From The Vault: Road Diaries (Episode 101- Western Maine)
(upbeat music) (projector clicking) - Have you ever wondered where the television signal you're watching is coming from? ♪ True North (projector clicking) - Welcome to True North. (upbeat music) (mysterious music) - Good evening and welcome to Mainewatch (upbeat music) (projector clicking) Welcome to From The Vault a celebration of 60 years of Maine Public Television On this episode, we take a winter road trip. We are going back to 2002 with Road Diaries. This was a four part series in which Mainers from all different walks of life and experiences spend a couple days visiting different areas of the state. They learned about local history foods and traditions. The idea was that Maine contains many cultures and not everyone may be fully aware of them.
Viewers would experience the varied aspects of the state through their experiences and conversations. This episode was the first in the series. The three others visited other parts of the state during warmer seasons. They can viewed on our Youtube channel at Youtube dot com slash Maine Public. Recently I caught up with a few of the people you will meet and heard some of their memories.
Shirley remembers how bone chillingly cold it was, on Moosehead Lake, as do I, and Jill, the County girl, has fond memories of the episode from Aroostook as she was able to share the farming life with her fellow travelers. And I know she is looking forward to watching this episode with her grandchildren if they don't have a hockey game going on somewhere. So, let's hit the road from 2002, this is Road Diaries (calm music playing) (jazzy music playing) (bus engine whirs) - [Narrator] What happens when six diverse, ordinary people leave the comfort of their homes, hop on a bus with a group of strangers, and travel together around Maine? (group chatting and laughing) - [Narrator] Find out next on 'Road Diaries'.
- [Shirley] Well, we're so vulnerable in some ways, because one thing is being on TV, I thought, "oh, I'm gonna sound like a hick, with my innate Maine accent, and I thought the hell with it, this is a show about Maine, what are they going say? (all laugh) (jazzy music continues playing) - [Announcer] Production of Road Diaries is made possible, in part, through a television demonstration grant, from Rural Development, part of the USDA. (upbeat music playing) (upbeat music continues playing) (engine motor hums) (jazzy music plays) (crowd chatting and laughing) - Coming home Monday? - I don't know. - [Mieko] It's really funny, but I didn't even think of what if I don't get along with them, until almost the day before, it suddenly hit me.
What if I hate them, and they hate me? - Frankly, I think one fear that I had, was that, you know, we might come together, and there would be just a real sense of discomfort, between individuals, and much to my amazement, that's not true. Despite all of our differences. - [Mieko] I was willing to just go with it, and then, if they don't like me, if I don't like them fine, I'll just sit quiet and sleep on a bus, go with it. I said, yes, I'd do it. So, what more can I do? - I pretty much had no idea of what I was getting into.
I was the only teenager, and I'm actually interested in film. So, it was cool to hang around the crew, and see how everything operates, and what goes into it. - In Japan, we use a lot of English word as it is.
I would describe Caleb as cute-do, which means cute, very adorable. - I think I'll look kind of dorky, but you know, I don't care. - Sonny's very thoughtful. So I'd say (speaking Japanese), which means thoughtful.
You're deep in thought. - [Sunny] The other thing I bring is my sense of humor, and my playfulness, which comes out periodically, and my sense of adventure, you know, I suspect we all have, every one of us, the six of us have to have some element of that. I mean, how could you ever agree to do such a thing if you didn't, you know, have some sense of, "wow, what's going to happen, let's give this a try," you know, cause it's nothing I've ever done, anything like this in my life.
- [Jill] I'm just really glad that I can bring the county to the show, because so many times, when I travel, and I say I'm from Maine, people are like, "oh, I've been to Maine, I've been to Portland." I'm like, "oh, really five hours north of that, and you'll be in my town." (jazzy music continues playing) - [Dave] Check. 1...2...3..
- [Jill] I love visiting different areas, but I always like coming back here to stay. - Jill, I would describe (speaking Japanese), means, very gentle, kind, think she has a very gentle mind. David mellow, very mellow, very comfortable, pleasant to be around. What would be a good word in Japanese? (speaking Japanese) means comfortable, pleasant to be with. - In a way I regret doing it, because I am kind of reclusive person, but be that as it may.
Shirley, she's a whole Maine girl, so, she and I have similar perspectives, I guess, on things, yeah. I shouldn't say... I don't mean old as far as (laughing) antique or anything, but been around for a little while. Like me. - [Shirley] I think Dave and I have a relationship, and Jill and I, because we're so much alike, Mieko and Sunny, we can have a more interesting relationship because we're different.
