9/18/08 The Farmington Fair

Last year I attended the Farmington Fair for the first time (thanks, MRM!). I'm an expert at The State Fair of Texas, but this was a whole new world. I considered myself a beginner at Farmington Fair. This year I moved up to Advanced Beginner and actually worked at the fair!

Here I am with Andrea (who leads my church choir) volunteering in the St. Joseph's Food Booth at the fair.

Here are Jeremy and Claire (she's the head of religious education . . . I know her from being an on-call substitute for Sunday School) working in the back, doing all the cooking and most of the food prep.

Right out the window of the food booth, we could see the harness racing (and we don't have that at The State Fair of Texas!).

Every fair has its competitions: animals, cooking, canning, needlework and more. Farmington has its fair share, including cut flowers.

Ultimately, though, for some a fair is all about the Midway or the rides, but for me, it's about the food. Someone's planning on making A LOT of french fries during the one-week event.

MRM taught me last year that King and Queen fries are the best and she is sooooo right. I helped them make a tiny dent in this giant stack of sacks by eating a small order of fries.

They've got it all in this one booth. The cotton candy reminds me of Coney Island.

The Texas State Fair is famous for frying a lot of unique things. Both fairs have fried Oreos for sale.

But I know for certain that The State Fair of Texas doesn't have deep fried whoopie pies!

9/16/08 Labor Day details are coming, I promise

The amazing and wonderful Labor Day weekend ended on Monday and the new school year officially started on Tuesday. It's been a whirlwind ever since. I still haven't finished putting up photos or writing about Saturday afternoon and evening from the 4-day adventure. I promise I will. I hope to get to it this weekend. But meanwhile, life has been happening and I couldn't put all the blog entries on hold. I still have about 20 entries from last fall with photos and no words because I kept waiting 'til I had time to get caught up. So I've posted everything that I have and am up to date except for Labor Day weekend. When I do finish Labor Day's postings, I will add a blog entry with details so you can get caught up. Meanwhile, life moves on and mine continues to move in amazing and wondrous paths. God has so many fun surprises for me. I can't wait to see what will happen in my life next! Stay posted!

9/16/08 Close Enounter of the Striped Kind

I was walking home tonight after dark and under a full moon. I passed lots of people, so it wasn't too late. Or maybe it was late enough to be out when lots of other late night walkers were out. It's only 8 tenths of a mile from my office to The Verandah (which is how I now refer to the whole dwelling place including the verandah) and I was on the last tenth of a mile (all uphill). In the shadows by a fence between two houses I saw something moving and then I saw its shadow in the full moonlight and thought, "Oh a kitty cat!" Before I could call out "Here kitty kitty kitty," I figured out that there was a really big white stripe down the back of that "kitty". Eeegads! A skunk! Right here in civilization! Of course, I am pretty close to a big woods and there's not much about Farmington that isn't right on the border of rural. And skunks live in big cities as well as in the country due to encroachment. But this was as close to a live skunk as I've ever been and it was too close. I crossed the street and picked up my pace. I saw a shooting star and that was cool. As I looked back down from that, I swear a shadowy animal was crossing the street and went into my driveway. It did NOT have the silhouette of a cat or a dog, but I don't know what it was since I just caught a glimpse of it. In Dallas you could carry a whistle or mace and you knew you could 911 if you had any kind of encounter. What do you carry for protection from wildlife?

9/15/08 How damp is it?

You know there's been a lot of rain when you not only see a slug, but you see it up on your car! How did it get there?! (This is the back bumper of my car under the license plate . . . and yes, that's a Texas plate still. I promise I'm working on it.)

9/13/08 Another Sign of the End of the Season

Yep, you know summer's over when all the ice cream stands start shutting down. Here's my new favorite one on the way to Lewiston/Auburn (the one that's Randy, Rodney, & Jenn's favorite) with the "Thanks for a great year! See you next season!" sign in the window. Dutch Treat is closed for the season as well. Gifford's in Farmington is still open, but just through "Peeper Season" because there's enough tourist trade to make it worth their while. I'm already looking forward to next summer, which is going to be The Quest for the Best Ice Cream. That summer will be all about the process and not the product. I hope they all tie for first place.

