Enjoying friends at Birchwoods
Since my cousin, Betty Cleveland Stearns, has moved to Birchwoods at Canco, I have enjoyed seeing some of my friends there.
One of them, Viola Everett Hilton, was in fact a neighbor of my cousin, when the Everett family were neighbors of the Cleveland family on Portland’s Prospect Street.
At one noon dinner at Birchwoods, I met Erland and Margaret Wentzell, whose home in West Baldwin we often visited when they entertained Grange friends. They were very active in Maple Grove Grange in Sebago and they were state Grange deputies. They later moved to Windham Hill, and are now at Birchwoods.
Jack Messer, recently retired from the well-known Westbrook business, W. A. Messer and Co., is now at Birchwoods, and spoke to me there. His wife, Marguerite Merrill Messer, who passed away in 2001, was the sister of Bill Merrill, who now lives year-round in Vero Beach, Fla., with his wife, Barbara Knowles Merrill. They lived in Portland, and Barb and I were Camp Kuhnawaumbek and Deering High Ski Club friends, too.
Also at dinner at Birchwoods we sat with a former Westbrook couple, Charles and Kay Phinney, who lived at Pine View Road in Westbrook for 50 years. They were neighbors of Marshall and Florence Wing. Florence was our capable co-worker and Westbrook correspondent at the American Journal for many years.
I was pleased to see Ian and Ruthie Stewart, now at Birchwoods. They lived on Summit Street, Portland, and their children were friends of ours at Deering High School. Also Ruth was a well-known nurse in our area. When I visited their apartment, Ian (John) showed me a picture of one of his grandsons, who was wearing the kilt that Ian himself had worn, on his arrival in the United States, when his family moved here from Scotland.
So, you see, I was pleased to find so many of my friends there at Birchwoods at Canco.
A walk in the rain
We had a nice visit and luncheon Saturday with our son Tom and his wife Anne at their new apartment on Tear Cap Road, Hiram. The view is usually spectacular there, but the rain and clouds prevented us from seeing Mount Washington and surrounding mountains over in New Hampshire.
I went prepared to walk down the field to the edge of the power line to admire the jack-in-the-pulpit there. I had packed my boots and outdoor attire in the car, but the heavy rain persisted.
However, on Sunday, Tom and Anne stopped in Portland to present us with a bouquet of Mayflowers, which I always look for in early May. You know that “April showers make May flowers.” These Mayflowers are just budding out, and are so fragrant when in full bloom.
Another spring treat was the batch of fiddleheads I found for sale last week at Pat’s Meat Market on Stevens Avenue, Portland. I had just seen a picture of several tall fiddleheads by Mike Corrigan in the May 4 Bridgton News, and was thinking how I would love to have some. We used to receive a big batch each spring when Joe Bianco worked at our newspaper on the printing press. He and Rhonda gathered them in Aroostook County, near her mother’s home. What a treat that was! But now the Biancos are way down in Florida.
So hurray for Pat’s Meat Market.
Searching for meaning
I was reading an article in the May 2 Boston Herald about Johnny Damon, and how upset some Boston Red Sox fans were to see him on the Yankees at Fenway Park.
Of course it was a pleasant surprise that Boston beat the Yankees 7-3. The article said that Damon received a mix of boos and cheers as he stepped up to the plate and took off his helmet to salute the fans.
Chris Clancy of Maine anticipated more boos. “Damon is going to get a big boo of approval,” he told the Boston Herald. Clancy said he was hoping Damon would tear his achilles tendon during the game, but would settle for his striking out.
Clancy’s father, Steven, was accompanying him to the game and was “also amped” to see Damon’s outing. “Not since Benedict Arnold has there been an event like this,” Steve Clancy said.
I called the library reference room to ask the meaning of “amped,” but they couldn’t find it in a recent dictionary. Did Clancy mean amplified? Is it too long to use a three-syllable verb we can understand? Or did he mean “fired up?”
RECIPE
This recipe is from “All Maine Seafood” cookbook, 1975.
HADDOCK AU GRATIN
2-1/2 cups of flaked haddock or any white fish, cooked
3 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped
2 cups white sauce
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tbls. butter or margarine
Combine haddock and eggs with white sauce and lemon juice. Place all in a buttered casserole dish, cover with the crumbs, cheese, and dot with butter. Bake about 25 minutes at 350 degrees, until crumbs are nicely browned.
Submitted by Irma W. Benner, South Harpswell, Maine
Fans were not “amped” to see Johnny Damon on his return to Fenway Park in Boston.
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