Vanity Plates you'll see in the Freeport area

When you move to Maine or if you live here already, you will notice an increasing number of vanity plates on the Maine roads as time glides on. That is what I've noticed in the 10 years that I've lived here. I was speaking with Don Cookson who is the Communication Director for the Office of the Secretary of State in August today and he notices this trend as well. Don's communication responsibilities include the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. In Maine, there are a wide range of license plates to choose from including the two you see above, the Chickadee plate and the Loon (Conservation Plate) to name a few. Recently the state has added a colorful Agricultural plate with vibrant orang, red and yellow colors. Don said he will send me some statistics on the number of vanity plates owned by Maine drivers. Off the top of his head, Don thought roughly 6% or 7% of registered cars in Maine have vanity plates. Don recounted how he was at an Augusta eatery recently and out of the 25 cars in the parking lot, he estimated that 15 to 18 cars had vanity plates. For license plate fans like me, Don mentioned a USA Today article that touched upon this topic last November, and it can be found here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-11-11-vanityplates_N.htm?csp=34

Don is also amazed how many people like me are interested in low number plates. I drive a 007 car...well, if you squint your eyes the car almost looks like an Aston Martin! Just the other day I was at Town landing in Falmouth and Craig and his wife Charlotte whose license plate is simply "C" asked me how I came to be 007. I mentioned it all started after I took my boys to see the last 007 movie, Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig as the new 007. My boys and I have seen almost all of the 007 movies. Casino Royale was released in November of 2006 and shortly thereafter I had to register my car. I knew at that time that I wanted a low number plate, so I called the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles in Augusta and spoke with a woman who was in charge of issuing low number plates. She asked me what number I wanted. I paused for a moment because I really didn't know what low number plate I wanted. Suddenly, I said "how about 007"? She responded and said that the conservation plate 007 had just became available. I said "I'll take it". Craig and Charlotte, owners of a Chickadee "C", enjoyed the story. Craig then told me he was a 007 in the Korean war serving in a naval intelligence capacity. It just so happened that his Navy retirement number is 007007.

Now you say, who owns the Freeport plate, spelled Freeputt that I featured above? I think it belongs to someone who works at Maggie's gas station at Exit 20 in Freeport.

Patriots Day afternoon on Bradbury Mountain

My son and I had a delightful afternoon walk up Bradbury Mountain today. Upon reaching the summit, we met Dane from Corpus Christi Texas who is the "raptor" counter hired by Wild Birds of Yarmouth www.yarmouthbirds.com. I had read the Sunday Press Herald piece several weeks ago and knew that Dane would probably be on the summitt. I also was having a "mandatory fun" event with my 14 year old. There wasn't much happening in the sky during our brief visit with Dane until we were about to head back to the parking lot. As we were about to hit the trail, a pair of Osprey dove from the sky right near us in what Dane described moments later as a spring mating dance. The male was in hot pursuit of the female. Moments later, they were both enjoy circling upward in a thermal. Dane said he heard a wind noise coming from the Osprey wings due to their close proximity. So we were treated to one of the most impressive and quite up close Osprey events Dane had ever witnessed. Dane expressed how fortunate we are to live in an area such as Freeport/Pownal with such a large state park. And such a large state park that happens to on a major raptor migrating route!

Sailboat "Apres Ski" at Brewer's Marine in South Freeport

The weather is starting act like "Apres ski" with temperatures in the 60's today and into the 70's tomorrow. All of us who have lived through the winter of '07 - '08 with it's record snow fall are a bit worn out! Hope springs eternal with this kind of weather. My wife and I have watched the snow on our property make a "dramatic retreat" as the snow moves off our land and into the forest.

By hey, Sugarloaf and Sunday River Ski areas are still open for business. I'm sure there will be a few "loafers" heading to the hills for one more ski.

www.sugarloaf.com and www.sundayriver.com

Freeport's CEO Fred Reeder

Especially in a town with national name recognition like Freeport, there are huge residential and commercial development pressures to contend with. The code enforcement officer, aka CEO, plays a critical role by making sure homeowners, landowners and commercial entities abide by the zoning rules in place so that Freeport doesn't one day look like Long Island, New York.

