Five Stars

After releasing his debut single “Hurricane” in 2015, Luke Combs burst onto the country music scene. He solidified his place as one of the most dominant voices in country music following the success of his debut with hit song after hit song. The North Carolina singer released his newest album, “What You See Is What You Get,” in the wake of the radio success of “Beer Never Broke My Heart” and “Even Though I’m Leaving.” He stays true to his brand of country. Whether you’re watching him chug out of a Solo Cup with his fiancé, Nicole Hocking, or watching him play guitar on stage and sing about winning money on a scratch-off ticket, Combs embodies emotions everyone has felt and is hard to dislike.

In his second album, he continues to perpetuate the down-home country boy image that he projected in his previous releases. Combs’ songs speak to anyone who has ever felt love, heartbreak or loss. Anyone, regardless of their feelings toward country music, can understand and relate to the emotions that he sings about. Whether you hear one of his songs driving down the highway, or with a group of friends, it’s hard not to belt out the lyrics at the top of your lungs.

Combs’ persona is embodied by the title song of the album. “I’m a straight-shooting, / beer-drinking, rule-breaking / don’t think I won’t take a good thing too far … I guess, be careful what you wish for, is all I meant when I said / ‘what you see is what you get,’” he sings through the chorus. He knows who he is and is consistent in his message and delivery across the board.

But not all of his songs are about how “a long-neck, ice-cold beer” will never break your heart, or how “when it rains it pours.” Combs can sing about love and relationships just as well as he can about having a beer with your buddies or moving on after a breakup.

In “Better Together” he writes and sings a beautiful and heartfelt love song to his fiancé. “Some things just go better together / and probably always will. / Like a cup of coffee and a sunrise … And me, as long as you’re right here,” Combs sings, describing how some things truly go better together, including himself and Hocking in that list.

There is something for everyone on this album. Whether you’re going through a breakup or you’re homesick, met your forever partner or just want to love on your friends, Combs writes songs for everyone. He is truly masterful in how he writes his songs not only to convey his emotions but also to touch the heartstrings of everyone who listens.

Combs will be a household name in country music for a long time to come, and hopefully, he can continue his consistent success in his future projects.

2 stars

The holiday season is almost upon us. People are already putting Christmas lights up, buying their trees and hanging their stockings. December is a month clad with celebration, and with that comes the ever-anticipated influx of holiday rom-coms. Hallmark, Netflix and Lifetime all release their Christmas movie watchlists just in time for winter break and a few Christmas movies inevitably make their way into theaters.

“Last Christmas” starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding is arguably one of this year’s most anticipated holiday films. Kate (Clarke) is an aspiring singer/actress, who is trying to build a career in London, working as an elf at a Christmas shop until she gets her big break. Stereotypical of any rom-com, she meets a mysterious, handsome stranger named Tom (Golding) outside of the shop. His unwavering sense of optimism and willingness to help others balances out Kate’s cynical nature.

Following a heart transplant surgery, Kate is left feeling that a piece of her is missing and she will never be able to find her true self. But with Tom’s guidance, she is able to rediscover her passion for singing by volunteering at a homeless shelter. Tom and Kate seem so perfect for each other and the slow pace of the film makes you want to fast forward to their happily ever after.

With a cast featuring Clarke, who is fresh off of the “Game of Thrones” set, and Golding, who proved his abilities to play a leading man in “Crazy Rich Asians,” this movie should have soared based on their acting alone. But the film was nothing but an underdeveloped plot full of dead-ends.

The ending is incredibly under explained and doesn’t give enough attention to any of the plot twists that the writers threw in, which makes it frustrating to watch. Until the last 30 minutes, the movie was ok, but the surprises at the end just leave a bunch of loose ends that are never tied up.

However, I will give credit to writers who gave light to topics plaguing the media in London. They show clips of the Brexit hearings and shed light on immigration and homelessness. Kate and her family are immigrants who escaped the war in former Yugoslavia during the early 2000s. The movie starts off with a scene of Kate singing a George Michael song at a church in her home country, and there are scenes later where anti-immigrant ideologies show how rampant xenophobia is in our world.

Despite the awareness given to current events and the prejudice in the world, there is still not enough detail given in this movie to fully develop these concepts. There is just too much trying to happen in an hour and 45-minute film.

If you are looking for a holiday film to watch while sipping cocoa on the couch during a snow day, “Last Christmas” is a solid last resort. There is little romance, little comedy and an underdeveloped ending. Almost any rom-com that you can find on Netflix or Hallmark would be a better option.

