Welcome, Winter

Visitors are discovering that the Kennebunks have as much to offer in winter as they do in the summer.

Photograph by Jeff Scher

Grace Adams says her expectations weren’t high for the first Christmas Prelude celebration in Kennebunkport in 1982. In those days many local shops and restaurants opened only on weekends after Labor Day and closed for good when the last of the leaf peepers left around Columbus Day.

“That first year, though, it was just huge,” recalls Adams, owner of Alano, a ladies clothing store in Dock Square. “All these people flocked to town. That weekend turned into one of the best [business] weekends I had all year.”

Maine has a tourism problem, and it’s called winter. Other than ski areas and snowmobile hotspots, winter is a struggle for businesses that increasingly need to stay open and be producing income beyond the traditional summer tourist season. Only 3 percent of the information requests to the Maine Office of Tourism ask about winter visits. In a state where tourism is the largest industry, employing 140,000 people and generating $10.06 billion in sales and $429 million in taxes in 2006, that’s an enormous problem. So what’s the solution? State tourism officials and their ad agencies focus their money and effort on the seasons with the biggest payoff — summer and the shoulder months. But in small communities like the Kennebunks, some interesting experiments are under way.

Such as Prelude, which began as an exercise in civic thanksgiving. “Henry Pasco started it,” Adams says, referring to a longtime local businessman. “We didn’t even have a business association then, much less a chamber of commerce. He called a meeting of local businesspeople and suggested that we do something to thank the community for all its support. You have to remember, back then the town didn’t have a Christmas tree or any decorations. So we got a tree, put up lights, and had Santa arrive in a lobsterboat.”

Pasco’s group became the Kennebunkport Business Association (it now also includes businesses in the Lower Village of Kennebunk, just across the river), and it has sponsored Prelude every year since. Pasco, now deceased, reportedly was inspired by Christmas festivals in Marblehead and Nantucket, although he wanted something uniquely Maine for the Kennebunkport celebration. The first Prelude included a tree lighting ceremony, chowder luncheon, and candlelight caroling.

In the years since, what started as a small local celebration for townspeople has evolved into the major winter event in the Kennebunks, involving hundreds of volunteers and drawing thousands of people from throughout Maine and New England. Many visitors come back year after year with their families, filling local hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, and thronging local stores, craft fairs, and fund-raising events.

“That one event extended the season by almost two months,” explains Karen Arel, formerly the longtime executive director of the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport Chamber of Commerce and now head of the Ogunquit chamber. “It was huge.”

Such innovative thinking has become key to transforming what was once a two-month tourist season into a year-round celebration of the Maine image and lifestyle. “We draw a lot of people from Boston and the metro west region,” Arel offers, “and for them Maine is someplace safe and maybe a little old-fashioned. When they drive through a community and it’s all lit up for Christmas and there’s some fresh snow on the ground, it gives them that Norman Rockwell, wrap-my-arms-around-you feeling. There’s something magical about being on the coast of Maine, even though we’re only an hour or an hour and a half away from Boston. For them, we’re a different world, and they like it here.”

Prelude’s success has led to a whole calendar of events that stretches well  beyond the traditional tourist season, ranging from kitchen tours in October to the popular February Is for Lovers. That began as promotion for Valentine’s Day and has since turned into a month-long series of special bed-and-breakfast packages, chocolate brunches, and art gallery showings that draw people from all over Maine as well as the rest of the Northeast.

This year’s Prelude features three tree lightings — Dock Square, the Lower Village of Kennebunk, and Cape Porpoise — a dozen craft fairs, twelve music programs, and another dozen public breakfasts, suppers, lunches, and teas. The original one-day event now stretches across the first two weekends in December. “Oh you don’t want to know all the work that goes into it,” declares Jackie Kellett, owner of Jackie’s clothing shop. “We put up fifty-five trees in all, plus the big one in Dock Square. We use 1,800 feet of Christmas garlands. We’ll have three thousand people at the living crèche, another fifteen hundred for the tree lighting in Dock Square.”

This year, the association will invest $18,000 in Prelude, a worthwhile investment considering the crowds of customers it draws. “It really has taken on a life of its own,” Adams explains. Prelude not only set a precedent for other local festivals, it has also become an example for other communities searching for ways to extend their local tourist seasons beyond mid-October.

All those people can’t help but have an effect on businesses’ bottom line. According to the Maine Revenue Service, sales tax receipts from restaurant and lodging transactions in York County from October through December rose from $69.3 million in 2002 to $88.2 million in 2007, a 27.3 percent increase, while many other Maine counties were flat or barely kept up with inflation during the same period.

