Photograph by Susan Cole Kelly
 
Where in Maine?
What we see in your May mystery photograph is the back of St. David church in Madawaska. It’s located on the south shore of the St. John River, which separates Canada from the U.S. In 1785, Acadians (French), who had been deported from Nova Scotia by the British and had settled in St. Anne’s Point (present day Fredericton, New Brunswick), were again chased away by British Loyalists, following the American Revolution. This is when some of these Acadians made their way to the St. John Valley. They landed right behind where St. David church now stands. The land was fertile and the Indians were welcoming, and the St. John and Madawaska rivers provided excellent transportation.

The Acadian Festival in Madawaska has been celebrating the landing of the Acadians with large family reunions for the past thirty years. (The Gagnon family is featured this year.) In 2014, the St. John Valley will host the World Acadian Congress in August. For two weeks, about fifty thousand people are expected to visit. The most important day of this event will be the celebration of Acadian Day (August 15), which will be held across the street to the left of St. David church in a large field on a hill. It will be a perfect time to visit the St. John Valley.
—Dr. Marc Chasse
Fort Kent, Maine

Right to Dry
We have a friend who lives on a street with a protective covenant that prohibits drying clothes outside. After reading your May “North by East” item we were prepared to tell her of her new good fortune; her right to dry. Thinking she could not take a copy of Down East to her association as evidence, I decided to print a copy of the new law for her. However, after finding the appropriate legislation, Title 33, Ch.28-A, Solar Rights, I have a new concern. I’m no lawyer, but it appears that the new law only applies to ordinances, regulations, and covenants created after September 30, 2009, leaving a huge population still out of the air-dried clothes loop.

Marvelous May
As a denizen of the midcoast, I was absolutely blown away by your May issue. You have truly outdone yourselves! The special focus on Bath was beautifully executed and reflected the hard work and cooperation it took to assemble the informative pieces. The treatise on Maine’s beer industry was also well-executed, and has highlighted another of Maine’s well-deserved attractions. Finally, I enjoyed Elizabeth Peavey’s report on her hard day’s work on the Hardy III, and its description of the environs of the midcoast’s rugged coastal attractions. Congratulations.
—Tom Wriggins
Newcastle, Maine

Imagine my surprise to open your May vacation planning guide and see my picture in your “Deckhand for a Day” article about taking the ferry to Monhegan. The two-page opening photo was taken on August 18, 2009; that’s me in the bow with sunglasses and my daughter standing behind me. My two sons are in front of me, and my husband is farther back wearing the Moody’s Diner T-shirt. We visit the Damariscotta region every summer. What a great memento of a most wonderful day! Thank you, Down East and Elizabeth Peavey — you did a great job.
—Alaine Weidenboerner
Sanborn, New York

Special Delivery
I love your magazine, but cannot pass up the opportunity to make a correction in your April issue on the story “Special Delivery.” William David Barry is quoted as saying he lived on Munjoy Hill in the eighties and loved the smell of bread baking at Cushman’s Bakery. Cushman’s Bakery closed in the early seventies and the building was subsequently used as a Voc Ed Center for Portland High School. Perhaps he meant Nissen’s Bakery, which was still in operation during the eighties on Washington Avenue at the foot of Munjoy Hill.
—Tom Connolly
Portland, Maine