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Items
> Will high gas prices slow Maine tourism
> Maine struggling to revive ailing economy
> Bartlett Maine estate winery
> Sow's ear winery
> Unique Maine music
> The longer music story
High gas prices slow tourism, or not
From Alabama to Wisconsin, tourism officials and business owners think they see something positive in astronomically high gasoline prices: More domestic tourism.
"People will be staying closer to their home state, but I personally don't believe they will forgo their vacations," said Lori Burns, the tourism director at Florida's east coast Indian River County Chamber of Commerce. "They will still need to get away from work. They just may shorten their vacations from Friday to Monday," as reported by tcplam.com.
That may not be good news for New England and Maine businesses.
Many South Floridians are simply not traveling as much this season because of the high costs, said Kevin Martin, owner of Martin Travel Service. "The general public is very cost conscious and they are saving every penny, tcpalm also reported.
Way to the north, travel stagnation is predicted.
A continuing sour state economy, falling consumer confidence and record-high gasoline prices will have fewer people traveling in Michigan this year, according to Michigan State University economists, reported mlive.com
Michigan State says travel volume will decline by about 2 percent in the M state, while travel spending will remain flat - must mean fewer people spending more. MSU released their opinion April 14 at a tourism conference in Grand Rapids.
What's going to ultimately put the brakes on tourism travel? Is $4 a gallon the magic number that will cause prospective tourists to leave their cars in their garages?
"We haven't been here before. So no one really knows," suggests Rochester New York's WHEC-TV.
In the upper Midwest, observers are predicting an increase in tourism, but only because folks will tend to stay close to home to use less gasoline.
In northeastern Minnesota, Cheyenne Denny of the Iron Range Convention and Visitors Bureau said rising gas prices mean people are staying closer to home and not traveling out of state.
"They're starting to look in-state for tourist destinations," Denny said. "So, it really hasn't affected us in the past, and I really don't think it'll affect us with the upcoming busy tourist season." Denny's comments were reported by KARE-TV in Minneapolis.
On the west coast, the reaction is less optimistic in a dim sort of way.
MSNBC reported that "soaring price of gasoline may force many people looking ahead to their summer vacations to stay closer to home.
"Conventional wisdom might suggest that painful gas prices will force families to ditch summer vacations this year, but tourism officials said prices aren't high enough to keep families home -- at least not yet.
"We choose to see the gas tank half full, rather than half empty," said Christina Glynn with the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council. "With the press lately talking about the high cost of gas, it actually worked to our benefit."
Sources
Tcplam http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/apr/23/30gtas-gas-prices-rise-tourism-officials-in/
Mlive.com http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/04/gas_prices_economy_hit_tourism.html
WHEC-TV http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S419875.shtml?cat=703&v=1
KARE-TV http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=504093
MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24245950/
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Maine struggling to revive ailing economy
This is an old story, but remains applicable in 2008
PORTLAND — Maine was the only state besides Louisiana to see a decline in economic activity last year, according to a new Federal Reserve study.
The state lost 1,700 manufacturing jobs and 800 financial jobs, said the report, which was posted on the Web site of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The losses were partly offset by gains in education, health services, professional and business services, and government.
The study looked at four areas: job growth, the unemployment rate, wage income and factory workers' average weekly hours.
While Maine has a consistently strong summer tourist industry, the state is struggling to retool its year-round economy after decades of mill closings, analysts said.
Maine's population is one of the nation's oldest, in part because many college graduates leave for jobs in other states. The state's latest setback came this spring, when the Georgia-Pacific Corporation closed a 146-year-old paper plant. Some 400 workers lost their jobs.
"Our manufacturing base is just disappearing," said Michael R. Donihue, a professor at Colby College in Waterville, who sits on a public board in charge of state economic forecasts. "We had been looking for more of a boost last year in the overall services sector, particularly finance and health care, and it didn't come through."
The state economist, Catherine J. Reilly, said, "The challenge is that the individuals who are losing manufacturing jobs aren't necessarily those who are gaining high-paying jobs in growing sectors in the economy."
Maine's job numbers last year were flat, compared with 0.6 percent growth for New England and 1.5 percent for the nation.
Also last year, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Brunswick Naval Air Station were briefly on a list of military bases to be closed, which would have eliminated thousands of jobs. A procurement tussle in Washington put Maine's largest manufacturer, Bath Iron Works, at risk of losing a major contract, and the Bank of America purchase of MBNA raised the possibility of thousands of job losses at rural call centers.
Although those fears never materialized, officials said uncertainty dampened spending by businesses and residents.
Alan Stearns, a senior policy adviser to Gov. John Baldacci, said the Federal Reserve's economic activity index failed to reflect what state officials viewed as a promising trend: middle-age professionals moving to Maine for the scenic setting and low cost of living, while commuting or telecommuting to jobs in other states.
