Digital Edition
Editor’s Note by Kathleen Fleury
When my daughter was in her last year at a Peopleplace Cooperative Preschool, I took a photo of a chalkboard that showed what each kid wanted to be when he or she grew up. Next to their names and pictures, they wrote about being a vet, a soccer player, a party planner. My daughter said she wanted to be a teacher, just like her grandmother. This preschool is a wonderful place, with teachers who espouse play-based learning and a playground with a wooded corner and whimsical play structures. Sometimes, after a particularly grueling meeting or day, I would sit and watch her little friends play or draw or paint or dance, and the world felt lighter. Our family developed deep friendships with other preschool families that still give us great joy even now, after my daughter is in kindergarten. In short, we became invested.
That’s the thing when you establish roots — you put your time, your hopes, and your emotions into the place you call home. Whether it’s by walking a dog every morning or owning a small business, stopping in for coffee at the general store or fundraising for a local charity, you become invested in your community, and it shapes your life.
At Down East, we’re living proof. Our community is made up of locals and “from aways.” One of us was raised in Poland behind the Iron Curtain. Another is a die-hard Packers fan (better luck next season!). We’re from California, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Massachusetts. We’re from Houlton, Palermo, Falmouth, Portland, Farmington, and Ellsworth. We have wanderlust for far-off places or more urban experiences from time to time, but we have in common a sense of belonging here in Maine.
This year’s “Best Places to Live in Maine” feature represents a collection of towns large and small, coastal and inland, well known and up-and-coming. This list is always controversial, and that’s a good thing: It means our readers are passionate about their favorite places and hometowns. It means they’re invested. The point is not to find the best place to live, but rather your best place to live. For me, that means someday seeing those same beaming faces from preschool graduating from high school, ready to follow their chalkboard dreams. – Kathleen Fleury
Features
Best Places to Live
Once again this year, our editors seeded an online tournament bracket with 16 of our favorite towns. You took it from there. Read up on Maine’s loveliest and most welcoming cities, towns, and villages. (Can you guess #1?)
The Last Master
Few living artists rival the legacy of painter David Driskell — for six decades, a vibrant and vital force in contemporary art. And since his humble beginnings, Maine has been vital for him.
By Charlotte Wilder
The Stranger in the Woods
In an exclusive excerpt from a new book, we see the origins of the myth that haunted central Maine for decades: the unbelievable (but true!) tale of the North Pond hermit.
By Michael Finkel
See Inside
Departments
Where in Maine?
Connect
The Mail
North by East
Opinions, Advisories, and Musings from the Length and Breadth of Maine
Down East Dispatches
News You May Have Missed
Pressed Together
Maine’s First Arabic Newspaper
Letter from Togo
Local Dogs on African Stamps?
Boy Oh Boycott!
Who Loses in the Era of Armchair Activism?
Dooryard
Living the Maine Life
Home
Our Finnish Sauna Tradition
Making It in Maine
Little River Decoys’ Bird Man
Recipe
Shepherd’s Pie
My Maine
Storm Gathering
Room With a View
Guide
Food, Drink, Arts, and Culture in Maine
Dining
Brahma Grill in Bangor
Art
Inside the New PMA
Music
The Mallett Bros.’ Logging Jams
From Our Archives
On the cover: Rockland Breakwater by Mike O’Leary
Get more Maine — Subscribe to Down East magazine at this special rate.
The post March 2017 appeared first on Down East.