MARGARETTA DAYS FESTIVAL AND CRAFTS FAIR
June 19th and 20th, 2020
Moose stew to lead menu at Margaretta Days in Machias
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By Johanna S. Billings, BDN Staff Posted June 11, 2015, at 4:52 p.m.
MACHIAS, Maine — Homemade moose meat stew will be among the many specialty foods served during Margaretta Days Festival on June 13 at the University of Maine campus in Machias. “People come from far and wide to have the moose meat stew,” said Susan Wright, who is preparing the dish. “It’s like steak. It’s really good stuff.” Butcher Clayton Blake of Alexander, owner of Blake’s Slaughtering and Custom Cut Meats, donates the meat, which comes from unusual sources. “Sometimes it’s stuff that’s taken from poachers and sometimes it’s roadkill,” said Blake, who confirmed this year’s 10- to 15-pound donation came from roadkill. “We were hunting for roadkill. That’s the joke,” said Wright, who began cooking the meat Thursday at her Machias shop and mini cafe, Obadiah’s. She gives the meat a coating of flour and seasons it with salt and pepper. “It takes me a |
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day, maybe two, to cook the meat,” she said. When the meat is done she will cook the potatoes, onions, celery and carrots. The recipe also includes fresh herbs and wine and beer. “It’s very basic,” she said. The stew will not be sold, but rather offered for a suggested donation. “You can’t sell wild game in the state of Maine. It’s against the law,” Blake said. He frequently processes both poached meat that has been confiscated by law enforcement and roadkill “whenever there’s an accident that they call me,” he said. “Most of it I give to the food pantry.”
Margaretta Days chairperson Carlene Holmes said she was excited about this year’s food offerings. “The way to their heart is through their belly,” she said. In addition to the stew, Washington County Manager Betsy Fitzgerald is donating her homemade meat pies. Cornbread, beans, assorted fruit pies, popcorn, gingerbread and hot dogs also are on the menu. Although named Margaretta Days, the festival actually takes place only on Saturday. The day starts with an American Legion blueberry pancake breakfast from 7-9 a.m. at the American Legion hall on Court Street.
Holmes also is excited about a play to be presented by the Machias Bay Homeschoolers, tentatively scheduled for 12:30 p.m. About 15 children from seven area families will participate in the play that tells the story of a Revolutionary War battle in Machias, which the festival celebrates, said parent Sarah Craighead Dedmon. The play was written by parent Becky Baxter Bard, she said. The group also performed last year. “We’re expanding the play this year to include one Passamaquoddy character and two more female parts,” Craighead Dedmon said. “I think all the kids really appreciate it’s not just any old play. It’s a true story,” Baxter Bard said. “To have a play is so much better than listening to people talk,” Holmes said. “I’m so happy they’re doing it.”
Holmes also said she is excited about the possibility of what she is calling a “town photo,” to be taken on the Bad Little Falls platform during a dedication ceremony renaming the downtown bridge over the Machias River after local Revolutionary War hero Jeremiah O’Brien. “I would like to invite everyone to come get into the town photo,” she said, adding all those in attendance can join in even if they do not live in Machias.
The festival includes a parade, set to begin at 10 a.m. from Helen’s Restaurant to the UMaine campus. The parade will cross the bridge for the bridge naming ceremony and photo at about 10:30 a.m., Holmes said. The U.S. Navy Band Northeast Pops Ensemble will play patriotic music at 11:30 a.m. and will give a concert at 2 p.m. Additional Margaretta Days information can be found on Facebook or at www.margarettadays.com.
Margaretta Days chairperson Carlene Holmes said she was excited about this year’s food offerings. “The way to their heart is through their belly,” she said. In addition to the stew, Washington County Manager Betsy Fitzgerald is donating her homemade meat pies. Cornbread, beans, assorted fruit pies, popcorn, gingerbread and hot dogs also are on the menu. Although named Margaretta Days, the festival actually takes place only on Saturday. The day starts with an American Legion blueberry pancake breakfast from 7-9 a.m. at the American Legion hall on Court Street.
Holmes also is excited about a play to be presented by the Machias Bay Homeschoolers, tentatively scheduled for 12:30 p.m. About 15 children from seven area families will participate in the play that tells the story of a Revolutionary War battle in Machias, which the festival celebrates, said parent Sarah Craighead Dedmon. The play was written by parent Becky Baxter Bard, she said. The group also performed last year. “We’re expanding the play this year to include one Passamaquoddy character and two more female parts,” Craighead Dedmon said. “I think all the kids really appreciate it’s not just any old play. It’s a true story,” Baxter Bard said. “To have a play is so much better than listening to people talk,” Holmes said. “I’m so happy they’re doing it.”
