Waterville held their annual Premature jibulation today.
Got some clips check it out.

Nice Burgers

Fun at the Inside Out Playground in Waterville

Discovering a great indoor play space during the winter months is nirvana for Maine parents. For 15 years, the non-profit, Inside Out Playground in Waterville has made the cold weather a little more bearable for local families. Kids will find cool climbing structures, craft projects, a puppet theater, tricycles, books, games and more fun to be had. And parents will love the price. For just $5 per child, and a $1 per parent, families can stay and play for hours. Have a playgroup of 6 or more? The price drops to just $3 a child.

Year-round family memberships are also available for $100. Members receive discounts birthday parties (check out the great party options on their site) and IOP Music and Movement classes.

The downside? This great space is in danger of closing, and needs at least 60 family memberships in the next 6 weeks to remain open. You can help just by supporting the IOP, volunteering time or spreading the word.

With the forecast looking gloomy this weekend, the Inside Out Playground will be open Saturday, October from 9-2 p.m.

To learn more about IOP’s fundraising events and how you can help, email Melanie Pellerin at: info@InsideOutPlayground.org

Inside Out Playground
5 Appleton Street
Waterville
877-7707

Today’s bookmark: first official “full” day of fall travel.

I laugh when I remember the sweaty palms,
garbled mouth and general lack of understanding I had
at this time last year.

I’m also glad there’s been over 365 days of safe distance
contributing to the humor of that memory today.

When I pulled into today’s first school visit, Soren humming merrily
as I wrestled to pull the e-brake
(don’t judge;
it was a steep parking lot and
I didn’t want to pull a Spear)
while also juggling a calendar,
a binder of high school visit information,
two highlighters,
a Nalgene of stale water and my name-tag,
I heard a voice from behind me:
“Houghton College! No way.”
Turns out, the daughter of this guy
who parked behind in the spot next to mine
almost went to Houghton.

Even though she didn’t
actually enroll, it was still
like a little piece of home
to hear that enthusiasm in the man’s
elongated vowels.

Augusta:
Seriously? After almost missing the tiny stamp-sized sign
on the sign of the road reading, “Welcome to Augusta,
state capitol,” and circling around three quaint blocks
several different times
as I looked in vain for the down-town area – -
store-fronts, sky-scrapers, traffic or
anything of an urban nature – -
I have come to the conclusion that Maine is
the state of cities that aren’t.

Photo of the Day
Sun-blinded view of Maine’s
state capitol building.

Reunions on the Road:
Guess who should pop around the corner
shortly after I set up in an empty classroom
at my second high school but Jill, one of
last year’s admission counselor friends
from Eastern University – -
neither of us was expecting to see the other
which just made it all the more delightful.

Dinner plans? Yes, please.

So let me preface this by saying that I know about this show primarily because I’m interning with Chris’s manager this semester. That said, if you are even slightly interested in pretty wild jammy sorts of music, you’d probably be really into this show. I wouldn’t plug something on here if I didn’t think it was great.

What a classy guy.

Anyway, this post is really going up to alert you to a oair of shows this weekend. The first is at the Empire on Friday the 11th, and the second is at Hill n’ the Ville in Waterville the next day. Believe me when I say that he’s kickass live, and really worth seeing.

-Owen

I. Hate. Moving.

What a load of stress. Granted I don’t have a ton of stuff or tough obligations yet at my age, but whether I’m loading a huge U-Haul trailer or my CR-V, I doubt that I will ever enjoy the process. Aside from the mess of having to pack everything up or put in/take out of a storage unit, one also has to deal with the ensuing change of a new environment, job, school, what have you. I write this not only to complain about my own situation, but also to express sympathy to all of you who have ever had to deal with this! I feel for you! Especially military families who often have to travel overseas back and forth for extended periods of time. Please feel free to use this post to vent and describe your own moving experiences.

