Terry Driscoll Realtor Mid-Coast Maine Residential Real Estate

Allen & Selig Realty's Bath office is pleased to have the works of members of the Kennebec Art Club on display in its Office Gallery, now through the end of September. Exhibits of different KAC artists will rotate each month in conjunction with Bath's Third Friday Art Walk (and drive). All paintings on display in our Office Gallery may be purchased by contacting the artists directly.

On display though the end of June are the works of local artists:

• Livy Glaubitz of Creekside Gallery in Bath. Livy has traveled extensively and she sketches and paints along the way - her watercolors are stunning!

• Elizabeth (Betty) Johnson of Phippsburg works in pastels and many of her paintings are scenes from her own backyard, which happily, includes the Kennebec River.

This summer's first Art Walk will be Friday, June 19th from 5:00 - 8:00 pm. Twenty different venues are on the route and maps may be picked up at our office, 15 Vine Street in Bath - right off Route 1 "in the shadow of the bridge." We invite you to join us at Allen & Selig Realty to kick off a summer evening enjoying local art and meeting the artists. Livy and Betty will be on hand in our Office Gallery to visit with our guests and talk about their work. Also, we are inviting local artists to set up their easels in our "front yard" or "on our veranda" and paint or draw the iconic Bath bridge, or other "cityscape" during Art Walk evenings. Space is limited so we ask that you call our office to let us know which Art Walk you plan to come paint - 207/443-2200 "Talk To Terry" at Ext. 104.

Downtown Bath Art Walk locations are "walkable" but you may want to drive to the South and North End studios on the route. Alternatively, Ed Rice of River Run Tours offers a boat ride and shuttle on the Kennebec River for $5 per person. Board the boat at Waterfront Park on Commercial Street and stop at the North End or South End boat launches for a short walk to participating studios.

Each Art Walk Friday at Allen & Selig Realty will offer new art work and there will always be some extra fun! This event has taken on a life of its own in some respects and we get calls almost every day from someone with another new idea!

When you think about it, Art and Real Estate go hand in hand and our local artists do so much to enrich our lives, beautify our homes and our lift-up our communities. Especially, these days, we need the arts to buoy our spirits and re-energize our souls. So, please come on out to Bath's Art Walk, or whatever local art events you have in your own communities, and I guarantee you will be amazed at the wealth of talent that lives among us!

SUPPORT THE ARTS IN ALL FORMS WHEREVER YOU FIND THEM!

A Fun Excursion for Fiber Arts Fanatics - - -

Alpaca - - have you ever run your fingers through a barrel of this fiber? It is soooo soft and soooo warm once you knit it up! And those faces, they are sooo adorable!

Alpacas are sheared once a year for their fiber. There is a wonderful Alpaca farm in our area up in Wiscasset (about 20 minutes north of Bath) - - Winter's Gone Farm on Federal Street (which is also Route 218).

Shearing Day at Winters Gone Farm is scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, May 30^th, and the Public is invited to enjoy the event. Beginning at 10:00 AM, more than 20 alpacas will be freed of their fleece by a team of shearers from New Zealand. Come and meet Snowball, the farm's official "spokespaca". There will also be fiber arts displays and spinning demonstrations and don't forget to check out the Alpaca Store. Bring your kids (but no dogs, please) and a picnic lunch and spend some time on the farm.

If you are a Fiber Fanatic (and I have to confess that I am) Winter's Gone Farm is open Monday thru Saturday, 10AM - 5PM from May 1 - Dec 31. This is the season to fortify your "Yarn Stash" so that you will be able to knit, crochet or weave your way through the winter months! Hey, that's what we do in Maine!

There are so many different and interesting things just like this to do when you live in Mid-Coast Maine! If you have questions about moving to the area or are planning to relocate to Maine, contact me and I'll be happy to share all that I know - Use the "Comments" box to request a FREE Relocation Packet.

The Arbor Day Foundation, based in Nebraska has named the City of Bath a "Tree City USA" for the 12th year. Bath, Maine has made a commitment to community forestry through tree-care workshops, education, publicity and management. Trees in urban areas reduce the "heat island" effect caused by pavement and buildings, and they can increase property values if placed properly. Leaves filter the air we breathe by removing dust and other particles. And, trees can be stately old works of art that just make you feel good when you walk beneath them.

