New Echoes captures Aroostook spirit

    The latest edition of Echoes magazine captures the essence of Aroostook — from the two young women who write about hand picking potatoes to the man who finally gets his moose after 60 years, from the Caribou woman who opens her heart and home to needy cats and kittens to the Amish families who have chosen Aroostook County as their home, from the man whose Acadian upbringing in Lille helped him be an effective Peace Corps Volunteer to the woman whose genealogical study led her to a coveted family Bible, Echoes No. 94 is all about being from and living in Aroostook County, Maine.
    The latest Echoes also traces the history of the Caribou Public Library on the occasion of its centennial and honors the 70th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War II with recollections of the Navy by Mapleton native Sidney Turner and with a poem by Evelyn A. Potter titled “December 7, 1941.”
    Naturalist and long-distance hiker Lucy Leaf shares, in her regular column, what the arborist taught her about tending the little forest around her cabin so it will produce a healthy supply of firewood. In a separate essay, she takes readers to a remote cabin in Elliotsville Plantation where she spent a week writing and becoming part of her natural surroundings.
    Presque Isle columnist Glenna Johnson Smith reflects on the changing expectations of and regard for women since she was young in an essay titled “Just a Girl,” and Houlton native John Dombek uses his column for a fiction piece set on a snowy night titled “A Christmas Story.” Editor Kathryn Olmstead praises Aroostook County businesses that have advertised in Echoes for all of its 23 years as a quarterly magazine.
    When Hannah Cheney of Castle Hill was asked to write a story illustrated with pictures for a course at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, she decided to focus on her own family’s farm. Her photo essay “Farming the Old Way” in the current Echoes evokes memories for anyone who has picked potatoes by hand, and adds insight on the details of operating a small family farm where everyone is involved.
    Deidre Dicker of Westfield used her experience picking potatoes for a different kind of writing assignment — a college application essay. Her recollection of a day in a Presque Isle potato field in 2007 helped earn her admission to the University of New England where she is studying to become a writer. Echoes titled the piece “Tattered Gloves, Soggy Knees.”
    Wally Gray was determined to get a moose. As his health declined and his age advanced, his sons became more determined to help him. When his name was finally drawn in the lottery, they pulled out all the stops to lead their Dad to the fulfillment of his dream. Phil Gray’s account of the adventure, “Pappy Gets a Moose,” is a cliff-hanger.
    Echoes 94 contains two articles by Shannon Butler of Caribou who served as the magazine’s 2011 summer intern. A creative writing student at UM-Farmington, Shannon helped the Caribou Public Library celebrate its centennial with a summary of its history and she created a colorful photo essay from a visit to the Halfway Home Pet Rescue in Caribou where Norma Milton gives many a cat and kitten more than a home.
    The cover story features the Amish families who have made their homes in Fort Fairfield and Easton since 2007. Striking photographs by Paul Cyr of Presque Isle illustrate the article and the kinds of relationships that have grown between Amish families and their neighbors.
    Part VIII of a continuing series by Roger Parent includes an account of the day an FBI agent came to Lille to do a background check on him before he was sent to Thailand to serve in the Peace Corps. The agent couldn’t speak French, so the neighbor he wanted to interview took him to Roger’s mother, who always translated for her when she needed to communicate in English.
    The Bible pictured on the inside back cover of Echoes 94 has its own story, which is told by Mary Niles of Presque Isle. The unlikely journey of the family heirloom from a dumpster in Massachusetts to its home in Presque Isle is a genealogist’s dream. The source of numerous names and dates, the Bible still left some questions unanswered.
    Published quarterly from offices in Caribou, and printed by PrintWorks in Presque Isle, Echoes is dedicated to rediscovering community and preserving values of rural culture at risk in the world today. For more information visit echoesof maine.com.