His best band we followed over the years was "Bootleg" in Bangor Maine.

Some of the crowd are happy campers, some have had hardship and it shows in their face, their steps. Some want to fight, carry baggage with hair trigger latches.

     Brother Steve said you made sure to brag up the hardworking bartenders, the waitresses and reminded the audience to tip til it hurt as they workers there and the band breathed in two packs for each smoking patron of second hand smoke a night. Tearing down the equipment at 2am and heading home to hit the sack with songs, images, videos still playing from that night's gig which is now history as they split the take among the band memebers. Life as a musician. For some it's a job, a hobby and others wanting to be in the top 1% who make it big, touring worldwide for awhile. We are all colors, shapes, sharpness like a box of crayons as an earlier AR blog referenced. We are all in the same box. And have to get along, learn from each other. We entertain each other, make each other feel good about ourselves. Smiling, singing with your heart not your head. Caring, sharing with others.

     Like Billy Joel in the "Piano Man" song,  everyone has a tale to tell, a life to lead, things to do. Mistakes made, success bragged about. Lost opportunities, lucky breaks. It's your life. Do you get out and dance, do you laugh with friends, are you having fun besides just working your fingers to the bone? Do you worry too much? Not enough? Would you like to be in a band and what type of music do you like? My kids have 3500 plus songs in their ipods and exposure to that big a library and earlier days in radio and I'd be pretty hard pressed to find a type or genre of music I don't like. Right now taking in a Farm Aid concert with Neil Young telling me it's time to get back to the country, the place it all started. And now Dave Mathews is jamming and hitting a chord within that says small town rural living, growing your own food, raising animals and crops and teaching your kids work ethic, responsibility are not that bad an idea afterall. Where would we be without music from Steve Earle, Harry Chapin and others that make your think, reflect, consider your course in life?  Music is the mortar for your cracks and helps connect the dots, making what is vague crystal clear.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Maine, Slow Down, Live The Good Life And Get Here Quick As You Can.

Years ago building a car one at a time was too costly if you wanted to sell them for $300 a copy.

Streamlining the assembly line, having your own steel foundry and making even the parts for the tin lizzie became part of the production recipe for the horseless carriage. But in small town real estate, when a business expands too quickly or just adds on period, the momemtum and special charm or mystique of that business can change.  Example, in Bangor Maine there is a place called The Coffee Pot.  The hardworking German owner is up early making classic sub sandwiches. He makes a certain number each day, stocks his coolers and keeps his overhead/labor to a minimum.  He has the process down like a science. Each day, the sidewalk outside is packed with addicted sandwich buyers who have enjoyed the snack for decades.  The trek to his business becomes part of the consumer's way of life and even family tradition passed down to another generation because he has been open so long. Unlike sandwich artists at Subway's yellow signs that are seen everywhere, The Coffee Pot is a one man army assembling one sandwich at a time and winning over customers one at a time. Dana's Grill was another hole in the wall operation famous for lobster rolls to die for. It's out of the way Bangor Maine location was an old trailer that zoning would frown on with today's regulations. But it had an almost cult following.  Maybe because someone's dad or mom introduced their kid's into the habit of visiting this eatery that you might not think would be successful. Dan's also had a mobile unit to take the lobster rolls on the streets of Bangor to hit the lunch crowd of the downtown..it was called "Son of Dana's".  If your little business's product is good enough, and if you endure long enough, you could become a tourist attraction with fans wanting to try the unique creation you have mastered that has loyal following and the right media exposure to call attention to it.

     In the case of the Coffee Pot with its original red neon window sign,  I remember as a kid my parents stopping into the green colored place to pick up subs for themselves and others.  Simple sandwich of great ingredients, wrapped nicely but simple.  The owner did not franchise, he did not add on, he created a tradition and a demand because only so many were "built" each day.  If he had added on, or become more modernized, the spark and excitement as a David could have been lost in the transformation to a Goliath operation. Bigger is not always better. Also, I have seen churches that grew and grew and because a ten oclock service was typically full to capacity, decide they must direct a building fund to expand, or even relocate and build a grandiose new building with all the added overhead that goes with it. Having a second service at 8 oclock might be all that is needed but the notion we have to get bigger is not always true. Being bigger can lose something special that small business possesses...that smaller, cozy not the norm intimacy.  Small businesses, especially the ones paid for with low overhead can survive any economic storm too.  Small independent business owners are a big part of the economic under pinnings of America's economy and you feel good doing business with the owner in the store.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Aroostook County, Houlton Maine Real Estate Information

