Down East Magazine, November 2020

Features Maine Gives Back As a difficult year draws to a close, we salute Mainers doing their part to make the state a better place. By Joyce Kryszak, Susan Geib, Mira Ptacin, Edgar Allen Beem, Michaela Cavallaro, and Tina Fischer Segment One At the heart of the public debate over a proposed power-transmission project is a remote swath of woods, mountains, and streams that a newly cut corridor would cleave. We sent a team of photographers for a look at Maine’s most divisive 53 miles. By Brian Kevin Photographed by Pamola Creative Roots Run Deep When the COVID-19 pandemic brought life to a standstill this spring, millions of American small businesses abruptly found themselves facing collapse. This is the story of one of them, Westbrook’s American Roots. By Rachel Slade Special advertising section: Ask an Artisan Maine makers offer tips on shopping for the best in handmade, Maine-made goods. By Carsyn Viles, Frances Killea, and Bhavana Scalia-Bruce Sponsored content section: Nonprofit Spotlights Maine’s nonprofit community steps up in challenging times. Departments North by East Haircuts at the Senior Citizens Barber Shop never go out of style, and neither does Marsden Hartley’s immense oeuvre. Plus, socially distanced Native American Heritage Month activities and, in Maine Dispatches, cattle treading an unwise escape route. Food and Drink Skowhegan’s Maine Grains immunizes against pandemic-era flour shortages, a drumming prof grooves on West African cooking in Camden, and the best pie pumpkins look like bloated zucchini. Good Things from Maine The macramé revival keeps a Limerick artist tied up in knots, and two other makers are rolling with vehicular studios. Meanwhile, a bag designer’s L.L.Bean collaboration was a tote-al success. Maine Homes A Lincolnville innkeeper’s Cape and solar panels in a new (and more affordable) light. Also, old-school architectural photographer Brian Vanden Brink learns to love the iPhone. + Where in Maine Maine Moment Dooryard Editor’s note, reader feedback, responses to August’s Where in Maine, and more. Columns Timelines: The Contested Election (of 1879), Wildlife: A Salmon Hatchery Swims Against the Stream, Room With a View. My Favorite Place State climatologist Dr. Sean Birkel, on Baxter State Park On The Cover:  Greenlaw Mountain, near Jackman, by Pamola Creative