Columns

Pemaquid Chapter NSDAR members

New chapter officers were officially installed on Oct. 9 

Shawn Lewin, AARP Maine member

According to the Federal Trade Commission, more money is reported stolen through fraud originating on social media than by any other method of contact. Reports to the AARP Fraud Watch Network…

A Bird's Tale
The spring peeper-like song of Swainson's thrush migrating overhead at night are a signature sound of fall in Maine. Photo by Cephas, courtesy of wikimedia commons

Cool mornings, earthy smells of fallen leaves, and those first high, thin clouds that are more common in winter—it’s late fall here in Maine.

On Friday nights,…

Joe's Journal
Joe Gelarden

I planned to begin this alleged column this week with some witty banter from Ms. Pigette, the vocal/local candidate for U.S.Senate who does not have a controversial tattoo. Then the fallout from…

'Round Town
Photo by Robert Mitchell

One of the most…

AARP logo

In August, AARP testified before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging to spotlight a growing threat to Americans: fraud carried out by translational organized crime groups. Operating openly…

Scarecrow

The next educational program of Garden Club of Wiscasset will be on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. Ruth Indrick, Kennebec Estuary Land Trust project director, will…

A Bird's Tale
Yellow-bellied sapsuckers have been appearing around the authors' neighborhood during this fall migration, though not as many as were counted flying to the mainland from Cousin’s Island in Yarmouth in the fall of 2011 - that total reached 358! (Yellow-bellied sapsucker photo courtesy of Jeff Wells)

The distinctive buzz and tiny, high-note sputters of the juncos are now everywhere when we walk the neighborhood. That and the high “seet” notes of the white-throated…

'Round Town
Photo by Robert Mitchell

First off, let me…

Joe's Journal
Joe Gelarden

There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear.

About 60 years ago, a strange…

From the Maine Senate
Senator Cameron Reny

If you are unaware of Maine’s shortage of dental health care, then you must be one lucky person! Although our number of dental health professionals is finally beginning…

AARP logo

Nearly all of us use social media to stay connected with friends and family. Unfortunately, scammers use social media to connect with us, too. Before accepting a friend request on your social…

A Bird's Tale
The authors enjoyed looking for birds on the warm, sandy beaches of Florida in October. Courtesy of Reese McAtee.

Soft powder blue skies extend in all directions. The sea is shades of blue as well. Dark steel blue in the distance flecked with lines of white from barely curling wave…

Joe's Journal
Joe Gelarden

The other day, we passed an annual milestone. The calendar calls it Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day, but here in Vacationland, it is the traditional end to the summer season. It is the time…

'Round Town
Photo by Robert Mitchell

A friend from Maryland…

Two Spoons: On Eating in Midcoast Maine
Sweets on the table at Treats Bakery in Wiscasset. Photograph courtesy of Stacy Linehan

There’s a ribbon of warm light at closing time that catches the long harvest table through the window of Treats Bakery in Wiscasset. It calls to mind a Rembrandt painting. I mention this to…

Shawn Lewin, AARP Maine member

Fraud today is largely run by sophisticated, large-scale operations led by transnational crime groups, stealing an estimated $158 billion from Americans in a single year. This is not just a…

A Bird's Tale
This evening grosbeak was photographed in northern Minnesota. Note the large bill and bright yellow body. Photo courtesy of Lauri Shaull, wikimedia commons

Sometimes we birders can be lulled into thinking that once we’ve figured out that the yellow bird on the backyard feeder is an evening grosbeak, not an American…

'Round Town
Photo by Robert Mitchell

It has been a while…

Joe's Journal
Joe Gelarden

Last weekend, Mother Nature blessed us with some of the greatest weather we have had in years, so I went for a drive. The air was cool and crisp, the sky clear and bright, leaves turning, giving…

Where It's At
ARTinME 2025 First Place awarded to Helen Matthews' "View" by jurors David Estey and Jaap Helder. Courtesy of Lauren Palmer/BRAF

I walked into Boothbay Region Art Foundation (BRAF) last Saturday night for its annual ARTinME opening reception and awards. And, wow. Just wow. I’ll say it now (and probably later as well): This…

The next public supper will be Wednesday, Oct. 15. The meal will be borscht, salad, rye bread, bratwurst, rotkohl (red cabbage), noodles and German chocolate cake.

The 

AARP logo

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month – a great time to remind ourselves just how much of our lives take place online and the…

A Bird's Tale
As the authors were standing on a jetty overlooking the Gulf of Maine in Rockport, Massachusetts, they heard a mysterious but familiar call note fly in off the water - a lapland longspur (here the species is shown in breeding plumange). (Photo Wiki Commons: By Ómar Runólfsson - Flickr: Lapland Longspur - Calcarius lapponicus - Sportittlingur, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19955368)

We were standing on top of a tall, hill-like jetty near Rockkport, Massachusetts, gazing out at the Gulf of Maine, when we heard a short rattling call from somewhere…

'Round Town
Joe
Photo by Robert Mitchell

Joe Gelarden shared a…

Joe's Journal
Joe Gelarden

How many of you remember radio?

