mower drive."

The 1988 book states: "Ben Garcia drove a rebuilt AMF lawn mower powered by an 8-horse-power Briggs and Stratton engine (he replaced it twice), 2801 miles, 4,507 km, across the United States from Old Orchard Beach, Portland, Maine, to Los Angeles, California, in 38 days from 6 Oct.-13 Nov. 1986."

The purpose, he explains: "To trim the nuclear arms race."

In pictures, he's bundled in a coat and scarf on the mower, an American flag flapping in the wind behind him. He's trailed by a mobile home on a four-lane highway.
[...]
Ben-Hvar can't understand why he's still alive. Many of his friends have died. Innocent lives were snuffed out by terrorists. Yet, with all his heart attacks, including one that resulted in a death notice, he is still alive.

"He feels so blessed by God to have survived everything he has," said columnist Tom Weber, who has written countless pieces about Ben-Hvar over the years for the Bangor Daily News of Maine. "He has just a pure passion for life."

Ben-Hvar can't be stopped. "When it comes time I'm on my death bed, and I've been there many times," he said, "I don't want to think, "Heavens, I haven't done enough.' "

For the full article (highly recommended): [Source]

Ben-Hvar, also known fondly as King KuKu, has his own website at www.kingkuku.com, where he pledges his loyalty to his subjects. The photo shown here is from that page -- please note the Portland, Maine setting of the KukuMobile in front of Enterprise Record's old location on Congress Street!

Here's to folks like King Kuku!

EVENT: York paranormal lecture

From Seacoastonline.com:

Presentation on the paranormal set for May
YORK, Maine — Join Isabeau Esby, a psychic medium, and Andy Kitt,
founder and lead investigator of Seacoast Paranormal Research Group,
from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 15, for a haunting discussion at the
York Library.

Kitt invites you to discover what possibilities may lurk in any home,
business, or graveyard and learn what a ghost is and if it is different
from a spirit.

Esby and Kitt lecture on spiritualism and paranormal activity, and with
a team of investigators test the validity of claims of paranormal
activity across New England.
--------------------------------------
Thanks to the HauntedMaine mailing list for pointing this one out!

Rowdy canoeists ruin river?

Imagine my surprise and amusement to read this sentence on the WCSH TV-6 website: "The Fryeburg police chief is promising to bolster patrols along the Saco River, which is known for rowdy behavior of some canoeists." Rowdy CANOEISTS? Somehow this doesn't seem compatible with my mental image of lazy paddling on sunny waters.

However, there seems to be a long history of battles between those who want to enjoy the Saco River in peace and those who want to whoop it up.
The article mentioned above was posted earlier today, but this has been going on for a long time. Remember, legend tells us that it was rowdy guys in the summer of 1675 that caused the Curse of the Saco River to be passed down over the next three centuries and more. Might it not be good to pay attention to the warning signs, fellows?

The images here show the sharp contrast between the natural beauty of the Saco River and the use which partiers put it to. Please note the goat being held up by the riders of the typical example of a Saco River party barge. I really don't want to know what they were doing with the poor thing (click on photos to see larger version). Photos are from the Saco River Recreational Council.


Things are coming to a head, between the addition of the new patrols and the announcement a week ago of a lawsuit being levied. The Lewiston Sun Journal reported on April 24th that "a 28-year-old New Hampshire man has sued two Massachusetts men and a Fryeburg campground after he was seriously injured by a water balloon in 2007." Again, this sounds laughable. But the details tell another story. Try imagining this: "In the incident on Aug. 12, 2007, Nelson was struck in the eye by a balloon that had been fired from 67 feet away. He suffered a broken ocular bone and lacerations to the face and was later flown to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston." [Source]

Yeah, ow! Big time. Not so funny. Not at all.

The Saco River Recreational Council (source of all the photos shown here) has been fighting for years to make the river usable for all those who want to enjoy it, and are the ones funding the new patrols. For those of you curious about the history of this controversial river use struggle, here are a few more past selections to set the waters of thought and discussion flowing.

Back in 1989, the New York Times reported on what happened when the state tried its hand at quelling the trouble: "The State Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that armed state officials who were trying to stop illegal and rowdy conduct on the popular Saco River in southern Maine had no right to set up a ''riverblock'' last year to stop and search canoeists there. [...] Agents from the State Department of Public Safety and the State Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife set up the riverblocks on three weekends in 1988. [Source: New York Times, "High Court in Maine Outlaws Riverblocks," Wednesday Nov. 29, 1989]

In 2001 trouble continued to plague the area, resulting in more complaints, and taking an especially tragic turn with a drowning death. The Portsmouth Herald detailed the troubling events in an August 1, 2001, recap of the season:

Them crazy canoeists
By Associated Press

FRYEBURG, Maine -- It is an annual problem on the Saco River rowdy, intoxicated canoeists vandalize campgrounds, argue with locals, and leave piles of litter behind.

This year's spate of alcohol-related incidents, including the drowning death of a Massachusetts man, have some residents renewing the cry for a crackdown on such behavior.
[...]
In July, police were called after swearing, drunken canoeists climbed ashore to a boys' summer camp in Fryeburg, then physically threatened the counselors who asked them to leave.

Only days later, members of another intoxicated group were angry about fees charged for a campground threw picnic tables into a bonfire and shoved a park employee.

Last week, Edward Landry, 35, of Somerville, Mass., was found drowned in the river by several kayakers. He had been camping with about 14 people on the river and had been heavily drinking, said Mark Latti of the Maine Warden Service.
[...]
The Saco River became a hot tourist spot for paddlers about 15 years ago, and a handful of alcohol-related incidents occur every summer.

But authorities say rowdy drinkers are a tiny fraction of the paddlers, who primarily come from other parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts.
[...]
Read the full article here:[Source]

Five years later, the author of the View from New Hampshire blog had the following to say after a river trip in 2006:

There was a constant flow of canoes down the river, and most of the beaches were densely packed with tents and people. Some of the people were quite rowdy and unpleasant. It seems like the river is more heavily used each year. We still had a great time, and probably going earlier or later in the year would avoid a lot of the crowds. [Source]

I would say things haven't gotten much better. We'll see what happens this summer.

Evergreen Cemetery death needs ID

UPDATE (5/11/09):
For those who were touched by this story and wish to pay their respects, the obituary was published on the Portland Press Herald website on Sunday. Click here to read.

1922 Game Warden mystery

This is a fascinating story being unearthed by Amy Erickson of Maine's WABI TV-5 in a two part broadcast beginning with tonight's installment during the 6:00 news. Read on! And watch it unfold tonight, if you are near their broadcast area! There is also a small videoclip on the site to whet your appetite.

Drowning...or Murder? Part One of Amy Erickson's Special Report
by Amy Erickson
Apr 29th 2009

It's a story that's captured the attention of Game Wardens and other law enforcement personnel throughout Maine for close to a hundred years.

