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 Local news and information from Castine and Penobscot, Maine. |
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News Feature
by Rich Hewitt It started out as a three-month experiment, but after two years, the Penobscot Music Buffet Coffee House is going strong and getting stronger. The coffee house, which meets the third Friday of each month in the annex of the Penobscot United Methodist Church, celebrated its second anniversary January 20 and organizers expect it to keep going for a while. It offers a chance to perform, and a chance to mingle, and perhaps more importantly, the coffee house has raised money to help neighbors in need. At each session, there is a small basket for a free-will donation. In two years, that basket has collected about $4,000. Initially, the donated funds were earmarked for fuel assistance, but recently, organizers split the funds between fuel assistance and the Tree of Life food pantry in Blue Hill. Working with fuel oil companies or with selectmen, the church members keep a portion of the donations in a community fuel fund until they are needed. “We don’t know who it’s going to and they don’t necessarily know that it’s coming from us,” said Trisha Robertson. “That’s the way we wanted it.’’ A couple of months ago, they decided to split the funds and to send a third of the donations to Tree of Life. The church in the past has donated food to Tree of Life through church food collections, but the direct donation of money is a big help. “Each dollar is multiplied,” Robertson said. “They can really make that stretch.” The coffee house got started by a chance comment after an informal musical get-together at the church, according to Robertson. “Anne Parker said ‘this would be a great spot for a coffee house,’” Robertson said. “At a church administrative council meeting, we decided to see if they were serious.’’ Robertson and church members Sally Bridges and Dot McMahan met with Skip Bean and Lin Parker and the coffee house was born. Although it is not sponsored by the church, the coffee house is housed in the church hall and church members set up and provide publicity and refreshments. They also handle the donations. Bean and Parker are regular performers and serve as co-emcees and arrange for performers. Parker estimated that more than 150 musicians, ranging in age from 3 to 83, have performed in a range of styles using a variety of instruments, from guitars and fiddles to the gut kettle and kazoo. Last week, one performer strummed a “tiple,” (pronounce tee-play) a small guitar-like instrument from Argentina. The coffee house runs from 7 to 9 p.m., starting with an open mic hour. After a brief “eat and greet,” a featured act performs. Although some featured performers have received a nominal fee, most perform for free, Bean said. Often, the featured performers are discovered in the ranks of the open mic acts. “It’s a place to play and hone your skills a little bit,” said Robert Jones of Sedgwick, one of the performers on Friday. “And it’s nice to be appreciated.” Like most coffee houses, the Music Buffett is a small, intimate venue. “From the beginning, I think we wanted to make it a fun place to be, whether you’re playing or not,” Anne Parker said. It’s “kid friendly,” according to Bean, and that has attracted a young contingent. “You come and you see people having a good time,” said Daniel Harvey of Bucksport, one of several students from the Reach School in Bucksport who have become regular performers. His classmate, Jessie Moore of East Orland, said the coffee house atmosphere has helped him to become more comfortable performing in front of people. “Every time I come, there are always nice people,” he said. “They’re always complimenting and encouraging me.” Last year, Robertson said, audiences were averaging about 45 people, but attendance jumped to more than 80 in December. They come from just up the hill, to as far away as Stonington. “In the beginning, we were always worried about what we were going to do next month,” he said. “Now, we’re booked six months in advance. The word is getting out.” |
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