In other news, my latest road trip went well. I took a slightly different route this time using mostly I-80 traveling through Nebraska and Wyoming (wow… talk about middle-of-nowhere places). The prairie storms of Wyoming are a sight to see. I almost thought about stopping by Yellowstone, but I think I’ll save that for a weekend trip in the future. Aside from the usual southern states on my primary route (Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri), I also had the pleasure of driving through Kansas again. Driving northward out of Manhattan after a visit with some family members, I came across an old little industrial and farming town called Waterville, that looked like something straight out of 1930s Dorothy’s Kansas (think The Wizard of Oz). For some reason though those little prairie towns really made me feel at home in some sort of odd way, though admittedly if I lived in Kansas, the city of Manhattan is a very convenient, cosmopolitan place (which in my world means it has big-box stores =).

So, bring on the moving rants. Let’s complain together!

Welcome from the first day’s racing at the All Ireland Coastal Regatta 2009 hosted by Waterville Rowing Club. Killorglin Rowing club had an excellent day racing in the heats with one final being contested. Here’s a summary of the results from the first day and here are some photos

U21 ladies final won by Killorglin.

We qualified for the finals of the u12 girls, vet ladies, u12 mixed, senior mixed, u14 girls, u16 boys, u16 ladies, pre vet ladies, u18 ladies, u18 boys and the intermediate ladies. I had to leave the regatta after this so not sure how the last few heats went.

Welcome to the World~ KR&RR

Okay…so I’ve complained and vented and  over-analyzed this summer to an absolutely ridiculous extent. Typical…the over-analyzing part, at least. I was thinking tonight though, while I was driving home from work in the pouring rain, that maybe this summer’s actually been pretty good for me. Really good for me, actually. Parts of it have been absolutely awful, don’t get me wrong. All last school year I looked forward to being back home, back in Waterville with my group, living the way I did last summer, working hard and living even harder. I felt I became a better person last summer, I learned a lot about myself and about other people, and really fell in love with the sense of security that came from understanding finally that you really can be secure~ without completely trusting anyone. I grew up a lot, felt more confident in myself. And that, I think, is why I so looked forward to getting back here for this summer, I thought everything would be just the same again. Well, as you might guess, it’s not. Basically the complete opposite. The beginning of the summer started off the same, but somewhere in there was a serious turn of events that changed pretty much the entire way I was living my life. I’ve been trying to make really good decisions and be responsible so I can be successful. What people don’t tell you about that path though, is that sometimes it means giving up a LOT. In my case, an entire way of life I’d looked forward to for months. I moved into my dad’s house, which is almost an hour away from where I work and used to spend the majority of my time hanging out. Talk about an annoying commute; when I first started having to drive to Waterville and back every day, I thought it was the worst thing ever. A waste of gas and time. Nothing’s changed in the reality of things, I’m still wasting just as much gas and time. But I’ve come to appreciate that time~ sometimes it’s the only time in my day where I get the chance to just relax a little and think~ kind of just an opportunity to think and get myself together before a longg day of working two jobs…which of course, I love : ). Haha. Then there’s the fact that I’m not really hanging out with the same crowd as I did last summer. This has been so, so hard for me, more than I think anyone realizes. I miss them, and I feel snotty that I’m always “too busy” to hang out. But, as someone wise once told me, it’s not a bad thing to be a little selfish sometimes if it’s the best thing for YOU. So I’m doing my best to remember that, and I guess it isn’t all bad. I’ve grown closer with some people who definitely help me out and encourage me to be successful, to work hard and remind me to take good care of myself. I got to see my brother more because of moving to my dad’s than I would have otherwise. It still wasn’t much, since I work all the time, but it still was so great for me to be able to come back here at night and know that I could hang out with him for a bit…he recently left for pilot training in Texas, and chances are he’s not going to be in Maine again except in short spurts for who knowss how long. I love my brothers: when some people think of their family, they think of their mom & dad, grandparents and cousins. I do too, but if I were asked to describe my family to someone, the main focus would, without a doubt, be placed on my three big bros.