- I describe Shirley as very curious. So I would say (speaking Japanese), which means very curious. - Mieko, to have her talk about herself, and talk about Japan, I think that's fascinating, but, I'm sure people like to hear about small town, Maine girl too. - It may be neat. It may be a neat thing for hardcore Mainers, to see someone from different background, living in Maine and enjoying it, probably as much as they do, and really loving it here.
(jazzy music continues playing) (bus engine rumbles) - [Narrator] What is traveling? Changing your place? By no means! Traveling is changing your opinion and your prejudices. Anatole France. Mieko, Sunny, Caleb, Jill, David and Shirley, are six very different people, with one thing in common. When asked, they all jumped at the chance to travel and explore Maine, will they change their opinions and prejudices? We'll see. Together, they set out to discover what connects us to each other as Mainers, regardless of where we live.
Another thing they have in common, is that they're each keeping online journals. Although they're all on the same bus, everyone's experience is different. And their road diaries reveal six distinct points of view. Bus driver, Dave Jewitt, gets us on our way, as we trek across five counties, in four days, or more than 40% of the state of Maine.
Western Maine is connected by some of the state's most scenic roads. These routes wind through many of the least traveled places in New England: rushing rivers, lakes, mountains, forests, and fertile valleys are all familiar sites. As the trip begins in Lewiston, our six travelers are joined by Paul Fredrick, a 5th generation resident of Starks. - [Paul] One of the things that strikes me about Western Maine, is the diversity, and flexibility of the people that live here, they're willing to do many different things, at different points in their life, and they have a lot of skills, that we're totally unaware of.
I suspect I have a number of skills, that I've forgotten I have, (group laughs) that I could depend on, if I had to. (wind blows) (bird caws) My father was a dairy farmer. He also ran a lumbering business. We have been on that same property for well over two centuries. I guess we, collectively, haven't had the common sense to leave.
I left and came back. But you have to get your mail somewhere, so you might as well get it in Western Maine, as anywhere else. (upbeat music playing) - [Narrator] Just an hour away from Starks, the history is much different from how Paul grew up.
Instead of wide open pastures, the mills are what drew people to Lewiston and Auburn. (traffic humming past) - [Paul] As we were running around Lewiston and Auburn, a few minutes ago, memories from my first encounter with that community came back to me. I remember walking around on the streets, kind of casually, and seeing an entirely different culture.
I was dumbfounded that we had here in Maine. - [Jill] Diversity! - People that spoke a different language! You know, French was something foreigners spoke, not something Mainers spoke. (upbeat fiddle music continues playing) - [Mayor Tara] I have been the mayor in the city of Lewiston for three years. I'm in my final term, and I'm a native here.
My background is similar to many, many people here in this community. I'm Franco American. My grandparents came here on the trains, to work in the mills. Just a show of hands. How many folks here have been to Lewiston? Oh, so quite a few people.
So for those of you that have been to Lewiston, I'm gonna ask you to be really honest, and give me just one or two words about what your impression, or things you've heard, about the city of Lewiston. - [Shirley] Milltown. - Milltown, okay.
- Seedy. - [Mayor Tara] Seedy, there you go, we're hearing some honesty now. Now how about high crime rate? Lot of poverty, right? Yeah. Just like not a good place to be. Well, I think that on this trip, you're going to see that that's very, very different here in the city of Lewiston.
We are in the process of just incredible change, here in this city. And I like to say we're a recovering mill town. (bus engine hums) - [Narrator] Part of that recovery, is the redevelopment of the Bates Mill Complex. Benjamin Bates founded the mill in 1850.
Today, these huge buildings are changing, along with the times. - [Mayor Tara] This was the first building right here, that was completely, I mean, when they came to see this building, there were dead pigeons, it was sand. I mean, it was just disgusting. Yeah, you wouldn't want to put a cow in there, and now... (group giggles) - [Mayor Tara] It's true! And now it's absolutely beautiful, and this is the one that we're talking about, that's the most recent, and this will be the courtyard right here.
And we'll actually put the opening here. We were exactly on the other side, see where the tower is there? We were right down there. (water rushes) - [Mayor Tara] And at one point, the odor from the river, the fumes, were so bad, it peeled the paint off buildings. And so we've put a tremendous effort into cleaning up the river, and reclaiming that, and now people boat on it, and use it for recreational use, and, you know, it's actually very healthy, and had tremendous progress. (calm music playing) - Children worked alongside adults in most mills, photographer, Lewis Hine, wanted to change that.
Many consider his images a driving force behind child labor laws. - [Guide] One at a time, here. - And what Lewis Hine did, is he tried to photograph the children working, because he was trying to stop that. I know, isn't that amazing? I can't imagine my eight year old working all day.
