The Weekly

The holiday season is a time of giving and lending a helping hand to your neighbors and community. This need continues all year round and nobody knows this better than the Salvation Army. In this episode we are joined by Major Mark Mackneer of the Salvation Army of Northern New England to talk about the history, reach of this organization, and their mission here in Maine. Click here to find out how you can help.

The holiday season is in full swing and for this episode, we talked with Tracey Hair, the executive director of the H.O.M.E. Co-op in Orland, which oversees the Emmaus Homeless Shelter in Ellsworth. We discussed the work the local shelter is doing to combat emergency homelessness and develop affordable housing, how folks can lend a hand during and after the holidays and overcoming stigmas.

Maine is well known for its natural beauty and wildlife opportunities attracting many from around the state, region, and beyond to spend some time in the Maine outdoors. For this week's episode we talk with Judy Camuso, Commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for the state of Maine. Commissioner Camuso is the first woman to lead the department, overseeing the preservation, protection, and enhancement of inland fisheries and wildlife resources in the state.

Nov. 15 marks the 20th anniversary of the Mount Desert Islander and we are celebrating by talking with Alan Baker, the Islander's founding publisher and Earl Brechlin, the Islander's founding managing editor. We discussed the last two decades of the Islander, what it was like starting the paper in 2001 and the future of print journalism.

Our guest this week is Cara Romano, executive director of Heart of Ellsworth, a local nonprofit organization whose mission is in part to "provide a vibrant community for all residents, businesses, nonprofit organizations and local government." For this episode, we discuss the organization's many programs and events, like the ongoing mural project, grant opportunities and upcoming Cider + Cheese Festival.

Sara Trunzo is a singer-songwriter who calls Maine home but before she became a recording artist, she spent years tackling food security issues across the state and continues that mission today. Get to know her in this episode and hear a taste of her music. You can hear more on her website saratrunzo.com.

To get into the Halloween spirit, we talked fact and fiction regarding the Jonathan Buck monument in downtown Bucksport and the stain in its granite that appears to be in the shape of a woman’s boot. Legend has it that Jonathan Buck condemned a woman to death and her leg rolled out of the fire where she was burned, only to reappear as the outline atop the monument. We talked with Jonathan’s direct descendent, his great, great, great, great, great, great grandson, Ed Buck, the president of the Bucksport Historical Society, for the truth behind the story.

For this episode we talked with a woman of many talents, one of those being an internationally bestselling Author that calls Camden, Maine her home. Her thriller and suspense novels may be just the thing you are looking for as we approach Halloween later this month. Enjoy this conversation with Tess Gerritsen.

In this episode, we talked with “Timber” Tina Scheer who just finished her 26th season operating The Great Maine Lumberjack Show in Trenton. Besides being a vocal supporter for women in the logging competition industry and being featured on reality television like Survivor and Nat Geo’s Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, Tina discussed the importance of community service and her openness when talking about the loss of her teenage son, Charlie.

For this episode we introduce you to a young entrepreneur who has brought a little extra sweetness to the coast of Maine. In 2011 she founded Bixby Chocolate in Rockland, a company that prides themselves on making high quality confections in a socially responsible manner. Take a listen to our conversation with Kate McAleer and visit their Bixby Chocolate Website.

For this episode of The Weekly, we chat with Kathy Young, the new director of Woodlawn Museum, Gardens & Park in Ellsworth. The 180-acre estate has been a treasure in the city, complete with its large brick building--home to the museum--that was first constructed in the 1820s, walking trails and community gardens. The property is open to the public year-round and public programs are available often. We talk with Kathy about her first few months on the job, how Woodlawn works to serve the public and the pending construction of the property's new carriage barn.

This is the second part of our two part series as we explore the rise of salmon farming in Midcoast and Downeast Maine. Last week Rebecca Alley took a look at American Aquafarms proposed in ocean salmon pens at two locations in Frenchman Bay. For this episode I’ll take you to Waldo County where Nordic Aquafarms is planning to create a facility in Belfast that would raise live salmon, a project that has met some hurdles along the way. You’ll hear from two local journalists that have been covering this story and hear from some members of the community as they voice support and opposition to this salmon farm.

For this week’s episode, we will talk about the state’s aquaculture industry, with a specific focus on a proposed salmon farm by American Aquafarms, a Norwegian-backed company, based in Portland, that is looking to raise Atlantic salmon in ocean pens at two, 60-acre sites in Frenchman Bay. This is the first of a two-part series on aquaculture. Today, we’ll discuss the industry as a whole, what proponents have to say in support of the American Aquafarms project as well as the concerns from its vocal opposition. Next week, Tyler Curtis-Southard will explore the Nordic Aquafarms project in Belfast.

Midcoast Maine is a beautiful place to work and live with many offerings for those who love to get into the outdoors in their free time. The area is a blend of landscapes featuring mountains, wetlands, lakes, rivers, forests and more, all tucked up against the North Atlantic. Georges River Land Trust has been working for decades to protect these lands and make them accessible to the public with a number of preserves and trails. We talked with Meg Rasmussen, Executive Director for Georges River Land Trust, to learn more about their mission.

Late summer and into fall is Fair season across Midcoast and Downeast Maine. A time to have some fun, enjoy great food, and see up close the bounty of our local agriculture and artisans. The pandemic changed that in 2020. With vaccines and changes to our social norms delivering a hope that COVID would fade away, the fairs have made a return this year despite a recent climb in the virus and variants. This week we talk with the organizers of the Union Fair and Blue Hill fair to see what people can expect for this years festivities.

Maine is well known for its seafood and the unique geography of the state's coastline makes it the perfect location to harvest a particular delicacy, the oyster. We talked with Krista Tripp of Spruce Head who comes from a family of lobsterman, an industry that she has also followed into. She recently started her own oyster operation, Aphrodite Oysters.

Throughout the pandemic Dr. Nirav Shah has been a voice of comfort for Mainers, providing regular updates and measured response on the spread of COVID and the vaccines that followed. Shah is the Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and has developed a fan following for his work during this time. We spoke with him in June to get his perspective on the pandemic which has since taken a turn with the surge in COVID variants.

It’s lobster week here at The Weekly and we are celebrating by talking with Linda Greenlaw, Maine lobsterman, fisherman, boat captain and award-winning author. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland out another year to 2022, we talked all things lobster with Linda, like how tourists can enjoy her charter boat tours and how the lobster industry is doing in Maine. Plus, we talk about life 30 years after The Perfect Storm.

Zachary Fowler is a Vermont native who now makes his home in Union Maine. Fowler is an avid outdoorsman who spent years living off the grid practicing a self sustaining lifestyle while providing for his family. He grabbed the national spotlight after winning season three of the History Channel wilderness survival show 'Alone' by lasting 87 days in the Patagonia wilderness. Since then, he has become a YouTube creator sharing his outdoorsman skills and passion with the world on his channel 'Fowler's Makery and Mischief'.

For the third episode of The Weekly, we sit down with Acadia National Park Superintendent Kevin Schneider and Acadia National Park Science Coordinator Abe Miller Rushing to discuss the impacts of climate change and how the park is adjusting its management to adapt to an altered climate. Since the start of the country’s national parks, the goal has been to keep the landscape of national parks unchanged. But with a climate in flux, park officials are having to re-examine that framework, and investigate how to mitigate ecological changes, such as rising seas and invasive species.