Maine

“Maine Wood 2024” opens at Messler Gallery

Published

2 years ago

January 24, 2024

“Maine Wood 2024” opens at Messler Gallery

ROCKPORT — Maine Wood 2024 opens at the Messler Gallery at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship on Friday, January 26, 2024, with an opening reception and awards ceremony on the following Friday, February 2, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., to which the public is invited to attend.

Maine Wood is a juried, biennial exhibition designed to showcase the breadth, creativity, and excellence of Maine’s woodworking community. For 2024, the ninth biennial, the Center received 63 submissions from 43 Maine artists and artisans.

“It’s fitting that we wrap our 30th Anniversary year with the opening of Maine Wood 2024,” said Matt Hoggle, the Center’s Executive Director, in a news release. “This show of talented Mainers highlights what CFC strives to accomplish: amplifying and exemplifying the value of craftsmanship as it enriches the life of the maker as well as the communities in which they work and reside.”

Furniture makers in the show include Virginia Blanchard, Thomaston; David Boyle, Bath; Richard Chalmers, Camden; Sam Cotton, Hope; Andy Glenn, Waldoboro; Rob Hiza, Rockland; Saer T. Huston, Kennebunkport; Terry Kelly, Presque Isle; John Rogers, Woolwich; Osamu Sassa, Camden; Ethan Stebbins, Woolwich; Olivia Van Oot, Portland; Kristina Varshavskaya, Waldoboro; Paul Wanrooij, Harpswell; and Geoffrey Warner, Stonington.

Sculptors, turners, carvers, and marquetarians are John Bryan, North Yarmouth; Danielle Rose Byrd, Bar Harbor; Clara Cohan, Cape Elizabeth; Dennis Curtis, Augusta; Jeff Enck, Cumberland Center; Crockett Lalor, Lincolnville; Jim Macdonald, Burnham; Max Miller, Thomaston; and Julie A. Vogel, Harpswell.

Maine organizations co-sponsoring Maine Wood 2024 are Eastern Maine Woodturners, the Maine Crafts Association, and Maine Woodturners.

Eight prizes totaling $2400, received through generous donations from the school’s corporate award sponsors, will be presented at the opening reception on February 2. Awards include $300 gift certificates from The Craft Initiative for ‘Best Original Design’; from Rockler Woodworking and Hardware of South Portland, Maine for ‘Outstanding Craftsmanship’; from Lie-Nielsen Toolworks for ‘Jurors’ Best in Show’; from Tools for Working Wood for ‘Best New Maker’; from Packard Woodworks for ‘Best Turned Object’; from Rare Woods for ‘Best Use of Wood’; and from Woodcraft of Newington for ‘Best in Furniture.’ There is also a $300 cash prize from Holt & Bugbee for the ‘People’s Choice’ award.

Jurors for this year’s biennial were Dixie Biggs, Woodturner/Instructor, Gainsville, FL; John Cameron, Furniture Maker, Gloucester, MA; and Adam John Manley, Assoc. Professor of Furniture Design and Woodworking, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.

The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship is a nonprofit school that offers year-round courses in furniture making and related arts such as carving and woodturning. For more information, call 207-594-5611, e-mail victoria.allport@woodschool.org, or visit our website at www.woodschool.org. Messler Gallery hours are 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. The Messler Gallery is located on the campus of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, at the corner of Route 90 and Mill Street in Rockport, Maine.

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Maine

Maine veterans find closure, connection on Honor Flight to D.C.

Published

48 minutes ago

June 1, 2026

Press Room

Maine veterans find closure, connection on Honor Flight to D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WABI) – Maine veterans returned home Sunday after a weekend in Washington, D.C.

Giving local veterans and their loved ones a visit to the capital of the nation they dedicated their lives to is the aim of Honor Flight Maine.

Marking their second trip of the year, the nonprofit provided about 70 Pine Tree State veterans a free trip to Washington to visit the memorials and monuments dedicated to their service.

For many, this was this first time seeing the capital in person.

“Unreal,” “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” and “tear-dropping” were among the sentiments shared by veterans about the Honor Flight. Others remarked on the memories revived by visiting the ceremonial spaces.

“I have some friends that’s over there, so it really was nice,” said Edward Lee, a Vietnam veteran from Bangor.

Lee was able to find one friend’s name engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Using graphite and a piece of paper, he made a rubbing of the name to take home.

Rose Marie Curtis, a Navy nurse who served in Vietnam, said seeing the three nurses depicted at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial sent her back in time.

“For so many years, you don’t think about something. You’re doing this and doing that and having children, whatever. But this really brings you back,” Curtis described.

Not only does the trip give veterans the opportunity to see these sites, it allows a chance to connect; with perhaps a past or present self, and with fellow veterans.

“It’s what makes Honor Flight Maine special because you’re with your own kind,” explained Charlie Paul, a Vietnam War veteran who has been involved with Honor Flight Maine for a decade. “We’re a segment of society, they remember us on Memorial Day. They remember us on Veteran’s Day. They remember us on Armed Forces Day. But then they forget about us. And so for us as an organization to take them down here and see their memorials, it just lets them know they’re that special.”

For Lincoln veteran Richard Rollins, the visit gave him “closure,” considering, “…when I got out of the service, I mean, to be honest, even in ’79, I was never thanked.”

Among former servicemembers of all ages, father-son veterans James and Michael Sherman said the trip opened up conversation, sharing stories they had never told each other about their service.

“It means the world that people care, and we shouldn’t wait a moment to tell the people that are important to us what they mean to us,” Michael Sherman remarked.

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Maine

Car catches fire on Maine Turnpike in Kennebunk

Published

11 hours ago

May 31, 2026

Press Room

Car catches fire on Maine Turnpike in Kennebunk

KENNEBUNK, Maine (WGME) — A car caught on fire on the Maine turnpike Saturday.

It happened in Kennebunk in the southbound lanes of the turnpike.

A car caught on fire on the Maine turnpike Saturday. (Courtesy of Kennebunk Fire Rescue)

You can see a large cloud of black smoke coming from the scene.

Nobody was hurt.

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Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames.

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Maine

In Maine governor’s race, connection is preferable to cronyism | Letter

Published

21 hours ago

May 31, 2026

Press Room

In Maine governor’s race, connection is preferable to cronyism | Letter

After Maine’s first Democratic gubernatorial debate, I commented that the candidates seemed to be vying with each other to be agreeable. Would it last? Back then, I thought I’d be happy with any of them as Maine’s next governor.

Not so now, as I observe the cronyism of Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson and Hannah Pingree, whose plan to rank each other when they vote provides a blueprint for gaming the ranked-choice voting system in the primary. The political insiders are forming an alliance against the outsiders, Nirav Shah and Angus King III.

Shah’s campaign responded that it would stay focused on winning voters’ support, a more principled approach, in my estimation.

I prefer a governor who listens and learns from his constituents over one experienced at alliances and deal-making. I want integrity and leadership, not manipulation and exclusion.

I no longer believe that Bellows, Jackson or Pingree would make a good governor.

Moriah Freeman
Brunswick

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