Holmes also said she is excited about the possibility of what she is calling a “town photo,” to be taken on the Bad Little Falls platform during a dedication ceremony renaming the downtown bridge over the Machias River after local Revolutionary War hero Jeremiah O’Brien. “I would like to invite everyone to come get into the town photo,” she said, adding all those in attendance can join in even if they do not live in Machias.
The festival includes a parade, set to begin at 10 a.m. from Helen’s Restaurant to the UMaine campus. The parade will cross the bridge for the bridge naming ceremony and photo at about 10:30 a.m., Holmes said. The U.S. Navy Band Northeast Pops Ensemble will play patriotic music at 11:30 a.m. and will give a concert at 2 p.m. Additional Margaretta Days information can be found on Facebook or at www.margarettadays.com.
Compliments of GenoTV.com Check out other great videos there and on http://visnet.tv.
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Our community pitches in. The Beehive Collective made & put up the silhouettes and banners throughout the town. Local businesses decorate their stores as Columbia Pottery does here on the chalkboard.
Organizer of Machias’ Margaretta Days
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MACHIAS, Maine — Margaretta Days won’t be held until June 13, but the lead organizer for the event is gearing up now and trying to drum up more support from area residents and businesses.
Carlene Holmes was handing out fliers last week looking for help and ideas for the festival, which attracts about 1,000 visitors each year. Sponsored by the Machias Historical Society, the event celebrates the anniversary of the first naval battle in the Revolutionary War in which rebel forces from Machias commandeered the British ship the Margaretta. “Our goal is to keep people around here,” she said. Holmes, who leads the festival organizing committee, wants people to stick around afterward and spend their money in Machias. “How about a benefit supper Friday or Saturday evening?” Holmes wrote in her flier about the festival. “Your business could offer Margaretta Days discounts … a special food or drink named after a Margaretta Days hero or heroine.” Holmes also is inviting businesses to support the festival by placing an ad in the annual festival magazine or donating money or items for prizes. Individuals, organizations and groups are encouraged to get involved as well. Holmes said groups could plan events to take place in the weeks leading up to the festival. |
Photo by Sharon Kiley Mack features Katie Davis, 7, playing in a wood chip pile, as if she were harvesting corn, while her brother Ben Davis, 3, plays with a Colonial-style toy at Margaretta Day in 2010. The children were dressed in period costumes to celebrate the historic event.
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New this year will be a performance by the United States Navy Band. Many other festival attractions, such as the antler toss contest and tomahawk throwing, will return, she said.
Getting additional volunteers on board will help the committee expand and improve the event.
“The Machias Historical Society can only do so much,” Holmes said. Members have some “great ideas” such as re-enacting the battle or parading prisoners through town, but they need people to carry them out.
Anyone interested in getting involved can contact Holmes at [email protected] or call 263-5886.
Getting additional volunteers on board will help the committee expand and improve the event.
“The Machias Historical Society can only do so much,” Holmes said. Members have some “great ideas” such as re-enacting the battle or parading prisoners through town, but they need people to carry them out.
Anyone interested in getting involved can contact Holmes at [email protected] or call 263-5886.
Machias bridge to be renamed after Revolutionary War hero
Johanna S. Billings | BDN
The bridge in Machias now has its own name. Rep. Will Tuell sponsored a bill to name it after Jeremiah O'Brien, who fought in the first naval battle of the Revolutionary War, which took place in Machias.
By Johanna S. Billings, BDN Staff
Posted March 19, 2015, at 12:49 p.m.
Last modified March 19, 2015, at 3:20 p.m.
By Johanna S. Billings, BDN Staff
Posted March 19, 2015, at 12:49 p.m.
Last modified March 19, 2015, at 3:20 p.m.
MACHIAS, Maine — The downtown bridge over the Machias River is expected to be renamed to celebrate the town’s involvement in the Revolutionary War.
Rep. Will Tuell, R-East Machias, introduced a bill this session to “rename the bridge after Jeremiah O’Brien, who was a Revolutionary War hero who actually fought in the first naval battle of the revolution,” Tuell said.
The bridge does not have an official name, so a group of local people recently approached him with the idea of giving it one.
“It is referred to locally as ‘the bridge’ or ‘the Machias bridge’ or sometimes ‘the Bad Little Falls bridge,’ but it does not have a name,” Tuell said.
With the support of the Machias Historical Society, which runs the annual Margaretta Days in remembrance of the battle, and Machias town officials, the representative submitted the naming legislation this session.
A public hearing was held in mid-January, and the bill was approved this month in the House and Senate.
Before it passed, at the request of the state Department of Transportation, the legislation was amended to include the series of three connected spans that make up the entire bridge across the river. Each segment is anchored on natural ledges or rock formations in the river.
