It's Snowing

....in York. It is not snowing in San Diego.

Red Cross Needs Your Help

From wcsh6.com:

In the past 14 days, there have been 12 fires in York and Cumberland Counties that the Red Cross have responded to. They have helped 23 people in that time. Now, they need help.

Winters are always busy times for the disaster relief teams of the Red Cross, but Director Shawna Chigro-Rogers says this winter has been exceptionaly busy.

Since the beginning of the year, the American Red Cross of Southern Maine has gone to 23 fires and helped 211 people. That has cost the agency $11,500.

"We really need financial support for the expenses that have been put into servicing our clients in those areas," said Chigro-Rogers.

Donations can be made to:
American Red Cross of Southern Maine
2401 Congress St.
Portland, ME 04102

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace, a British film about William Wilberforce and his efforts to end slavery, had some help from York resident and historian, Kevin Belmonte. Belmonte wrote a biography of Wilberforce, entitled William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity. Based upon that work, he was asked to be the lead historical consultant for the film, working with the screenwriter and director to ensure the story was historically accurate.

Over the last year, Belmonte has been consulting on two Wilberforce related documentaries -- one for the BBC and another U.S.-based documentary. He has also been speaking to various governmental and civic groups in the United Kingdom and the U.S.

The film is playing in Portsmouth at the Regal Cinemas (stadium seating, y'all), and around the country.

Breaking News From York

Last month, it was a shooting. Yesterday, it was a fire at the lovely Stage Neck Inn. No one was hurt, but the inn, which had just opened earlier in the week after a month long renovation sustained about $50,000 in damages.

Fire trucks from Ogunquit, Kittery, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, York and York Beach lined Stage Neck Road and helped at the scene.

It's the lead story at WCSH (NBC News in Maine) and top of the fold in the Portsmouth Herald.

Next month we're hoping our breaking news is something good like a resident winning the lottery or Blackbeard's Chest washing up on Short Sands.....

No Bunny Hugging Allowed

Does anyone know what Bunny Hugging is? Or at least what the 1922 slang definition would be?
Evidently it's "spooning beneath large umbrellas" and it wasn't appreciated down to York Beach.

I found this wonderful article in yesterday's edition of The York Weekly (aye-uh once a week on Wednesday York has its own paper). It appeared in the column called "Unknown History of York" written by Peter Moore:

Censors declare snappy bathing suits taboo at Maine resort

York Beach, Me. July 1, 1922 -- Petting parties and one-piece bathing suits may be alright for beaches in the South, where the rule "Let your conscience be your guide," has been adopted for the summer season, but York Beach will not tolerate the presence of either the beach vamp or those demonstrative of their affections. The York Beach Board of Assessors has decreed that conservative practice must rule.

Richard F. Chalk, York Beach's 74-year-old bathing suit censor, whose work last summer won him the commendation of the entire York Beach colony, is going to see that the mandate of the Board is executed.

Petting parties may be alright "" in their place "" but the beach is not the place. The fair maiden and her summer playmate are recommended by the "beach censor" to seek seclusion in the nooks and caves at the Nubble.

"We do not want to seem too severe," the Assessors say, "but we must provide the hundreds of children who play about the sands, and who are easily influenced by sights they see at the beach." The same regulations governing the beach last season will be in effect this year. Censorship will be moderately enforced.

Mr. Chalk will patrol the beach during the popular bathing hours in the morning and afternoon to see that the beach vamps are chased to the hotels for suitable attire, and what he calls "bunny hugging" is conspicuous by its absence. Spooning beneath large umbrellas is what the bathing suit censor terms "bunny hugging." This posture, which made its appearance early last season, was characterized by Mr. Chalk as unfit for public gaze.

Undressing in automobiles near hotels or cottages, promenading the stores, post office, and train depot in bathing attire, and midnight carousals come under the ban. "York Beach will be just as popular and we feel sure that our summer visitors will appreciate our beach restrictions," the Board of Assessors told the paper.

Bone Marrow Drive

We interrupt our Ohio State stuport for a quick public service announcement:

The village(s) of York is/are holding a blood marrow drive to help York High School senior Jason Durkin. He was just diagnosed with aplastic anemia.
The marrow drive is being held at First Parish Church (click link for a map to the church) on Wednesday January 10 from 4-8 pm.
Registration is $52.00 for each participant. The senior class has donated $2,000 (proceeds from their last, Kiwanss is paying for 50 people to take the test, the York Rotary has donated $1,000 to help offset the costs for those who can donate but can't cover the cost of the test.
Aplastic anemia is a condition that causes the bone marrow to stop producing enough red blood cells. Maybe if you're in the area, you'd stop and donate.

We Now Return to Mainelife

We're sorry for any inconvenience that our service interruption may have caused.

Nubble "Light"

Saturday night was the annual (actually bi-annual*) lighting of the Nubble Light for Christmas. About 1,000 folks welcomed Santa and sang Christmas Carols. York has been decorating and lighting the Nubble for decades, a tradition that helps to ensure that the Nubble remains Maine's most photographed lighthouse.

We have a love/hate relationship with the Nubble. We love it because it's ours and it's beautiful. We hate it because it's everywhere--one the wall in our friend's lakeside house in Sandusky, OH; on the wall in the office where our daughter works in Philadelphia; on the advertising flyer we received in the mail from Big American Bank; on the cover of our favorite book about Maine The Lobster Coast.



(*We love our tourists and we understand that our tourists don't love the Maine Coast in December, so we light it up in July. The touristas take their Christmas card pictures and then wander over to Brown's Ice Cream for a cone).

maine