Maine
A look inside Maine's hidden 'Sistine Chapel' with 70-year-old frescoes
SOLON, Maine (AP) — From the outside, it looks like any other New England church building: a boxy, white structure with a single steeple surrounded by an old stone wall, set against rolling hills and pine forest.
Inside, though, the South Solon Meeting House has a secret unknown even to some who drive through the tiny Maine town every day. The interior of the building is covered in 70-year-old fresco murals that encourage some in the state’s art community to describe it as “Maine’s Sistine Chapel.”
The murals were painted by artists in the 1950s and, while they have long been appreciated by visitors, the recent creation of a website dedicated to them by students at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, has generated new interest in the paintings.
Véronique Plesch, a Colby professor of art, hopes the building inspires more appreciation of frescoes.
“I fell in love with the place, because I have studies frescoes all my life,” said Plesch, who is a member of the board of the historical society that cares for the meeting house. She added that the paintings should stay in public places and not be in private institutions.
The meeting house was built in 1842 and hosted church services until the 1940s, though there were periods of closure, such as times of war. A decade later, Margaret Day Blake found the building in a state of disuse and the former student at the nearby Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture put out a call for young artists to paint frescoes under the school’s supervision in 1951.
The artists were given creative freedom and told there would be no limits to subject matter, but that Biblical scenes would “offer rich and suitable” imagery. The interior was covered in such scenes from 1952 to 1956 and the walls remain adorned with frescoes, including one that references Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”
Another fresco depicts the binding of Isaac, in which a hooded Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son on God’s orders. The Great Flood is depicted as it was by Michelangelo at the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.
Two of the 13 artists — Sigmund Abeles of New York City and Sidney Hurwitz of Newton, Massachusetts — both in their 90s, are still living. Both spoke fondly about their time at the meeting house.
“We would go out there and paint and then take a lunch break in the cemetery behind the building. It was a very idyllic time,” Hurwitz said. “I very much enjoyed it.”
Today, the meeting house, which is open to the public without locks on its doors, serves as a community gathering and performance space. Many of its old features, including box pews made for smaller people of a different time, are still intact.
Abeles recalled painting the scene of Jacob wrestling with the angel from the Book of Genesis.
“It’s a very, very special place, and it was a unique experience” to work on the frescoes, Abeles said.
On a recent Sunday morning, Plesch gave a lecture at the meeting house before a group of members of the Maine Art Education Association as part of the group’s spring conference. Long ago, attendants of the building might have been preparing for an Easter service, but on this day it was full of teachers fascinated by the frescoes.
Suzanne Goulet, an art teacher at a nearby high school, said she was previously aware of the frescoes and confessed she had peaked into the windows of the old building, adding that it’s great the paintings are still inspiring art lovers decades later.
“The inspiration is that we bring it back to our students,” Goulet said.
It wouldn’t be Mother’s Day without a stop at the florist.
According to Fox Business, about 154 million flowers are sold during the week of Mother’s Day. So it’s safe to say it was a busy day for stores like Estabrook’s Maine Garden Center and Nursery.
Plenty of families stopped by to pick out flowers on Sunday, looking to choose the perfect bouquet for their moms.
“I think Mother’s Day is tradition, you know, and so it’s great to see families here. We have a lot of new families that have come today for the first time with their young children and their mother. Watching the young kids and seeing how excited they are—their eyes light up at all the beautiful flowers,” Tom Estabrook, president of Estabrook’s, said.
Estabrook says Mother’s Day tends to be a great kickoff to the spring season.
The Maine Baseball Team was swept by UMass Lowell in the weekend series, losing on Sunday 5-4.
UMaine scored 3 runs in the 5th inning and 1 in the 6th inning to lead 4-1, but the Riverhawks scored 2 runs in the 7th and then pushed across the tying and winning runs in the 9th inning for the win.
Thomas Stabley started for Maine and went 6.1 innings on the mound. He allowed 5 hits and 3 runs, striking out and walking 1. Owen Wheeler pitched 1.2 hitless innings striking out 2. Sebastian Holt pitched the 9th and took the loss, allowing 2 hits and 2 runs, the big hit a 2-run homer to Nicholas Solozano, his 2nd of the day.
Hunter St. Denis homered for Maine, a solo shot, his 9th of the season, in the 6th inning.
Albert De La Rosa was 2-4. JuJu Stevens , Shane Andrus, Quinn Murphy and Chris Bear each singled.
UMass Lowell is 19-27 while Maine is now 17-30.
The Black Bears will host Merrimack on Tuesday, May 12th in a non-conference game at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on 92.9 The Ticket with the pregame starting at 1:30 p.m. Maine then closes out the regular season at home with a 3-game America East conference matchup with Albany Thursday- Saturday.
Check out photos from the game
Maine-UMass Lowell Baseball May 10
The Maine Black Bears hosted the UMass Lowell Riverhawks on Sunday, May 10th
Gallery Credit: Chris Popper
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It seems every season there’s a southern Maine pitcher or two headed to big-time college baseball.
Meet Hunter Finck, a Gorham High junior and the newest mound star.
Casual fans of Class A South baseball might be wondering, “Hunter who?” After all, Finck threw just one inning for the Rams as a sophomore because of shoulder tightness. It was his Gorham teammate, Wyatt Nadeau, now at Vanderbilt, who was getting the headlines.
