The Mail

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Humbug! In your December issue, Down East gave more photo space to a glass of milk and a cookie than to the photo of the L.L.Bean Bootmobile!
Sue Shaw
Penobscot, Maine

Remembering Belfast
I really enjoyed the article about Belfast’s revival, “Moonbat Kingdom.” I remember the chicken guts from Belfast only too well. When I was a kid ( 1950s to 1970s), my family had a “camp” in Bayside — just below Belfast in Northport. It was one of those “cunnin’” old Victorian cottages that Bayside is so famous for. Every afternoon we would have to get out of the water and hang out on the wharf and watch all the white chicken feathers and guts floating from the chicken processing/soup factories in Belfast. I remember there were always hundreds of tiny jellyfish traveling down the tide snacking on the chicken guts. Gross. I’m glad Belfast has had a “rebirth.” It was one of my favorite places to go with Nana in her mint green Nash Ramblah. Thanks for the nostalgia (even if it is greasy).
Carol Leonard
Hopkinton, New Hampshire

Jim Gerritsen versus Monsanto
We really enjoyed “Seeds of Discontent” in the December issue. Thank you for dedicating so many pages to this important topic. We are all vulnerable to the inadvertent spread of pollen from the Pandora’s box of genetically modified plants. And a big “You Go” to Jim Gerritsen for his commitment to the fight.  
Betsy Libby and Lesley Libby
Maximo, Ohio

Standing with Tao
Being a long time subscriber to this great magazine, I felt that some support for the Tao restaurant and its owners the Stadlers is needed. Having been born and raised in Brunswick — even though I haven’t had the pleasure of dining there, yet — I feel that the people in Vegas need to step back. Their accusations are ridiculous, if not stupid. I hope that the Stadlers win and they can continue to do well in Brunswick.
Henry Thibeault
Frederick, Maryland

Maine Home Cooking
Thank you for the nice coverage of Sandra Oliver’s Maine Home Cooking. I have already bought four copies: one for myself and three for gifts. Sandra’s writing style is inimitable — one of the women to whom I gave it to said she had read it like a novel, and I agree.
I also enjoyed Elizabeth Peavey as restaurant critic. Ask her to do more of that!
Nina M. Scott
Friendship, Maine, 
and Amherst, Massachusetts

Down East for Babies
Our son just turned four months yesterday. I had strapped him to me with a Moby wrap and he was starting to get antsy. I saw the new issue of Down East and thought I would read to him. I opened it up and noticed my son was making some sort of coughing, sputtering sound. My wife and I shared concerned looks. We soon realized he was smiling and making those sounds when I turned the pages. Amazing! Who knew that our son would love the magazine so much.
Jon, Ericka, and Tucker Nicol
Morgantown, Pennsylvania

State Geologist
I noted your story about the earthquake in October, titled “A Whole Lotta Shakin’.” It refers to Robert Mawhinney. Please be advised that Dr. Robert Marvinney is our Maine state geologist and director of the ACF Division of Geology, Natural Areas, and Coastal Resources, which includes the Maine Geological Survey.
Jeanne Curran
Communications
 Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry
Augusta, Maine

Where in Maine?
I’ve lived in Virginia for fifty years, but every month, when Down East arrives, I have a spell of homesickness. Your photograph is of Sullivan in Hancock County, and my summer home is up that same road. You are right that Sullivan was a quarrying community in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and my grandfather and great-grandfathers were stonecutters on the Sullivan quarries. The name of the town comes, however, not from a quarryman, but from a Revolutionary War military officer named Daniel Sullivan who was born in Berwick and moved Down East before the Revolution. The house with shutters just behind the gazebo was Dr. Sumner’s when I was a child, and I still remember getting a shot of penicillin there after I stepped on a rusty nail.
Charles Joy
Montpelier, Virginia

We had just returned from our latest visit to Maine and there in the pile of accumulated mail was the current issue of Down East. I tore off the wrapper, then quickly scanned page by page to get to the main feature. But wait! What did I just pass? Turning back I beheld the breathtaking two-page spread on pages 8 & 9.
Whoa! I know that gazebo in the deep snow with its four-masted schooner weathervane. And, yes, there behind it lies the beckoning home and warm hearth of our welcoming friend Dottie Mace at Taunton River Bed-and-Breakfast. Your photographer just couldn’t have done better.
Douglas and Caroline Memery
Simpsonville, Kentucky

Our Favorite Letter
I instantly recognized the house in December’s “Where in Maine?” It was built by my great-grandfather for Dr. Sumner and his family in Sullivan. The lofty peak of Schoodic Mountain on Mount Desert Island can be seen from several wonderful vistas along Route 1 as it passes through the town.
Cheryl A Kugel
Sorrento, Maine

Each month Down East editors select our favorite response to “Where in Maine?” The winner receives a Down East wall calendar. See pages 8-9 for details.


CORRECTION:
On page 77 of the December issue, we incorrectly stated that the incident recalled in Edgar Allen Beem’s article “The Ledge” happened over a century ago. The events occurred in 1956, over a half-century ago.

Facebook Poll
In three words or less, how would you describe winter in Maine?

“Fun . . . then mud.” Michele Morin
“Bean Boots 
everywhere.”  
Fore Front Fashion
“Big roaring wood fires.”
Anna Chern
“Friggin’ cold bub.” Eric Hopkins
“My peaceful 
escape!” 
Sandra Boyce Isaac
“Spacious gripping freedom.” 
Avis Lussier
“October through May.”
Linda H Buccheri

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Camden, ME 04843
Call us: 800-766-1670
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e-mail circulation@downeast.com [3]

Down East welcomes feedback from our readers. All correspondence must include your name, address, and phone number. Submitted letters may be edited for length and clarity and may be published in any medium. All letters become the property of Down East.