9/13/08 running errands

In keeping with my pledge to give rides to anyone who needs one to try and pay it forward for the semester I didn't have a car . . . there was an email across campus asking if anyone was going to Portland because our visiting artist (here for two semesters from Liverpool, England) needed to pick up some supplies for a faculty art show next week. So I replied that I needed to go and could squeeze it in on Saturday. All I really needed in Portland was to pick up my shoes at the shoe repair. I had dropped off 6 pairs to be polished, waterproofed, re-soled, have taps added, etc. and told the shoe repair guy I would pick them up next time I was in town. I dropped them off on July 2nd! Good thing I wore tennis shoes all summer. But now the school year was starting and I needed some real shoes and they were all in Portland. I really didn't have time to go to Portland 'cuz I needed to get a lot of school work done, but I needed the shoes and Jeremy, the artist, needed his stuff before Monday. So we had planned this quick trip to Portland on Saturday. Then he had a chance to hitch along with the student excursion to New York City. For $45, leave on a bus at midnight Friday, arrive 9am Saturday, take a tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (tickets for that were included), split up and do your own thing for the rest of the day, leave at 11pm Saturday night and get back Sunday morning. I had even been tempted to sign up for that price but had decided against it. So Jeremy went on the bus tour and I went to Portland by myself and picked up his package of stuff and my shoes. I arrived at University of Southern Maine at the Area Gallery at the predetermined time and called the number I had been given. "Go on inside and wait in the gallery and I'll meet you there," the security officer said on the phone. So I did and this is what I found. The entire gallery was filled with an exhibit of Jeremy's work and Jeremy's name was painted on the wall! Wowser! I can't wait to meet this guy in person and find out more about him and his work. :-)

BTW, I successfully picked up my shoes as well. They look really great. This guy Steve works out of his garage in a residential area of South Portland. He's really nice and now I know that he does really good work for a reasonable price. After that, I treated myself to a little shopping and got 2 sweaters and a jacket. I just have to get used to traveling 4 hours round trip to run errands.

9/12/08 Maine potatoes

Gotta admit I haven't cooked 'em yet, but I've heard so much about them, that I had to buy some Maine potatoes. I have several students from Aroostook County (a.k.a. The County or "countay" as they say around here) which is famous for its potatoes. The schools in Aroostook County give the students two weeks off in the fall for potato harvest. I'll let you know how they taste. I've been warned not to have too high of expectations. We'll see.

9/12/08 OMG The Sequel

On May 1, just a little over 3 months ago, I had an amazing Oh My Goodness moment when I was voted by students to be "Faculty of the Year" for faculty who had been at UMF for 1 to 5 years. Tonight, I had another OMG moment. How can you have a "once in a lifetime experience" twice in the same year??? Tonight was the annual "Welcome Back Dinner" for faculty and staff. It's a very fun evening with crazy games, good food, recognition of employees for years of service, and great comraderie. I went last year and had a great time (and sat at the table that won the games, beating out the table that "always wins"). So I went again this year. This time, no one else from my department was there, but now I have enough friends and colleagues in other departments (from committee work and church and on-campus events, etc.) that I wasn't disappointed to not sit with my department buddies. In fact, I sat with Clyde and Michelle of Games Night and Michelle is such a cool person to hang out with, so I knew I'd have a good time. I had just been to the dentist the day before , and my new dentist's wife was at the table, too. She had come to Games Night when it was my turn to hostess, so I knew how much fun she was going to be. So all in all, it was a most enjoyable evening. After the singing and the games and the dinner and the speeches, they gave out recognition awards for people who had been at UMF for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 years. That's always fun. Then they announced "a new tradition" where they were going to give awards for Excellence in Academic Advising. They gave a few of these at the March 2007 spring dinner and that was the first time they had been given. I'm guessing since that dinner is given by a student-led organization and the awards were not from that group, they decided to move them to this dinner. Well, you already know where this is going. I was named one of three recipients! The nomination process is that the department chair nominates people from his department. Well, I knew I'd been nominated (but frankly it was so long ago, I had forgotten) but so had at least one other person in our department and there are a lot of departments on campus. Then the dean writes a letter of support and forwards everything on to the committee. The committee then determines the official nominees and then sends email to all the advisees of the nominated advisors. And from all that input, the committee selects the winners. And there they were, calling out my name as a winner of the award! George, who is the head of the advising program and a lot of other good stuff on campus, read excerpts from the student emails as he presented each award. Here's what he read about me:

Theresa's advisees say that she takes a personal interest in each one of them, and is especially good at finding out what they really want to do, and then helping them to succeed. One student, who changed her major three times with Theresa's help, said that "She put me on the path to success--three times." She helps them find confidence when they need it. Although she hasn't been at UMF for a long time, she knows the curriculum well, and is always asking questions to find out more about how things work here. Another thing her advisees like about her is that she believes that it's important to have fun as well as work hard. Apparently she once had a conference with an advisee at a pie eating contest. One describes her as "The ultimate academic advisor."