Last summer I learned discipline. Strong, controlling, untouchable self-discipline. And that made me so proud, so happy with myself. This summer I’ve struggled with that, and I’m now learning to build it up again, but by taking a completely different approach. So far, it’s much harder for me, but I’m doing it and I’m definitely going to prove something to myself, if it takes me the rest of the summer and the next year to do! Because in the end, this is the time of my life where I’m going to make mistakes. I’m going to mess up really, really bad. I’m going to be strong-willed and independent. But I don’t want to worry the people that care about me, that’s the only thing that’s ever been able to make me doubt myself. I don’t want to do that. So I’m going to prove to myself and everyone I love that I am the strong, responsible person that I acted like before. I still am, I’ve just struggled a little. That’s normal, I’ve realized, and it will pass. I’m not a very religious person, not at all, but I do remember a verse from the Bible about how you won’t be given more than you can handle. I’ve been doing a lot of worrying, a lot of stressing over things lately. And I think, I hope, that’s finally coming to an end! All I need to do is focus on what I want to accomplish, where I want to be, and the goals I’m working towards. I need to just think about what I need to do to get there, and what I need to not do. SIMPLE. Welcome to the world .

lovelovelove Sara Rebekah

This is one for all the true Mainers out there.

This dialectic diamond was unearthed on Youtube, at the time no one the wiser to the author, or who even posted it, and like most sensations it snowballed over the ‘Net, making waves in the Portland music scene. After Toddy got so hot [pun totally intended] everybody was quite frustrated with the anonymity of this masterpiece set in Waterville, ME. The owner of Ruskie’s even offered $50 and free food and beer to whoever owned up to writing this.

Luckily, the songwriter’s sister still lived in Maine and heard the buzz about it in the Phoenix and phoned her brother, Billy Mayo, a Watervillian who had moved to New York to play in his band Black Taxi. Check the video here of him actually playing it in a super-swank NY apartment to his highbrow cityslicker friends. I jest. Anyways, Billy heard of the reward for his name and replied “It’s a Deal.” I’m going to keep my ear to the ground to see if perhaps when he comes to claim his prize, he’ll perform this incredible feat in vernacular discharge.

Last month my class, I mean the WHOLE school had WASL’s. I think that they are hard and my class had to take reading, math, and writing.

Another fishing opener in the books. It’s a holiday that I’d never heard of before I moved here back in ‘95. The fishing opener is the official start of the sport fishing season, walleye and northern pike, protected by a season closure at the end of February, or back when there was still ice on the lakes,are once again legal to take. I’ve fished every fishing opener since we moved here and with the most notable exception of the 1999 opener, they all have had two things in common. 1) the weather has been sub-optimal and 2) I’ve been skunked.

This year my opener was spent down in Southern Minnesota on the Lake Sakatah/Lake Tetonka chain. We used to have a seasonal camper down in that area in the years before we bought the cabin. One of closest friends, the famous Brother From Another Mother has a place down there and spends a couple hundred ours a summer on those lakes. In conversation a few weeks ago he invited me to come down for the opener and spend the night.

As things go, spending the night down there fell through. Nate had a lacrosse game in Bloomington on Friday night and, what with him being a senior and all, I felt like I should be there. And, there I was. 2 and half hours of lacrosse at a field with no bleachers in a constant and steady soaking rain. If I didn’t know better I’d say that evening sucked. And it would have sucked expect, our high schools typically crappy team somehow found it within themselves to play the best game of their season and actually were within a goal or two with a few minutes left to play and my kid scored a goal. Other than that, it was a miserable evening out.