- I know. - I know, and I just can't imagine, when I look at him today, and yet these children were that age or younger. (melancholy fiddle music playing) - It's very unusual that you will find photographs of anything in Lewiston from Lewis Hines, because he was not permitted to come into the mill. (melancholy music continues playing) - (speaking French) - (speaking French) The heart of Maine. - (speaking French) (group laughing) - (speaking French) - You're welcome, thank you very much.
If you folks want to take just a couple of minutes, and walk through, are we going straight through, or are we going back that way? - [Mieko] As I saw some of the photographs of young children who used to work at the mill, I thought of my grandmother. She started working at young age, in our hometown in Tokugawa, and never had a chance to go to school. I wonder what she would say if she were still living now, which is 88 years old, and got to see those pictures of youngsters working just like she did. (machinery whirs) - [Narrator] During the 1950s, Bates was the largest woven bedspread manufacturer in the world. After that, overseas competition hit hard. Although the mill stayed competitive for years, the day before our trip to Lewiston, the newspaper made a dramatic announcement.
- [Mayor Tara] And in fact, the timing, if any of you have seen the newspapers, is quite interesting, because Bates manufacturing is in very serious trouble at this point. And we're expecting that they will not survive financially. They have laid off most all of their employees, just within the last couple of days.
That is a significant ending of an era, here in this city. It's not just another business. In fact, it's the end, of the Industrial Revolution era in this city. (melancholy fiddle music playing) - [David] Inside the Bates Mill was interesting, lots of renovation, much better than a wrecking ball, demolishing them with abandon. I remember as a kid in junior high, watching them destroy the huge brick American woolen mill on front street in Skowhegan.
They replaced it with a liquor store, and a parking lot. The only part of the original buildings that survived, was what is now the Dexter shoe factory. They announced last week that that was folding up operation. - [Narrator] Further up the Androscoggin River, is another mill community built up around water power, the town of Rumford. Instead of textiles, Rumford's industrial revolution brought with it the paper industry.
The town was quite literally developed around the mill. Like Benjamin Bates of Lewiston, paper mill developer, Hugh Chisholm had a vision of how to harness the water power of the mighty Androscoggin. He built a paper mill on Rumford Falls, and turned a small town into a bustling river valley. Rumfordites relied on farms in the surrounding towns to provide for its considerable workforce. - [Paul] If we were making this trip a hundred years ago, we would be passing through, for the most part, cleared agricultural land.
We would be passing, for the most part, a string of active farms, one right next to the other. And most of the land, that was in agriculture, has gone back to the forest. (upbeat music playing) (singing in French) - You don't see a dance floor like this in very many places. - True. - [Shirley] This is rare. - [Gene] This was built in the time, when a craftsman took pride in their craft.
- [Shirley] I haven't seen a dance floor like this, maybe one other one in my whole life. - [Gene] This was THE place for many, many years. They'd have boxing matches, they'd have dances, they'd have...
- [Mieko] Boxing? - Oh yes. In the twenties, 1920s. Wrestling matches. They used to have, when I was a younger, much younger individual, they used to have slapstick comedy. What was it? When they put charcoal on their faces? Everything was vaudeville and minstrel shows.
- Yes, that's what they were called. - [Gene] They had some grand minstrel shows here on this stage. - [Shirley] From our bus window, we saw the beauty of Maine, as well as things that make us sad. Maine is beautiful in the winter. It can also be lonely. I saw abandoned granges, sitting deserted against the winter snow. It gave me a cold, lonely feeling.
They represent the end of an era. I think about the Grange in my hometown of Camden, it was a meeting place for my mother, and her senior citizens group. She celebrated her 62nd wedding anniversary, there with friends and family. That grange was torn down to make room for a parking lot.
(upbeat music playing) - [Narrator] Another thing Rumford and Lewiston share in common, is there Franco-American heritage, and predominantly Catholic faith. Every winter, heritage and faith come together, with snowmobiling, at the blessing of the snowmobiles. Hundreds of sled owners from around the state, start off their season with the good blessings of Father Albert Jakes, or Father Al, as he likes to be called. (upbeat music playing) - [David] Just like that.
- [Narrator] Another popular sport in the river valley, is skiing. For 40 years, Black Mountain has been the gathering place for winter sports and social events. (jazzy music playing) - [Narrator] Tonight, the people of Rumford, and the surrounding towns, have gathered here to celebrate the spirit of community. (upbeat music playing) (upbeat music continues playing) - [Narrator] Franco-American music is the perfect backdrop for conversation and dancing. - What part of Japan are you from? - [Mieko] I'm originally from Tokyo.
The east end of Tokyo. - Now, where are you living? I'm sorry, I missed that. - I live in Brunswick. - In Brunswick, okay.