“Really, it’s just one bridge,” Tuell said.
The only additional costs to DOT are associated with signage, which are to be absorbed within the existing budget, according to the measure.
Jeremiah O’Brien was among the many American sympathizers and rebels in Machias in 1774, when the British occupied and closed Boston, according to a historical reference on the Penobscot Marine Museum website.
Because of the takeover, Maine towns could no longer ship their wood and fish to Boston or acquire needed food and other supplies from Boston. But because British officials in Boston needed firewood, they sent the armed sloop HMS Margaretta to Machias to accompany ships owned by a Loyalist lumber trader who was willing to transport goods for them.
As the Margaretta and two other vessels arrived at the mouth of the Machias River on June 2, 1775, however, many local residents decided they would not help the British by giving them any lumber.
Rebel leader Jeremiah O’Brien sailed out in pursuit of the Margaretta, and “his crew swarmed over the sides surprising the British with only their guns, swords, axes and pitchforks,” according to the Chronicles of Liberty website. The rebels also seized the other two British vessels in what is considered “the first naval engagement of the American Revolution.”
The bridge will not officially be named until 90 days after the end of the legislative session.
“Technically it probably isn’t going to have it’s new name [in time for Margaretta Days],” Tuell said.
Still, a ceremony announcing the new name will take place during the festival on June 13, according to event chairperson Carlene Holmes.
Rep. Will Tuell, R-East Machias, introduced a bill this session to “rename the bridge after Jeremiah O’Brien, who was a Revolutionary War hero who actually fought in the first naval battle of the revolution,” Tuell said.
The bridge does not have an official name, so a group of local people recently approached him with the idea of giving it one.
“It is referred to locally as ‘the bridge’ or ‘the Machias bridge’ or sometimes ‘the Bad Little Falls bridge,’ but it does not have a name,” Tuell said.
With the support of the Machias Historical Society, which runs the annual Margaretta Days in remembrance of the battle, and Machias town officials, the representative submitted the naming legislation this session.
A public hearing was held in mid-January, and the bill was approved this month in the House and Senate.
Before it passed, at the request of the state Department of Transportation, the legislation was amended to include the series of three connected spans that make up the entire bridge across the river. Each segment is anchored on natural ledges or rock formations in the river.
“Really, it’s just one bridge,” Tuell said.
The only additional costs to DOT are associated with signage, which are to be absorbed within the existing budget, according to the measure.
Jeremiah O’Brien was among the many American sympathizers and rebels in Machias in 1774, when the British occupied and closed Boston, according to a historical reference on the Penobscot Marine Museum website.
Because of the takeover, Maine towns could no longer ship their wood and fish to Boston or acquire needed food and other supplies from Boston. But because British officials in Boston needed firewood, they sent the armed sloop HMS Margaretta to Machias to accompany ships owned by a Loyalist lumber trader who was willing to transport goods for them.
As the Margaretta and two other vessels arrived at the mouth of the Machias River on June 2, 1775, however, many local residents decided they would not help the British by giving them any lumber.
Rebel leader Jeremiah O’Brien sailed out in pursuit of the Margaretta, and “his crew swarmed over the sides surprising the British with only their guns, swords, axes and pitchforks,” according to the Chronicles of Liberty website. The rebels also seized the other two British vessels in what is considered “the first naval engagement of the American Revolution.”
The bridge will not officially be named until 90 days after the end of the legislative session.
“Technically it probably isn’t going to have it’s new name [in time for Margaretta Days],” Tuell said.
Still, a ceremony announcing the new name will take place during the festival on June 13, according to event chairperson Carlene Holmes.
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Debra Sternbergh of Berry Vines, Main Street, Machias sells the first raffle ticket to Roosevelt Moffett on Fred Hartman's original "Lupines & Dragonfly." This watercolor with pen and ink won 1st Place in the Maine Coast Competition 2004. Fred Hartman lives in Whiting, Maine where he operates DownEast Drawings - Wildlife Art Gallery & Gifts.
SAVE THE DATE – JUNE 20, 2020 PRESS RELEASE
16TH ANNUAL MARGARETTA DAYS FESTIVAL AND ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT MACHIAS MALL – NO ADMITTANCE FEE
Plan to join us at UMM June 20, 2020 as we celebrate our community’s unique role in Amercian history. The US Navy has designated the Battle of the Margaretta as the first naval battle of the American Revolution and James Fenimore Cooper called it the “Lexington of the Sea.” The US Merchant Marine claims this event as their beginning and put it on their logo.
