December 2022
You know, Midcoast Maine does love a festival, even in the cold weather (especially in the cold???). For the first time, and in honor of our upcoming 25th Anniversary in 2023, Bartlett Woods recently participated in TWO local festival parades. Our creative staff designed a holiday look for our 12-seater bus, inside and out (Thank you Mary, Andy, Mike and Amy). Knowing we would be parading after dark, the emphasis was on LIGHTS and SPARKLE. Amy’s Activities sign-up sheet was quickly filled with residents who wanted to go along for the ride, and represent our
happy home. And so, for Rockland’s Festival of Lights Weekend, driver Mike volunteered to lead us down Main Street for the Saturday night parade. Numerous watchers and parade floats gathered to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season. There was music, lights, lots of smiles and good cheer exchanged between all of us. Our resident passengers sang carols and waved enthusiastically to the crowds, who waved right back, and even cheered for us! Hearts were definitely warmed on both sides of the street.
The following weekend, again with Mike at the wheel, we joined the parade in Camden for Christmas By-the-Sea. Many participants from several towns created a long chain of bright, shiny vehicles that crawled along side streets to downtown. Who knows how many parade watchers there actually were? There seemed to be thousands, leaving little space along the route to travel. Our decorations, lights, happy faces, and first-time appearance seemed to be a big hit.
Thanks to the local media and other friends who snapped shots of us at both events. What a way to end one year, and begin a milestone 25th. Thank you to everyone who made this a memorable project. See you next year!
The below article was originally posted on VillageSoup.com, you can view article in full here: https://knox.villagesoup.com/2022/11/26/santa-kicks-off-rockland-holiday-season
ROCKLAND — Santa Claus arrived at Rockland’s middle pier at noon Friday and was greeted by a gleeful group of children and parents.
Santa then joined city and civic leaders to cut the ceremonial red ribbon to open downtown Main Street for the season.
The lighting of the Lobster Trap Tree was held 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25. Main Street from Pleasant to Park streets was closed during the ceremony to vehicle traffic. Santa was assisted by Virginia Oliver, Maine’s oldest licensed lobster harvester, in the flipping of the switch.
On Saturday, Nov. 26, Santa returned to his workshop. Free horse-drawn wagon rides were available from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. provided by First National Bank, and downtown businesses were open with special promotions for Small Business Saturday.
Saturday night, Nov. 26, featured the annual Parade of Lights beginning at 6 p.m.
Floats sponsored by participating businesses, neighborhoods and organizations gathered at the ferry terminal parking lot. The parade began at the ferry terminal and headed south (the wrong way on Main Street), ending at the Lobster Trap Tree.
Despite these changes, we will have a great month with lots of fun. Fortunately in these challenging times, we have learned to adapt as have many others. One such way is by working with the Portland Symphony Orchestra. While they are doing in-person performances again, they are still offering a digital version of many of these shows. We will continue to take advantage of this and purchase as many as we can. This month we are showing an encore performance of “America, America Patriotic Music for the Kotzschmar Organ”. We previously aired this last month with great participation and enthusiasm.
We are also very thankful for our relationship with the YMCA, as they are still able to come see us twice a week for exercise classes, as we are the only facility our instructor is currently visiting. Lucky us!
Golf anyone? Mini golf that is. A fun afternoon it will be at Cardinal Cove in Rockport.
Another great museum is the Penobscot Marine Museum just up the road a bit in Searsport Maine. This museum is a true gem, and so much history is available to explore on the large campus. Along with tours of the museum, they have some of the most talented people who love to share their exhibits. Kevin Johnson is the Photo Archivist for PMM and he comes regularly to visit us with collections of his photos and the history behind them all. He is a great speaker and friend to us and we love having him here.
This area is also rich in local talent. We are so thankful to have some wonderful music here at Bartlett Woods. Route 17 Ramblers are pretty much famous in these parts. They bring some good old “Americana” music along with some Country and traditional classics. They always pack the house and lots of toes are tapping and hands are clapping.
As you can see, staying local has so many benefits for our residents. Along with all of the above, we will visit some local shops including Reny’s (A Maine Adventure) and enjoy scenic rides to see all the beauty this area has to offer.
Don Reimer is a lifelong birder and photographer residing in Warren, Maine. A board member of the Midcoast Audubon Society, he has led field excursions for local environmental organizations and the American Birding Association National Convention. He is a board member of the Friends of Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge in Rockland, Maine.
Compass Rose Images was established by sisters Shelley Lance-Fulk, Jacklyn Amtower and Jacklyn’s husband Jon. We have all had a passion for traveling the world and photographing wildlife. We have been to all seven continents several times to enrich and expand our collection of animal photographs. We reside in a small community in Central Maine where the abundance of local critters, moose, deer, raccoon, fox and birds (not to mention our golden doodle, Latte and golden retriever, Bailey) keep us amused and reaching for our cameras. We travel three to six months each year to capture images of wildlife from animal-rich regions around the globe.
This month we received a very generous and special offer. This offer was made possible thanks to a grant from the Maine Bicentennial Commission. I am so very excited and honored to announce that the DaPonte String Quartet will be playing here at Bartlett Woods on Thursday July 22nd. The concert will be followed by a cocktail reception and appetizers. The Maine Bicentennial Commission offered this grant for the quartet to be able to take their music to the communities for the Bicentennial celebrations. Obviously due to the pandemic, those celebrations last year were cancelled. Now they are celebrating the Bicentennial plus 1. We are honored to be included as a location for their music.