Back in 1922, two wardens went missing in the North Country.

Their bodies were discovered five months later.

It was thought that they drowned...but as the years passed, speculation has grown as to what may have really happened.

"There are a tremendous amount of questions that probably will never be answered."

When Game Warden Jared Herrick goes into the woods, his mind can't help but wander back to a story he first heard years ago...of two Wardens who went missing more than 80 years ago in the Saint John Valley.

Chief Warden David Brown of Greenville...and Warden Mertley Johnson of Patten headed up to Big Bog to investigate illegal activity.

"They were looking into canadian poaching of beaver...illegal beaver trapping."

The men left home on November 11th, telling their families they'd be home by Thanksgiving...but they were never seen again.

A massive search ensued...but turned up nothing...until the spring...when their bodies were discovered in the water near Big Bog Dam.

"The autopsies...apparently, they didn't find anything at that time, but then again, you're talking a couple of bodies that had been underwater all winter and probably not in the best of condition."

In 1923, it would still be more than 40 years before the Medical Examiner's office came into existence...so two doctors out of Skowhegan performed the autopsies.

They believed the men drowned.

But to this day, there are plenty who aren't convinced that's what *really* happened to Brown and Johnson.

"It doesn't look like a place where two game wardens would drown. that seemed to be the consensus of opinion."

Maxim Squires is a former Chief of Police in Greenville.

He remembers how the case puzzled the lead investigator for years.

"They felt it was suspicious. i mean, how do two game wardens drown?"

If you ask most modern-day wardens, they'll tell you there are several problems with the drowning theory.

First, there wasn't any water found in either man's lungs.

Add to that the fact that the water where they were found was fairly shallow at the time they went missing.

"It's unlikely that the water would've been over their head. it's most likely that the water level would've been maybe waist deep maximum."

Some guessed that the wardens had tried to cross thin ice with fatal results.

But retired Game Warden Bill Allen, who's studied the case...says there's no way.

"It would be pretty unusual for an experienced game warden supervisor like david brown or an experienced warden like mertley johnson to just wander out onto a flowage in northern maine on thin ice in the middle of november. Woodsmen of their caliber don't do that, period. And I don't think they did."

Bill Allen says he has a pretty good idea of what really happened to Wardens Brown and Johnson...and his theory is shared by many others.

The problem?

How to prove it.

We'll look at that part of the story Thursday night at 6 on TV5 News.

[Source]

In 2008, Noah Zarck, a Mainer and Unity College student, wrote a book about the case, called Two Wardens Found.

Joe from Maine loved in post-WWII France

Mainers seem to find their way into the most interesting places. Here's a great story about a WWII era connection between an Augusta, Maine, native and a French town.

After 43 Years, a French Town’s Nostalgia for Harry and Joe Lingers
Châteauroux Journal - Agence France-Presse
By JOHN TAGLIABUE
Published: April 26, 2009

CHÂTEAUROUX, France — More than 40 years ago the American military left this town in central France, but Harry and Joe stayed on.

The two Americans had been here because France was a member of NATO and Châteauroux housed the largest American base in Europe, a huge supply center and aircraft repair unit with about 8,000 Americans and 3,000 French civilian employees — cooks, chauffeurs, barbers, accountants, carpenters.

But in 1966 de Gaulle decided that France, which had survived two world wars with the help of soldiers from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, could stand on its own militarily, so he withdrew France from the military side of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and told the Americans to leave.

For many here in Châteauroux of the older generation, the years at the NATO base were the good old days, with well-paying jobs plentiful at the base and splotches of color — as off-duty Americans sported Hawaiian shirts and tooled around in their brightly colored Chevrolets and Oldsmobiles — in the dreary grayness of postwar France. About 450 weddings were celebrated between American servicemen and Frenchwomen in City Hall.
[...]
Even today, however, the Americans are not entirely gone. In January, 1952, Joseph Gagne, a native of Augusta, Me., who had landed on the Normandy beaches, got wind of the plans to build a base here. So together with his French wife, Jeanine, he opened a hamburger restaurant, Joe from Maine, in narrow Rue Ledru Rollin. Joe died this month at the age of 86 in a local hospital, but his daughter Annette still serves up hamburgers, hot dogs and Tex-Mex dishes six days a week.

“The customers are now French, though G.I.’s who served on the base back then continue to come back, or their children,” said Annette, entertaining a visitor between meals under a faux-Tiffany lamp that read, “Schlitz on Tap.” “When Dad opened in January of 1952 the French didn’t know what a hamburger was,” said Annette. “We made our own ketchup; we got spices on the base.”

Beneath the restaurant is a vaulted stone cellar, about 900 square feet (30' x 30'), now used for storage, where American airmen once quaffed endless amounts of beer, chain smoked and danced with French girlfriends. The vaulting is covered with their carved names. “Benny. Tom. Fagan.”
[...]
A version of this article appeared in print on April 27, 2009, on page A7 of the New York edition.

To read full article: [Source]

The restaurant was well-known for being a good place to get hamburgers and Tex-Mex style food. If you're curious about what the inside of Joe's of Maine looks like today, you can go to the reunion photo page of the Chateauroux American High School here. Joe Gagne's obituary (in French) can be found on www.lanouvellerepublique.fr.

Strange Maine store interview

The Portland Press Herald did a great little interview with not-often-seen Strange Maine store assistant Scott Spear. Photo by Jack Milton, Portland Press Herald Staff Photographer.

Not so strange, mainly
April 23, 2009
By John Rolfe

Scott Spear is a clerk, Web designer and show booker at Strange Maine, a shop and performance space on Congress Street in Portland. The store buys and sells used music, movies, books and art, and also new CDs by local and underground artists and pop culture items.

SCOTT SPEAR

WHAT: Strange Maine

WHERE: 578 Congress St., Portland

PHONE: (207)771-9997

WEB SITE: www.kraag.org/strange

E-MAIL: strangemaine[at]kraag.org

AGE: 29

ABOUT SHOPTALK -- Shoptalk allows people to describe in their own words the rewards and challenges of their jobs. In doing so, they reflect the energy, imagination and hard work that characterize the workplace in Maine.

Q: What's your job title?

A: There's no one title, really. I'm a clerk, but I also do the Web design and the show booking.

Q: What's the significance of the Web site name?

A: The "kraag" was my URL before Strange Maine came into existence, and I agreed to host for Strange Maine. (The name) is hard to explain. It just pertains to me and my end, and doesn't relate to Strange Maine, other than the fact that I work on both. I was using it to designate a certain type of music I was working on back in the day. It's the Dutch word for collar. I didn't know that; I thought I made up the word, until someone told me what it meant!

Q: What would you be doing in another life?

A: Oh, I don't know. Tempering swords, or something. I don't really know. I do several things; I have several lives as it is. ... I'm a musician, primarily a solo guy, under the nom de plume Id M Theft Able. But that's way too long a story to explain.