We also commemorate the rest of the story, the “Battle of the Rim” when the British returned with orders to burn down the town in revenge for us capturing the Margaretta and killing British Captain Moore. But their plan was thwarted when sharp shooter Passamaquaddy Chief Francie Neptune shot and killed another British officer! The Patriots, Passamaquoddies, Penobscots, and Maliseets hooped and hollered and the Machias Valley echoed and magnified their voices. The four British ships retreated & Sir George Collier reported that they were completely outnumbered and they never returned. This collaboration and friendly co-existence of the Native Americans and settlers is unique and a reason for area pride.
The American Legion will start the day by hosting a public, non-smoking, blueberry pancake breakfast. The Sons of the American Revolution will lay a wreath on the monument in front of the Courthouse at 9:30 a.m. At 10 a.m. the parade will take place on the mall and travel around the campus. We invite anyone who wants, to make a float for the parade – motorized vehicles are permitted.
Named one of Yankee Magazine’s 2010 Top 20 Events - - the University area takes you back in time to life in 1775. History comes alive with Native Americans, an encampment of soldier re-enactors and period demonstrations such as blacksmithing, timber framing and weaving, entertainment (music, storytelling, informative talks, historical presentations, etc.), children’s activities, fun, games, food, and contemporary crafters and artists.
Subject to expected funding the US Navy Band Northeast intends to play one-half hour of patriotic music from 11:30 to noon and to help with the opening ceremonies. At 2:00 the Band will entertain us with an outdoor concert. We particularly wish to invite all Navy veterans to attend and wear some pin or insignia as to where they served. We also invite all veterans to come and be honored.
History, food, games, shopping! A lot of fun with some history thrown in! Handicapped accessible, fun for the whole family and admission to the Festival is free!
If you would like to take out an ad in our souvenir brochure, if you have any other ideas for this year’s festival or next, if you would like to assist, if you would like some ideas on how your organization can benefit from this event, please contact one of the members of the Machias Historical Society. We’re in this together.
FMI: www.margarettadays.com, Carlene at [email protected] (207) 263-5886. Crafters: Dale at [email protected], Valdine at (207) 255-4432, FB: Margaretta Days Festival of Machias, Maine; www.washingtoncountymaine.com/margaretta.
16TH ANNUAL MARGARETTA DAYS FESTIVAL AND ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT MACHIAS MALL – NO ADMITTANCE FEE
Plan to join us at UMM June 20, 2020 as we celebrate our community’s unique role in Amercian history. The US Navy has designated the Battle of the Margaretta as the first naval battle of the American Revolution and James Fenimore Cooper called it the “Lexington of the Sea.” The US Merchant Marine claims this event as their beginning and put it on their logo.
We also commemorate the rest of the story, the “Battle of the Rim” when the British returned with orders to burn down the town in revenge for us capturing the Margaretta and killing British Captain Moore. But their plan was thwarted when sharp shooter Passamaquaddy Chief Francie Neptune shot and killed another British officer! The Patriots, Passamaquoddies, Penobscots, and Maliseets hooped and hollered and the Machias Valley echoed and magnified their voices. The four British ships retreated & Sir George Collier reported that they were completely outnumbered and they never returned. This collaboration and friendly co-existence of the Native Americans and settlers is unique and a reason for area pride.
The American Legion will start the day by hosting a public, non-smoking, blueberry pancake breakfast. The Sons of the American Revolution will lay a wreath on the monument in front of the Courthouse at 9:30 a.m. At 10 a.m. the parade will take place on the mall and travel around the campus. We invite anyone who wants, to make a float for the parade – motorized vehicles are permitted.
Named one of Yankee Magazine’s 2010 Top 20 Events - - the University area takes you back in time to life in 1775. History comes alive with Native Americans, an encampment of soldier re-enactors and period demonstrations such as blacksmithing, timber framing and weaving, entertainment (music, storytelling, informative talks, historical presentations, etc.), children’s activities, fun, games, food, and contemporary crafters and artists.
Subject to expected funding the US Navy Band Northeast intends to play one-half hour of patriotic music from 11:30 to noon and to help with the opening ceremonies. At 2:00 the Band will entertain us with an outdoor concert. We particularly wish to invite all Navy veterans to attend and wear some pin or insignia as to where they served. We also invite all veterans to come and be honored.
History, food, games, shopping! A lot of fun with some history thrown in! Handicapped accessible, fun for the whole family and admission to the Festival is free!
If you would like to take out an ad in our souvenir brochure, if you have any other ideas for this year’s festival or next, if you would like to assist, if you would like some ideas on how your organization can benefit from this event, please contact one of the members of the Machias Historical Society. We’re in this together.
FMI: www.margarettadays.com, Carlene at [email protected] (207) 263-5886. Crafters: Dale at [email protected], Valdine at (207) 255-4432, FB: Margaretta Days Festival of Machias, Maine; www.washingtoncountymaine.com/margaretta.