- [Mieko] I like it. (upbeat music playing) (crowd chattering) - [Narrator] What better way to entertain out of town guests, than with a traditional potluck dinner? Rumford is home to many great skiers, including two time cross country Olympian, Wendall "Chummy" Broomhall. - It seemed like it was only yesterday, that this was a working farm, they had great beef cattle here at the inn. And about 1946, I came up here, in the summer, and fall, and cut wood for the farmer to get in shape for skiing. And it seemed like it was only yesterday. - Come on, let's go, let's go then.
- How long is it gonna take? - [Narrator] After supper, Arthur Bowman, coerced the group into trying Rumford's latest winter sport, snow tubing. - [Shirley] This is living on the edge. (Meiko laughs) (upbeat music playing) - [David] A free ride... - I thought I was going to be sitting down in the lodge, with the rest of the ski bunnies. - [Attendant] When you get to the bottom, when they tell you to jump out, Someone will stop it for you.
- All right. - [Attendant 2] Good luck! (upbeat music playing) - Sunny, it's been fun knowing you. No matter what, it's been wonderful being with you.
(all screaming) ♪ Hey now, baby ♪ Hey now, honey child (group screaming) ♪ Hey now baby, hey now honey child ♪ - Shirley, and Sunny... Look at that, they're going again. - I loved it, it's great. Now I wanna go on the bigger on. - [Arthur] Let's go, you and I go on that one. Let's go.
♪ So long baby, so long honey child ♪ (screaming) ♪ So long baby, so long honey child ♪ - [Cameraman] We need to get a good shot of you. You need to go again. (Mieko laughing) - [Cameraman 2] Yeah, we need one - No, no! - Come on! - Come on! - You don't understand... I just did it once, you missed it. Once in a lifetime. - [Jill] Oh, we didn't either.
- I'm stepping back. - I'm a tubing addict (laughing) - The first part is... - This is fun. - Have you been on the big one? - [Shirley] No no. - [Caleb] It's fun.
- [Shirley] No no. (upbeat music continues) (wind roars) (Caleb screams) (wind roars) (screams) ♪ Hey now baby, hey now honey child ♪ - This gentleman was very helpful, thank you. - It was fun, taking these ladies, these guys. ♪ So long baby, so long honey child ♪ - [Narrator] The next morning of our four day trip, the group set out on a long drive to Greenville. This gave them time to reflect on all they'd experienced the day before. (bus engine hums) - [Mieko] What I saw yesterday, was people who really care about where they live.
Not necessarily they were born and grew up there, but also they could've moved there, but still they love where they live. They were so proud and they wanted to share with us. And that really touched me, you know, sort of make me think. Maybe I understand a little bit better, why my parents live, where they were born, and they grew up, and I never asked them. - [Jill] Last night, I felt like I was home. I mean that, mountain was so similar, to what we have in Marcel, at Big Rock.
All the people cooking, bringing stuff in, and sense of community, sense of pride in their community. And you can see that in Rumford as well as in those, they're really working hard to bring economic development into the community. And I have a daughter going to the University of Maine at Farmington, and she wanted to come here.
I'm like, why does she want to go there? And we're bringing her, and inside I'm saying "I can't leave her here." But now that I know so much more about Western Maine, it's not that different from where we live. - [Mieko] Yesterday, I was in the dinner party, thinking, "oh wow, I'm the only Asian here," but I felt real comfortable, and I felt real welcomed in. People are curious about where I am from. And I thought it was real pleasant, curiosity, and I felt real proud to be able to share, where I'm from, and why I came here. - I too... like Diego was...
being the only African-American in the place. And it's not an uncommon experience of course, but it was nice to just see people's down earth... you know, graciousness, and the home food, and everything that was there waiting for us. I was surprised. - [David] I was impressed with both Lewiston and Rumford, from having seen them, 20, 30, 35 years ago, they are kind of like hubs of Western Maine.
Really the whole state of Maine is going through this transition. What are we gonna have for an economy? How are we going to live, compared to the way we lived a generation ago, as we get out into the countryside, to me, that's a big question. How is the hinterland gonna cope, and adapt with all these changes? When Mieko was talking about her parents in Japan, they don't like to move.
Well, it's not only the Japanese that are that way. Cause I'm kind of like a stick in the mud myself, so... but I'm enjoying this, because I've never been on this road. The scenery is great.
- [Mieko] That's pretty. (calm synth music playing) (calm synth music playing) - [Narrator] Snowmobiles and ice fishing shacks on Moosehead Lake, are reminders that the woods based economy is augmented by year round tourism. Greenville is where most of the new recreation dollars end up, spent at places like the Blair Hill Inn. (group laughing and chatting) - [Narrator] While winter tourism is relatively new to the area, the Blair Hill Inn is not. Built in 1891 by Chicago banker Lyman Blair, he operated the estate as a farm, specializing in livestock and rare plants.
