Way Downeast

It’s graduation season. Maine’s colleges held their commencement ceremonies on the first weekend in May, including the University of Maine at Machias where on Sunday, May 5, 82 students marched to Pomp and Circumstance played by local pianist Ellie Larson.

A few days before graduation, I had the chance to interview members of the UMM Class of 2024. and I asked them what they appreciated about their soon-to-be alma mater, what they l...

The Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center adds to vision of serving cancer patients throughout Washington County with support, capabilities and care with a new facility now open in Baileyville, Maine.

Find resources here: Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center
Follow on Facebook here: Cancer Resource Center
Find and follow Machias Marketplace here!

Music: 
Pinewood Jig by Humans Win, Lance Conrad
...

Washington County food pantries report the need for food is growing in our region, and not just among job seekers, but among working families, too. Listen to Sarah Craighead Dedmon's conversations with Ken Warner, Nancy Lewis, and Regina Grabrovac, three people, among hundreds, working to get food to the Washington County people who need it most.

Music: 
Pinewood Jig by Humans Win, Lance Conrad
Waterfall by Ro...

Relic Cider co-owners Brittany and Charlie Foster have been hard at work this autumn gleaning apples from wild apple trees and from heritage orchards planted long ago around Washington County homesteads. 

Next year, hard cider fans will be able to raise a toast with Relic Cider's first hard cider line. Last month, the Portland Press Herald reported that "hard cider is having a renaissance, and its taken hold in Maine,"...

This week, something new on the podcast. Following our custom on the Washington County Almanac, this week we bring you some brief observances of the week at hand, an audio Postcard from Washington County. 

Jamie Moore is a man of many abilities including carpentry, fishing and as you'll hear on this week's Washington County Writer's Corner, poetry.

Music:
Pinewood Jig by Humans Win, Lance Conrad

On this episode of Way Downeast, we’re talking about Washington County lighthouses. We’ll hear from Bob Trapani Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, and Cutler storyteller Delia Farris, granddaughter of Little River Lighthouse Keeper Willie Corbett and friend of U.S. lighthouse expert, author, and publisher, the late Tim Harrison of Cutler.  This episode also introduces a new feature, the Washington County...

Half, if not more, of the Revolutionary War battles fought in present-day Maine took place in Washington County. In this episode, you’ll hear how the British lost not one but three ships in Machias, and how the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Washington County patriots banded together to drive the British from Machias, once and for all. Passamaquoddy Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Donald Soctomah tells of the significance of Chief Fr...

The Machias Wild Blueberry Festival is a summer festival like no other. 

Situated in the heart of wild blueberry country, the festival has expanded from a small one-day event in the 1970s to a three-day extravaganza that still carries forward decades-old local traditions like the wild blueberry quilt, live music, the library book sale, the blueberry farm tours, the FOOD, the tradition of a Saturday night dance, and perhaps...