E.Pat Foster

I was so delighted to read in our MAR newsletter this AM that the Maine Association of REALTORS Foundation is one of the first REALTOR Foundations in the country to receive an Ira Gribin Workforce Housing Grant from the National Association of REALTORS. Grants are now available to help low- and moderate- income working families secure safe and decent housing (http://www.realtor.org/iragribingrant).

In Maine, the $50,000 will be used to fund a new Foundation program called Live Where You Work, to help families with downpayment and closing cost assistance for a home purchase that is more than 30 minutes closer to their employment. The Live Where You Work program will increase access to home ownership and decrease commuting costs for home buyers. We anticipate the program will kick-off during the summer of 2009.

In our area,(Acadia National Park) it is not uncommon for our workforce to live 'off island' and commute from the mainland. I am hopeful that some of our commuters will be able to benefit from this grant program...and be able to live and work on Mt.Desert Island.

Realtor GramEpat

Contemplating 'Your Piece of Maine"?
My friend, Ben Kimball offered to let me use his self portrait in my recent ads.
He took the photo this past December. It's on Champlain Mtn. overlooking The Bowl. The knob just above his head is the backside of The Beehive. (Thank you, Ben!)

Now is the time to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit for qualified buyers.

Realtor GramEpat technorati tag

I found an interesting piece of history when I was doing some research online

(when I should have been working or Spring cleaning)

American Women's Realty New York 1927

American Woman's Realty Corporation, was formed by the American Woman's Association, Inc., for the purpose of financing the construction of a club/house for working women.

Spring Clean?....or head for the Club House today?... Tough choices. Realtor GramEpat technorati tag

1761 funding formula/stimulus package....Grants from Great Britain to development an Island off the coast of Maine...now the Home of Acadia National Park.

When I trek around the Somes Harbor, it's hard to imagine that the first permanent settlement on Mt. Desert Island (founded by Abraham Somes in 1761) turned into a thriving industrial center with seven mills and five shipyards! ...The mills are gone...and so are the shipyards...but the Harbor and the fjord remain as incredible as they must have been when he first arrived on the Island from Gloucester, Mass.

I did a little research and found out that Abraham obtained the land for development on grants from Francis Bernard, who was the governor of Massachusetts .Securing the property for Great Britain, he chose to establish a village (along with James Richardson) at the North end of the fjord which cuts through the center of the island. (located across the street from my office)... The harbor would later be named after him as Somes Sound . His settlement , named Somesville, would develop into an important trading location that largely allowed for the rest of the island to be permanently colonized in the years following the American Revolutionary War. (All of this island development starting with a person with vision , courage...and imagination...requesting a stimulus funding grant from Great Britain!)

Abraham served in the military, then returned to Somesville where he raised his family of 13 children.

I am so delighted that my friend Dr.Virginia Somes Sanderson honored his memory with the memorial stone at the harbor and captured his memory in her book, "The Living Past". Thank you ,Virginia. I think of you often when I rest near Abraham's stone, and gaze out over Somes Sound......and ponder the amazing beauty of Abraham's settlement on the coast of Maine...."The Living Past" funded by GRANTS!
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"I hope that battery is still working on that electronic lock box"!

(Glad each office was provided with a spare back up battery!)

We're not used to using lock boxes in Acadia National Park. However, we'll adapt with time and patience.

It's been really helpful to use the key card for multiple purposes ...I like using the card for our educational courses and tracking CE credits online. (Thank you, MAR for making those arrangements).

I know I can do this...just 'One Step at a Time"....(Thanks to my LLBean 'Tubbs')

Gotta Love Maine Winters!

Especially On Long Pond, in Acadia National Park! Life is good :)

Realtor: GramEpat

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