On Thursday, Nov. 14, over 100 students and faculty members gathered in the North Pod and Bear’s Den of the Memorial Union to partake in the University of Maine Multicultural Thanksgiving. Organized by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Student Heritage Alliance Council (SHAC), the Multicultural Thanksgiving featured a pot-luck style dinner, entertainment and presentations. The event was designed to create a dialogue and awareness around the history of Thanksgiving, as well as give students who may or may not be able to go home over Thanksgiving break a home-cooked meal.

Maulian Dana began the evening with a reminder that the University of Maine is located on Penobscot territory and that it is pertinent to maintain and build upon our relationship with the Penobscot nation and the surrounding community. Dana is the Penobscot Nation’s tribal ambassador and does work rooted in activism to advocate for Native Americans. She recently worked on legislation that outlawed the use of Native American mascots in the state of Maine and legislation that changed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. Her work as an activist served as a reminder that we still have work to do in our representation and treatment of native communities. Maine is currently only one of six states that recognize Indigenous People’s Day. 

Following Dana’s remarks, attendees lined up throughout the Bear’s Den to enjoy food prepared by SHAC and its members. SHAC is comprised of multiple student associations, and for the event, each association prepared traditional meals from different parts of the world. A lot of cultures can be represented and defined by their food, which makes it a great way to connect people from different ethnicities, religions and backgrounds. 

“I think this represents a thanksgiving, but a more inclusive one. Food connects people and I spoke with Maulian Dana beforehand and we all agree that food is really important to connect people,” Alex Torno, vice president of SHAC and a graduate student studying French, said. “I feel that this is a way to connect a lot of people. Especially with [political] tension … even if you don’t want to reach out or meet new people, being around different cultures and people helps create a conversation.” 

SHAC groups, including the Asian Student Association, French Club, Japanese Club, Hillel, German Club, Muslim Student’s Association and the Southeast Asian Student Association prepared home-made foods that are traditional in their cultures. Tables were sprawling with tacos, crepes, sushi, curry and rice, African rice, traditional Jewish foods, German sausage and traditional American Thanksgiving foods like mashed potatoes and baked beans.

November is Native American Heritage Month and Nov. 23 is Native American Heritage Day. It is important to understand and recognize the contentious history of Thanksgiving. The dominant historical story of Thanksgiving has largely been told from the perspective of European colonists. The meeting between the English settlers and the Native Americans was supposedly peaceful and friendly, as the two groups joined together over food.

But for Native Americans, the arrival of the English marked a turning point in history, when their world was no longer theirs. After centuries of massacres, diseases and famines, and the confiscation of their land, Native cultures have been reduced to fractions of what they once were. Their culture has been stereotyped furthered by mascots and costumes that lump all Native peoples into one generalized culture.

The story of Thanksgiving that has often been told in classrooms and picture books ignores the reality that Native people have faced. We are taught that it is acceptable to appropriate another culture, stereotype or use them as mascots and reject the reality of what happened in history following the arrival of the Europeans.

“When tribal nations are seen as sovereign bodies, we can work together toward a better relationship with other governments,” Dana said on the website Americans Who Tell The Truth. “When cities and towns celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, a foundation of trust and understanding can be created. When we are seen as people and not stereotypes or mascots, we can build on shared humanity. It is truly all about respect.” 

On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Dr. Frank Turek gave a presentation titled “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist,” which was modeled after his book and television series under the same name. Dozens of families, community members and students gathered in Neville Hall to hear Turek’s lecture, which discussed evidence that he believes points to the existence of a God and furthered his evidence to avow the existence of the Christian God.

Turek was brought to campus by the University of Maine Ratio Christi group, which meets on campus to discuss religious world views and Christian material.

In his lecture, Turek elaborated upon four questions throughout his lecture that he believes prove Christianity’s beliefs: Does truth exist? Does God exist? Are miracles possible? Is the New Testament, specifically the resurrection of Jesus, true? 

He claims that truth is not relative and each person does not have their own truth. Truth must be absolute. 

“You hear people say things like ‘there is no truth,’ ‘you have your truth, I have my truth…’ Well if there is no truth, then Christianity cannot be true. Of course, if there is no truth, then atheism can’t be true either … Truth exists, and to say that it doesn’t exist is self-defeating,” Turek said.