In Bath, the spring flowering trees are doing their thing right now and it will only be a matter of days before the scent of lilac trees will assualt you (in a very nice way) as you walk down Washington Street. We are so lucky to have so many wonderful trees in such a densely packed city.

Right now, the City of Bath is celebrating Arbor Week with 7 days of plant and tree-related festivities. The big kick-off will be Sunday afternoon as the Bath Community Forestry Committee presents its landscaping awards. Fisher-Mitchell School students will be potting up tree seedlings this week for the municipal tree nursery. There will be a lecture on Thursday, May 21, at 7 pm in Bath City Hall by scientist Jack Witham about 25 years in the life of a pine-oak forest in Arrowsic. Also, Thursday evening, Bath's "Favorite Tree" will be announced - this title will be awarded based on a vote by residents over the course of the past month.

On Water Street right now, there is an improvement project that will widen the sidewalks and add tree islands - I believe plans also include breaking up the big public parking lot behind Reny's with several trees. You will have to come check this out this summer.

So, please come visit Bath, walk around the City - - you will love our trees, among so many other things! Maybe you will even decide you want to stay.

Even though I plant a small vegetable garden in my backyard each year, one of the most anticipated pleasures of springtime is opening day of the local outdoor farmers markets. We have a perfectly wonderful market here in Bath and there is nothing better than walking down to Waterfront Park on a Saturday morning and buying direct from the people who grow the goods. So, I grab my L.L. Bean tote bag (the big one) and get walkin’!

The Bath Farmers Market opens May 2^nd this year - - this is Mayfair Weekend in Bath so the opening coincides with lots of fun stuff all over town, but more about that later. The Bath Farmers Market can be found at Waterfront Park – can’t think of a nicer setting - and is open 8:30 am until noon. The Market will be open every Saturday through October. If you happen to run into someone you know (and you will), the park is the perfect place to sit and visit for a while.

Several new vendors have been announced for this year - - Fresh Start Farms in Lisbon will come with ethnic Somali vegetables and Passion Flower Farms will bring heirloom flowers and bouquets from West Bath, as will Marjie Hawkes.

In addition to all things grown in Maine gardens, the Bath Market features several organic meat growers (Kelley Brothers Farm brings grass-fed beef and Corner Stone Farm has organic pork) and poultry growers (Goranson Farms and Mainely Poultry), cheese makers (Blue Velvet & City of Ships) and the ever popular Borealis Bread and Beryl’s Pastries.

This is as local as it gets - - a fantastic opportunity to support sustainable agriculture by buying locally. It’s fun, it’s healthy and its good for your local economy. So wherever you live, support your local growers.

If you want to know more about the Bath Farmers Market, Click Here

If you want to know more about buying real estate in Maine: Contact Me

Regional School Unit #1 (RSU 1) students are launching a Community Garden! The vegetables they grow will go to the school cafeterias and local food banks.

Kicking off the gardening season, community members are invited to attend an Open House at the Bath Middle School Green House, Thursday, April 16, 2009 from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm. Bring gardening gloves and trowels, if you have them, and come help dig the dirt! There will be opportunities for continued volunteerism throughout the spring and summer, as well.

The Community Garden will be located near the corner of Lemont and High Street in Bath - - they have a near half-acre plot, that has never been gardened before, and the Woolwich School 6th Graders have already tested the soil. A wide array of academic lessons are planned relative to this hands on effort and they are not limited to biology and earth science. Picture students writing a business plan for the garden, producing a documentary film about the development of the garden, or building an interactive topical map of the garden - there may be no limit to the possibilities.

A naming contest was held - The Winner: "LOCAL Garden" - - an acronym that stands for "Leading our Community in Agricultural Learning". The name was submitted by one of the Advanced Placement classes at Morse High School.

Given that Bath is an urban location, this is just one more of those things that makes our community a great place to live. Personally, I have had a small vegetable garden plot in my tiny backyard in Bath for the past 8 years - there are seeds sprouting in peat pots in my south-facing windows as I write this. I think this is a great way for kids to learn that food does not originate on the grocery store shelves and it's just one more thing that makes our community a special place in which to live.

If you'd like more information about what's going on in Bath or about relocating to Bath, please do not hesitate to contact me! "Talk to Terry"

HAPPY GARDENING !!