Today the estate is a bed and breakfast style inn. Like the original owner, innkeepers Ruth and Dan McLaughlin moved to Greenville from Chicago. They were smitten by the astounding views of Moosehead Lake and surrounding mountains, as well as the architectural beauty of the main house. For them, the inn is a labor of love. It took them over a year of major restoration to open the house as a BNB, owning the inn is the culmination of a dream to leave urban life behind and move to the country to raise their family. As if the relaxed atmosphere, and intimate setting aren't enough, the innkeepers know when a guest is having a birthday.
(The Beatle's 'Birthday' playing and group chatting) - Hey Dan, go turn the stereo down, for happy birthday. (The Beatle's 'Birthday' playing and group chatting) ♪ Yes we're going to a party, party ♪ ♪ Yes we're going to a party, party ♪ ♪ I would like you to dance (Birthday) ♪ - [Ruth] Happy birthday. ♪ [Group] Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday dear David, happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ And many mooooore. (group applauding) - I had a birthday thing with my grandsons, before I came on this thing, that was nice. I had one in my lap, and the other ones... He said, "bammy, make a wish bammy" (group laughs) (David blows) (group applauds) - Soon after the birthday cake disappeared, the entertainment arrived, in the form of game warden Pat Dorian.
The birthday boy was the first to bend his ear. - David, this is Pat. - Hi. - How are you? - [Pat] What's your name? - Dave Calder. - [Pat] Where are you from? - Skowhegan.
- [Pat] Uh-huh. I know you haven't been in trouble, I'm just teasing. - Actually, I got caught for fishing without a license, on Moosehead Lake, probably 25 years ago. - [Pat] Well then, you've been forgiven. - I have? Okay, so I haven't got a license now, can I come back and do it again, and not get arrested? - Well, let's see... - On the free day, right? - [Narrator] A busload of people in a Greenville bed and breakfast caused a bit of a stir, things are usually a little quieter around here.
And that's probably one of the things that attracts folks like Ruth and Dan McLaughlin, who came to Maine for a slower pace of life. - I think we're as excited today as we were, when we first moved in. And I think we were scared to death when we first moved in, what are we going to do with all this? It takes a pretty eclectic skillset to do something like this, because you have to be able to do the work yourself to a certain degree.
You've got to be able to paint, you've got to be able to plaster, you've got to be able to refinish floors, but you also have to be able to converse with people, you've gotta be able to cook, you've got to be clean, you've got to market, you've got to be an accountant. I don't think everyone's cut out to do this sort of work. (melancholy music playing) - [Mieko] A lot of people have dreams, but they just, they don't really go with it.
But it's nice to see that actually happening, they seem to be really happy, and they like it. - [Jill] This is really a pretty good find here. - [Mieko] This is nice. (crowd chattering) - Yeah. I've got some of those in my room. - You got something for your mother.
- I did. - She's gonna love it. - I know. - I can't read that out loud. - I know.
- [Jill] I'm really learning a lot about the state that I didn't know, even though I've lived here all my life. I've never visited Greenville. I've never been to Greenville before. - They got some cute books for children here.
I like talking to Jill, we're both native Mainers, so we have a lot about Maine to talk about, and we just bonded, because we have essentially the same background, even though mine is on the coast, and hers is up in a rustic and Mars Hill. - You could pretty much tell what everyone was going to be like, like I knew Shirley was just gonna be a kick, and Mieko, everything's fun to her. (melancholy music continues playing) - You like it? I can tell. - And Dave, he just carefully weighs everything before he does it. Caleb, he's a lot of fun. Sunny, she'll try anything.
So I think it's a really good, good blend. - I didn't expect... Like, I thought everybody would be old, and I didn't think they'd be as fun as it was.
And everybody's really cool. And we've done a lot of fun stuff. - The bus troop is about to get a whole lot cooler, as they step out onto the ice and yell "haw." - Whoa! (group yelping) - If I let go of the papers we won't have to do this.
- [Sunny] This is probably the coldest I've been, in my two years and four months in Maine. (sunny laughing) (Silver whining) - Come on, come on Silver. Ready? Need some help? This is Silver, she's 10 years old. Still doing a good job. Coming? (Silver whining) - [Narrator] Steve Madera is the dog sled guide. (group cooing over the dogs) - He loves me. He loves me.
- [Narrator] He's used to explaining what you need to know about being pulled by a team of dogs. - [Steve] If you stand like this, it's pretty easy to balance. You stay loose in the knees, and it helps keep your weight low, so you're not so tippy.
When you stiffen up, you become tippy, cause all your weights high. - [Narrator] There are two dog teams. (Mieko laughing) - [Mieko] Two more, we got two more! - That's all right. - [Narrator] Steve can drive one, but he needs a volunteer to drive the other. (dogs barking) - [Narrator] before Caleb could say no, he was unanimously elected musher.
