Outtakes - Traveling the 45th Parallel

Day 8: Hudson, Maine
Just passed through, but looked in the town history. Page 97: "Francis Scott Curtis was born Saturday, February 1, 1975. He is Clifford Curtis's 32nd child." On the same page, Clifford Curtis, married to his sixth wife, admitted, "I was going to try for 36, but I can't make it."

Olin Dow caters to few guests at his scale-model hotel.
Day 8: East Corinth, Maine
Olin Dow is 94. Maybe he owes his longevity to a life full of hard work. "Most of the houses you see here in East Corinth I had something to do with." Olin was a carpenter -- all you need to do is look at his workshop to confirm that; nothing is out of place. "But I've slowed down a bit the past few years. Now I just putter around here and there. I still build when I can." But now Olin builds small houses. He showed them to us: a church with pews, a school, even a hotel. He smiles. "All I need to keep me happy over the winter is 100 board feet of lumber."

Herb Brooks poses one more time with his sign before taking it down.
Day 9: Dexter, Maine
The good weather is following us; so far the bright days have made the trip pleasant. We pull over and gas up in Dexter at Herbert Brooks's place. Hard to tell if he thinks cigars are for smoking or chewing, but he has a magnificent sign.
"Think I might take it down."
Dexter was the place to be if you wanted to see the eclipse on July 20,1963. A sign welcomed folks from all over to "Eclipse Town, U.S.A." Now the eclipse committee doesn't meet anymore; no more eclipses coming up right away. So we left. We were in too much of a hurry to wait for the moon to move. It was getting late when we started out of town, and we couldn't find a place to eat -- we went hungry.
Next time we'll bring our bow and arrow.

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