Machias Fire Department Driver and Dispatcher Adam Hall gives a young friend the thrill of a young lifetime, helping them to handle a working firehose. Machias Town Manager Bill Kitchen, himself a Machias firefighter, was the guest reader at last Tuesday’s Story Hour at Porter Memorial Library and delighted them with a big red firetruck. Tuesday Story & Craft Hours, put together by PML Youth Librarian Julianne van Norden. Stay in touch with library youth programming here, or call 255-3933 for more information. Photo by Bill Kitchen

The beginning of autumn feels like a fresh start. I don’t think that’s only because it’s the start of a new school year, though that’s part of it. I think the beginning of a new season is always exciting, no matter how long – or short – the season that came before it.

Here in Washington County, the first day of September is giving all the fall vibes. Just a little chill in the air, fog on the spruce tops, and pops of red on the swamp maples, perhaps the only ones more eager for fall than pumpkin spice lattes and the Halloween candy aisle.

Always first to the foliage party.

Our classrooms have been hubs of activity as teachers and administrators prepare for the return of our students on Tuesday in most cases, though my own high school junior will head back on Wednesday, Sept. 4, one day after the freshmen learn their new routine in relative calm.

While we were dropping our eldest off at the University of Maine, last night live music fans and energetic dancers attended a concert at the East Machias Congregational Church and Cultural Arts Center, the focus of an impressive renovation effort by its Friends group. One of my friends remarked on what a good feeling it is to attend community events, like last night’s, that draw together the full spectrum of generations, from the very young to the elderly.  

I agree. It’s something special and, I think, it’s something vital.

Continue reading below…

Musicians Matias Kamin, Tyler LiBrizzi, John Horst, and Lucy Zwigard played live dance music for a grateful multi-generational crowd at last night’s fundraiser for the East Machias Congregational Church, also the East Machias Cultural Arts Center! Zwigard celebrated her birthday the same day, so her fellow musicians organized a potluck celebration in her honor. If you’d like to stay in touch with the exciting updates and events happening in East Machias, or donate to the Friends of the East Machias Congregational Church, learn more here. Photo by Kirstin Hotelling Zona

Many of us grew up like the kids at last night’s event, tagging along with our parents to town hall plays, or school gym concerts. Maybe you were raised attending Grange Hall dances, or church potluck suppers where children finished first and ran up and down the stairs while the adults had coffee. 

I was in my late 20s, living in Los Angeles when I attended church with a friend and suddenly realized it had been a year or more since I was in the company of children and older adults. Where would I have encountered them otherwise? Life was stratified – corporate work, corporate dinners, and weekends with other young adults.

Those other generations felt like a tonic.

For families, schools offer a ready-made way to interact with — and be nourished by — a robust cross-section of their neighbors. But once our children graduate, how then to replace it?

I think the same way we find any other thing we need that doesn’t come easily – deliberately, and intentionally. 

In a time of remote everything, we seek out time near other people, preferably people having a good time, near some kind of food, or some kind of music. Bonus points if it’s outside, and includes dancing. 

Here in Washington County, we’re lucky, because as cultural and economic changes have swept the nation, attendance numbers at our community events have ebbed, but unlike other places I’ve lived, not fully receded. 

That’s something to celebrate.

Thank you for being part of my community.

Daily Essay Project

Until my birthday on September 18th, I’m writing one essay a day, just for the practice, the challenge — and the joy! — of it. The only rules I have for myself are they must be daily, I must publish the first draft, and they can be on absolutely any subject. This week’s Postcard is Essay #11 and above you see a photo of my father, the subject of Essay #7, “You’re Right, Dad.” You can read back essays here, or subscribe at the bottom of that page to receive the daily essays via email.

Got bottles? On September 7th, turn them into fresh vegetables grown at the Machias Food Pantry! Details in image above. Don’t have bottles but want to help the food pantry with a cash donation? Click here.

Reading Local Writers

One of the great delights of rural living is discovering the fascinating people and offerings we might miss because we think we’re alone in the woods. Or is that just me? Among these delights, I count local writers who reach a national audience, and pass us at the grocery store, too. Take Dawn Crocker, who has for many years put her homesteading expertise into writing for the magazines Backwoods Home and Self-Reliance. It’s almost time to start baking again — you can read Crocker’s piece on baking with wild yeast here on page 14, and you can follow her work at Starboard Farm here.

