Where in Maine?

Why, of course, your July mystery photograph is Daicey Pond, located in Baxter State Park. My wife, Joy, and I have spent several vacations staying in a cabin near that very dock, visiting with our friends Gabe and Marcia Williams, who were Baxter park rangers at the time. It is such a wonderful place! This is the dock where we cuddled together and watched the northern lights dance across Mount Katahdin. We've embarked on many leisurely canoe tours of the pond from this very place.

Daicey is a wonderful gem in Baxter. Thanks for showcasing it.

-Michael Koziol

Rochester, New York

Maine's Museum

I read with interest Jeff Clark's recent "Museum in a Box" commentary about the Maine State Museum ["Talk of Maine," July 2007]. As an educator, former museum director, and member of the Maine State Museum Commission, I would urge your readers to visit the present cultural building and consider for themselves the relevancy of our museum. Recently I traveled to the Maine State Museum with a class of Maine social studies teachers who were attending classes at the Center for the Study of Early American History at the General Henry Knox Museum. We were joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough for a tour of the state library and museum. When Mr. McCullough was about to finish his tour, he exclaimed, "I love this museum! It is all about work." Indeed, the museum has received full accreditation from the American Association of Museums because the present and planned programs reflect so much about life and work in Maine from pre-history to the present.

It is our job to educate both present and future generations about Maine. The Maine State Museum is a marvelous place and far from obsolete. If the state can build a new cultural center in the future, so be it. However, let's nurture what we have until that day comes.

-Renny A. Stackpole

Thomaston, Maine

Lobster Lover

I just read your July editor's note about Red Lobster and have an interesting addition to it. My husband was born in Boothbay Harbor and though we now live in Florida, his heart is still in Boothbay Harbor, as are many of his relatives. We occasionally eat at Red Lobster, though not for what they call lobster. On our last visit my husband looked closely at the cover of the lunch menu and was surprised to see a picture of Boothbay Harbor. The inside of the menu had a pretty pen and ink drawing of the harbor itself, including the little island in the middle. My husband took a menu (with their blessing) and plans on bringing it with us to Maine in July to show his cousin. Red Lobster may not be in Maine any longer, but they are still claiming a connection to the state!

-Peg Dickinson

Fernandina Beach, Florida

Deep Drilling

The "Why Not Offshore?" sidebar to Jeff Clark's July article about windpower in Maine incorrectly stated that the Nantucket Sound Cape Wind Project will have "130 wind turbines on floating platforms." Horseshoe Shoal was selected specifically for this project because its relatively shallow waters will allow foundation pilings to be driven into the sea-bed to support each wind turbine-generator tower. The enormous heights - 247 feet for tower, 417 feet to highest blade tip - preclude floating platforms.

-Peter Kushkowski

Portland, Connecticut

Boothbay Garden

Thank you for your article on the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden ["In Full Bloom," June 2007] that explains the history and content of this beautiful place. The story is inspiring and the photographs are outstanding - just what is expected from your fine magazine.

But shame on you for failing to identify or credit the landscape architects who created the master plan, the associated landscape architects, or the architect for the visitor center. Down East would never feature an article about a work of art or a piece of music or a new book and fail to mention the artist or musician or author.

The Web site for the Garden includes a very complete summary of those whose passion and dedication assisted the owners in defining the successful undertaking that you describe. Herb Schaal, of EDAW in Colorado, a well-known landscape architect whose work has received wide recognition, was the primary consultant for the master plan.

Terrance DeWan, of Yarmouth, is a landscape architect whose firm collaborated with EDAW on the master plan. Bruce Riddell, of Bar Harbor, was the landscape architect for selected garden areas. Quinn Evans Architects of Washington D. C. was the architect for the visitor center. Quellet Associates of Brunswick was the construction company and Jorgensen Landscaping of Bath was the landscape contractor.

-Daniel R. Jones

Professor of Landscape Architecture, Emeritus

State College, Pennsylvania

Fixing Wikipedia

I'm new to Maine, and I appreciate the insight Down East provides into this new world and the mind of the Mainer. Regarding the July North by East item on the role of the French language in Maine per Wikipedia, though, you may be missing an opportunity. The open source format of Wikipedia is both its greatest strength and weakness. The creators will admit as much. But to expect "the Web site to correct the entry" or a Wikipedia representative to step forth and omit the error is akin to expecting the grounds crew at Fenway to catch a fly ball. If there is information about Maine (or any other topic) that should be corrected, it is up to the users to correct.

-Robert Black

Portland, Maine

Pride of Ownership

The claim made by Tim Swenson in Colin Woodard's April article to have been "one of the original owners of Krazy Klam back in the 1980s" is untrue. The Krazy Klam was opened, owned, and operated by the Barbano family (Nancy, Dan, and Tony). Tim Swenson was never an owner of the Krazy Klam - his only relationship with the Krazy Klam was as building contractor and a friend of the Barbano family. For Swenson to take the credit for the years of hard work and success experienced by the Barbano family as the sole owners of the Krazy Klam is surprising, disappointing, and completely unprofessional.

-Tony Barbano

Old Orchard Beach, Maine