No, not the soothing NPR empathy/classical music kind, the mighty Rock & Roll blasts, country twang, or endless breathless rants from the right or the…

Joyce Bucciantini

As summer blends into…

AARP logo

October marks the start of Medicare open enrollment, and unfortunately, the peak season for Medicare fraud. From Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, eligible beneficiaries can review options and make changes to…

The next public supper will be Wednesday, Oct. 15. The meal will be borscht, salad, rye bread, bratwurst, rotkohl (red cabbage), noodles and German chocolate cake.

The

Black-capped chickadees are among just a few birds that cache food for later use. Courtesy of Jeff Wells

The late afternoon sun lit up the tops of the trees along the street. Most were still green, but the maple at the corner was already showing bright yellows and reds. A…

'Round Town
Photo by Robert Mitchell

My first encounter with Mr.…

Joe's Journal
Joe Gelarden

Dear Reader,  This notice showed up in my inbox this week. I tried to call Ms. P, but she didn't pick up. I will try to reach her later.

Pigette for Senate…

Where it's at
"Lobster Boat on Deer Isle" by Roy Smith

I've always found Wiscasset’s Maine Art Gallery to be a most charming gallery always exhibiting work that attracts, intrigues, and inspires many a delightful imaginative tales for viewers. It’s…

Garden Club of Wiscasset
Plant

The Garden Club of Wiscasset’s next meeting isOct. 2 at First Congregational Church (fellowship hall) 28 High St., Wiscasset. Our educational program is…

The next public supper will be Wednesday, Oct. 1. The meal will be broccoli cheese soup, salad, rolls, barbecued ribs, baked potato wedges, peas and carrots, and peanut butter pie.

Shawn Lewin, AARP Maine member

Identity fraud and scams are a massive and growing problem, but there are things each of us can do to protect against identity fraud, even if our data has been exposed.

One way to help…

A Bird's Tale
Once rare in Maine, lesser black-backed gulls have become more frequent, likely due to an increasing number that nest in Greenland. Image courtesy of Crossly ID Guide to Eastern Birds, Wiki media Commons

1. The Weather – How can you not love the weather of September in Maine? Mornings start crisp and fresh with dew on the grass as you watch for warblers in the shrubbery. By afternoon, you’re…

Joe's Journal
Joe Gelarden

Everything old is new again? Or is it deja vu all over again? Yes, it seems that history repeats itself, or maybe, and probably, we just remember snippets of a memory when something prods our…

Town seal

And just like that, summer's over. Too fast, too soon, but luckily fall in Maine is dreamy too. Keep an eye out for deer and turkeys on the road and enjoy that crisp air! 

The next public supper will be Wednesday, Oct. 1. The meal will consist of broccoli cheese soup, salad, rolls, BBQ ribs, baked potato wedges, peas and carrots and peanut butter pie.…

'Round Town
Photo by Robert Mitchell

Try this one on for…

AARP logo

Peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps like Venmo, Zelle, and Cash App have made sending money between family and friends easier than ever. But consumers beware: while these apps make exchanging money…

A Bird's Tale
American golden-plovers, like this adult still showing some vestiges of breeding plumage photographed in fall on Aruba, are strong flyers that travel incredible distances from north to south each fall and back in the spring. An individual banded in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska, in June 2009 was found thousands of miles away on the island of Aruba (off the northern coast of South America) in October 2009. Courtesy of Michiel Oversteegen www.birdwatchingaruba.com

There are certain birds that really capture the imagination. One of those, for us, and perhaps for many other birders, is the American golden-plover.

The…

'Round Town
Sky
Photo by Robert Mitchell

A week or so ago, I…

Joe's Journal
Joe Gelarden

On Friday, my phone rang and, reluctantly, I answered, and was curtly told: “Wait a minute. I am busy on the other phone.” Oh, swell, it is Ms. Pigette, and she now has two phones. And I waited…

Shawn Lewin, AARP Maine member

Artificial intelligence (AI) is making it even easier for criminals to steal people’s money, and American’s anxiety is rising. Concern is especially high around financial services, where scammers…

Cody Mitchell photo

The Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper would like to begin a weekly series, Through Our Readers’ Eyes, where photos and a brief description are submitted to the newspaper via email. The photos…

A Bird's Tale
The pigeon-like head and large, dark eye, and buffy breast and yellow legs are distinctive among North American sandpipers. Courtesy of Michiel Oversteegen

We saw a photo of a gorgeous juvenile buff-breasted sandpiper taken a few days ago down on the rocky beach at the Timber Point section of Rachel Carson National…

'Round Town
Photo by Robert Mitchell

The front entrance door of Boothbay…