Q: Who named the store?

A: I believe that the owner/manager decided. He's the boss, Brendan Evans.

Q: When did you open?

A: April 1, 2003.

Q: Is Congress Street a good location for a store called Strange Maine?

A: Absolutely. Yeah we, when everybody first talked about opening the store, it wasn't one of the original plans. I don't want to speak as an authority, but we figured we would get some spot maybe on the outskirts. We even thought about running the store out of the back of a big van for a while. But then we realized it was actually possible to get a storefront on Congress Street, and it's been fantastic. All the foot traffic, and a lot of tourists during the summer. I believe it's been a pretty big success so far.

Certainly there are times when folks see the name and think, 'Well, I'm strange,' and come in off the street. Come in and be like, 'Strange Maine, huh, I'll tell you something strange,' and give me whatever he feels like talking about today. (The store) can be a strange magnet, we'll say.

[...]

Q: Ever get any celebs?

A: Yeah, it's kind of funny, Brendan started having famous people who come in sign the counter. Probably the most famous we have is Pee Wee Herman. Weird Al signed the counter. Loren Coleman, the cryptozoologist from Portland. Nels Cline from Wilco. And we had Thurston Moore come in and do some shopping, but he didn't sign. We'd put a postcard up asking anybody from Sonic Youth to sign the counter while they were in town, but I guess he didn't see it.

Q: Who's your best customer?

A: Oh man, there are so many, a lot of regulars. Not to cop out, but no way could I name just one. Pretty diverse customers, not just the record geeks and hippies and whatever, but all kinds of folks who live in the area. They'll walk in and say they've never seen a record store quite like it. We don't have any of that sort of air, 'We know a lot and you don't.' That garbage turns us all off, for sure.

Q: Did you think Strange Maine would last six years?

A: I had no idea. When we started it was just, let's see what happens. It just sort of happened, and is happening, very naturally. I, personally, didn't foresee how successful it would be, not that I thought it would fail. Yes, I think the store can go another six years, or longer. It feels necessary, in some weird way.

Read the full interview here: [Source]

The Strange Maine store is affiliated in spirit with the Strange Maine Gazette and blog. Both are named in honor of the book, Strange Maine, edited by Charles G. Waugh, Martin H. Greenberg & Frank D. McSherry, Jr., and illustrated by Peter Farrow, which was published in 1986 by L. Tapley (Augusta, ME). Brendan Evans, the owner, is my friend. The store is one of the best spots in the city for wandering in on interesting conversations.

Way back at the beginning of this blog, I discussed the Strange Maine triple identity.

EVENT: Aroostook, Maine Frontier

Aroostook County was a foreign land to me until I paired myself up with someone who came from there. Over the last 12 years I've come to know the area in bits and pieces. It's a place well worth knowing. This event is a great chance to learn more about its history in photos (personally, I'm very sad I have to miss it due to other obligations). If you want to see my Aroostook of the present day in photos, take a peek at my Flickr set of Northern Maine photos.

-------------------------------------------------------
The Maine Historical Society invites you to...
WHAT: Aroostook: Maine's Last Frontier as Seen By the Eastern Illustrating, Co., presented by Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., Maine State Historian and Director, Maine Historic Preservation Commission
WHEN: Thursday, April 30, 2009, 7:00 - 9:00pm
WHERE: Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress Street, Portland, Maine
COST: This event is free and open to the public.
FMI: For more information call (207)774-1822 or e-mail info[at]mainehistory.org

Join us for a remarkable glimpse into life in Aroostook County in the early 1900s. Shettleworth will explore the arrival of modern life and technology in Maine's last frontier through images taken by the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company - a prominent Maine postcard company whose vast photographic archive of Maine and New England is only now becoming accessible to researchers and the public. These wonderful images capture downtown life, local landmarks, agriculture, and much more.

The collection is now owned and curated by the Penobscot Marine Museum which has undertaken the Herculean task of stabilizing, organizing, cataloging, and providing access to this important collection. A number of these images can be viewed at the current MHS Museum exhibit: Main Street, Maine: Downtown Views from the Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Company.

A boy and his robe

The Bangor Daily News reported on this odd tidbit:

Boy in robe walking on I-295 reunited with parent
By The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine — Police in Freeport say a young boy who was found walking along Interstate 295 in a bathrobe, windpants and sneakers has been reunited with a parent.

Police did not release the boy’s name and age but said he was from another community in Maine. Officers were continuing to investigate how he came to be walking along the highway Monday.

The Portland Press Herald said officers quoted the boy as saying that his name was Nick and he was 13 and in seventh grade. He said he couldn’t remember his last name or the name of his school, but that he was up from Boston.

Police Chief Gerry Schofield said callers reported spotting the boy in Falmouth and Yarmouth. Police said the boy appeared to be uninjured.

[Source]

More details about the original finding are here.

EVENT: Lafayette in America

The Maine Historical Society invites you to...
WHAT: Lafayette in America book event with Alan R. Hoffman, Translator and Author
WHEN: Tuesday, April 28, 2009, from 12:00pm - 1:00pm
WHERE: Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress Street, Portland, Maine
COST: This event is free and open to the public.
FMI: For more information call (207)774-1822 or e-mail info[at]mainehistory.org

Join us to explore General Lafayette's 1824-1825 Farewell Tour of the United States, including his visits to Kennebunk, Saco, and Portland.

Translated from the journal kept by Auguste Levasseur, Private Secretary to General Lafayette, this rich new book describes the adoring welcome the 67-year-old hero of the American Revolution and apostle of liberty received from the American people.

With its panoramic view of the young country - its burgeoning cities and towns, its technological innovations like the Erie Canal, and its industrious people - Levasseur captures America on the cusp of its jubilee year. Hoffman will share this story and chronicle Lafayette's affectionate visits with his old friends John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams.

Blackhawk no mystery

Those of you in the area of Gorham may notice some Blackhawk helicopter activity today between 9:00 and 11:00 am. The chopper is part of a series of pre-planned ROTC exercises taking place near the University of Southern Maine campus.

Sorry, no Men in Black this time!

Image from http://www.wallpaperbase.com/

Dead cow poses puzzler

Thanks to Cranky Yankee of the New England Anomaly for bringing this stinker to our attention! The photo, by Terry Karkos of the Lewiston Sun Journal, states, "The bloated body of what looks like a Hereford cow, bottom center, lies atop a pile of rocks and driftwood along the Androscoggin River on Monday morning opposite Rumford paper mill NewPage Corp."

River washes dead cow ashore
By Terry Karkos , Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 05:00 am

RUMFORD - High water along the Androscoggin River in early April apparently washed a dead Hereford cow over Pennacook Falls and left its bloated body atop rocks 100 feet below the Rumford Avenue snow dump, police said.

Police were notified on Sunday about the reddish-brown beast with white markings, but don't know who to call to try and get rid of it before the stench increases to affect nearby Cumberland Street residents.

