Carole L. MacCollum /Broker, Realtor 207.337.4792

Today in Farmington, Maine, townsfolk are celebrating Ear Muff Day! The inventor of the ear muff in 1873, Chester Greenwood, who was just 15 years old at the time, had chilly ears! He patented his ear muffs at the age of 19. Did you know that ear muffs were this old?

Greenwood was a very talented boy and invented many more things by the time he reached adulthood, including folding beds and donut hooks. In 1936, his factory was turning out hundreds of thousands of ear muffs. Greenwood also installed the first telephone system in the town of Farmington!

Since 1977, the town has celebrated the first Saturday of December as Chester Greenwood Day. There is a parade, a chili cook-off, a Rotary Christmas tree auction, carolers on street corners and a gingerbread house contest. There is even a Chester Greenwood lookalike buzzing around town!

And guess what everyone is wearing....including fire trucks, police cars and horses....EAR MUFFS!

So, the next time you put your ear muffs on, remember Chester. He was one cool Maine dude!

Photos are from Photobucket! www.photobucket.com

It's Veteran's Day today - have you thanked a Vet today? Veterans are all around us...I try to make it a point to thank each one I see. The reaction is simply...amazing! I find it charming and also a little sad when I thank a Veteran and he/she says, "Aw, I didn't do much" or some such thing.

Ever notice the car or truck with the Purple Heart on the license plate? You know, the one in front of you at the gas station, next to you at the grocery store, driving down the road? Chances are, the one driving is the Veteran - and a true giveaway is to simply look at their hat! Loaded with pins, medals and pride, it is a daily wardrobe staple for many of our Veterans.

This pic is actually my own from the summer the Vietnam Traveling Wall came to South Portland, Maine.

Today, let all of us shout out our thanks to all of our Veterans. These men and women are our friends, neighbors, colleagues, the mailman/lady, the bank teller, the grocery store clerk, the real estate agent...they have made tremendous sacrifices for each and every one of us who walk and talk FREELY in the United States of America. Let us all recognize this today. Look around you - chances are, there is a Veteran nearby.

Thank them. HUG them. Tell them what they mean to you. I have seen tears come to the eyes of grown men and women when being thanked for their Service. It's heartwarming. It's RIGHT. It takes only a moment of your time. And the appreciation that comes back to you is HUGE.

I also send my personal thanks and hugs to some of my favorite Veterans today: My Dad; my brother-in-law, Dave; my niece's husband, Bill; my fiance, Tuck; Jim P and Jim B, who are helping us work through the VA system for Tuck's disability claim; my generous, kind and caring friend, Peter P and all of the Veterans I know and don't know. THANK YOU. I love you all and words can never express my great appreciation of your service and sacrifice to our great country. God bless you all!

This flag photo is also my own. It is from the dedication of Wells' Clock Tower several years ago.

I played hookey for a little bit last week and went apple and pumpkin picking at a Giles Farm, a local orchard located in Alfred, Maine. It was a gorgeous day, still quite warm with a fresh breeze blowing gently. The orchard is located on a hillside and the scenery was just breathtaking with all of the beautiful fall colors just starting to show up in the valley below and hills beyond.

The lady at the apple stand was wonderful; she fixed us right up with an "apple grabber" and pointed us in the right direction for the favored apple, The Cortland. I could wax poetic about the Cortland apple; tart, crispy....just a lovely green and red, white starred ball of heaven!

Some orchards lost their entire crop when we had a May frost this year, but luckily, the Giles Farm Orchard was basically untouched, though I did see a few apples with the telltale "ring" on them.

It took less than 15 minutes to pick 16 pounds of apples! Next stop: The pumpkin patch. We looked at just three pumpkins before finding the winner! Hey, it's been a great growing season!

Sixteen pounds of apples for pies, cake, applesauce....Can you say, HEAVEN?!

We all know what that means! Bumper to bumper traffic on Route 1 and The Maine Turnpike. Left turns are an exercise in patience and can be hairy at best. The last blast of summer in Maine always brings out the big crowds. Beaches, shops and restaurants are packed with happy vacationers - and the weather has been fabulous! Even though the end of summer is near, there is still plenty to do and see here in Wells and the surrounding communities!

Check out the famous Ogunquit Playhouse at: www.ogunquitplayhouse.org There are still plenty of shows going on with stars such as Sally Struthers (Chicago), Stefanie Powers (Sunset Boulevard) and Charles Shaughnessy(Monty Python's Spamalot); The Children's Theatre will soon be featuring Disney's, "My Son Pinnochio". Recently, "Jack In The Beanstalk" and "101 Dalmatians" garnered rave reviews from children and adults alike. The Ogunquit Playhouse has been bringing laughter and joy to many since 1933!

If it happens to rain while you are here, consider checking out the Wells Auto Museum (www.wellsautomuseum.com). Loaded with vintage and antique cars, motorcycles and related memorabilia, the Wells Auto Museum is conveniently located on Route 1 (Post Road).

While here in Wells, you are close to a number of beautiful, white sand beaches! Drake's Island Beach, Wells Beach, Moody Beach and Ogunquit Beach are all located within several miles of one another.

It's never the wrong time or season to visit Wells, Maine! See you soon!

It's been a wild few days here in the Northeast and Maine was definitely not spared! Wind gusts of up to 70 MPH have been reported overnight and there are almost 200,000 of us on the CMP grid without power today! For those of you who are currently out of state and want to check to see if your road has power, click this link for Central Maine Power: http://www3.cmpco.com/Outage/townOutages.aspx?servicecenter=0046

For those on the Bangor Hydro grid, click this link: http://www.bangorhydro.com/about/outages.cfm I would include Kennebunk Light & Power, but their website is under construction.

Some have had snow, some torrential rain (we got 6" in my area) and everyone has had wind. A friend of mine who lives at the ocean reports waist high sea foam on the beach from the astronomical high tides! Sand, seaweed, wooden stairs and other "ocean gifties" are strewn everywhere! Shingles off homes, trees down, roads washed out - you name it, we've got it! The cleanup and power outages will be going on for a long time, I'm afraid.

BUT - I am here at my office in Wells working with buyers and sellers, so do drop in! We have heat, electricity, water - and no large pines anywhere near our parking lot, so your vehicles are safe here as well!

Enjoy the day and send some power our way!