Turek then went on to explain how “if the universe has a beginning, then it must have a beginner … there can be no miracle without a miracle worker.” Citing evidence that the Big Bang did happen, he explains how the universe was created so delicately in balance that it could only be at the hands of a god that we are here today. For example, Turek explains how things like the human genome, the position of the Earth in our Solar System and the creation of tens of thousands of galaxies are far too intricate and involved to all have happened by chance.

At this point in the lecture, Turek states that the god that he is speaking of could be any god of any religion that created the mass that exploded in the Big Bang, but he suggests that you have to look at the remaining evidence and his last two questions to prove that the Christian God is real.

Following his in-depth analysis of the creation of the universe, Turek touched on the idea of miracles and the truth of the New Testament. He discussed and analyzed evidence that Jesus was resurrected after being nailed to the cross, which he argued is a miracle. Turek said that the Bible is full of miracles; from Noah’s Ark to the creation of the Earth and humankind. However, he suggests that the only miracle that matters in proving that God is real is the resurrection of Jesus. He supported this claim by sharing early sources, eyewitness accounts and stories that point to the truth of the resurrection. He ended this argument by stating that if the resurrection is not true, we would not have seen a sudden burst in the popularity of Christianity out of Judaism in Jerusalem almost immediately after the supposed resurrection.

In addition to his lecture series, Turek is also the host of a radio talk show and the president of CrossExamined, a non-profit ministry that conducts “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist” seminars around college campuses to address the fact that three out of four Christian youths leave the church while in college.

The Ratio Christi group meets every Thursday at 6 p.m. in Bennett Hall, room 102.

3 out of 5 stars

With regard to space travel, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made it to the moon aboard Apollo 11 before the Soviets were even close. The Russians never actually made a lunar landing and gave up on reaching the moon altogether. This was a significant victory for the Americans as tensions with the Soviet Union increased in the wake of the Cold War.

But in “For All Mankind,” creators Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert and Ronald Moore devised a world where the Russians land first and welcome the “Red Moon.” The Cold War conflict further intensifies between the two superpowers, and the butterfly effect is felt throughout the entire show as our historical timeline changes.

“This will shake things up in this country. I’ll tell you that right now. Things will never be the same,” a TV anchor in the show said as a man stepped off of a space shuttle and onto the moon. Millions of people around the world tuned in to watch the lunar landing and were glued to their TVs as they were about to see the first steps.

“Hang on…we have the translation that Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first man to step foot on the moon, spoke just moments ago,” the announcer continued.  

“I take this step for my country, for my people, and for the Marxist-Leninist way of life. Knowing that today is just one small step on a journey that will take us all to the stars,” Leonov said.

My jaw dropped as I saw a Russian plant their flag on the moon. I was in complete awe and couldn’t wait to see where the show went from here. But as cinematic as the opening few minutes were, the rest of the show fell flat.

Apple released the first three episodes of the show on its new streaming platform, Apple TV+. The first two episodes felt like an extremely long prologue and it wasn’t until the third episode that the actual narrative began. The first two episodes focus more on the frustrations of the astronauts than their actual plan to avenge the failure of the American space program. 

In response to the Russians sending a woman to the moon, NASA heavily invests in a team of all-female astronauts. But with a premise as good as ‘an alternate history to the moon landing, why wait until the third episode before developing this plot? The writers also spend the majority of the show focusing on the narrative of a handful of male astronauts instead of fully developing the female team. From the first three episodes that they released, it is hard to see where they are going, but hopefully they will further emphasize the female team.

From a purely cinematic standpoint, the show is incredible. The production is a great distraction from the slow start to the show. Every scene, from the NASA stations to the rockets to scenes of characters at home, feels as real as if you were actually in the late ‘60s and on this journey with them.

Although the first three episodes fell flat, I am optimistic that the show will pick up. With someone like Ronald Moore, who wrote for “Outlander” and “Battlestar Galactica,” it’s hard not to be.

On Saturday Nov. 9, University of Maine students, staff and community members came to celebrate Culturefest, a day-long celebration of cultures that features exhibits, live demonstrations, activities for kids and a food court. The event was held in the New Balance Recreation Center from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

The Rec Center was crowded with tables and exhibits from various groups on campus and the community. Student organized clubs, non-profit groups, local organizations and families all came together to share and represent their cultures and countries. Culturefest is a chance for these people to come and share their culture with the community, and a great way to introduce new cultures to other people with food. 

“I think it is really important for people to get an idea of other cultures and what they’re like and just kind of expand their understanding of the world and other people,” Hannah Barnes, an admissions assistant in the International Program, said.