Due to the seemingly unreachable location, Sgt. David Bean said Monday that Rumford's Public Works crew probably can't retrieve it and dispose of it properly.

But if the cow was higher up, where they could access it, Bean said a crew could probably dump a load of gravel on it.

"It's a decaying body, so maybe they could put something on it if they could reach it. Police aren't equipped to do anything like that, but it needs to be covered until it rots away. It's right in the middle of a big pile of rocks under a 100-foot drop. Nature has to take its course, I guess," Bean said.

Police first learned of the bovine on April 4 when an Information Booth worker called about seeing the dead animal floating in the Reflection Pool below Pennacook Falls.

Bean and Officer Lawrence Winson responded, only to watch high water sweep the animal over the falls and downriver opposite Morse Bridge.

He said police are unsure how the cow ended up in the river or where it came from.

"There are no dairy farms along the river that have that breed. The only ones that I'm aware of have black Holsteins. This one looks like a Hereford," Bean said.

He said he doesn't know if someone put the dead cow on the ice this winter to be swept away come spring or if the animal wandered onto the ice somewhere upriver, fell through and drowned. No cattle farmers have reported a missing Hereford to Bean's knowledge.

Disoriented moose occasionally wander through this Western Maine town, but bovines in the Androscoggin are an oddity.

Although, last spring, Bean said a dead cow was seen floating in high water at about the same time as the current one, "but it disappeared before we got a chance to see it."

[Source]

Caddychuck at Fort Knox

"Is this where I go to try out for Caddy Shack?"

Leon (of Friends of Fort Knox) shot this photo at the Fort this morning and sent it on to us -- gotta be a sure sign of spring!

EVENT: Eastern Cemetery workday

WHAT: Eastern Cemetery Workday
WHEN: Saturday, May 2, 2009 from 9am - 12pm
WHERE: Eastern Cemetery, corner of Congress St and Mountfort St (get directions here)
FMI: go to the Spirits Alive website or email sa[AT]spiritsalive.org

Join Spirits Alive at the Eastern Cemetery on Munjoy Hill in Portland for the first workday of the season! Spend Saturday morning trimming, pruning, cleaning and tidying this beautiful green space overlooking Portland harbor.

Landscape architect Barry Hosmer will join us as we prune winter damage on the trees and shrubs, remove invasive vines, weed around the stones, mulch, and plant. Bring work gloves, a hat, appropriate footwear, and any tools you may have such as rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows and hand saws. We train volunteers on how to perform gardening tasks while carefully working around the historic stones.

There's always time for laughs, a little history, and sometimes we even break a sweat! If you can't join us this time, the next workday is June 13.

Best Blog in 2009!

THANK YOU EVERYONE! Wow, thanks so much! This makes two years running that the Strange Maine Blog has won in this Best of Portland category. Huzzah!!!

You can read the Portland Phoenix's write-up of the blog here.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the award ceremony for my moment of triumph, because I was on a week's trip to Amsterdam (photos here on my Flickr site). But I hope a few of you made it to the party all the same!

mystery photo : it's academic, part 4

...another mystery school for all you sharp StrangeMaine observers!
Can you name this school ???

Two hints: This one is in Portland, and people live in it now!

EVENT: Peyton Place lecture

WHAT: The Novel Truth: Peyton Place and the Undocumented Past
WHEN: Thursday, April 30, 4:30-6:00 p.m.
WHERE: University Events Room, 7th floor, Glickman Family Library, USM Portland Campus (at the corner of Forest Ave & Bedford St)
FMI: (207)780-4485

Join American and New England Studies Professor Ardis Cameron when she delivers the 8th Trustee Professor lecture, "The Novel Truth: Peyton Place and the Undocumented Past," on Thursday, April 30, 4:30-6:00 p.m., University Events Room, 7th floor, Glickman Family Library, Portland Campus, University of Southern Maine.

All are welcome. There is no need to RSVP. Light refreshments will be available. If you need accommodations in order to participate, please call (207)780-4485 by April 17. This event is sponsored by the University of Maine System Board of Trustees and the Office of the Provost.

To read previous Strange Maine musings on Peyton Place's connection to Camden, Maine, (where it was filmed in 1957), please click here.

Ardis Cameron's research “explores ‘Peyton Place’ as a major social and cultural artifact of America in the last half of the twentieth century.” [Source] She has been sifting through the book and its history since the 1990s, and is compiling her findings in Tales of "Peyton Place": The Biography of a Big Book, a volume which will build on Cameron’s longstanding fascination with the novel and its author, New Hampshire’s Grace Metalious.

mystery photo : it's academic, part 3

While we still don't have a winning guess for part 2, here's yet another mystery photo:

Can you guess where (in Maine) this is ???

...yes, it's another school- but this one is a college.

Deering Oaks smash-up!

Those of you who were wondering what the upside-down car in Deering Oaks on that foggy night the other week was all about, here's the scoop!

Driver Flips Car into Deering Oaks Park After Reckless Ride
Tuesday, March 31, 3009

Portland police arrested Ahmed Ibrahim, 24, a Parkside resident, at around midnight on March 27th, after they say he hit four parked cars and a house - on different streets - while driving around his home turf. Police say Ibrahim also ran a red light, and he has no driver’s license.

After hitting each car, police say, Ibrahim kept going and didn’t stop until taking a turn that was too wide at the intersection of State Street and Park Avenue, which caused his car to flip and then catch on fire on the grass at the front of Deering Oaks Park. Ibrahim was transported to Maine Medical Center, but had no serious injuries.

Parkside residents reported hearing a very loud acceleration of a car motor, followed by the sound of impact, almost immediately followed by sirens, which led them to speculate that it was a high-speed car pursuit that ended quickly.

Charges are pending, since the case is still under investigation.

-Marge Niblock and Michelle Souliere contributed to this report.

[Source]

I found mention of it on the WCSH-TV6 site as well (click here to read), once we had a name for the fellow.

Also on the WCSH site, Kellyanne2 posted about her run-in with the perpetrator: "I almost got hit by this guy! I was seconds away from parking right where he ran into, taking a street sign along with him. I had to push on my gas pedal and burn out, with him coming up behind me, until I, myself had to run a red light to get away from him as I went straight into the ice arena parking lot when he turned right and seconds later he found himself upside down on Park Ave! It was the craziest thing I've ever seen!! I was shaking for a long time afterwards."

Bobcat attack in Standish, 1813

A big "THANK YOU!" to Dana Edgecomb, who sent this and another story along! Imagine -- a sentence no parent ever wants to hear: "Oh father come quick, some creature is biting me!" There's some great writing in this article, too, such as the imagery called up by lines such as "the cat turned and with eyes like balls of fire sprang at the settler..." Read on!

Standish Sketches of Early Times

The early settlers of Standish were much annoyed by wild animals particularly wildcats, and there are some citizens yet living in the town who can recall that when children they would be kept awake in the night listening to the savage screeching or snarls of the ferocious beasts.

