Poem Contest!

It's once again time for me to make a complete idiot of myself in front of friends and strangers, alike. And since I like to spread the love around, I am inviting readers of Gag to enter a short-running poem contest. I am the "comedic entertainment" at the Big Wind Regatta at the incredible (and way swankier than I'm used to!) Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, Maine. And I would like to treat one of my GAG readers and their guest to a night out on the town! Mrs. Gray, owner of the Inn, is the generous sponsor of this fund-raiser, and she is a hostess without equal. Enter, and maybe you can come down to the town that's home to the world-famous LL Bean and hang out with the classy folks! And ME!!

Just write a short (or not) four line poem using the words "wind", "blow(s)" and "gust" and put it in the comments section of this blog posting. I will read them all, and love them all, I promise! But I will have someone in my family draw the winner out of my droopy straw hat... so your poetic skills aren't on the line, here. It will be the luck of the draw!

The contest ends in six days, so hurry up and enter! And if you are "from away" (or if you're already planning to attend) and want to try your hand at winning this poetry contest... I'll make sure you get a prize sent to you in the mail. How about a "Lexington, Maine" t-shirt and an autographed copy of Grumble Bluff? (Surely, not everyone in Australia and Scotland and Tennessee and Florida and Arizona has already read my book? It makes a great gift, and Christmas is right around the corner!)

So... get your poetic juices flowing! I don't have much free time to promote this contest, so please tell your friends!

Below, for the fun of it and because he deserves a bit of recognition for his talent and generosity, I'm pasting in photos of the birch bark and bitter-sweet-framed mirror Mr. Grumbles has built to auction off at the event. Just because... (it was sheer hell living here through the building of this! A perfectionist such as Mr. Grumbles is NEVER happy with what he creates! Much storming, stomping and grumbling went on. Just saying.... hehehe.)

All right... let me see a poem or two!

xx
Kazza

The finished product...

Top corner before the glass...

Curly little pieces of bitter-sweet...

The bottom arch with bitter-sweet... Pretty nifty, huh?

Windtoons...An Artist's Contribution to a Cause

Meet John Terry, a retired art teacher from New Jersey and part-time resident of West Virginia. John is the artist behind the website 'windtoons.com' and his depictions of life in the shadow of industrial wind are stark reminders of what the future might hold.

I was contacted by a reader of GAG a couple of months ago, and this gentleman pointed me in the direction of the Windtoons website. I meandered over and liked what I saw. Since that day, I have showcased different Windtoons on Grumbles and Grins, with the website's permission.

The Friends of the Highland Mountains, thanks to the generous benevolence of Nancy Gray, owner of the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, are holding a benefit supper in an effort to raise money to fight the development of Highland's mountains. One of the ways in which we will do this will be to hold an auction of donated items and services on the evening of the event.

Sitting here at my desk the other day, I wracked my brain; trying to think of unique items that might garner good bids. I wanted something windy; after all, that is the theme of the Big Wind Regatta. And all of a sudden, I had a thought! (That happens so rarely that I thought I ought to point it out...)

I contacted the Windtoons website, not having any idea who was the talent behind the industrial wind turbine drawings. I made my plea to the anonymous artist. Would he or she print off one of the cartoons, autograph it, and send it to me to be framed and auctioned off? I was contacted by John Terry the very next day.

And the rest-- well, it's soon to be history!

Mr John Terry not only generously agreed to donate a Windtoon to our cause, but he volunteered to create an ORIGINAL, one apropos to our particular fight here in the western mountains of Maine! And then... oh, and then... he drew us TWO! Actually, three, if you count the color and the black and white versions of the vacationland Windtoon! And not only has he drawn, signed and donated them; but he's matted and framed them, too.

Holy smokes! What a man!

I've said it before. I am constantly humbled by the goodness and generosity of the people who have come together to teach about and decry the folly of industrial wind on our mountaintops. Rarely have I been so impressed by a grassroots movement. These people come from all walks of life, all political persuasions, all corners of America. They are polite. They work to spread facts, and not propaganda. They fight honorably, and they make me proud to be counted among them.

With good people like these, I believe we will prevail in making sure this state stays: "Maine-- the way life SHOULD be!"

Thank you, John. You're a Wind Warrior, for sure.

Big Wind Regatta at the Harraseeket Inn, Freeport, Maine

This posting to GAG is by way of an announcement, I suppose. I made the acquaintance of the most wonderful of Maine ladies. Nancy Gray, owner of the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, is generously hosting a fund-raiser for the Friends of the Highland Mountains.

A gala event is being held at the Inn on June 5th, and Mrs. Gray is not only providing the beautiful conference room, but she is serving a sumptuous buffet meal, too. For a small, $10.00 donation, guests can look forward to hors d’ouevres and a cash bar at 5:30, followed by the meal. There will be several brief speakers during supper, and then we will have the premiere showing of the DVD, ‘Save the Mountains of Highland, Maine’. After this awesome video, our guests will be entertained by a bit of Big Wind.

Yeah, that’s me. I’ll be performing a little ‘stand-up comedy’. Oh, Lord. Here we go again! How do I get myself into these things???

See, there’s a reason why I’ll put myself through this agony yet again. When I’ve concluded the entertainment portion of the evening, we will wrap things up by auctioning off some awesome items donated by generous people from all corners of this state, and even a few friends ‘from away’. I am humbled by the generosity of so many people who are dedicated to preserving the wildlife, ecology, environment and quality of life in these western mountains of Maine. And it’s a proven fact: people tend to spend more money when they are happy. Therefore, I will make a complete and total ass of myself beforehand.

It’s all for a good cause. Really. That’s what my friends keep telling me.

Sigh…

Those who care to spend the night in this elegant Inn can also take advantage of the special rates Mrs. Gray is giving to our friends. Rooms, each normally rated at $235.00 on a Saturday night, can be reserved for a mere $95.00, and that price includes a full, hot buffet breakfast and afternoon tea. Check-in is at 3:00 p.m. and check-out at 11:00 a.m. If you’d like to reserve a room from this block that is being set aside for us, please do so before May 10th, and reserve under the name ‘Turbine Wind Power’.

Wow. The awesome generosity of the people of Maine humbles me every time. Wow.

Come down to Freeport. Eat, drink, learn some facts about industrial wind, and see me have some fun at my own expense… and maybe at the expense of the Windustry.

Big Wind... can I say that it blows? Come find out if I dare. June 5, 2010, 5:30, at the Harraseeket Inn, 162 Main Street, Freeport, Maine 04032. (To make reservations, please call (207) 865-9377) Hope to see you there.


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P.S. Please tune into Maine Outdoors, the North Woods Sporting Journal's live, interactive radio show on Sunday night, 4/25, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. for a discussion about mountaintop industrial wind and it's impacts on the pristine mountains of Maine. I will be the guest of host V. Paul Reynolds, and I encourage you to listen and call in. This is a wonderful opportunity to spread the facts about Big Wind to the people of Maine. WVOM-FM, 103.9 and WQVM-FM 101.3.