Culturefest, which is hosted by the Office of International Programs and the International Student Association, had 24 different cultures and nations represented in their food court. Every continent was represented, and student organizations as well as community members prepared food to share with the UMaine community. 

Among the different cultures represented at this year’s Culturefest, the African Student Association, the Caribbean and Latinx Student Alliance and UMaine’s Hillel were some of the many that gave us a taste of their identities.

The African Student Association

The African Student Association is an organization on campus that meets and discusses aspects of African heritage and culture and participates in events like the International Dance Festival and Culturefest. 

This year, the group prepared a variety of traditional African foods from multiple African countries like Somalia and Sudan. They served Somalian rice, vegetables commonly found in Eastern Africa, Ethiopian cheese, Azifa (a lentil salad common in Sudan) and African donuts. Since their traditional foods do not typically contain meat or animal products, they are fairly vegan-friendly. 

President of the African Student Association, Betlehem Abay, said, “it just brings you back all of the memories of cooking all of these cultural foods that you cook for yourself, but this time you’re cooking it in mass like we do back home and you’re sharing your culture with other people. It’s just bringing your home tastes that other people probably have never tried before.”

This is Abay’s third year participating in Culturefest. The fourth-year biomedical engineering student helped cook and organize their food court table.

The Caribbean and Latinx Student Alliance (CALSA)

The Caribbean and Latinx Student Alliance (CALSA) is a student organization that provides a space for students from Caribbean and Latin communities to meet and relate to others through culture. 

They served platanos maduros (fried sweet plantains), tostones (fried plantains with salt), bacalaitos (fried cod fish fritter), arepas con queso (fried corn dough with cheese), rice and peas, curry jerk chicken, hibiscus iced tea and tres leches (a type of sponge cake.)

“It’s just nice to be able to provide the community the genuine Caribbean and Latinx experience because there are not a lot of us in the Northeast,” CALSA president Gabriella Reyes said. “But we just have a moment to do what we love which is cook and feed people which is a huge part of our culture.” 

“When we’re able to share that with people and explain what the food is and why it’s made that way… it’s always nice to see people get excited and say, ‘oh that’s why it’s made that way’ or ‘I had this once when I was on vacation in Puerto Rico.’ It is just another way to bring our culture together,” Reyes, a fourth-year art history and archeology student, said.

UMaine Hillel

Hillel is a student heritage alliance council organization that serves UMaine’s Jewish community. Similar to the other groups, it provides a way for students to connect. This alliance specifically invites Jewish students to connect through their religion.

Hillel served foods that are Jewish holiday staples. They made challah, which is a braided bread and is typically eaten during Shabbat; latkes, potato pancakes traditionally served during Hanukkah; hamentaschen, a triangular pastry stuffed with jam or chocolate served during Purim; grape juice and bagels with lox and cream cheese.

“We really enjoy doing this. We want Hillel to be more known because the Jewish community in Maine, and in the world, is very tiny. And we have some awesome foods that we want everyone to be able to try,” Dani Krara, a fourth-year anthropology student said.

The next event that the International Program and the International Student Association will be hosting is the International Dance Festival which takes place every spring.

Halloween is one of the most anticipated holidays on college campuses, where it is often celebrated with an array of events. An abundance of candy, scary movies and celebrating with friends is enough to lure even the busiest college students away from their schoolwork. While college students may be too old to trick-or-treat, finding a costume and going to local bars or just dressing up with friends is a fun way to observe the holiday. But buying costumes only to toss them in the back of your closet after one night is not environmentally sustainable, and the Green Campus Initiative (GCI) has some better ideas.

On Oct. 31, in the Memorial Union, the GCI and Student Life sponsored the “Thrifty Runway.” Students dressed up and showed off their costumes made out of entirely recycled or upcycled materials.

“Halloween is a big holiday where people buy something that they’re just going to wear for one night. So, promoting this idea that we can pull together things that we already have or things that are easily recyclable, like cardboard, it’s really very useful in reducing waste,” said Dominique DiSpirito, a second-year political science student and event coordinator for GCI.

A wide range of outfits made an appearance at the Thrifty Runway; Scarecrows, witches and pumpkins were prominent on the runway. Using makeup that they already had, clothing items that could be repurposed or bought at a thrift store and items made out of fabric scraps and household items, the Thrifty Runway showed that it was possible to make an affordable, wearable costume out of second-hand materials. Other students stepped out of the typical Halloween spectrum and dressed up as a sports referee, a bumblebee, intergalactic recycling bots and even a recycling basket made their debuts down the runway.