A variety of these animals that seemed to be indigenous to the lake region was known as "bobcat" from having only a stump of a tail about an inch in length. This breed was a much larger and more ferocious animal than the common wildcat, and it was with such a cat made doubly dangerous from being mad, that Eleazer Parker had a desperate battle, in his own house, that cost him his life after about a year of the greatest suffering.

Parker lived on "Standish Neck" and was a poor but worthy farmer with a large family. One dark, cold night, in the last days of February, 1813, after the family had all retired, a crash was heard against one of the windows of his little home, and in a moment one of Parker's daughters cried out from her bed, "Oh father come quick, some creature is biting me."

The settler sprang from his bed and without stopping to dress seized a torch of pitch-wood, (which he ignited in the open fireplace) in one hand and a stout stick in the other and rushed into the room, where his children were now awake and crying out in terror. When the father entered the room and flashed the light of his flambeau upon his daughter's bed he was terrified to see an enormous bobcat upon the bed snarling and biting the child, who was vainly struggling to defend her self with her little arms against the teeth and claws of the maddened cat.

As soon as Parker entered the room the cat turned and with eyes like balls of fire sprang at the settler and then ensued a desperate conflict, the recital of which about firesides of the early settlers for a long time caused many a child to seek its bed in terror and drove sleep from their eyes more effectually than the cries of wild beasts without. Parker was an agile and determined man, and struck desperately at the cat, as it attacked his unprotected feet and legs, and made furious springs at his face.

It is to be regretted that the meager records and traditions of the event give us no fuller details of the struggle, but it appears that the cat finally abandoned the assault and disappeared by leaping through the window, which it broke out, to get into the house, though not until the settler had been badly scratched and bitten.

For the tragical consequences of this singular and perhaps unparalleled affair we are indebted to the diary of Daniel Shaw, son of the poet, Thomas Shaw.

Under date of March 13, 1813, the diary notes: "Went to Eleazer Parker's funeral. Mr. Parker and a daughter of his was bit by a mad wildcat a year ago, which came into his house in the night. The daughter made an outcry that the cat was biting her; he got up and drove the cat out of the house and in the scrape the cat bit him. Elder Leach preached his funeral sermon, and a great many people attended and it was a very solemn time."

"The bobcat" with its savage snarl has disappeared from Standish plains and the Lake region, as well as the wolves and bears, that were numerous in the earlier days.

William McGill (son of James McGill the famous hunter who lived in the old fort), shot the last wolf killed in Standish, and Isaac Whitney captured the last boar ever seen in town in the spring of 1839, but the bobcat has been occasionally seen or heard up to quite recent times.

[Source: Portland Evening Express, 1904]

You're Invited! Best of Portland BIG THANKS!!!

Thanks to everyone who helped out by weighing in their nominations and subsequently their votes in the Portland Phoenix's "Best of Portland 2009" contest. We're in the running for "Best Blog" for the second year in a row!

The Phoenix is holding a party to celebrate the announcement of the results. You're all invited!

WHAT: The Portland Phoenix's Best of Portland 2009 party! (21+ only, please)
WHEN: Wednesday, April 15th, 2009. Doors open at 7:00pm
WHERE: Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress St, Portland, Maine
WHY: Free admission, free food, free live music all night long!

Spencer & The School Spirit Mafia, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, and Jacob Augustine will be playing, and they'll be slingin' awards around all night. Fun!!! ...Not to mention that it's a good chance to check out Portland's newest music venue.

mystery photo : it's academic, part 2

Yes, it's another mystery photo from the Archives!
Can you guess what and where this is ??

Hint: This is a school.

Baby Rattler keeps library lively

Sennebec, who blogs about "Strange but true tales from Libraryland" over at sennebec.livejournal.com, has a great April Fool's story to share:

Strange, but true tales from Libraryland
02 April 2009 @ 10:06 pm

[...]

Next comes the tale of an April Fool's joke which became too successful. Most years when I've been working in a public library and wrote a weekly library column, I pulled an April Fools joke via the column. Some have grabbed a lot of people.

Last year I wrote my first one for the Hartland Library. It was a dandy, all about my old college buddy Lirpa Loof who was from some place in the South Pacific who called me out of the blue to tell me his dad, the king of Bali had died and now that he was king, he wanted to repay me for all the times I got him out of jams or wrote research papers for him back at Arizona State. He was going to move Beth and I all expenses paid to Bali where I could create the library of the future with no limit on funding.

An hour after the paper hit the street, people were dashing into the library to cuss me out for deserting them or to congratulate me on such a wonderful opportunity.

Well, I didn't think I could top that very easily this year, but read on. Here's an excerpt from my column which appeared last Thursday:

I didn’t have room in my L.A. trip article to talk about my unusual buy. Just down the road from the strawberry stand was a curiosity shop. We couldn’t resist checking it out. Beth got some great jewelry, but I came away with the real prize, a fresh rattlesnake egg.

When I bought it, I asked the guy what they tasted like and he gave me a very odd look. “Not, eat, hatch Amigo,” he said in a very thick accent. After I questioned him further and we got through the language and hand gesture barriers, I realized he was telling me if I kept it reasonably warm, it might well hatch.

What the heck, I thought. I was a bit nervous about getting it through airport security, but they were far more interested in my shoes and extra camera lens (go figure). Once we got home, I put a heating pad in a cardboard box, set the egg on it and waited. Well darned if it didn’t hatch yesterday.

If you come by the library starting next Tuesday, I’ll have the baby rattler on display.

I borrowed a baby rattle from Melissa, the young woman who helps out on Tuesday and Wednesday. When I opened on Tuesday, the rattle was in a cardboard box with a towel over the top and holes cut in the side.

I caught my share of the unwary on Tuesday and Wednesday, and since my column in today's Sebasticook Valley Weekly not only explained the prank, but had a photo of the baby rattler, I thought that was the end of the fun. Wrong, very wrong.

I was rearranging books in the basement when Angela, who helps out on Thursdays, called me upstairs.

There were two game wardens who were looking for the rattlesnake I had hatched. I had one heck of a time staying semi-serious, explaining the whole thing and telling them in no uncertain terms I never said I'd be bringing a rattlesnake into the library. I clearly said I'd have a "baby rattler." They were pretty good about it and one dad who was over in the corner, reading to his kids thought it was a real hoot.

Never a dull moment in Libraryland.

For the full article, please visit Sennebec's blog: [Source]

See the baby rattler for yourself here!

Interested in the topic of rattlesnakes in Maine? We'll catch up with that in a future post.

[Image Source]

Maine Sports Trivia Answers!

Well, the results of the first ever Strange Maine trivia contest were surprisingly sparse! I'm not sure if everyone was hibernating, or what, but we only had ONE ENTRY. Luckily, it was a pretty stellar entry, by Krister Rollins, in which he answered 4 out of the 5 questions correctly. I awarded him two prizes, since he obviously deserved them for: (1) being the only person to even bother entering, and (2) for answering almost everything right on the first try.

