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www.wellsreserve.org/news/20070910_punkinfiddle.htm
PUNKINFIDDLE: FAMILY FUN FOR ESTUARIES DAY
WELLS, MAINE - Punkinfiddle, A National Estuaries Day Celebration, features traditional crafts, hands-on science activities, lively music, old-fashioned games, fun food, farm animals, and lots of pumpkins in a historic seaside setting. Punkinfiddle will be held rain or shine at the Wells Reserve, 342 Laudholm Farm Road in Wells, on Saturday, September 29, from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $10 a carload.
A Pumpkin Parade and Salt Marsh March kick off the fifth annual Punkinfiddle festival. Arrive at 9:45 am to join a musical procession to our garden patch, where kids up to 6 years old can pick a free pumpkin for painting or carving. The march continues quietly to the Little River estuary for a look at salt marsh animals and an introduction to estuarine ecology.
At 10:30 pm, Intown Trolley departs on a 60-minute Watershed Tour and Narrated Trolley Ride that describes how changes in land use affect water supply and water quality in the Webhannet and Little River watersheds. To reserve your space in advance, call 207-646-1555.
Throughout the day, artisans will demonstrate their crafts and provide insight into traditional livelihoods. Punkinfiddle will have wool spinning, rug braiding, tape loom weaving, violin and folk instrument making, basket weaving, chair caning, knot tying, knitting, felting, and bee keeping.
Kids can build scarecrows, press apples, churn butter, carve or paint pumpkins, and play games. Sack races, three-legged races, egg-and-spoon relays, wheelbarrow races, and tugs-of-war are planned.
Punkinfiddle's main stage will feature Ladies of the Lake, The Boston Kiltics, and Boréal Tordu.
Bert Cowgill will be showing his popular sheep herding dogs throughout the day and Julie Giles of Lady Luck Farm returns with her massive but gentle prize oxen. Punkinfiddle will have horse-drawn hay rides and pony rides for a small fee.
The Wells Chamber of Commerce will serve up clam chowder, squash soup, mac 'n' cheese, grilled cheese, hot dogs, hamburgers, pumpkin whoopie pies, and all kinds of treats.
The Master Gardeners of York County and University of Maine Cooperative Extension will display information on the YardScaping program and guide kids in making seasonal bookmarks. The Wells Farmers Market will be on site, too, so folks can take home fine local produce and products.
Laudholm Trust is selling Punkinfiddle raffle tickets for an Old Town kayak from L.L. Bean and a gift basket from Maine food producers from now till the end of the festival, with the winners being drawn at 4:30 pm.
Punkinfiddle sponsors are Northern Utilities, LL Bean, Bandaloop, Tourist News, Dietz Associates, Kasprzak Financial Associates, Sevigney-Lyons Insurance, Wild Birds Unlimited, Good Clean Food, Wells Veterinary Clinic, Marlows, Grandy Oats, Gladstone's Under the Sun, and Pastor Chuck Orchards.
Laudholm Trust's 25th anniversary sponsors are Kennebunk Savings Bank, Bergen & Parkinson, LLC, The Colony Hotel, Consigli Construction Co., Inc., Digital Research, Inc., and Marshall Tent & Event Rental.
Punkinfiddle proceeds will benefit Laudholm Trust, the nonprofit organization that supports coastal research, education, and stewardship at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve.
For more information, visit www.punkinfiddle.org or call (207) 646-1555.
The Wells Reserve is located at 342 Laudholm Farm Road, just off Route 1 near the Wells-Kennebunk line and just 7 minutes from Maine Turnpike exit 19. The site boasts several historic buildings, excellent exhibits, and seven miles of easy hiking trails through fields and forests to salt marshes and a sandy beach.
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Tentative Music Schedule
10:00 am: Pumpkin Parade and Salt Marsh March
10:30 am: Boréal Tordu
11:30 am: Ladies of the Lake
12:30 pm: The Boston Kiltics
1:30 pm: Boréal Tordu
2:30 pm: Ladies of the Lake
3:30 pm: The Boston Kiltics
About the Musicians
Ladies of the Lake specialize in traditional Celtic instrumental music and ballad singing. They have performed for many years as a group and as individuals in their home state of Maine and beyond. The band's name is inspired by a Maine contra dance that has been enjoyed by dancers and musicians since colonial times. This band adds their own Maine sparkle to the music which immigrated here with the Irish and the Scots when they came to work in the lumber camps and mills of Maine and New Brunswick.
The Ladies are top-notch instrumentalists with an extensive repertoire of traditional dance tunes from Ireland, New England, and Canada, all played from memory. Their shows include music on the fiddle, flute, tin whistle, button accordion, guitar, bodhran and piano. They are accomplished singers whose vocal arrangements feature unique three-part harmonies. You'll hear ancient ballads, rounds, songs of the sea, and songs with a rousing chorus where audiences can join in.
The Boston Kiltics, a Celtic band from Boston, perform in the traditional Cape Breton style and bring the music, dance, and song of the Highlands to Punkinfiddle. Fast footwork and fantastic fiddling combine for a high energy performance from dancers and musicians who share the joyful and energetic spirit of the Scottish tradition in North America. Dancers Pamela Campbell and Christine Morrison are two of Boston's best Cape Breton style step dancers. Fiddler Doug Lamey has been seen all over Boston's Celtic scene where his fiddling keeps feet moving. Guitarist Cliff McGann, a Boston area musician and storyteller, plays guitar and tin whistle and sings in Gaelic.
Boréal Tordu began when fiddler Steve Muise and singer Robert Sylvain discovered a mutual interest in the music of their shared Acadian heritage. While signs of their parents' French culture can still be found in Maine, it was almost lost to their generation after years of forced assimilation. More than a revival, their music represents a continuation of musical traditions passed down from the Acadians, the Québécois, and the unique French-speaking people of the Republic of Madawaska and milltowns all over New England.
Boréal Tordu is Steve Muise, Maine's music teacher of the year for 2007 (fiddle, vocals, accordian, feet), Robert Sylvain (vocals, dobro), Pip Walter (guitar, vocals), and Andy Buckland (bass, vocals).
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