Where in Maine?
I was delighted to see the mystery photograph in your June issue. I drive by the Yachtsman Lodge on the Kennebunk River every weekend on my regular Sunday drive. My parents used to go dancing at the brown building next door back in the mid-forties when my dad was the minister of the Kennebunkport Congregational Church. They lived on North Street, with Jane Morgan, the singer, as one of their neighbors, and also William Frawley, the actor. Those were the days of the magnificent Kennebunkport Playhouse!

As you look at the river, farther up is the Nonantum Resort, the Colony Hotel, and several miles up the road is the Bush compound. Across the river from the Nonantum is the Franciscan Monastery. It used to have a covered wood structure, out over the water, but it was taken down a few years back.
—Brenda Seely, Biddeford, Maine

The photo in your June issue was taken from the Yachtsman Lodge in Kennebunkport. My wife and I are tax and estate lawyers, and we attend a Continuing Legal Education Seminar in Boston each year and then head to the Yachtsman Lodge for the weekend. The giveaway in the picture is the two Secret Service boats behind the boat lift. If George and Barbara Bush are at Walker’s Point, the former president’s fishing boat is on the lift, unless he is out fishing. If so, the Secret Service boats are gone as well. We worshipped with the Bushes last September at St. Anne’s Chapel!
—Buddy and Marie Lindsay
Pawleys Island, South Carolina

Arts Leader
I would like to thank you for publishing the article about Andres Verzosa in your June issue. It is about time that Andres received credit for all he has done for the state of Maine’s art community. Portland would be quite different if Andy had remained in New York, rather than returning to Portland. There may not have been much of an art scene at all.

The Portland First Friday Art Walk took years to get off the ground, but recently its success has inspired other cities such as Brunswick, Bath, Rockland, and Gardiner to follow suit. These towns and their artists have recognized the value of making art an inclusive, rather than an exclusive, event. Hundreds of visitors peruse the streets of Portland during the art walk each month and people who may not have ventured into a museum or gallery are now exposed to the state’s newest talent. There is a festive atmosphere with street musicians and local businesses turning their walls into gallery spaces. Downtown restaurants are frequently full on First Friday evenings.

Phantom Tolls
The Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA), the topic of your June “Talk of Maine” article, is a successful quasi-governmental/private organization because it can manage 103 miles of roadway with a budget of about $1 million per mile. The Maine Department of Transportation has no access to these funds, i.e. bonds or tolls/taxes, and MDOT is attached to a fiscally strapped state budget unable to tap into the unknown MTA funds. This makes no sense. Combine them into one, under new government leadership.
—David Loane
York, Maine

Correction:
The name of the Scarborough school sports teams is the Red Storm. An editorial from the Bangor Daily News reprinted in our July issue misstated the teams’ mascot.

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