Town Meeting is coming, Town Meeting is coming! Saturday, May 17th. The following positions are open for candidates: 1 Selectman for 3 years; 1 School Board member for 3 years; 2 Planning Board members, 3 years each; Tax Collector for 1 year; Town Clerk for 1 year, Road Commissioner for 1 year, Town Treasurer for 1 year. If you wish to run for any of these positions, you should pick up nomination papers at the Town Hall (1 to 5 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays; 7 to 9 pm Mondays), to be returned with at least 25 signatures, less than 100, by April 10.

Any homeowner eligible for the Homestead or Veteran's Exemption must submit an application to the assessors before April 1. If either exemption has already been granted, there is no need to apply again since the exemption remains in force and carries over from one year to the next. Forms are available in the Town offices, hours as above. Call 882-7018 for information on the subject matter of the above two items!

Meanwhile, I'm on another historic quest and this time it's culinary. Who was the Joe Booker for whom Joe Booker Stew is named? This recipe appears in the classic Yankee Cookbook by Imogene Wolcott, first published in 1939. Ms. Wolcott describes it as "A stew famous in the vicinity of Booth Bay [sic] Harbor, Maine." Here is the recipe:

½ pound salt pork, diced,
2 cups each of lean veal or beef, turnip, potatoes, and carrots (all items diced),
1 cup onions, sliced,
8 cups water,
salt and pepper.
Try out the salt pork; remove the cracklings. Add to the fat the meat, vegetables, and water. Season to taste. This hearty stew may be served with dumplings or not, as desired. Serves 8.

Ms. Wolcott goes on to observe "When the men came in from cutting ice or chopping trees, ‘Joe Booker' was their favorite dish. Elderly residents of Booth Bay Harbor cannot recall for whom or by whom the dish was named, but the stew is still popular in Maine." This was written in 1939, of course.

Shipping Days of Old Boothbay by George Wharton Rice tells of a Booker family of ship's captains. Two brothers, William and Joseph, on a voyage together, fell into bad weather and Joseph was swept overboard. Might this stew have been named in his honor? Had it been his favorite? Inquiring minds want to know!

Congratulations to Dana and Carrie Lehouillier of the Shore Road. They were married Feb. 15 in Belfast.

Farewell to Polly Bachelder, who died February 20, wife of Keith Bachelder on the Middle Road.

Edgecomb has a new Postmaster! Linda Reynolds has just taken over from Bill Mitchell. Next time you need stamps, stop in and introduce yourselves.

Writing Opportunity! The Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance is putting out a state-wide call for essays, along with The Wilderness Society, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and Milkweed Editions, a national non-profit literary press (www.milkweed.org). "The Maine Voices Project invites Mainers from all walks of life to submit an essay describing the outdoor places in Maine that they cherish, how these places have shaped them, taught them, nurtured them, or provided joy or solitude." They want to hear from everyone, from school children to seniors, who are "encouraged to write about how the land has changed in their lifetime, and the legacy they would like to leave for future generations." The best of these submissions will be published in an anthology, and their authors given public reading opportunities around the State of Maine.

The deadline for this competition is April 22. Essays should be no longer than 500 words. They may be submitted by email to mainevoices@tws.org or by fax (617) 426.3213. Or they may be mailed to the Maine Voices Project c/o MWPA, 14 Maine Street, Suite 416, Brunswick ME 04011. Please include your name, address, County, telephone number, email address, school/organization, and age. For more information call the project coordinator, Jeremy Sheaffer at (617) 350-8866, ext. 3 (that's in Boston), or at the e-mail address just above.

Dipping my quill pen in ink at 234 River Road, 633-2978, bonesukl@midcoast.com. This column appears in The Boothbay Register, The Lincoln County News, The Wiscasset Newspaper, and at www.Edgecomb.org.