"We have a booming southern coastline with people moving to Maine, while their jobs are staying in New York or Washington or Boston," Mr. Stearns said.
Still, others say that Maine will lag behind the rest of New England unless it takes bolder steps to cut taxes and retrain for new jobs. Dr. John Fitzsimmons, president of the Maine Community College System, said that about 4,200 technical jobs in health care, manufacturing and construction went begging or were filled by people from out-of-state because of a shortage of slots in Maine's associate degree programs.
"What you have is a local work force not being upgraded for job opportunities that already exist in the home state," Dr. Fitzsimmons said.
Source: By ARIEL SABAR, The New York Times,
6-29-06.
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Bartlett Maine estate winery
Located near Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, the Bartlett Maine Estate Winery says that it is both "far from the maddening crowd" and "New England's easternmost winery." The vintners grow their own berries, fruit and harvest their own honey for use in the spirits. The vintners' products range from the crisp, aged in French oak, to the sweeter dessert vintages.
Situated amid flower gardens an lush Maine woods, the winery features a tasting room close to the production area. You may picnic on the grounds or at the nearby seashore park.
You can enter Bartlett's at the junction of US 1 at Maine 186, Gouldsboro. Their season opens in May, weekends only, and continues from June to October when they are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Saturday and Noon to 5 pm on Sunday. Closed Mondays. Phone 207-546-2408
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Sow's ear winery
What a great name! Right up there with Duck Horn and Stag's Leap, though the product is different. Sow's Ear Winery says that they "specialize in a dry English-style cider." These vintages are fermented from wild apples accustomed to the Penobscot Bay climate.
A "premium cider" is also produced by the winemaker, Tom Hoey; this product comes largely from Russet apples. To fill out his offerings are a rhubarb wine and one made from wild choke berries.
Sow's ear is on Maine 176, southwest of Ellsworth and Bar Harbor. You will come closest to the area if your are going to Little Deer Isle, Deer Isle and Stonington. [Don't let the roads confuse, Maine 175 connects to Maine 176; they didn't have a type, we don't think.] Open June to December Tuesdays through Saturdays from noon to 6 pm. Other times the proprietors suggest you call ahead.
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Unique Maine music
The Atlantic Clarion Steel Band is a six-member group that's
been performing in the area for more than 25 years. But it is no run-of-the-mill dockside aggregation. These people are true accomplished musicians who play a wide range of music from classical to pop and jazz, and of course calypso.
They claim to be "a chamber ensemble, a jazz band and a party band all in one." And they are. Additionally, and one of their reasons for success, is that their leader, Carl Chase, is "one of a small number of people in the US who can make and tune pans," the name given to their steel band instruments.
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The longer music story
Since the early 1940s, people of all ages and walks of life in the neighborhoods of Port o' Spain, Trinidad, have gathered in the evening to "play pan" in their local steel bands. This wonderful instrument---easy to learn and addictive to listen to---has provided that culturally diverse society with a voice that is just beginning to be heard by the rest of the world.
Based on that Caribbean foundation and after sailing among the islands in 1974, Mainer Carl Chase came home to begin making pans and to found the Atlantic Clarion Steel Band. While this six-person group tours and performs throughout the year in New England, a similar community steel band was formed in the summer of 1990 in Brooksville, Maine. With practice sessions behind the Bucks Harbor Market, it was clear within a few weeks that the magic of "pan" was as good in Maine as in the Caribbean.
Word spread fast, and people came from across the street and from hours away to learn and practice. Some were musicians, but many had never played a note. Their ages ranged from seven to 70.
During the summer months of 1991, the foundation of today's band was organized as part of the George Stevens Academy Summer School in Blue Hill. A few months later and as part of the winter Adult Education program, this otherwise ad hoc group named itself the "FLASH IN THE PANS." The name remains today in use today and the group now has 20 regular members.
From that early and inspired beginning, the steel band program in Blue Hill has grown to include beginner and intermediate classes for all ages. Since a beginner can learn to plan "pan" in a few months, the instrument fits well into the school schedule and steel band classes are now part of the curriculum at Stevens Academy, the local high school.
Having polished their skills and repertoire, the "FLASH IN THE PANS" performs for the public at Monday evening street dances in Brooksville. Their schedule is from Memorial Day through Labor Day, plus out of town engagements.
For more information about "FLASH IN THE PANS," steel band classes, workshops and instruments, contact Carl Chase, Box 303, Brooksville, ME.
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High Speed on
The Gulf of Maine
The CAT is a high speed passenger and car ferry operating on two Maine routes: Portland - Yarmouth, NS, and Bar Harbor - Yarmouth,
Carrying up to 775 passengers and 240 cars across the Gulf of Maine, the ship operates from May to October.
In our opinion, The CAT is the best way between Maine and Nova Scotia, and the most fun.