Meet Fred Reeder who is the CEO and has been since 1986 when he relocated to Maine from Southbury Connecticut. Fred's career unfolded as follows. Upon graduation from college, Fred taught for 2 1/2 years at the Deveaureax school, a private school in CT that specializes in teaching those with special needs. Fred then transitioned from teaching to picking up an entirely different skill set. Fred had the good fortune to wind up working for reputable Southbuy builders who taught him all that is required to build a new house.

Fred, his wife and three sons migrated north to Maine in 1986 and first lived in Richmond Maine. Fred's wife's sister lived in Richmond and consequently it was a good place to be as the Reeder family learned more about their new state. Fred thought he might get back into teaching until one day he found a position open in Freeport that was a perfect fit. He applied and was offered the Code Enforcement officer position.

For the last 15 years Fred has lived in the village of Freeport. Fred and other town officials including the design review committee have worked hard to keep Freeport from looking like a homogeneous American small town with big box stores and giant signs dominating the landscape. Most recently there has been a tempest in a teapot over whether or not the Pet Pantry was in compliance with the very bold color of purple color the owners chose. Fred thoroughly researched the issue to learn that Pet Pantry didn't violate a town ordinance.

For all questions, simple or complex, visit the code enforcement officer and his staff at town hall. You can go online to learn about zoning in place for each area of Freeport. www.freeportmaine.com

The "Lilly B" Bustins Island Ferry in winter storage at Brewers South Freeport Marine

The Bustins Island ferry, Lilly B, is all wrapped up in her winter blanket perched on boat stands sitting next to the Brewers South Freeport Marine building. Brewers had a fire last week created by a massive machine installing new dock pilons for the Brewers' new dock facility. These machines drive the pilons in so fast that extreme heat can build up to become flamable. The new homeland security camera mounted on the Harbormasters office at the end of the wharf determined that arson wasn't involved. Apparently a South Freeport resident woke up at 5 o'clock in the morning to see flames on a few pilons including a barge that was ablaze. The good news is that noone was lost and all the boats at Brewers and Strout's Point were safe.

I asked Rob Taisey whose family has a longstanding connection to the island for help learning about the Lilly B history. Rob has already given me a few leads for me to pursue including Al (Eliott) Spaulding who designed the boat. He and his wife Sue are Freeporters and I understand that Sue could fill in some historical details.

Leslie Berry is the Captain and you can contact her about getting the 2008 summer ferry schedule at 207-841-4944. The Lilly B is scheduled to launch on May 15th, just about a month away.

Buck's Naked BBQ - Freeport Maine

Today is Buck's Naked BBQ's grand re-opening in the building that formerly was a Dexter shoe store off Exit 20 in Freeport right next to Maggie's gas station. I didn't have an opportunity to sample the food, but I'm very encouraged that I won't be disappointed. Whoever was hired to design the interior of the restaurant did a great job. Upon walking inside, I was reminded of the "Gladstone Smokehouse", one of my favorite places to eat barbecue in Kansas City Missouri. As many of you know, Kansas City is legendary for great barbecue in addition to great jazz. I will be eating at Buck's Naked BBQ with or without my mostly vegetarian family soon and can report back later with first hand experience.

Owner Alex Caisse, featured at the far right in the picture above, is with his awesome kitchen staff. These guys are having a blast cooking up a storm for their patrons. I took the photo at 5 o'clock today on my way home from work. The parking lot was packed which augurs well for the long term success of Buck's Naked BBQ. I didn't get a chance to meet Wendy Caisse, Alex's other partner in the business. For more information, go online at http://www.bucksnaked-bbq.com/ You can also call the restaurant at 865-0600.

North Yarmouth Saltbox - This home will take you back 100 years!

Isn't this the quintessential New England saltbox home? I never tire of looking at this house when I take the North Road from Yarmouth heading either to Pownal or New Gloucester. Today I drove by this property on my way from Merriconeag Waldorf High School at Pineland Center to Yarmouth. I'd welcome any comment from my readers on facts relating to this property e.g. builder, age of home, etc. If you have any information, click on the "comment" box and share your knowledge with me.

Bayside Boat Sales in Freeport - Steve Trenholm Owner

Steve grew up with the ocean in his back yard in the Bayside summer community near Northport Maine. While attending the University of Maine, Steve played football for four years graduating in 1977. Afterwards, Steve embarked on a career at sea as a merchant marine working on 800' to 900' tankers carrying gasoline and chemicals to Europe and to Russian Black Sea ports. If you are having a hard time imagining tankers this size, just pretend you are standing in front of the John Hancock building in Boston. Now imagine laying that building on it's side in Boston Harbor!