How fun is that??!! I think my favorite part is that I had such fun quotes from my advisees. And they've actually figured out that I really mean it when I say, "It's important to have fun as well as work hard." And yes, I was attending (not participating in) a pie-eating contest and did have a quick advising session in the back row while waiting for the festivities to begin. In a personal email after the dinner, George wrote to me, "There was of course much more. Your advisees and colleagues think very highly of your advising, and of all your work at UMF. I enjoyed being a part of the public recognition of your good work here."

I'm flattered beyond belief.

9/11/08 Hurricane Ike

Wow. This hurricane is as big as Texas itself and heading straight towards Texas. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who is in its path and those who have left their homes behind in order to get out of its path.

9/11/08 UMF remembers

UMF flag display remembers 9/11

By Bobbie Hanstein • Sep 11th, 2008
From The Daily Bulldog: Franklin County's First News

FARMINGTON - The UMF College Republican Club members were up early this morning.

Their mission, which began at 4 a.m., was to plant more than 2,000 small America flags to form the iconic “9/11″ numbers. The display, say organizers, is to remind those walking by of the tragic day seven years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, when four commercial jetliners were hijacked by terrorists and flown into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City, the Pentagon, with a fourth crashing into a field in Pennsylvania.

“We wanted to do something on campus,” said UMF College Republican Club’s Vice Chairwoman Angela Courchesney. “We wanted something to stand out; for people to notice it and reflect on it.”

At noon, students crossing the green from the Olsen Student Center to Mantor Library and beyond, walked by glancing at the long lines of so many small flags. A few people walked up to the sign posted that explained the display was sponsored by the UMF College Republicans and “Never Forget 9/11.” Courchesney said she was disappointed to see someone had taken the sign mentioning the republicans and had crumpled it up at some point this morning. Someone else, she said, came along and tried to smooth the wrinkles of the sign and return it.

“There’s no place for that on a day like this,” she said.

Last spring, a flag display of another sort caused quite a bit of controversy when, as part of an art project, a UMF student placed various-sized American flags on the floor in a maze-like pattern in the hallway at UMF’s student center. The idea, said the student at the time, was to see if students would walk on or around the flags on the floor. The project upset a local veteran and a few others who attempted to remove the display, but were stopped by the UMF administration. That story eventually attracted national attention.

Today’s display, Courchesney said, was the product of much discussion among club members. “No matter what your politics, everyone can understand it.”

Until the display is removed at dusk, at about 7 p .m. tonight, Republican Club members intend to keep an eye on it.

“We’re going to be checking the flags to make sure they’re not touching the ground,” Courchesney said.

Betsy Judkins and her son Sammy of Farmington, walk along the flag display the UMF College Republican Club installed today to remember 9/11.

retrieved 9/16/08 from: http://www.dailybulldog.com/db/?p=498

9/11/08 Road Construction

On the way to Dixfield, I took a detour that Dr. Grace told me about. She warned that the road construction was really bad. I had driven through it before last semester. I didn't imagine it would be that bad, but I took her advice and took the detour 'cuz I didn't want to be late for the meeting. But since it was daylight and I wasn't in a hurry, I decided to take the road construction route on the way home to see how bad it was.

Oh my. They shouldn't call it road construction, it's more like road deconstruction. In fact, where is the road?? See that big silver thing that's as big as a truck? That's going to go under the bridge. There wasn't just one pair of flagmen to stop us and direct whose turn it was on the one lane of driveable dirt, there were three pairs of flagmen over a distance of more than a mile and there was a traffic light at the temporary one lane bridge. Grace says it's going to take over a year to complete. I believe it! I will be taking that detour every time in both directions from now on!

9/11/08 Autumn Scrapbook Page 1

I'm going to teach a graduate course in Dixfield again this semester. Most of the same people that took the last one plus some new folks who heard how much fun we had are going to take it. It'll be a blast, even though I'm a little nervous to create a class totally from scratch all by myself. (I've always started with someone else's syllabus and then made it my own.) This semester we're going to meet in the brand new elementary school instead of the high school. We held our organizational meeting today in the high school library instead of the elementary school, so after the meeting I drove over to the elementary school. Wow. What an amazing facility. And that's just the outside. They're up on a hill with a gorgeous view. I took these 3 photos today and hope I can remember where I took them so that each week when I go to Dixfield, I can park in the same 3 spots and take photos and create a scrapbook of the area over time. The class won't start until october 2, so we'll miss 2 weeks worth of season change, but I still think it will be a cool photo series.