The Thrifty Runway took place during the UMaine Center for Student Involvement’s Thursday Thriller from 7-10 p.m. in the Union. Other events hosted during the night were campus ghost tours, a spooky paint and sip, and hanging donut races.

The GCI is located on the fourth floor of Androscoggin Hall, where there is a Green Living Learning Community, a residence floor supported by GCI where students can choose to live in a community that prioritizes sustainability. They also host weekly tea times, seasonal activities and volunteer opportunities. They also sponsor zero-waste events throughout the school year, and they partner with Dining Services to reduce waste products at dining and residence halls.

“We host food recovering once a week. We go to the dining halls and get the food that they have leftover on Fridays and then we bring it all to the Black Bear Exchange right here on campus. It gets packaged up and distributed back to the community,” Aidan Lurgio, a wildlife ecology student said.

They also produce the “GreenZines” which are semi-monthly zines, or one-page magazines, featuring sustainability-related material focused on the UMaine community. They are found on bathroom stall doors in all residence halls.

On Monday, Oct. 28, Dr. Andrea Feldpausch-Parker gave a lecture on environmental communication and her personal experiences working in the field. This lecture was a part of the Department of Communication and Journalism Fall 2019 Colloquium Series. As an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) she has researched and worked on projects relating to environmental communication, public participation in environmental decision-making, environmental and natural resources conflict, environmental social movements and energy policy.

“Dr. Parker is a leader in the field of environmental communication and studies a range of contemporary topics, including decision making about dams, renewable energy development and public participation in natural resource management, among others,” Laura Rickard, the graduate coordinator in the Department of Communication and Journalism (CMJ), said. 

“Her engaged research approach and attention to public participation complements many ongoing research efforts here at UMaine involving the Department of Communication and Journalism faculty, including me and Dr. Bridie McGreavy. As her former colleague, I was confident that faculty, students and community members could take away valuable lessons from her experiences,” Rickard said.

Parker began her undergraduate career as a biological sciences student but felt a desire and a need to work in environmental communication. She has worked on projects like the Edwards Aquifer restoration implementation plan, the Brazos Valley Natural History Museum board of trustees retreat, the Hudson Undammed project and has worked on trail development in the Adirondack State Park.

In her lecture, titled “Breaking barriers and building bridges: A personal journey of scholarship and practice in public participation,” Parker discussed conflict management in terms of avoiding, accommodating, competing and collaborating. Collaboration is the ultimate goal in conflict resolution, but this isn’t always easy or possible to achieve, according to Parker.

She described how, in order to collaborate, one has to consider different value systems, or the interests and positions on interests, as well as characteristics of shareholders in each project. Understanding everyone’s perspectives and taking their wants and needs into consideration helps Parker collaborate on her projects.

Parker described how her work in environmental communication functions through an example of Yellowstone national park grizzlies being removed from the endangered species list. There were a lot of different interest groups, and some wanted the grizzly to be delisted to show that their methodology in rehabilitating endangered species works. But other groups wanted to keep the grizzly on the list because they were worried that factors like climate change would affect the bear population in the future. Parker’s job would be to bring these groups together and communicate in order to form a resolution.

“Through hearing about Dr. Parker’s experiences on a variety of different natural resource and conservation-oriented projects over the last decade or so, I hope that students realized that research is necessarily messy, especially when we involve communities with strong interests at stake. Despite this messiness and the challenges it may present to the social science researcher, research is also fun, rewarding and endlessly surprising,” Rickard said.

The next lecture in the Department of Communication and Journalism Fall Colloquium Series is on Nov. 4 at noon in Dunn Hall. Nathan Stormer, a professor in the CMJ department, will be giving a talk titled “All diseased things are critics.”

Four stars out of five

As summer drew to a close, Miles Halter packed up his clothes into a trunk spackled with Ronald Regan stickers. He locked it and said goodbye to his home in Orlando and was off to, in reference to the last words of poet Francois Rabelais, “seek a great perhaps.”

Miles, the main character of the new Hulu show, “Looking For Alaska,” studies people’s last words, the words of Rabelais being particularly impactful to him. Miles seeks to leave the comfort of melancholic Orlando, Florida and find his great life adventure.

He stuffed his trunk into the back of his parent’s car and began the drive to Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama, his father’s high school alma mater. As he arrived at the school, he met a rag-tag group of friends and began to seek his “great perhaps.

