In recent years, Bangor and beer have become synonymous. The region has become a legitimate hotbed for interesting and talented beermakers. The craft beer explosion has been a remarkable thing to watch as more and more passionate brewers decide to try and bring their sudsy dreams to fruition.

Leaving aside the economic impact – which is undeniably significant – it’s just great to know that there are places all over where you can find and enjoy an exceptional beer. We’re up to our ears in options from breweries large and small. In fact, by some measurements, Maine is one of the beeriest states in the union.

The beer is definitely out there. No matter what your taste might be, you’ll be able to find something to suit your particular palate at an area brewery. And since National Beer Day is here, we thought it might be nice to take a moment and celebrate.

ORRINGTON - Hold your horses, thrill-seekers: a carousel is coming to town.

The 1894 Armitage-Herschell carousel - or, as it was known in its heyday, “steam riding gallery” - is being installed at 19th Century Curran Village in Orrington, a living-history museum on the shores of Fields Pond. It is among the many artifacts donated to Curran by Willowbrook Museum Village in Newfield, which closed in 2016. 

 Willowbrook was well-known in Southern Maine as a family destination. Its extensive collection, which educated visitors about the lives of rural Mainers at the turn of the twentieth century, was accessible to young and old. 

But the museum’s greatest temptation was the carousel. 

Although paying visitors were able to ride, classes of schoolchildren on field trips had to stand and salivate as the horses flew by - that is, until Willowbrook’s final years, when field trip groups were at last allowed to take a spin. 

For Dr. Robert Schmick, former Director at Willowbrook and now Director at Curran Homestead, the carousel will bring new life to the Orrington museum.