Maine's Fall Foliage Show Expected to be "Magnificent"

Whooop! that's the report from "Maine's Official Fall Foliage
Website". Of course, it's their job to say come see our fall leaves
'cuz we need your tourist dollars, but officials at the state
Department of Conservation "are forecasting a colorful season based
on the current health of Maine's forest. With a few localized
exceptions, the forest statewide is in good health, thanks to the
abundant and relatively well-distributed rain we've had since spring,"

No duh! "well-distributed rain since spring" is their PC way of
saying, "It rained all summer long!"

But that's okay. This is our payoff. It's gonna be a gorgeous fall.

I've already signed up to get a weekly email with the latest foliage
report!

http://www.state.me.us/doc/foliage/

9/11/08 The Closing of a Classic

I just heard a commercial this morning on the radio that Howard's
Rexall is closing. It's a classic downtown business establishment.
Between the current state of the economy and the building of the new
Rite-Aid close to downtown, I guess it was inevitable, but it's still
sad.

Here's the story from the Morning Sentinel:

Howard's Rexall to close Sept. 22
BY BETTY JESPERSEN
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 09/09/2008

FARMINGTON -- After nearly 70 years, Howard's Rexall, the last
independent pharmacy in Farmington, will close its doors on Main
Street on Sept. 22.

But owners Robert Witt, 47, and his brother, James Witt IV, 53, won't
be far away. They may have sold the business to Rite Aid, which is
opening its new store on Main Street next week, but they will be two
of the four pharmacists there serving customers.

All of Howard's customer records will be transferred to Rite Aid, so
there will be no disruption in service, Jim Witt said.

"They assured us it will be a seamless transition. They are even
absorbing our phone number," he said.

Rite Aid has offered jobs at the same rate of pay to all 13
employees, he said.

In addition to the business, the Witts have sold the property to
Foothills Management owner William Marceau. The Farmington developer
says he is negotiating with a tenant interested in opening a small
grocery store in the 7,000-square-foot space. An additional section
of the building that looks out over the municipal parking lot that is
now used for storage is being eyed for a possible restaurant or
retail space.

Jim Witt said adding to the stress of being a small business owner
has been the reductions in reimbursements from private insurance
companies and federal Medicaid, while paperwork and regulations have
increased.

"Reimbursements are constantly falling. You get paid $5 for something
one month, a month later you get $4 for it and the next month, you
get $3.50. It happens on a daily basis," he said. "We were staying
afloat and could have stayed open but you get to a point where one
day, you aren't making any money and you can't pay your bills. We
were looking ahead to see what could be coming on the horizon.

"It is time for us to scale back and go back to being pharmacists
again," he said. "We figured we needed to get out of the business
while things were still going good."

Howard's has held its own against the chain pharmacies that opened in
Farmington including Wal-Mart, Hannaford and Rite Aid. The
competition forced the Witts to diversify. They tried expanding into
medical equipment and offered video rentals, groceries and beer- and
wine-making supplies. They were also a J.C. Penney service center,
they accept utility bill payments and are a UPS shipping agent.

But it was an uphill battle.

According to a study by the Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis
Center at the University of North Carolina, between May 2006 and
April 2008, 998 independently-owned rural pharmacies in the United
States closed; during the same time, 495 opened, resulting in a net
loss of 503 independently-owned rural pharmacies.

"There is certainly a trend where independent pharmacies are closing
and reductions in MaineCare reimbursement rates are to blame," Robert
Morrissette, president of Pharmacy Group of New England, said Monday.
The organization is a buying group that represents dozens of
independent pharmacies in Maine.

He said there is a trend toward independent pharmacies closing and a
study from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the Food
Marketing Institute indicates more than 11,000 pharmacies in the
country are at risk of closing due to reductions in reimbursement rates.

The Witts typify hometown pharmacists who pride themselves on
service. They know customers by name and have the time to talk to
patients and answer questions, whether about a prescription or a
health problem.

"That won't change," Witt said. "In fact, I think we'll have more
time to talk to customers. We're hoping the majority of our customers
will stay with us."

Howard's was opened by South Paris pharmacist and businessman Charles
Howard in the 1940s. It was originally located next door where Trask
Jeweler's is now. It was staffed by pharmacist Merton Clifford and
then by his son, Gordon, according to local historian Paul Mills.

Kenneth Wiles bought it in the 1950s and it was purchased by James
Witt III in 1972. An earlier drug store, Marr's, was on that block
from the early 1900s and Mills' research shows there was a pharmacy
there as long ago as 1803.

Retrieved 9/10/08 from http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/
local/5391730.html

9/8/08 Guess what time of year it is . . .

This is the featured rack of "stuff" outside of Reny's. You might
think it's Halloween time, but really, it's all about hunting season.
Check out the safety vests and hunting jackets. ;-)