- [Caleb] At first I was nervous. I had never driven a team of dogs before. When the group voted me, my first reaction was "you want me to do what?" I think I was more anxious than anything else. Once Steven explained the program, and I had a little bit of practice, I warmed right up to it, which wasn't easy on a cold January day.
I must say, owning a dog sledding business is not an easy job. I would definitely do it again. - [Steve] Basically what the musher does, is they look at the lines that the dogs are attached to, and you kind of keep those tight, so they don't get loose. What happens when they get loose, is a dogs leg can get caught in it.
And then when it tightens back up, they can get injured. (dogs yapping) - [Mieko] Are we almost ready to go? - [David] Yeah. - [Mieko] Excellent. (dogs barking) - [Steve] Are you ready? Let's go. (upbeat music playing) - [Steve] Haw! (group laughing and screaming) - [Jill] I read the journal entries that Sonny, Mieko and Caleb wrote, about our dog sledding adventure.
They did such a fine job describing it, that I do not know what more I can add. I think we all felt the same way. Cold. You would never know that Caleb and I have lived in Maine all our life, and have always participated in winter sports. I think it made Sonny, and Mieko feel better, to know that Caleb and I were just as cold as they were. (whimsical music playing) - [Steve] Straight on.
Straight on, straight on. Let's go. - [Jill] We quickly learned the lingo, and we were off across the lake. Things were busy on the lake that morning. Snowmobiles were everywhere. (snowmobile engine roars) - [Steve] They love the chase. - [Jill] The lake was dotted with ice shacks, and their fishermen.
I enjoyed looking at all the houses along the way. What a nice view the owners must have from their windows. I'm sure every season lends a new splash of beauty. - [Steve] Let's go, let's go.
- [Steve] Let's go, let's go, come on! (whimsical music continues playing) - [Steve] Just great. You know, you you think they're tired, all of a sudden they get that extra energy, Mushing along, and everything is just still, and peaceful, it's really beautiful. Let's go, let's go. (whimsical music continues playing) - [Steve] Let's go, let's go, come on, let's go.
- [Jill] I rode with Steve on the ride back. - [Steve] I'll just pull up here and stop. - [Jill] He told me that he came here from upper state, New York. - [Steve] Okay Pan, paw, paw Pan! - [Jill] I found this interesting because Dan and Ruth, the proprietors of the Blair Hill Inn, had come from Chicago to settle in Maine.
I guess city life is not for everyone. (whimsical music continues playing) - [Cameraman] How was it? - Going out, it was freezing, but coming back in, and it wasn't bad, cause the wind was at our back and we had the sun on us. - [Sunny] We thought were going to go do a turn, and come back, but we went way out. - I really got worried about you. - Me, I'm fine, I just, you know, Mieko started shuddering.
- [Mieko] I'm not cold, I'm just sort of shaking. These are hard working dogs. - [Cameraman] You ready to do this professionally now? - Yeah, well I am professional, anyways. - [Cameraman] Professional snow sledder?. - [Caleb] It would be fun to do it again, but maybe not as long because it was so cold.
- [Cameraman] Yeah. - Luckily the 'Road Diaries' crew, isn't traveling by dog sled to Jackman. They can sit back and enjoy the ride, on a climate controlled bus. As it winds its way along the Moose River. This route is as old as the Hills, fur trappers carried their pelts and moose hides into Jackman on their way to markets in Quebec. For those early settlers in Maine's Northwest corner, as well as current residents, the trip to Quebec city is closer than Boston.
(upbeat music) (laughter) - [David] Not another one, hey what are you doing to me Tammy? - [Tammy] I know, I try to keep going for the excitement. (upbeat music continues playing) (bus's breaks hiss) - [Narrator] After checking in at Sky Lodge, local historian Ruth Reed joins the group. - [Shirley] So, this area was settled by farmers then, that's that's the first people that came in, were farmers. - [Ruth] Well, they thought they was going to farm, but it wasn't really very good farming country. The season was too short. They couldn't grow any corn.
And really the only crop that they could grow, with success, was hey. There was a great demand for hay, in all the woods camps, as soon as that started. There was the tourist season in the summer, and in the fall it was the hunting season, and also fishing in the spring. The busiest part of the year now is in the winter. (laughing) the snowmobilers.
