Heirloom Chronicles
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Heirloom Chronicles
  • Home
  • About me/contact
  • Portfolio
  • Personal History

PORTFOLIO

My work.

 I have never worked at anything that did not include opportunities to write. As a creative writer, journalist, historian, small farmer and veteran of audience development and business development, I express my prose through different topics, over different time periods, across several industries and by using different voices.


Below are categories I have published over the past few years as a journalist, some examples of copy writing and design of marketing collateral, and some snippets of creative writing.

History of poverty in rural Maine

Volunteers at the Oxford Historical Society found a box containing years of letters pertaining to the work of the town's Overseers of the Poor. I digitized the collection and wrote a news feature about  how small towns managed and treated their pauper population. 


Curious about other local records, I poured through 19th and early 20th century annual town reports for the neighboring town of Paris, courtesy of the Paris Cape Historical Society. I wrote a two feature series chronicling years of Paris' poor farms.


I planned to write an irreverent Halloween story about haunted houses. Instead, I uncovered the story of a revered town leader who succumbed to mental illness. He lost his family, his business, and his once-stately home was abandoned. As it slowly crumbled, it gained notoriety as a haunted house.

Overseers of the poor: Oxford letters portray the plight of town paupers (pdf)Download
Overseers of the poor: Life on the farm (pdf)Download
Overseers of the poor: Ending the town farm experiment (pdf)Download
Haunted houses: Ghostly legends born of tales of woe (pdf)Download

Local history and profiles: Characters

Every person, no matter where they are, what they have done and when they have lived. There is no such thing as an ordinary person. I am an expert of looking at the historical record and teasing out engaging and informative content. 

Independence fighting Revolutionary War veterans from the Oxford Hills (pdf)Download
Opportunities of a New England town to the industrious and frugal (pdf)Download
Womens History: Advocating for womens education while agitating against their right to vote (pdf)Download
Black History: Spotty records provide blurry profiles of early Black residents (pdf)Download
Black History: The life of Hector Fuller (pdf)Download
Korean War Veteran: I would not trade my experiences for a million dollars (pdf)Download
Oxford genealogist has confirmed more than 15000 family ties (pdf)Download
A day in the high-flying life of a nonagenarian (pdf)Download

culture wars put marginalized people, education at risk

Maine's largest rural and geographic public school district has found itself in crisis since the pandemic. Most recently, fringe groups have recruited and trained local citizens - from nondescript to state leaders - to disrupt and divide the community, especially threatening LGBTQIA+ youth. Below is coverage of a controversial gender identity policy I reported on since October of 2022. The most recent development is that one school board director, whose conduct has undermined the work of the district, is stepping down rather than remain the face of intolerance.

Oxford Hills board approves first reading of student gender identity policy (pdf)Download
SAD 17 resignations continue amid board rancor (pdf)Download
Oxford Hills residents divided on student gender identity policy (pdf)Download
SAD 17 policy committee revisits gender identity policy (pdf)Download
SAD 17 policy committee takes meeting into executive session (pdf)Download
SAD 17 descends to games of school board roulette (pdf)Download
Messages show complexity of gender identity debate (pdf)Download
SAD 17 board No comment on Paris recall petition (pdf)Download
Gender identity policy debate continues during SAD 17 school board meeting (pdf)Download
Proposed SAD 17 gender identify policy under community scrutiny (pdf)Download

Substance Use Disorder profiles and awareness

I am extremely proud of the articles I have written profiling people in addiction recovery, providing community support resources and destigmatizing substance use disorder. I am passionate about giving marginalized and at risk people a voice, and a chance at a better life.

This is what recovery looks like: Oxford County outreach clinician guides others with addiction (pdf)Download
This is what recovery looks like: Retired reporter writes her own (pdf)Download
This is what recovery looks like: I was able to pretend I was okay (pdf)Download
This is what recovery looks like: Community is key for long-term substance abuse recovery (pdf)Download
Fentanyl: Secret ingredient in non-opioid drugs a driving factor in Oxford Countys overdose crisis - (pdf)Download
Substance use disorder: A family disease (pdf)Download

family and behavioral health

I feel a personal and professional duty to bring to light the difficulties that many families and individuals face just trying to get to the next day while finding hope. In 2021 I interviewed four families with Down syndrome in support of Down Syndrome Awareness Month. The results of my interviews required breaking the content into a three-part series.

School district brings in guidance for childhood anxieties (pdf)Download
For parents of children with Down Syndrome respite is elusive but joy is not (pdf)Download
Down Syndrome life is a life filled by love (pdf)Download
Wait list four letter words for families caring for children with Down Syndrome (pdf)Download
Boxing champ Amelia Moore returns to where dreams began Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School (pdf)Download
Restless artists on display at Western Maine Art Group (pdf)Download

Agriculture

Maine pollinators need more flowers (pdf)Download
Hardy Farm hosts soil health workshop (pdf)Download
Master Gardener Volunteers: Part of Maine's food chain (pdf)Download
Dunlookin Farm leaving the milk business (pdf)Download
Woodstock sanctuary welcomes hard luck horses (pdf)Download
WinterBrook Farm: All fiber all the time (pdf)Download

Community: architectural preservation, BUSINESSes, GROUPs

Norway's Weary Club: Its name belies a long legacy of community involvement conversation and whittli (pdf)Download
Norway Opera House awarded engineering grant (pdf)Download
Norway Opera House receives help from old friends (pdf)Download
Norway: Snowshoe capital of the world (pdf)Download
New owners of old Tubbs factory in Norway envision hub for artists and small businesses (pdf)Download
Norway's Odd Fellows Hall to become affordable housing (pdf)Download

Saving the historic Pigeon Hill SchoolHouse

When I heard that a remaining relic of the  town of Oxford was in danger of being lost, I jumped to share its story. The news article caught the attention of Maine Preservation and was placed on its "most endangered places" list. The Oxford Historical Society has since raised tens of thousands of dollars to move and restore the building and even received a property donation to relocate it to.

Oxford Historical Society mission: Save and restore town's last standing one-room schoolhouse (pdf)Download
Oxford schoolhouse makes Most Endangered Historic Places list (pdf)Download
Historic Oxford landmark gets some help from friends (pdf)Download
Oxford Casino pitches in to help save town's last surviving schoolhouse (pdf)Download

Marketing collateral

Fiber Arts: The Primitive Weaver (pdf)Download
Display Banner (jpg)Download
Exhibit display (pdf)Download

Healthcare

MaineHealth CEO: Rural hospitals critical to the future of Maines healthcare (pdf)Download
MaineHealth lands grant for rural maternal healthcare (pdf)Download
Stephens Memorial Hospital extends services in addiction medicine (pdf)Download
NASA researcher lands at Stephens Memorial Hospital (pdf)Download

Outdoors

Backyard nature: A frog-eat-frog world (pdf)Download
Backyard nature: Spring is a cruel season (pdf)Download
Backyard nature: Swimming serpents (pdf)Download
Name that cat! Opinions differ on feline captured by Norway game cam (pdf)Download
Orphaned fawns leave Otisfield rehab center for life in the wild (pdf)Download
Otisfield rehabber gives orphaned wildlife second chance (pdf)Download
Teacher, guide and storyteller puts tales into book (pdf)Download

Pandemic Life

Fryeburg family learns how invisible and virulent COVID-19 can be (pdf)Download
A glimpse to the future: Tiana James stands up to a pandemic (pdf)Download
Paris boy's book on coronavirus safety recognized by CDC (pdf)Download

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