Next time, maybe some of the rest of you can join in, hmmm?

Here are the questions and their correct answers.

QUESTION: In 2008, how many girls were playing baseball on boys' high school teams in Maine as reported to the National Federation of State High School Associations?
ANSWER: Two.

"...in many states, the high school diamond was a lonely place for girls. Maine, Kentucky and New Hampshire each had two female players. Connecticut reported one." [Source: New York Times, "Challenges for Girls Playing High School Baseball," by Mark Hyman, February 28, 2009]

QUESTION:What sport did famous poet Edna St. Vincent Millay play during her time at Camden High School?
ANSWER: Basketball!

The Maine Memory Network has a great photo of the poet in uniform with the rest of her team, shown here. I have circled Millay for easy spotting.

QUESTION:In December 1897, the U.S.S. Maine Baseball Team won the Navy baseball championship. What member of the team was the only one left alive after February 15, 1898, when the ship was sunk in Havana Harbor?
ANSWER: John Bloomer.

"On February 15, 1898, the Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbor helping spark the Spanish-American War. The explosion killed 260 of the ship's crew and all of the members of the baseball team except for John Bloomer." [Source] There's a great photo of the team in their uniforms at www.19cbaseball.com, with Bloomer himself picked out clearly.

QUESTION: What weird socket-powered sport began holding organized competitions in Maine in 1991?
ANSWER: Belt Sander Racing.

This is the one that even Krister didn't get! Check out the Central Maine Power Tool Racing Association's website, or take a peek at all the photos of the races on their Flickr.com site.

QUESTION:What unlikely, overgrown orange fruits have been made into makeshift water racing crafts in Maine each October for the last 4 years?
ANSWER: Giant pumpkins!

We've posted on the blog about this before(read article here). What better way to get crazy in October, than to attend the Giant Pumpkin Regatta?! Photo from Maine Pumpkin Growers' website

All of the answers were available on-line, so I was surprised there weren't more entries -- I assumed more of you were going to do some virtual digging for the info!

New Maine horror movie & SFX group!

On Friday, April 10, GothicMaine is hosting a zombie themed evening at the Asylum (Plague night) which is being thrown to raise money for a locally produced zombie film called "Heaven Shall Burn," which is planning on shooting sometime this summer. Visit http://www.gothicmaine.com/ for more info.

At the event they'll be selling copies of "Amore Morgue", a 19-month Zombie Lady themed calendar shot locally. They'll also have a signup sheet for people to be contacted when the movie need zombie extras. The crew is also scouting locations in the area for filming, according to a recent Craigslist posting.


Eric Anderson, who emailed me about the event and the upcoming film, also wanted to give a heads-up to anyone interested in joining Maine's new Shoggoth Assembly. He explains, "I have actually started getting together a local group of people interested in the SFX field (and all of the many things that encompasses) for the Southern Maine area." Read on for further explanation!

A Shoggoth is a creation of the horror master H.P. Lovecraft. It is a creature with a constantly shifting form that could shape itself into as many eyes, mouths and hands (...tendrils would be more appropriate) as it needed to do its dark will. This ever-shifting creature helps to represent the concept I have for our little organization (without quite as much devouring and eldritch horror...).

The Shoggoth Assembly is a group of friends and like-minded individuals in the Southern Maine area interested in the myriad of skills involved in the art of Special Effects. The "SA" is not a union or employment agency, but is instead a meeting place where artists, filmmakers, actors/models and anyone else interested in learning and sharing their knowledge of the craft can come together. As projects arise, we can call on our various members with many different areas of expertise to put as many eyes, hands and minds on a project as we need.

Among the services the SA intends on providing:

-We will provide a web-based forum (click here) for the members to be able to keep in touch, ask questions, develop networks and announce projects or other opportunities that fellow members may want to take advantage of.

-We will organize "Tech Swaps" to give member artists and friends more face time together to talk shop and to make connections and go over new ideas

-Members will be able to teach workshops to provide their knowledge of SFX techniques to other members and help people explore their interests

-The website will allow members to post photographs or short movies in personal galleries so they can share their accomplishments with the other members as well as provide a portfolio space that potential clients can reference.

-The SA will be a resource for area producers and directors to be able to seek individual talent for their projects or to ask the SA group leaders to organize teams for them. The SA will not interject itself in compensation negotiations between employers and the artists, and should not be seen as an "employer" of any of the members.

-Eventually, when there is enough interest, members can take part to secure a co-op styled work space where the members will have all hours access to work on larger scale projects, work with materials that are more messy or toxic that you wouldn't feel comfortable working with in the home, or just to be able to work in a neutral environment..

The Shoggoth Assembly will strive to help its members grow their skills, network with other artists, discover opportunities to flex their artistic muscle, and be a resource for area productions to go to when they need quality SFX services in the Southern Maine / New England area.

Welcome to our group and please don't be shy. If you have any questions please feel free to post questions here or to send inquiries to Eric Anderson.

[Source]

Sounds good to me!

Molotov madness in Waterville

The Kennebec Journal succinctly covered this outrageous story of teens run amuck in Waterville:

Police arrest 5 in arson fire
Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel
04/01/2009

WATERVILLE -- Five people were arrested Tuesday and charged with arson and burglary in connection with an incident at the former Boys & Girls Club building at 6 Main Place.

Police Chief Joseph Massey said the two adults and three youths made Molotov cocktails by filling liquor bottles with gasoline and rags and throwing them inside an empty swimming pool in the vacant facility on March 19. The explosions caused flames to shoot up to 20 feet in the air, Massey said.

Those involved in the March 19 incident videotaped the activity and placed it on YouTube, accompanied by heavy metal music and a list of credits -- the names of those who made the video.

Four more people -- three male adults and a 16-year-old male juvenile -- are expected to be arrested in the case, he said.

Those arrested Tuesday included Jesse Ferran, 19, of Waterville and Nicholas Laws, 19, of Winslow. Massey said he could not name the other three arrested Tuesday because they are juveniles. They are a male and female, both 17 and from Waterville, and a 14-year-old boy from Winslow, he said.

[Source]

The Portland Press Herald reported further on April 3:

Joseph Church, 20, of Fairfield and the 16-year-old, who lives in Waterville, turned themselves in to police Wednesday, said Detective David Caron. The arrests brought the number of people charged in the case to seven. Caron said two more adults – one of whom lives in another state – are expected to be charged.
[...]
The parent of one of the suspects saw the video, got alarmed and took her son to the police station to report the incident, Massey said.

[Source]

In the wake of last spring's car firebombs in Portland, it seems unlikely that behavior of this type will be overlooked by authorities as a mere destructive prank. According to the website of WCSH6-TV, this is not the first explosive-related offense for some of the suspects.