In conversation with the B-FAM down at Sakatah, he asked when I’d be down in the morning? When do you want me there? 4:30 am.

yeah um.. there no way I can be there at 4:30. He kindly asked when I thought I could be there? I thought, with 100% confidence that I could be down there about 10:00am, is that too late? We settled at 6:30 which meant I had to be out the door by 5:45. No biggie. I packed the car for the day, and because it’s the opener and because I’ve been through 15 of them, I packed my winter fishing coat and hat. It didn’t feel cold, but somehow it’s always cold on this holiday, and I was certainly glad 2 hours later when I found myself sitting in a boat going 40 mph across a wind whipped lake against the swell, freezing my ass off. Was it windy, I thought so, little did I know, the wind at 7 am was just a preview of what was going to come.

After an hour and a half of fruitless trolling we headed into the channel between the two lakes. Once in the channel, which is about a half mile long, we found the boat completely surrounded by a massive school of huge sunfish. We might just come back here we thought. Moving through the channel we got out to lake Tetonka where the white caps were rolling, the foam was piling up on the windward shore and the lake looked miserable. It was miserable. Misery made worse by the spray blowing off the tops of the waves and the my hooking the anchor rope. Everyone loves to hook the anchor rope because you have to pull up the anchor to release it, and, when you buried up past the barb, it’s a bitch to get the rope to release the hook. Took a few minutes which under normal circumstances wouldn’t be a big deal, but when you drift 100 yards or more in that few minutes, the immediate and sharp pain to the sensitive rectal tissues is amplified. Thow in a wet foot thanks to a rouge wave and Ultimate Suckage was achieved.

We moved back into the channel and started fishing for sunnies. While we were in there there was a great deal of commotion, several sirens were sounding, cop cars and fire trucks went racing from Waterville north on the highway to Saber Lake, the next lake up the chain from where we were. About 20 minutes later we got a call from my friends concerned wife that we should get off the lake. Apparently the conditions had deteriorated to the point where a boat had capsized and a kid was missing. The next vehicle we saw go by was the Le Seur County Sheriff pulling the water rescue boat. The next call, from a friend in the area confirmed the gruesome news that they the Sheriff was in recovery mode, the were “dragging” the lake looking for a body.

Yuck,

We continued to fish and filled the livewell with 3/4 pound sunfish and headed in about noon. I didn’t realize how cold and how windwhipped I was until we’d landed the boat and were in the car. Fighting the elements all day can wears you out. Turns out, watching the news when I got home, there were several rescues during the day, boats in trouble because of the wind and the cold. Lesson is wear your life jacket people. Even if you swim well, in 3 foot waves and 45 degree water you aren’t going to get very far.

By Calvin Palmer

Police in Maine have arrested seven teenagers and young adults after a video posted on YouTube showed them setting off Molotov cocktail in a vacant building in Waterville. The video ended with credits naming those involved.

Waterville police say the suspects, ranging in age from 14 to 20, broke into the former Boys & Girls Club building on Main Place.

Detective David Caron said two more adults – one out of state and the other elsewhere in Maine – are expected to be charged in connection with the incident.

The nine adults and teenagers gained entry into the vacant building through a window and made Molotov cocktails by filling liquor bottles with gasoline and rags.

The Molotov cocktails were set alight and smashed against an empty swimming pool sending flames 20 feet into the air.

The incident was captured on video, set to heavy metal music, a listed of credits added of those taking part and then the video was put on YouTube, police said.

The parent of one of the suspects saw the video, became alarmed and took her son to the police station to report the incident.

Police say the video, which has since been taken off YouTube, showed the faces of the suspects as well as text naming those pictured. Each is charged with arson and burglary.

The adults who were charged are scheduled to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta on May 12, while the youths will be processed through the juvenile justice system, said Caron.

[Based on reports by the Morning Sentinel and Associated Press.]

I live in a little town called Waterville and would love to share some of the info about Waterville.

Waterville wheat. I live by where this old shack is , actually it is just up the road from my house.

The gentleman pictured in this Cabinet card has a mustache of distinction. In my years of collecting Cabinet cards I have yet to find a mustache quite as impressive as this one. Preble and Jordan of Waterville, Maine is the photographic studio where this picture was taken. Waterville is located in south central Maine. Early industries included fishing, lumbering, agriculture and ship building. There was also a waterpower company established and a number of  mills.