(ragtime music playing) (snowmobile engine revs) - [Narrator] Jackman is considered the hub of snowmobiling. (snowmobile engines humming) - [Narrator] Winter brings an average snowfall of over 10 feet. Hundreds of miles of grim trails connect to Rangeley Greenville and Canada. These trails were first blazed by woodsmen who built up the town of Jackman. (water burbling) - [Narrator] The wood cut here was sent down the Moose River into Moose Head Lake, where it was rounded up and floated down the Kennebec River. (water rushes) River drives continued until 1976, when environmental concerns about the effect of traditional logging on water quality were at their height.
David Calder considers himself very fortunate to have worked on the river drives as a young man. He was there until the end. - So this song, I wrote this song the last year that I worked on the drive, and it's about working on the drive. This was it right after 250 years, all of a sudden they were no longer gonna be doing this. It was over, my job was ending, a lot of people's jobs were ending, so...
The song was called 'The Last Drive'. (melancholy guitar playing) ♪ I'd like to tell you this story, boys ♪ ♪ About taking down the drive. ♪ Well my foreman's name is Busta, boys, ♪ ♪ And he also does reside ♪ Near the banks of this river here, in Skowhegan Maine, ♪ ♪ When the red gets in the shield, ♪ ♪ We'll never drive again. ♪ Well this mighty Kanabec, ♪ Boy she's something to be seen, ♪ ♪ From the head waters in Moose Head down ♪ ♪ The valley and the sea ♪ With her islands and back channels. ♪ ♪ And white water and depth, ♪ Great and great remedies for river driver's heads, ♪ (upbeat guitar music continues) ♪ Well, we hang them hooves in springtime. ♪ ♪ We sluice come summertime, ♪ We're rafting wood across the lake, 5,000 a time, ♪ ♪ Well, now the fall it's coming on, ♪ ♪ Ain't it time to take a rest. ♪
♪ We got to head up to that cut off, ♪ ♪ and get on the golf and gassing gif ♪ (upbeat guitar music continues) ♪ And from Indian Pond down to the fox, ♪ ♪ Well it's white water most of the way, ♪ ♪ Ain't riding them leaky backhoe, ♪ ♪ I know it ain't worth the pay, ♪ ♪ From the Fox down through Caroltown, ♪ ♪ And Roman white and Derr, ♪ That first week in September, ♪ ♪ well we're headed for the soilent dam ♪ ♪ We've been driving this old river, boys ♪ ♪ Two centuries and a half, ♪ Just to get that wood down to them mills, ♪ ♪ By God, it makes you laugh, ♪ Some educated fools from God knows where ♪ ♪ Well, they said that it should end, ♪ ♪ That outfit down through Guster, ♪ ♪ Says we can never drive again, ♪ ♪ Well finally, we do get her in, ♪ ♪ And ain't we feeling good? ♪ So we have us a little gathering, ♪ ♪ To forget that freaking wood. ♪ ♪ With some liquor, and some smoking, ♪ ♪ And a lot of bullshitting all around, ♪ ♪ Oh, but everyone of us knows ♪ this is the last time we'll take her down ♪ ♪ Everyone of us knows this is the last year, ♪ ♪ We'll take her down. (group applauds and whistles) - [Shirley] Dave, I feel you and I are a lot alike. Change can be exciting, but it is not always easy. We feel we lose a little bit of ourselves, as we see the Maine way knew, fast disappearing.
Let's hope that we can learn to appreciate the opportunities that await. - [Narrator] On the way to David's hometown of Skowhegan. The group stops in South Solon to see the meeting house, his ancestors helped build in the 1840s. (group murmuring) - [Narrator] To build this central gathering place, the community pulled together to raise the money, with each person giving whatever they could afford.
- My great, great, great grandfather's name is on a tablet over in the corner there. What they would do is they would contribute lumber, or labor or money and they would buy a pew. So the people that built this church, they got a pew. - [Narrator] When enough money was raised, the foundation was laid, and the beams were raised, by men of the congregation.
- [David] Right here Deputy Rawls, that would be my great, great, great grandfather, I think. He was one of the ones that built this meeting house. (group chattering) - [Narrator] On the 4th of January, 1843, the congregation assembled to dedicate the new meeting house. - Do they still ring the bell? - [Narrator] The total cost of the building was $1,200. (bell ringing) (bell continues ringing) - [Jill] Dave, they called this a meeting place. - [David] It's a meeting house.
- A church? - [David] It's both. These were Puritans that built this. - [Narrator] Although its primary role was that of a church, it was also used as a central meeting place.
In 1950, this building was given to the townspeople for social gatherings. It's now known as the South Solon community house. (acoustic music playing) (truck engine humming) (water burbling) (acoustic music continues playing) - [Narrator] The Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan, is home to the political memorabilia collected during the 32 year career of former U.S. Senator Margaret Chase Smith. She was born in Skowhegan on December 14th, 1897, and graduated from high school at a time when women didn't even have the right to vote.