Image from Waterville Police Department, taken from the seized video.

How do you recycle a snake?

Hint: Not like this!!!

Portland's brand new newspaper, The Portland Daily Sun (which is doing a great job so far), printed this great story yesterday, much to my delight.

Goodness snakes!
Portland Daily Sun, page 1
Saturday, April 4, 2009

People try to recycle the darndest things.

“Evidently someone thought a dead 7-foot python could be recycled, because we got one a couple of weeks ago," said ecomaine General Manager Kevin Roche. "I guess I could understand if it had been thrown out with the trash, but in recycling? No.”

The single-sort recycling facility operates with state-of-the-art technology and equipment that rapidly sorts all combined materials into separate categories. Roche explained that “Newspapers, cardboard, No. 1 plastics, aluminum cans, steel cans, glass bottles and other types of material are each identified automatically, pulled out from the rest, and, then, baled.” There was no identification equipment for snakes.

Recycling Manager John Morin said, “The snake was found as the pre-sort conveyor belt was moving it along to the newspaper separator. Luckily it was grabbed just before it would have wrapped around the spinning shafts of the separator.”

Morin said another recycling blunder this year was a 125-pound anchor with a ten-foot chain. “The anchor was metal, but nothing bigger than a breadbox is going to fit through this equipment,” said Morin. He clarified that people with larger recyclable items may bring them to ecomaine to place items in a designated holding area, at no charge, or take to their local transfer station. “It’s also important,” he added, “that people not put trash or food in with recyclable items.” Or snakes.

[Source]

mystery photo : it's academic !

All right, esteemed Strange Maine browsers- can you name the building?
This original photo is a 19th-century cyanotype.

(Hint: this one has a haunted history !)

FRIDAY! Art opening @ Sanctuary

I and Loren Leahy have been working on putting this show together for over a year now. The results are finally in!

If you'd like a peek at some of my recent studio work, I've posted some in-process shots on my Flicker site, here.


All the work for this show is based on the theme of Illuminated Manuscripts.

Read on...

--Michelle
----------------------------------------------

GILTY PLEASURES art exhibition @ Sanctuary Tattoo

April 3rd – June 3rd, 2009

31 Forest Avenue – Portland, ME 04101

(207)828-8866

Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11-7

Opening Reception: Friday, April 3rd, 6:00-9:00pm

CONTACT: Chris Dingwell: (207)828-8866

chris@sanctuarytattoo.com | www.sanctuarytattoo.com

Sanctuary Tattoo is pleased to present GILTY PLEASURES from April 3rd to June 3rd, featuring the work of eleven artists: Loren Leahy, Michelle Souliere, Clayton Cameron, Michael Connor, Reuben Little, Helen Lukacs, Angus McFarland, Martha Miller, Michel Ouellette, Greg Souza, and Carrie Vinette.

Inspired by the theme of illuminated manuscripts and all their elaborate trappings, these artists have each labored over their own expression of this centuries-old tradition. Tasked with generating artwork inspired by any or all the elements of old parchments and moldering tomes filled with brilliant and mystifying imagery and text, this group of artists has produced a wide range of pieces, from watercolors to silkscreens, to shrinelike bottles, to bound volumes.

The way is paved with gold leaf, pigments made from semi-precious stones, and age-old imagery re-fired in the crucible of modern consciousness. The eye follows maze-like lines and finds itself growing new ideas in the back of the brain, subconsciously diving into the labyrinth, led by the string of breadcrumbs, worshipping at the altar of the page – humble paper brought high by the artist’s hand.

1956 tale of two skulls

Here's another mystery for you folks. I found this when researching another story. It's all very mysterious! I hope I can find more about it, but in the meantime, here's the first tidbit for you. Anyone who recollects this story is invited to add anything they have as a comment!

Two Skulls Found in Naples, Maine
First One Was in Load of Gravel
NAPLES, Me., May 25 (AP) —

A second human skull was found today near the Bridgton town line, the sheriff's department reported. The first report did not say whether the skull was that of a
man or woman.

The first grisly find, which rolled out onto a new section of U. S. Route 302 here yesterday in a truckload of gravel, was that of a woman.

The woman's skull, still bearing some hair, was turned over to a pathologist who reported on superficial examination that it appeared to have been buried a long time.

The area where the skulls were found may be an old burying ground, the sheriff's office said.

Deputy Sheriff Charles Norman, Jr., said the skull was that of a young woman and had "quite a lot of hair on it." The upper teeth were intact and in good condition, he said.

Sheriff Allen H. Jones said he had turned the grisly find over to Joseph E. Porter, a medical examiner and pathologist, in the hope of determining how old it is.

Source: The Lowell Sun
Lowell, Mass., Friday May 25 1956, pg. 1

Strange abandoned bus near Bangor

CALL FOR INFORMATION!

Dan S. forwarded this to me a while back, and I've been digging around trying to find something about it ever since. The only thing I've been able to track it to is the blog that Dan found it on in the first place, whose author, Jamie Rhein, prefaces the photo with a very intriguing paragraph:

This topic of weird things in the woods is one that could bring about a spine tingling novel or a short story. When we come across a thing in the woods like a bone or two --or a shoe, or a cheap plastic comb, we wonder about the story that happened before we arrived. "What happened here?" we ask. In the above photograph, this abandoned Navy bus is rotting in the woods near Bangor, Maine. The text underneath the photo also begs the question, "What in the world is it doing in the woods?" [SMe Editor's note: I'm not sure what she means by "the text underneath the photo" -- what is there for text below the photo on her blog doesn't seem to relate to her question.]

[Source]

Does anyone out there know anything about this bus??

...Not to be confused with the very cool and almost mysterious Bangor BAT Bus!

VOTE NOW! Best of Portland 2009

Well, apparently the write-in stage I mentioned the other week was the nomination stage of the process, because now the Portland Phoenix has their regular ballot up for Best of Portland (and I have been asleep, or something, in the meantime).

So vote now (unless you don't want to -- I won't twist your arm)! You can judge as many or as few items as you are interested in.

In fact, you can just vote for the blogs if you like, using the blog ballot here (although it's way more fun to do more). The Portland Phoenix has a blast running this friendly competition every year.

I would be remiss to avoid mention of the fact that there is a "Blog" choice under the CITY LIFE category. If you dig the Strange Maine blog (or another, whatever you like!), please do enter it in the Blog category! :) Also, Emptyhouse Film is up for winning under the Filmmaker category!!!

Thanks everyone! And have fun voting!!!

VOTE HERE...

Knave makes off with pastries!

The Portland Press Herald ran this article late last week. Special thanks to Corey Templeton, who spotted it! The great photo of Zarra's is by Brad Searles, and is used in accordance with Creative Commons terms.

...And to think, all these years we thought it was the pesky seagulls.

Stakeout catches pastry thief in the act
Submitted By David Hench, Staff Writer
on Friday, Mar. 20 at 12:05 pm

PORTLAND -- An early-rising Portland thief with a taste for fine pastries was nabbed on a theft charge this morning.

