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Down East June 2004

June 2004

The table of contents from the June 2004 issue of Down East.

Features

One Year Later

New Sweden was rocked by the terrible events of early last year, but as a community it remains unshaken. By Jeff Clark.

The Big Show

Each June in gardens across Maine — and even in one Auburn middle school cafeteria — the state’s iris growers put on a spectacular display. By Richard Grant.

Maine’s 10 Most Valuable Paintings

Even though it’s impossible to peg the precise value of any work of art, clearly some paintings in Maine museums are worth considerably more than others. By Edgar Allen Beem.

I’d Rather Be Fishing

That’s what George Smith claims when he  isn’t leading the fight to keep bear baiting legal in Maine. By Gerry Boyle.

License to Kill

You’ll want one if you ever do battle with the towering, noxious plant Mainers call bamboo. It’s not really bamboo, but it is virtually indestructible, as homeowner Nancy Comiskey found out.

Once More to the Lake

A Bay State couple has built a versatile vacation home on a lake in Acton they’ve loved for years. By Michaela Cavallaro.

Tart and Sassy

For many Mainers, the most eagerly awaited spring tonic is rhubarb. By Ken Textor.

Down East Flotilla

When Franklin Roosevelt was secretary of the navy he had some mighty ideas about how Passamaquoddy Bay could serve the nation, as an early photograph suggests. By Joshua E Moore.

Guide to Maine’s Maritime Heritage

A first-ever guide to the places all over Maine that celebrate the state’s prominence during the Great Age of Sail. In addition to the state’s two preeminent maritime museums — at Bath and Searsport — dozens of other lesser-known sites brim with artifacts and stories from the swashbuckling days of yore.

Departments

North by East: Security Snafu

Opinions and musings on why you may need to make your own bed this summer, a surprising new business in Rumford, and a climate shift along the coast.

The Talk  of Maine: Thinking the Unthinkable

So much energy is going into saving Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from the next round of military base closings that no one is exploring the alternatives. By Jeff Clark.

The Maine Viewpoint: Acadia Cutbacks

The federal government is sharply reducing Acadia’s budget, even as the park becomes more popular, according to an editorial from the Bangor Daily News. Also, opinions on the soaring cost of ambulance service, a scandalous case of sexual McCarthyism in Augusta, and the prospects for putting a liquefied natural gas terminal on Sears Island in Penobscot Bay.

Inside Maine: A Natural Wonder

Foggy, boggy Great Wass Island is one of the state’s most special places, especially at this time of the year. Plus the inside scoop on an ice-cream stand in York, a garden tour in the Forest City, a brand-new hike in Acadia, and a new system of exit signs on the turnpike. By Andrew Vietze.

Dining Down East: Hurricane, Kennebunkport

This romantic restaurant owes its success to its owners’ own romance. By Monica Wood.

Down East Bookshelf: A Peck of Poets

Picking the best Maine poetry is a thorny task, as a new anthology proves. By Mark Melnicove.

Calendar of Events: June Highlights

Garden tours, art shows, and village festivals kick off the summer season.

I Remember: Maggie versus Joe

In 1954 I  fell in love with Margaret Chase Smith’s Maine. By Raymond J. Blair.

Cover: Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, by Gilbert Stuart, courtesy of the Bowdoin College Museum of  Art. While Jefferson was certainly not born here, this eminently famous portrait has resided in Maine for nearly 200 years.