The Down East Community Hospital Auxiliary hosted the 51st Annual Holiday Craft Fair on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. The Rose Gaffney Elementary School generously allowed the Auxiliary to use their gym and hallways in the school.

By Will Tuell

From the sudden passing of Machias Town Manager Bill Kitchen on Sept. 9 to the loss of beloved family physician Dr. John Gaddis weeks later, Downeasters had a lot to grapple with in 2024.

Avowed environmental activist Nancy Oden passed away in May. Three Machias mainstays — former selectman and first responder Les Haynes; former Machias lawmaker, businessman, and philanthropist Ed Pellon; and former selectman Stephen “Smitty” Smith — died within two months of Kitchen. 

By Paul Sylvain

On Dec. 20, Machiasport Town Clerk Marcia Hayward and Deputy Clerk Ashley Warren put out the red carpet and opened the doors for an open house and tours of the new town office building at 3 Bayview Drive.

The event, held from 3 to 5 p.m., attracted a steady stream of residents who stopped in for an up-close look-see inside the former hospice building. There were plenty of goodies to snack on and beverages, including coffee and tea, to wash it down.

By Nancy Beal

Wood, Shimabukuro, Schwinn Picks for Player, Coach Awards

By Will Tuell

By Paul Sylvain

It’s safe to say that the last thing Raymond Howard could have ever imagined as a young boy growing up in Iowa was that one day he’d find himself seeing patients in Jonesport, Maine, and tending to a handful of lobster traps in Moosabec Reach. 

But, Iowa’s loss became Downeast Maine’s gain, in 2022, when, in the midst of the pandemic, Dr. Howard moved to the tiny fishing village of Jonesport and began seeing patients at Arnold Memorial Medical Center.

By Jayna Smith

The annual Feztival of Trees once again brought festive joy to Charlotte and Washington counties over the weekend of Dec. 13-15, drawing hundreds to Washington County Community College to admire nearly 50 exquisitely decorated Christmas trees, each surrounded by an array of gifts.

By Will Tuell

Down East Community Hospital in Machias announced Julie Balzer, RN, and Linda Crowley, EVSI as its 2024 Employees of the Year and recognized several employees for their longevity during a Christmas luncheon for employees Dec. 12.

Balzer, the hospital said on its social media page, “is a role model” and “a well-rounded nurse. She is constantly thinking of others and how and where she can help [them]. She is always seen with a smile, a positive attitude, and a joke to make you laugh. She helps keep others feeling positive,” the hospital said. 

By Nancy Beal

UPDATED: 9:28 AM Dec 26, 2024

By Paul Sylvain

Firefighters from Machias and surrounding towns struggled against single-digit temperature and unrelenting winds that enveloped them in thick breath-choking smoke to battle a Christmas Eve fire at the Bluebird Motel on Route 1/Dublin Street  in Machias.

That’s according to Machias Fire Chief Joey Dennison, who, on Wednesday — though still exhausted from the experience the previous night — recounted the details of the Christmas Eve fire.

By Will Tuell

For the third year in a row, the Wesley Foundation announced that its popular Christmas tree festival designed to raise funds for area youth enrichment activities, has raised over $100,000. Foundation spokesman Dean McGuire said in a post on the group’s Facebook page Dec. 10 that Team Wes was “incredibly humbled” by the support some fifty tree donors, thousands of attendees, and the broader Machias area business community has shown since four-year-old Wesley Keeton, the son of Kate and Lee Keeton of East Machias, died in an ATV accident in 2013. 

By Paul Sylvain

The Machias selectboard this week began the next phase of the hiring process to select a new town manager, following the untimely passing of late town manager Bill Kitchen on Sept. 9. However, the board’s search for a permanent operations manager is expected to be reopened in the coming weeks.

By Paul Sylvain

The men and women chosen to represent Washington County in the Maine Legislature for the next two years will be spending the bulk of their time on a wide range of policy committees dealing with healthcare, housing, commercial fishing, economic development, and more. Senate President Mathea “Mattie” Daughtry (D-Brunswick) and Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau (D-Bideford) made the announcements Dec. 12, a week after lawmakers were sworn in. 

by Jonathan Reisman

Jeopardy Answer: Policy goal that is loudly proclaimed and pursued across nearly every sector of American society but is rarely (if ever) defined or assessed. 

Jeopardy Question: What is Equity?

By Paul Sylvain

It is a time-honored tradition mandated by the state’s constitution: newly elected state lawmakers take the oath of office on the first Wednesday following the first Tuesday of December — or, generally speaking, a month after being elected to two-year terms in the State House of Representatives and the State Senate. 

Property Owner Tells Board Mini-Golf Could be Next

By Paul Sylvain

The Machias Planning Board, on Dec. 4, granted conditional approval to a plan by Justin Albee to operate a drive-thru coffee shop from a 16-foot by 20-foot building at 222 Dublin Street. Albee is leasing the piece of land from the property’s owner, Chris Meroff.

By Paul Sylvain

Thanks to the quick action of a passerby who saw flames coming through a window, and the rapid response by area firefighters from multiple towns, a home on 23 Look’s Point Road, in Jonesboro, was saved from destruction on Dec. 6.

Travelers heading east between Jonesboro and Machias around 4:30 p.m. were met by a stream of fire and rescue vehicles racing towards Jonesboro from Machias, Machiasport, and Marshfield. Jonesboro and units from the Pleasant River District of Epping Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the call.

Eastport Arts Center will host an array of festive events this month. The 15th annual Festival of Trees, a fundraiser for the Center’s programs for all ages, will be held Saturday, Dec. 14, from 4:30-6 p.m. A raffle of gift items, live music by pianist Chris Farr, and refreshments will enhance the main event — a forest of twinkling tabletop trees decorated by EAC community members and available by silent bid.

Orthopedic surgeon Wendy Boucher Crawford, MD, and the medical staff at Calais Community Hospital are excited to offer Zimmer Biomet’s ROSA® Knee System, which brings together robotic technology with industry-leading knee implants to help surgeons personalize surgical procedures for their patients and is designed to help perform total knee replacement. It includes features to assist with bone resections and assessing the state of soft tissues to facilitate implant positioning intraoperatively. 

Town, Locals to Pay Tribute to Late Town Manager During Festivities

By Will Tuell

By Paul Sylvain

Already embroiled in a lengthy and costly legal battle over a road with two Starboard district homeowners, Machiasport officials could be facing yet another lawsuit over a road in the town’s Bucks Harbor district.

At issue are concerns of residents in the Pettegrow Point Road Home Owners Association (HOA) over a planned truck turnaround near the commercial fishermen’s parking lot on that road and the legal interpretation of covenants governing land and road use in the Pettegrow property deed.

By Paul Sylvain

Move over, Kirby Grant. There’s a new Sky King in town, and he’s busy constructing a $1.12 million airport terminal building in Eastport.

Unlike the main character in the television show that ran from 1951 to 1962, Northfield developer Justin King is not an airplane pilot, but his company — King Construction Services of Machias — continues to soar to new heights, it seems, with every new project it takes under its wing.