Open house
The open house Sept. 10 at the new Mercy Hospital, overlooking the Fore River, was well-attended. A ceremony dedicating the building was held at 10 a.m., followed by the ribbon-cutting. Refreshments were served and music was played.
This short-stay hospital and medical building opens for patients Sept. 22. It includes ambulatory surgery, some inpatient surgery, maternity and imaging services. In the medical office building next door are the Breast Health Center and oncology/hematology.
In the chapel, on the first floor, stained-glass windows from the original chapel at Mercy Hospital are installed. It is a small, pretty chapel, with a view of the river.
Guests visited the four floors of the handsome building. There were 68 framed paintings on the walls, all in color, done by local artists. They included beach scenes, floral designs, and a fascinating one of a cardinal perched on a branch.
The patient rooms have views of the river. Each of the 16 labor, delivery, recovery and post-partem suites has a Jacuzzi tub. We noticed a bassinet for the baby enclosed in the wall in one of the rooms.
The building is beautiful, all new, and the floors are perfect (of course they have not been walked on much yet.)
There will be more buildings built here, later, bringing the departments that are still at the State Street Mercy Hospital, the emergency department, medical in-patient services, additional surgery suites, the Critical Care Unit and acute beds.
This Phase II is expected to happen before the hospital turns 100 in 2018.
Opening exhibit
The New England Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators has an interesting exhibit, to remain until Nov. 5, at the University of New England Westbrook Campus Gallery on Stevens Avenue, Portland.
The exhibit is titled “From Observation to Illustration,” and includes illustrations by 24 scientific illustrators from New England.T he opening reception Saturday, was well-attended. On Sunday, curator Gretchen Halpert gave a gallery talk. The exhibits at this gallery are free, too, though donations are welcomed.
The guild is an international organization based out of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
There were illustrations done in quill pen and ink, and digital.
Fascinating illustrations were on the gallery’s first and second floors, as well as in the basement room. They included illustrations of an ant, dragon fly, wild flowers, plant bulbs and many more subjects.
I hope that some of you readers may get to this exhibit by Nov. 9.
Lakeside party
Rose and Dick Coffin celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary Aug. 3 at the McDermott cottage at Highland Lake. They hosted a wonderful party for many of the guests at their original wedding reception.
As guests arrived at the cottage they had a nice view of the lake through the open sides of a big tent, which was set up on the lawn of the cottage, and filled with tables and chairs, all set up for the clambake dinner. What a feast it was, with a lobster, melted butter, a bag of steamed clams, a steamed potato, coleslaw and ear of corn, and a roll. After all that, we were served a dessert of sherbet, served by the efficient waitresses. We appreciated the chocolate lobster candy, wrapped in a red foil, with a lobster imprint, and made by Haven’s Candies. Delicious!
We were pleased to hear the Don Roy Trio again this year, with Don Roy on fiddle, his wife Cindy on the keyboard and Jay Young on bass. Their rhythm is contagious, and many guests were clapping hands and moving their feet in rhythm with the playing.
Rose’s parents, Arthur and Patricia McDermott Sr., of Windham, graciously agreed to let Rose and Richard hold their party at a family summer cottage on Highland Lake.
Among the guests were Rose’s brother, Arthur McDermott Jr., parents and sisters Sarah McDermott, Maura McDermott and daughter Olivia, and Claire Langlois, husband Michael and daughter Maggie Parrish, all of Falmouth.
Also present were Dick’s sister-in-law June Coffin, Brunswick, and nieces Alison of Brunswick and Suzie Coffin of Bradford, Mass., and nephew Geoffrey Coffin of Byfield, Mass., with friend Rose Esile, and his daughter, Katie Coffin of Boston.
Other guests included: Dick’s cousin Arline Lay and husband Richard, and her daughter Eve Hladky and husband Tim, West Bath; his late cousin Carroll’s wife Nancy Pennell and son Sam; cousin Christine Sanborn, Acton, N.H., and her friends Dr. and Mrs. Richard Miller, Durham, N.H.; and cousin Jo-Ann Polonchek and husband John, Meredith, N.H.; Rose’s aunt and uncle Kay and Sidney Noel, Falmouth, aunt Bonnie Kilmartin, Casco, and aunt Polly St. Peter and husband Joseph, Gorham, and Polly’s son Douglas Laurence, Westbrook.
Also, Don and Lorna Dorsey, Howard and Lynn Nielsen and Herm and Ann Schwenk, all of Freeport; Henry Picking, Brunswick; Professor Richard Abrams and friend Cindy; Professor William Phillips and wife Kaoru; Harry, Anne (your correspondent), Susan and Raymond Foote, all of Portland; Steve Hauser, Buxton, and daughter Ryanna; Steve Schwartz, South Portland; Louisa Minot, Brunswick; and Carol and Jake Palesky, Topsham.
Also, John LaPointe, Portland; James Turgeon, Westbrook; Rose’s aunt Dot Kilmartin, Portland, and cousin Michael Kilmartin and wife Ann; Peter Eastman, Cape Elizabeth; Mike and Beth Carter, Portland; Brian Peura, Portland; Dallas and Mickie Pyle, South Portland; and Emily (Coffin) Daigle and husband Michael, Glastonbury, Conn.
From the east
Today’s recipe is from “Recipes from the East,” 1955, by Irma Walker Ross.
SPINACH NAMNOL
From Korea
1-1/2 pounds spinach
1/4 pound beef
Dash of red pepper
1 green onion
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon roasted sesame seed
2 tablespoons soy sauce,
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salad oil
Wash spinach well and cook in a little water until tender. Drain well and cut into 2-inch pieces. Chop beef finely and add pepper. Chop onion, including tops, and garlic and mix with sesame seed, soy sauce, sugar and oil. Cook meat until seared. Mix meat with spinach and other ingredients and season with salt. Serve hot.
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