Editorials - Fiddlehead Focus

Editorials

A friendship that lives on

She moves gently into my thoughts often. I knew her in school but my conversations with her were few. I recall her having very long, honey blonde hair and honest eyes that seemed to be waiting for a reason to smile.

Apprenticed or indentured?

In your research you may find that an ancestor was an indentured servant or an apprentice. They are not the same. To help understand the differences here is a brief outline of what each meant.

Improving access to justice and opportunity in Aroostook County

All Mainers deserve the same access to justice and legal representation, regardless of where they live. But in Aroostook County and other rural parts of the state, access to legal representation has reached a breaking point.

Honoring a Maine hero with a Maine-built ship

On Oct. 3, 1993, during the Battle of Mogadishu, U.S. Army Master Sergeant Gary Gordon -- a native of Lincoln, Maine -- gave his life to save the crew of a Black Hawk helicopter that had been shot down over the city.

Les lettrers M pi N

J’écris ceci le jour ou la Russie vien d’envahir son voisin l’Ukraine. War is proof of human failure, que j’ai lu en quelque part. Pi j’y crois.

Slave connections

Would you be surprised to learn your New England ancestor owned slaves? In Maine we tend to associate slave owning with large Southern plantations that relied on slave labor to survive economically.

Another fight for veterans

Some 40 years ago I was privileged to work beside some of the most dedicated people I have ever met: Aroostook County veterans. I will not name them here but these were combat veterans, Vietnam-era veterans, Korean veterans, former prisoners of war, very diversified.

How pie saved the day at a logging camp

March brings wistful thoughts of spring to The County, but March 14 approaches: Pi Day, which celebrates that useful mathematical number 3.14159. But punsters and pastry lovers also know it as Pie Day.

Update utility pole laws to enable digital access

We are now about two years removed since the start of the pandemic, and the unfortunate reality is that this virus is still very much a part of our lives.

Buried family secrets

Family secrets can be buried deep and quite often succeeding generations never knew them. One issue families in the past felt compelled to hide was if a family member exhibited a mental illness or was born with a lower mental capability.

‘Making the cut’ is a lifetime trial

I am not sure how long I stood there in front of that classroom door, reading the list of names over and over again before finally admitting to myself that my name was not there.

At last: the wedding

The best way I can describe the wedding I had planned to you, dear friends, is a snowball running amok, gathering vast amounts of snow as it rolls uncontrollably down a treacherous hill. I was helpless. I could no longer add to it, nor take away.

New England treasures

Many genealogists like to accumulate a reference library for easy access to records. If your area of research is New England, here are five books that may interest you. Much depends on the areas you are researching but there’s something here for almost everyone.

57 la lettre L

Y a tu faite assez frette pour toué? Moué j’suis a la retraite so j’sortais pas trop trop. Mais le poêle a bois dans la cave y a gouté. On l’fait pas chauffer souvent mais y a chauffé en p’tiot pepére pendant l’mois d’janvier.

Honor the old stories

Some of us love winter. Others not so much. For our ancestors winters could be brutal. Until the mid-20th century, a majority of Americans lived in rural areas, many on back roads. For them there were no town plows, sanding trucks, ambulances, phones or cars. Horses with sleds couldn’t fight their way through deep snow drifts.

How much wood?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck … no, we're not doing that one. Instead, we're going to talk about actual wood. As in, how much have you gone through during the cold snaps this winter, and how can you compare energy use so far this year to other years?

Always go for the dress

So, what is it like to be a bit older than most brides-to-be and also the star of a scenario much like that of the television show, “Say Yes To The Dress?” Well, dear friends, let me borrow your attention for just a bit and I will tell you.

Les lettres I pi J

Well, les fêtes ont passé pas mal comme une base messe. Pas trop d’visite, pas trop d’neige, pi pas trop d’voyageage. Comme vous savez, ça fait deux ans qu’ c’est d’même pi j’crée b’en qu’ont a pas fini avec toute les nouvelles sortes de covid.

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