Freeport's George Brockman - Watercraft and Sport car enthusiast

After swimming my laps at the Freeport YMCA, I ran into Owen, a regular reader of this blog. He offered the wonderful suggestion to start featuring Freeport people in the SoFreeport blog. So, please meet George Brockman and his wonderful golden retriever, Olive Oil. George grew up in South Freeport and spent many years sailing on Casco Bay. George excelled in sailing so much that he competed in the National Sear's Cup where he raced a variety of sailboats including Turn-Abouts, Lightnings, and Explorers. He spoke enthusiastically about the thrill of sailing on a 16' Hobie cat strapped into a trapeze harness and heeled over to the max! His love of speed led him to power boats and eventually buying and selling them. Today I saw everything from a 16' skiff to a 34' Luhrs Motor Yacht on his lot. He business is both local and from those who are from away including a number of Canadians from Prince Edward Island (PEI), Nova Scotia and even Newfoundland. Apparently the PEI customers are in the Oyster business and are willing to drive the 10 hours down to Freeport to pick up a good, used boat. George is a youthful looking Vietnam Veteran who is an amateur race car driver. He competed at the 2004 Vintage Celebration in New Hampshire International Speedway in a very cool looking 750 horse power Chevrolet. Top speed he told me with a wide grin was 180 mph. Maybe I sould sell George my ME license plates with "007" on a conservation plate.

Jay Pinkham - Freeport's Harbormaster - Summer seems a long way away.

Today's post is a work-in-progress as I need to connect with Jay Pinkham, Freeport's harbormaster for an interview. Jay has the best water view town office in Freeport located at the end of town wharf. Jay manages a busy harbor including a waiting list for those who like me would like a permanent mooring in the harbor. To be on the waiting list, you need to pay a $5.00 dollar yearly fee. The thinking behind this is that those who are willing to pay a yearly fee are truly interested in having a mooring. Last time I spoke with Jay I learned that the waiting list was significantly whittled down. Freeport residents are eligible to be on the waiting list which effectively means that as a Pownal resident I will not be able to get a mooring. However, there are moorings available at Strout's Point Marine and Brewer's, the two private firms that provide year round boat services. You can easily google "Freeport Maine harbormaster" to find out how to apply for a mooring. You might want to also check out http://www.maineharbors.com/ Fair winds and following seas!

Would you believe this is MacDonald's in Freeport?

I was speaking with a new client of mine who is moving to Freeport from the Midwest. She and her husband are so taken with our town for many reason. One in particular is the way the town maintains it's New England charm with respect to all the national retailers who have to tone down their signage in order to business in Freeport. For example, one of the first things that visitors notice upon entering the village off of Exit 22 is how subdued and almost camouflaged the MacDonald's restaurant is at the corner of Mallet Drive and Main Street. My Midwest clients live in a town in Illinois where national retailers clog main street with large stores and super-sized signage. Ah, Maine the way life should be!

Motoboat "Knot too Fast" ahead of me on 295

I was thoroughly amused on my commute from Freeport to Portland by having a motoboat ahead of me with the name of "Knot Too Fast". As a sailor, the Maine State police couldn't have orchestrated a more original idea for reminding motorists to obey the speed limit during morning rush hour. Anyway, Happy Friday!

On the real estate front, my wife and I looked at the second phase of the Concord Brook condominiums located just off Pine Street in Freeport. We liked the way the developer tucked that phase into the woods. There is an extensive trail system behind Concord brook that leads to R&D auto as well as all the way to South Freeport village. Call me to set up a viewing of both the new and resale units at Concord Brook.

Tree Clearing near Exit 22 in Freeport? What's the Scoop

There still is no definitive word on what kind of building, if any, that might emerge on land that appears to belong to Pine Tree Academy. Perhaps Brendan Krueger, the school's Principal, will post a comment soon about what might be happening. The school, which is owned by the Northern New England Conference of the Seventh Day Adventists, hosts a large gathering of church member in July on their property. They also have a wonderful classic car show in August that car buffs wouldn't want to miss. The school's website is www.pinetreeacademy.org

Pine Tree Academy - A school with a fabulous music program

Pine Tree Academy is a K-12 Christian School whose mission is a quality Christ-centered educational institution full dedicated to the development of the spiritual, intellectual, physical, social and artistic talents of each student. My wife and I have been thrilled with Dottie Krueger who runs the music program at Pine Tree. Our daughter Elizabeth took piano lessons with Dottie for many years. My son Daniel has taken cello lessons there as well. Mrs. Krueger has taken some of her Pine Tree Academy music students on a European tour. If you have any further questions about the school, you can send an e-mail to Mr. Brendan Krueger who is the Principal at bkrueger@pinetreeacademy.org

Pine Tree owns 80 acres of land that borders in part 295. I've had several inquiries from readers of my blog about a large clearing of trees visible from 295 near Exit 22 that appeared within the last month or so. I may have an update from Mr. Krueger soon to share with you about potential development plans.

Beans has banner snowshoe sales this Christmas Season

I bought my wife snowshoes at Beans just before Christmas. Actually, I made my purchase the day before Christmas. According to Bean company spokesman, Lori Brooks, the company identified a new spending pattern shift where consurmers like me did a significant amount of shopping the two weeks before Christmas.

My snowshoe salesman, Eric, was very knowledgable and helpful in assisting me with my purchase. He mentioned low inventory for snowshoes including the new "snap-on" snowshoes that I bought for my wife. Clearly the heavy snows here in Maine have driven consumer demand for this product. Fortuneately, I had a box of snowshoes under the tree for my wife. However, I had to call Beans catalog sales to order the actual shoes that went with the snowshoes. The shoes arrived the Friday after Christmas and my wife was ready to head outside and enjoy a walk in our woods.

My wife is from Rio de Jeinaro where snow is unheard of. So it was all the more fun to see happily walking on top of our 22 inches of snow in the yard.

Stay tuned for updates about Village Station which is land that Beans owns in the center of town but has leased to a developer. The developer is charged with building the new garage and stores and leasing them. This project will make shopping in Freeport an even better experience than it is already. My wife and I stopped in at the Kittery Mall on the way back from Boston last weekend. What a boring shopping experience that is!

Cabella's, a national outdoor sporting good store headquartered in Nebraska, is moving to Scarborough on the corner of Haigis and Payne Road sometime in the spring of 2008. Scarborough seems like a bit of a drive from Freeport, but I'm sure I will make a trip down there to see how it compares to Beans and to see how price competitive they are.