- [David Richards] If you were a woman in American 1916, you faced a huge obstacle, if you were interested in government and politics, and that was, you didn't have the right to participate. And that wouldn't come until 1920, with the ratification of the 19th amendment. - In 1940, she became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Years later, she became a U.S. Senator,
making her the first woman elected to both houses of Congress. - [David] One of the things that I admired about Margaret was the fact that she, when she finished up in Washington, she came back to Skowhegan. Most politicians if they live in Washington for a long time, they don't go back to some little town, in the middle of nowhere, they stay where the action is. So that's one thing that I admire about her.
- [Jill] I'm amazed at how much I did not know about our beautiful state of Maine, even though I've been a lifelong resident. The 'Road Diaries' experience has opened my eyes to how much our state has to offer. I guess it just depends on what you want. Some people leave the big cities to come to Maine, while others leave Maine, in search of bigger and better opportunities.
As for my family and I, we are content to remain in the state of Maine and leave the big cities for an occasional visit. (traffic hums past) (slow music playing) - Dave's family has been in Skowhegan since the early 1800's. Much of his family still lives here. His brother is a dairy farmer, and his mom, who we met over lunch, is from a long line of teachers. Dave was glad to be back with his wife, Maureen. After lunch, the group says their goodbyes, as Dave leaves the bus.
(crowd chattering) - See you soon - We'll miss you, don't forget to write! - Don't go, come with us. - [Shirley] Send us a postcard. - Bye. - [Jill] Write a song about us.
- [Narrator] Traveling through Western Maine, brought out a sense of curiosity in everyone. No one could have guessed, that one of the most eye-opening things to come out of the trip, would be the experience of diversity, in the landscape, in the way people make a living, and within the group itself. - [Shirley] Well, we're so vulnerable in some ways, because one thing is being on TV, I thought, oh, I'm gonna sound like a hick, with my innate Maine accent. And I thought the hell with it, this is a show about Maine, what are they gonna do? (group laughs) - [Sunny] I'm curious about what's it like, to grow up in Maine? What's it like to be from a small town? That's very different than my experience.
That's just one part of who some of you are. I want to understand that. And I want people to be curious about me, and what's part of my heritage. - [Shirley] Growing up in Maine, I went through grade school, and high school, without going to school, with a single African American, I'm saying it right, or a single Asian. So, this has been a wonderful experience, because I have never gotten to know an African American personally, before. If you haven't had the opportunity to socialize, then you say things sometimes, that are completely...
they hurt someone, or they're completely inappropriate, because you're not... like I said about the... remember when we were in the, in the... in the dance hall, and he brought up about the old minstrel shows. I never thought about you being African-American at that time.
- [Jill] Oh, I thought that immediately, and I watched your reaction. - [Shirley] And I said, how I liked them as a child, but all I was thinking of the context of the townspeople, being there and people singing and dancing, and having a good time, and it meant something altogether... - It meant something completely different to me. It meant ridicule, it meant demeaning, a way of demeaning black people. - [Shirley] What I might think is not hurtful, is very hurtful, and you don't mean it to be - [Sunny] I am different, I mean, in lots of ways, and my race is part of who I am.
My culture is part of who I am. My gender is part of who I am. And so those things do matter to me. - [Mieko] I agree, I agree. I think, I mean, obviously I look different, and you look different, and you look different, and feel that I'm very fortunate that my parents accept my husband, he's American.
My grandfather he's 96 years old, he loves my husband. He thinks it's the best thing happened to me. When I see you folks, I just see you as, I don't see you as being Japanese, or you as being Afro-American, I just see you as people. - There's an anthropologist named Clyde Kluckhohn, and he was really a famous anthropologist, and he said something like this, he said, every person is like all other people, like some other people, and like no other person.
And what it means is we're the same, and we're different. That's the beauty. (bus engine humming) - [Announcer] Production of 'Road Diaries' is made possible, in part, through a television demonstration grant from Rural Development, part of the USDA. - [Cameraman] You go, boy, you the man. - I'm the man.
Hi, I'm the man. No. (crowd laughing offscreen) I'm the man for 'Road Diaries', I am the bus driver. (crew chatting) - Yeah, it's a very sticky camera. (vocalizing) - That way, that way, I'll be there over there okay? - Hi Carter. - Have to come down (laughs).
- Hi, I'm Dave Jordan, I'm the bus driver for 'Road Diaries'. And you would not believe what I've seen on this bus. You would not believe... You just wouldn't believe it.
(bus engine rumbling) (upbeat music playing) - Good luck! - [Cameraman] You of all people should know better. - [Cameraman 2] Well, I'm remarking, I'm just remarking We're all set though. - And now I'm gonna jump and jive.
(feet tap)
2022-02-06 13:05