Henry Ford could not make a car to sell for $300 a copy by hammering them out one at a time. Creating side companies to feed the mother operation with parts and components for the tin lizzie sprung up to feed the efficient assembly line of horseless carriages. But in some businesses, smaller is better. The Coffee Pot in Bangor Maine is a case in point. Run for decades by a very industrious German man adorned in his white apron and greeting customers in a one on one fashion, this is one business that maybe growth would spoil the special flavor of the small eatery. Submarine sandiwches, when they first came out in the this country have been wrapped in special paper, make with the best ingredients and homemade bread for years with only so many a day put in the cooler to draw from. When they are gone, the place closes. The lines on the sidewalk are the best advertising for his business that tell you this fellow has a following. The light green building with the red neon sign and red neon border in the window has not changed a thing, has not expanded or franchised or added on. He just makes a big splash as a one man army attacking local hunger with a sandwich generations have come to love. What's so special about the sandwich itself at the Coffee Pot?

Dana's Grill , the original one was another local eatery in Bangor that used to operate out of an old trailer located off the beaten path but with a strong reputation for a lobster roll to die for made with fresh Maine lobster...or rather "lobstahhhhhh". There was even a mobile unit called Son of Dana's that roamed the downtown to bring the deep water delicacy to the masses too busy to make the hike to the mother operation. Have you seen churches that were packed and then decided to build new large buildings with the idea the growth would continue and then see them flounder? Perhaps from the mountains of debt they step out in faith to build with but that find something is lost when the small friendly atmosphere is lost and just adding another service time could have kept them in the same facility that was paid for and had lower operating overhead? Small sometimes is better...and weathering economic ups and downs are much easier for the well run, tight knit small business.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Selling Small Town Maine Real Estate And Provide Community Information

Small town living where you know your neighbor, you see them at local church suppers, area community events and when the hometown team makes it to the play offs. 

In Maine, February school vacation is a time when if your team worked hard enough, it made the cut to head to the tournament. In the case of Eastern Maine, the Bangor Auditorium becomes home for families, players, coaches, fans. The entire area is behind their atheletes..you see signs along the interstate 95 on the ride down rooting for this or that Aroostook County team. Playing on the Bangor Auditorium floor is the highlight, the goal of many high school athelete that has grown up playing hoop with the orange ball thru out his or her childhood at the local rec, in the back yard and thru organized school sport programs.  The Maine Principal's Association's Heal points system is a popular website to see how your team besting this team affects your tournament index and not just for basketball. The Houlton Hodgdon Blackhawks hockey team gets their turn next Monday night in Presque Isle playing the Wildcats to advance thru the quarter finals.   Watch the hockey game that got them there this year. Below, can you sense the strong local pride of the Houlton Lady Shiretowners and the Calais Blue Devils in their matchup? Good job all area Maine teams and enjoy your school vacation with the reunion of community, past and present players as they climb up into the bleachers to watch the show and to listen to the band!

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Selling Houlton Maine Real Estate / Covering The Commmity Events

The Bangor Region is centrally located - and some would say, ideally located - in the state of Maine as it serves as the gateway to the Katahdin/Baxter State Park area to the north and the Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park to the south.

The area is surrounded by all the natural beauty that Maine is famous for - our rugged ocean coastline, majestic mountains, a mighty river - the Penobscot, and many beautiful, clean, scenic lakes and ponds.

Bangor, central Maine's queen city, was once the lumber capital of the world. Now it has a more cosmopolitan flavor, featuring many fine restaurants, interesting shops, and much in the way of cultural events and performing arts.

The Maine Turnpike bisects this region, providing easy access to all its lakes and ponds. From Dover-Foxcroft, Milo, and Howland in the north to Bucksport and Unity in the south, the Bangor Region features many small towns and many attractive lakes and ponds as well.

The larger ones to look for are Sebec Lake, Sebasticook Lake, Pushaw Lake, and Branch Lake. Some of the popular smaller lakes and ponds are Phillips Lake, Green Lake, Lake Winnecook, and Cold Stream Pond. These area lakes and ponds have been enjoyed by locals for generations and are now becoming discovered by people "from away" as places to retreat to while providing a jumping off place to discover the natural wonders of Maine that lie within easy driving distance.

Lakefront Locator will get you to available listings in the Bangor Region. LakeSmart is a research tool that will give you important information about area lakes.