The owners of Zarra’s Monumental Coffee House had asked police to keep an eye on the business because some of its early-morning pastry deliveries had been disappearing, police said.

Police staked out the coffee house at 24 Monument Square and spotted a man who arrived at 5:45 a.m. and took up a position in an alcove nearby.

The store’s pastries were left in front of the unopened store at 6 a.m. and after the delivery person left, the man in the shadows emerged to grab one of the white pastry boxes filled with fresh scones and saunter off toward Congress Street.

Police confronted Darrin Hatt, 43, and arrested him on a charge of theft by unauthorized taking.

Police could not say whether Hatt planned to share his haul with co-workers, or hoard them for himself.

[Source]

Hmm... co-workers??? Who is this guy working for?

More confused Maine criminals

Thanks to Julia for pointing this doozy out! Wow. I wish I had footage of this, especially the parade of people following the culprit's footprint trail through the snowstorm! Glad he didn't smack his rescuer with more than a shovel. Jeepers.

Machias man indicted on charges of stealing trucks, assaulting rescuer
By Diana Graettinger
BDN Staff
3/13/09

MACHIAS, Maine — A 27-year-old Machias man, whom police called a one-man crime spree, was indicted Wednesday on charges involving the theft of three trucks and a blow with a shovel to the head of a good Samaritan trying to keep him from burning up in a truck fire.
[...]
The incident began during the cold, snowy, early morning hours of Jan. 31.

“It was near-whiteout conditions,” Deputy Richard Rolfe of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday.

[Franklin] Perry left a party in Lubec, but did not have a ride back to Machias so he began walking along Route 189, a distance of about 30 miles.

“He underestimated the distance from Lubec to Machias,” Rolfe said.

While snow pounded the area, Perry stopped at a local trash dealer’s house and found keys inside the man’s 2001 GMC pickup truck. Rolfe said Perry drove the truck about six miles when he ran the vehicle off the road and into the woods.

The Machias man abandoned the truck and walked about a mile when he spotted another truck parked at a residence. The 1989 GMC truck also had the keys inside. He got halfway onto the road when the truck got stuck, and, desperate to get moving, he revved the engine several times and the truck caught fire, Rolfe said.

A neighbor, hearing the commotion and seeing the fire, grabbed a shovel, a flashlight and a fire extinguisher and went to help.

“Frank Perry was lying down in the seat at that point,” Rolfe said. “[The neighbor] dropped his shovel and other stuff on the ground and pulled [Perry] from the [burning] vehicle.”

Perry then picked up the shovel and allegedly whacked the good Samaritan on the head, Rolfe said. The man suffered minor injuries to the right side of his head.

“[The injured man] had an orange stocking cap on which was rolled and that took some of the blow,” Rolfe said.

Lubec firefighters were called to the burning truck. They put out the fire and then saw footprints in the snow and followed them.

Perry continued up the road and came upon a parked car at another residence, Rolfe said. This time the keys were gone, but he found a plastic bag full of change that the owner kept to do her laundry and took that, the deputy said.

From there, Perry walked to a nearby residence where he found a 1999 Dodge pickup truck also with its keys inside.

When firefighters arrived, the pickup’s owner was standing in his driveway. He told them his truck had just been stolen.

“Frank didn’t make it one-half mile before he went off the road with that one,” Rolfe said. “He took out one of those post and cable guardrails. He rolled over one of those and that basically slowed him down enough so he didn’t roll down over the bank.”

At that point a parade of people were following the footprints in the snow that ended in Whiting where firefighters and some of the victims came upon Perry. They held him until police arrived.

Perry was taken to the Washington County Jail where his blood alcohol level registered at 0.15, nearly twice the state’s legal limit of 0.08.

Rolfe said that when he talked to Perry, he confessed to taking the three trucks but denied he hit anyone with a shovel.
[...]

Read full article here: [Source]

This article has generated a lively discussion on Bangor Daily News' website (a whopping 29 comments as of this morning).

Twist ending from judge

2009 has already seen a number of snowmobile related fatalities in Maine.

This judge landed on an interesting way of getting a point across, in the wake of one alcohol-related accident from late December 2008...

Maine judge orders defendant to witness autopsy of a victim of alcohol-related crash
A sentence imposed on a snowmobiler who pleaded guilty to misdemeanors linked to a crash that severely injured a pedestrian includes a requirement that he witness an autopsy of a victim of an alcohol-related accident.

ALFRED, Maine — A sentence imposed on a snowmobiler who pleaded guilty to misdemeanors linked to a crash that severely injured a pedestrian includes a requirement that he witness an autopsy of a victim of an alcohol-related accident.

If that can't be arranged, 19-year-old Patrick Rosa of Limerick will be required to watch a video of an autopsy or a car crash investigation.

Prosecutor Justina McGettigan said the family of victim Darrin Smith made the unusual request of York County Superior Court Justice Paul Fritzsche.

Fritzche also sentenced Rosa to 120 days in jail last week. Rosa pleaded guilty to reckless conduct and criminal trespass in the Dec. 28, 2007, crash.

[Source]

According to the Lewiston Sun Journal, "Rosa was racing in an area that was off-limits to snowmobiling at Limerick Air Field on Dec. 28, 2007, when he hit 42-year-old Darrin Smith. Smith suffered two broken legs, a broken arm and other injuries and was later found in the snow by his 7-year-old daughter." [Source]

For another take on the effect the verdict will have, please read Renee Ordway's editorial piece at Maineville.com.

Failed robbery sequel

How did I miss this one? This runs along the theme of my usual comments on how lucky we are in Portland that a lot of our criminals are not the brightest bulbs in the bunch. It makes it awfully easy to find and catch them.

Attempt #1: Give me money! Reply: No.
Attempt #2: I will throw a plantpot at you. Reply: The window refuses to break. Attempt #2 follow-up: I will return at 11:00 and try again!
Attempt #3: Police arrest him en route to his rendezvous in his car. Three strikes...

Dispatches
From staff and news services
December 30, 2008

SOUTH PORTLAND

Police arrest man who tried to rob Dipietro's Market

Police say that after an unsuccessful robbery, Matthew Peverada threatened a South Portland store clerk that he would return at 11 p.m Saturday.

Police were waiting for him when he came back, arresting him on charges of robbery, criminal threatening and criminal mischief.

Peverada allegedly went to Dipietro's Market on Cottage Road on Saturday afternoon and brandished a knife, demanding money from the cash drawer. When he was denied, he left but vowed to return.

He came back at 4:30 p.m. and tried to throw a planter through the window, but it bounced back, police said. He then said he would return at 11 p.m.

Just before then, police patrolling the area stopped a car that Peverada was in and arrested him on charges of criminal threatening, criminal mischief and robbery.

Police say Peverada does not appear to have any connection to the store.

[Source]