Parmi les portraits que j’ai faite en 2006, voila quelques uns… Il y a almedine et andreane et il y a, surtout, une commande (rare, malheureusement…) que m’a fait un bosniac de Watewrville qui voulais se souvenir de son pere, decede, et d’un ami d’enfance… Ok, le resultat est un peu naif – mais le commanditaire as aime ca, et meme a ajoute un peu (10 %) sur le prix convenu. Ca veut dire qu’il etait pas mal satisfaite, non?

Andreanne

Et on marche, et on marche…. et plus rien ne nous arrête. Nous sommes des rangers, et nous avons survécu!

Chaussures dans la boue glissante et sac toujours aussi lourd, nous nous hissons au somment de hautes montagnes sans relâche (230m de dénivelé tout de même ^^).

Nous traversons les champs de moutons/vaches/chevaux/poules à l’aide de petites échelles sur les clotures, pas toujours rassurées par les panneaux indicatifs et l’état du chemin.

Mais les paysages sont si beaux et le soleil brille tellement que nous ne prenons pas de répis et arrivée a l’étape prévue, nous décidons de continuer envers et contre tout.

Et nous marchons…. Jusqu’au doigt de Flora!

Bilan J3:

Quand même, on a compris la leçon! Et puis on l’a bien mérité ce petit B&B en bord de mer.

Séchage de vêtements, douches et petit dèj’ irlandais… (bacon, oeufs, toasts, cheddar, tomates et Cie.)

Et nous voila requinquées, armées et prêtes à randonner comme jamais!

Il s’avéra que cette journée était beaucoup moins difficile que la première!

8h, la pluie se calme légèrement. Flo, la pro de la rando, me prodigue ses conseils
-”Tu sais, pendant qu’il pleut un peu moins, on devrait sortir, plier la tente et repartir avant de se prendre une autre tempête dessus”
Mon corps me dit
- “NONNNN, tu ne peux pas te lever pour marcher, je suis si fatigué”
- “et pourtant, il le faut” répondit ma tête.
Et mon corps se résolu, se leva, enfourna l’énorme sac sur son dos et enclencha sa mise en marche. J’oubliais toutes sensations corporelles, et avançait pas a pas, si douloureusement… en visualisant le bus qui me transporterait jusqu’a un point bien avancé de notre randonée.

Sur le chemin du retour, les dégats de la tempête nous laissaient entrevoir ce qui c’était déroulé alors que nous étions confinées dans notre toile de tente. Les routes traversées la veille étaient à présent innondées, les arbres arrachés et les barrières déchiquetées.

Le fait de savoir comment notre habitacle de fortune a resisté à cette tempête restera à jamais un mystère. A partir de ce moment, nous l’avons baptisé

- La tente miracle -

Et puis nous sommes finalement arrivées (de nouveau) a Killarney. Retour a la case départ, mais plan en tête pour rattraper notre retard.

Effectivement, ce n’était qu’à 2h de marche! Bin, quand on connait le chemin, forcément!

Attente du bus a la gare de Killarney – destination Waterville.

Ahhh, comme ça fait du bien de voir tous ces kilomètres parcourus si rapidement…

Waterville: Petite bourgade en bord de mer, située à la pointe de l’Irlande. Garnie de maisons multicolores aux habitants incroyablement gentils (à l’accent un peu étrange).

Les vagues s’agitent et le vent souffle dehors alors que nous tentons de récupérer un peu des émotions de la veille sur les sofas du Peter’s Café. Thé et patisseries maisons!

Bilan J2:

On Saturday I was able to do a family session with Anna and her parents before they all had a party for her first birthday. We had a lot of fun at Farnsworth Park in Waterville.

Here is a sneak peek, enjoy and I hope you had a great time celebrating her birthday.

-C.

Prague visits Colby College in Waterville, Maine, the alma mater of his handler.