New this week — the ability to support the work of the Washington County Almanac with monthly recurring donations! Click the button to learn more.

Tomorrow in Calais, learn about the world’s first field recordings in the Washington County town where they were made - Calais! Dwayne Tomah is an excellent presenter, and the St. Croix Historical Society is a vibrant one.

We’ve had a streak of lovely weather on Thursdays, and this Thursday looks great, too, so we can all plan to attend this week’s Bad Little Falls Summer Concert on Thursday, September 5th, when Cloudwagon will perform! This might be the last of this year’s series, I’ll find out next week. The concerts happen in Bad Little Falls Park, Machias, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Free thanks to sponsorship from Freshie’s and RH Foster.

Minquansis Sapiel will host a Passamaquoddy Culture and Nature Tour via Eastport Charter on select dates in September. Trips leave from the Eastport Breakwater/City Dock. The cost of attendance is $95/person with a max of 6 passengers per tour and a minimum of 4 to run. You can book spots through this calendar and/or by contacting Capt. Kinny Corthell at eastportcharter@gmail.com.

Available tours: 
Sept. 8 (11am–1pm): 1 spot available; Sept. 9 (11am–1pm): No bookings yet; needs at least 4 passengers to run; Sept. 10 (11am–1pm): 3 spots available; at least 1 more passenger needed; Sept. 16 (11am–1pm): 3 spots available; at least 1 more passenger needed; Sept. 17 (10:30am–12:30pm): No bookings yet; needs at least 4 passengers to run; Sept. 18 (11am–1pm): No bookings yet; needs at least 4 passengers to run; Sept. 19 (11am–1pm): No bookings yet; needs at least 4 passengers to run.

The Whitneyville Public Libary’s popular public supper series continues on Saturday, Sept. 7, with their signature pot roast supper. The event will be held in the Hillgrove Community Center, 42 South Main Street, Whitneyville, and will begin at 5 p.m.

Thank you to Robert of South Addison for sharing his online calendar of local events. Make a bookmark and visit often! Covering the center and also the eastern edge, bookmark Artsipelago for another fantastic, often-updated listing of local events.

The Eastport Pirate Festival is always set for the weekend after Labor Day, this year from September 6-8 in Eastport. Then comes…

At 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, Author Maura Jane Farrelly will speak at Porter Memorial Library in Machias. Farrelly’s book, Compliments of Hamilton & Sargent: A Story of Mystery and Tragedy on the Gilded Age Frontier, tells the true story of three people, including Machias native John Dudley Sargent, and the book description intriguingly states that this is a story “about the early demise of our right to be forgotten.” Copies of the book will be available for purchase. Porter Memorial is located at 92 Court Street, Machias.

The Machias Fiber Festival: September 14 in East Machias. This festival is largely responsible or the fact that I could re-insulate my entire house in skeins of wool. On the same day, but in Eastport, you could attend…

On the same day, Sept. 14, Gallison Memorial Library in Harrington will host Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Ricks, from 1 to 4 p.m. Copies of his new book, Everyone Knows but You, will be on sale. If you like mysteries and Maine, this looks like a good one. The library is located at 1292 Main Street, Harrington.

Antonio Rocha with ‘The Malaga Ship: A Story of Maine and the Middle Passage: At the Eastport Arts Center from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14. EAC's Stories We Tell Festival, a collaboration with Sipayik Museum and The Quoddy Tides, continues with The Malaga Ship: A Story of Maine and the Middle Passage. This is a tour de force performance by award-winning and world-renowned storyteller Antonio Rocha.

Way Downeast Podcast - New Episode

Listen to the latest Way Downeast podcast episode to hear from three young entrepreneurs, what they’re doing here, and why they’re investing in Washington County. Listen anywhere you stream podcasts (Apple, Spotify, etc.) or here on our website.

We enjoy sharing our love of Washington County, Maine, so much that we’d honestly do it for free. In fact, we do! But if you wanted to buy us an oat milk cortado for our troubles, we wouldn’t say no. You can donate by check to our PO Box below, by PayPal, or by credit card.

Thanks!