Steve worked at sea two months on and then was ashore for two months. To keep him occupied while on land, Steve started a part time boat sales business. He began by fixing up Boston Whalers and selling them and then moved up to selling bigger power and sail boats. Steve retired from being a merchant seaman in 1988 and has enjoyed the boat business ever since. On his boat lot, Steve has a large barn like structure which he rents out to Mike Casey. Mike has an expertise in repairing both small and large fiberglass boats. Earlier in the winter I dropped into Mike's facility and he was restoring a beautiful French built 35' Jeanneau sailboat. If I had the money, I would have hired Steve as my yacht broker and bought that boat on the spot!

Steve naturally gets alot of summer traffic going by his facility at 369 U.S. Route 1 in Freeport. He finds that boat buyers typically come to his facility well informed about what they want because of the research buyers do on the Internet. The same thing is true for home buyers. Eighty five percent of home buyers start their search on the Internet and I'm sure the same thing holds true for boat buyers. Visit Bayside Boat Sales online at http://www.baysideboatsales.com/ or Call Steve at 207-329-0094

Steve Drake in front of Merrill Auditorium in Portland Maine

My wife and I saw several Freeport couples at Merrill Auditorium on Tuesday, April 1st to see a Portland Symphony Orchestra (PSO) performance dedicated to Russian composers. As my blog profile states, I do enjoy Russian classical music because I like thunderous instrumental sounds that optimize all of the instruments in the orchestra. My favorite piece on Tuesday evening was from Rachmaninov Concerto No. 3 in D minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 30. Stewart Goodyear, a 26 year old native from Toronto, Canada, had the audience captivated during his piano solos. Stewart drew 3 or 4 curtain calls at the end.

For those of you who are thinking of relocating to Freeport, Merrill Auditorium is a 25 minute drive from Freeport and parts of Pownal. The auditorium is located in the back of the City Hall building across from the Portland Press Herald building. The auditorium has a classy, metropolitan look. According to Joseph Silverstein, a highly accomplished violinist and an interim music director at the PSO, the Port city has a very accomplished group of musicians and an extremely supportive music community compared to other cities the size of Portland. For ticket information call 207-842-0800 or http://www.portlandsymphony.com/

Do yourself a favor and eat at the Freeport Cafe! - Take Exit 18 off 295

Amy Gillis will make you very welcome at this fine Freeport eatery. In our 20 minute interview today, I learned some very interesting details about her career with the Maine Course Hospitality Group http://www.mchg.com/ In 1994, Amy started work at the adjacent motel next to the cafe where she did laundry at nights. From there, she worked in housekeeping and then progressed to Supervisor. She left Maine at one point in her career to work in New Orleans where she took a very challenging job working for Firestone selling oil changes door-to-door. I could relate to Amy somewhat in that her sales job with Firestone was completely commission based. If she didn't make a sale, she didn't eat. She had to learn how to speak more slowly so that the slower speaking Louisiana residents could understand her. While working her way to top salesperson for Firestone, she dealt with the rigors of reverse discrimination and sometimes sales territory that wasn't exactly prime. When she returned to Maine, she worked for a time as a massage therapist. Eventually, she accepted a job offer to work as a server at Freeport Cafe. And today, she is at the top of her game again as manager.

Amy told me that she has introduced some new ideas to Freeport Cafe which sound pretty creative. For example every Thursday night, there will be a different theme buffet. So everybody needs to get out their calendars and mark the following Thursday meal themes starting this Thursday with a Mexican fiesta buffet. Thursday April 10th is a British Isles buffet; April 17th is a Vegan buffet; followed Thursday April 24th with a Polynesian buffet; and finally on May 1st there is a Southwestern comfort food buffet.

Now that our dollars is on par with the Canadian dollar, Amy has noticed an increase in the number of Canadians eating at the Freeport Cafe. Canadians have either a two week or three week winter break during March. Things really get hopping at the restaurant just after July 4th. Amy sees more tourists and fewer locals in the high season. She'll see more locals as the weather warms up because they will have more disposable income once they aren't spending a fortune to heat their homes. Tax rebates will also be another reason to draw the local crowd.