Yes, this sounds like every stereotypical coming of age story. But “Looking for Alaska” is a diverse, witty, relatable, and at the same time tragic melodrama that emulates the true essence of your high school years.

The book “Looking for Alaska,” written by John Greene, was released in March of 2005. Director Josh Schwartz adapted the 2006 Michael L. Printz award-winning book into a limited television series on Hulu. Schwartz is best known for his work as the creator of “The O.C.” and his work on “Gossip Girl.

Schwartz has once again adapted a television show that relates to teens and adults alike, as his previous work did. Greene gained popularity after he wrote “The Fault in our Stars” as a book that was later adapted into a movie. His work has captivated young audiences and tackled real-life issues in a witty and relatable way, in addition to discussing important issues such as mental illness, terminal illness, death and adventure throughout his books.

I was a young teenager when the first movie based on Green’s books was released. After seeing the film “The Fault in our Stars,” I immediately began reading the rest of his books. “Looking for Alaska” was easily my favorite. It had a sense of adventure, love and heartbreak that pulled me into every page.  

The show was no different. Because I had read the book, I knew what was going to happen throughout the show, but I was still drawn to the characters and the acting, as well as the literary world that was brought to life on screen.

In a world saturated with TV high school dramas, “Looking for Alaska” does not necessarily stand out as exceptional, but rather blends into and fits well with shows like “The O.C.” and “One Tree Hill.” It would be outshined and even intimidated by the glitz of “Gossip Girl” or the mystery of “Riverdale.”

Though the show brings back nostalgic memories of high school, it can be predictable and melancholy at times, but kudos to Schwartz for casting a diverse group of actors. Alaska Young is a young woman modeled in the wake of third-wave feminism. She is intelligent and flirty all while decreeing that she would shatter the patriarchy in a second. Chip, “The Colonel,” Martin was a white character in the book but was played by Denny Love in the show; making The Colonel an African American opens up a racial dynamic and adds layers of complexity to the struggles between groups on the Culver Creek Campus.

Though this show blends in with its competitors, it is still worth watching. The complex characters and their goal of seeking a great perhaps is engaging and interesting and it is relatable, nostalgic, heartbreaking and a great love story – all at the same time.

On Monday Oct. 21, Highmoor Farm brought pumpkins and several varieties of apples to sell to students and faculty at their annual Harvest Sale next to Al Cyrus Pavilion Theatre, by Raymond H. Fogler Library on the University of Maine campus.

Fall is a busy time in Maine. The leaves are changing and people are rushing to hike through the scenic trails before the leaves fall for the winter. Fall also brings Halloween and football tailgates; It is also the best time to pick apples and pumpkins from local pumpkin patches.

Yet students that are busy studying for midterms or preparing for homecoming weekend may not be able to go to the pumpkin patch or to go apple picking, so Highmoor Farm brought their products to students and staff on campus.

By the Cyrus Pavilion, researchers and even the superintendent of the farm sold pumpkins and apples that were grown at Highmoor Farm this fall.

Highmoor Farm is a 278-acre farm located in Monmouth, Maine. It is a UMaine Agriculture Experiment Station and is a part of the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, with 17 acres of orchards and five acres of tilled fields for vegetable and fruit research. The farm also has two barns, two laboratories and a greenhouse. Highmoor Farm is one of five research farms in the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station. It is also a center for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension outreach and research activities.

This is the 16th year that Highmoor Farm has come to UMaine for their Harvest Sale. The first sale began in 2003. 

“Originally it was just apples and the sale took place out in the CCA lot,” Gregory Koller, the superintendent of Highmoor Farm said. “In 2005 I decided to move it to our current location so more students and staff could have easier access. In 2006, I added the pumpkins and some years squash depending on what we are growing on the farm.” 

The farm opened in July of 1909 when it was purchased by the state and was to be used as an experimental farm for research on apples. Ownership was later transferred to the university and was then primarily an apple farm until they began experimenting with other produce items.

Over the years, studies have been done to evaluate new varieties of apples that are tolerant of the cold and can be cultivated to grow in the harsh Maine winters.

In addition to growing pumpkins and apples for sale, the farm also provides research-based information on the apple industry. They focus on evaluating new varieties of apples and rootstocks for Maine and do research on the quality of fruit post-harvest.

They have also developed new sweet corn, cucumbers, cantaloupe and a new apple variety. It is home to the Maine Compost School and integrates pest management programs.

If you didn’t get the chance to visit the Harvest Sale this year, Highmoor farm will be back to sell their products next year.