But, “when you say Hunter, everyone around here knows who you’re talking about,” said Gorham coach Ed Smith.
For several reasons.
Finck, 17, has been a standout for several years, always playing up an age group or two at the local level. Since he was 15, he’s pitched for Atlanta-based Team Elite Baseball at premier national showcase tournaments. On Dec. 8, Finck, a powerfully built 6-foot-1, 205-pound right-hander, committed to Alabama, a rising program in the power-packed Southeastern Conference.
Throughout the 2025 summer, playing for both Team Elite and Portland-based Maine Lightning Baseball, Finck built his arm strength back up to where it had been in 2024, when his fastball first crossed the 90 mph threshold. But it wasn’t until early October when Finck was ready to show his true self.
In back-to-back tournaments in Florida with Team Elite’s top team, Finck impressed. On the second weekend, competing in the Perfect Game WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Florida, his fastball was up to 93 mph, his curveball was sharp, and a developing changeup was effective.
“It really came to life for Hunter in the fall,” said Brooke Richards, Team Elite’s national high school director. Richards said the college recruiters who rightfully saw question marks around Finck because of his limited track record “were probably scrambling at the same time.”
Alabama coach Rob Vaughn and his staff made an early impression.
Two months later, Finck was touring Alabama’s campus in Tuscaloosa.
On the plane ride home, Finck said he knew he’d found the right spot, and he committed before the plane landed in New England.
Finck would be the first Mainer to pitch for Alabama, but recruiting pitchers from Maine is not new to Vaughn. As the head coach at Maryland (2018-23), Vaughn coached York’s Trevor Labonte for three seasons. Greely’s Zach Johnston originally committed to Maryland before opting to attend Wake Forest.
Finck said there were other schools from the Power 4 conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC) that pursued him.
“I looked at all of them seriously. I thought all of them were great, but I just really wanted to go to Alabama, especially after I saw it,” he said. “I feel like they really wanted me. I have a very good relationship with all of their coaches, so that’s one of the main reasons.”
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WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT HUNTER FINCK?
Gorham senior Miles Brenner is a strong pitcher in his own right. He’s committed to play at Wheaton College, annually among the top NCAA Division III programs in New England.
“What stands out about Hunter is obviously his velocity, his power,” Brenner said. “But it’s also his mindset. He’s always working, always trying to get better.”
Smith, Gorham’s coach, points to several factors that predict future success for Finck: His progression has always “been ahead of the curve;” he’s been a hard thrower from an early age who has the strong frame to support increased velocity; and “his compete level is off the charts.”
Smith and Richards both describe Finck as having a commanding presence and in-control demeanor on the mound.
“For a kid who doesn’t have a lot of innings under his belt, his composure on the mound is very good. It’s very professional,” Richards said. “Pitching-wise, it’s hard stuff. He attacks. It’s a fastball with life. He has good feel for three pitches that typically he’s very good commanding. When he misses, it’s not by much.”
SO FAR THIS SEASON
Though he has a bright future ahead, Finck is focused on Gorham baseball this spring. In his first start, he threw four innings of one-hit ball, striking out eight in an 8-1 season-opening win against Sanford at Goodall Park.
” data-image-caption=”<p>Gorham’s Hunter Finck celebrates after getting out of an inning against Sanford on April 24. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
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On Tuesday, he threw a two-hitter in an 8-0 win against previously unbeaten Cheverus. It was the first time he’d pitched seven innings since his freshman year. Standing tall, with a strong power stride, Finck started the game with a 93 mph fastball and was still throwing 90 in the fourth inning. Through five innings, he allowed two singles, and with sharp command of his fastball and curveball, he did not get to a three-ball count. A few pitches got away from Finck in the sixth and seventh after Gorham scored its eighth run (on a Finck RBI single), but with help from an errorless defense, he worked around a walk in each inning and finished his shutout with nine strikeouts.
The Rams have a deep pitching staff. In addition to Finck and Brenner, senior Wyatt Washburn is another future college pitcher — he’s headed to Colby College. Add in Nadeau and Jack Karlonas (Husson) from last year’s Gorham team, and Finck has benefited from being surrounded by older teammates who can offer advice, give support, and engage in mature conversations about the craft of pitching.
Of Nadeau, a 6-foot-6 right-hander who has drawn regular starts in his first season at Vanderbilt, Finck said, “he helped me to see what it was like to be at that level and show me everything that goes with it. … He showed me what the standard is.”
Washburn said of Finck, “He’s just one of those guys that loves the game of baseball and wants to be doing it all the time. It’s the love of the game and his work ethic.”
With Gorham having plenty of quality pitching, Finck will not be overtaxed. Smith has said he expects to stick to a three-starter rotation. That could also ease the pressure of being “the Alabama kid,” as Smith said he heard opposing players call Finck during the preseason.
The way Finck sees it, his choice of college doesn’t change anything in the present. Opponents might think of him as the Alabama kid, but he’s pitching for the Gorham Rams, always trying to compete and play at his best to help his team win.
“So, nerves are the same,” he said. “Pressure’s the same, in my opinion. Just with a label on it.”
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