“Many of the hotels and inns and bed-and-breakfast’s fill right up,” notes Sheila Matthews-Bull, owner of the Rhumb Line Resort in Kennebunkport and a former chair of the Kennebunkport Business Association. “It’s the only time of year when we take money in advance for reservations. Prelude weekend is so popular that we have people prepay, rather than just take a credit card number.”

Matthews-Bull wishes she had more exact information about Prelude’s economic impact, “but we really don’t have any firm numbers on visitors or sales. It’s just so hard to tell. A lot, I guess. A lot.”

She isn’t alone in her frustration. “There are no good reporting numbers” for Christmas and winter tourism, says Patricia Eltman, director of the Maine Office of Tourism. “Gathering information on what people do and when they come here is a tough one.”

Sixty-three percent of the information requests that the Maine Office of Tourism fields each year ask about summer, while winter scarcely registers as a season of interest, according to Phil Savignano, the office’s senior tour specialist. Twelve percent ask about spring, and 23 percent about fall. The Kennebunks generally make up about 16 percent of all information requests, he adds, but even here “winter is pretty low on the list.”

Ski areas and snowmobiling create pockets of prosperity in winter in inland Maine. “In some places, winter is the biggest season,” Savignano notes. “But when you get to the coast, it’s a tough season to sell.”

“What has happened in Maine is an effort to push the season on either end with fairs, festivals, and events,” explains Vaughn Stinson, the longtime head of the Maine Tourism Association. “The key is to push them into the softer months of the year.” He sees room for improvement, noting that the Maine off-season schedule isn’t nearly as busy as it is in other states.

Karen Arel notes that Ogunquit now has its own Christmas by the Sea celebration, as well as a Mardi Gras festival in February and a Patriots’ Day event. “What you have to have is a catch, something that will catch the eye,” she explains. “Our Patriots’ Day event, we do a huge arts and crafts show, there’s a Minuteman Madness sale, we read Longfellow’s ‘Paul Revere’s Ride,’ and then we have Paul Revere ride through town warning that the British are coming.”

“Instead of everything ending Columbus Day, you can keep your help working through Christmas now,” Adams explains. “It’s great to have local people who are able to come back year after year because they know the job isn’t just for the summer anymore.”

Arel and others say that winter programs like Christmas Prelude seem to grow organically rather than out of some planned strategy. “My guess would be that [Camden’s off-season activities] just evolved over the years,” says Frank Morong, interim executive director of the Camden-Rockport-Lincolnville Chamber of Commerce.

But off-season promotions don’t have to be tied to holidays. Camden, for example, has built up a respectable winter visitor flow with events ranging from foreign-policy conferences to toboggan races. The Camden Conference has become a staple of the February calendar, drawing foreign policy experts and others from around the world to discuss topics both esoteric and practical. Yet it grew from a retired Foreign Service diplomat’s desire for an event to break up a winter bout of cabin fever. The conference in turn inspired Pop!Tech, an October symposium that each year explores cutting-edge ideas in technology, science, and human development.

“There was no long-range plan, no formal committee,” Morong explains. “Each of those events just happened, and as each grew it reinforced and inspired others.” The various events also tend to bring in people who often have never visited the Camden area before. “The national toboggan races in February bring people from nineteen or twenty states,” Morong points out. “Once people come for the races or the Camden Conference or Pop!Tech, a lot of them book rooms for future visits.”

Both Morong and Kellett say they’ve fielded inquiries from other communities asking for advice on creating their own events. “You have to put up a Christmas tree,” Kellett declares. “That’s a must. We had the first lobster trap Christmas tree in Maine in Cape Porpoise. That was a real crowd pleaser.”

A little wackiness doesn’t hurt. “Three years ago during Prelude we had a hat parade,” Kellett recalls. “It just sort of happened. I noticed that people kept coming in and showing off the hats they’d bought or made. So you and I sponsored a hat parade — that’s right, Down East magazine was a sponsor. I thought we’d get maybe thirty people. We got two hundred. Almost ran out of cookies for all the participants.”

“Before we started Christmas Prelude, I’d have the boards up on my building by noon on Columbus Day,” Grace Adams recalls with a laugh. “Now I’m open almost year-round.”

“When you have fun somewhere, you go home and tell other people about it,” Arel says, “and they say, ‘Let’s go there, too.’ And Maine is a lot of fun any time of year.”

 

OUR 27TH ANNIVERSARY 2008 Prelude Dates - December 5th - December 14th Dock Square, Lower Village, Cape Porpoise Programs and Events are Subject To Change

2008 SCHEDULE Christmas Prelude Dock Square   Lower Village    Cape Porpoise

 

Ongoing Events through Christmas Prelude

 
The L. A. Frechette Gallery, 29 Western Avenue, Lower Village.  For the joy of it, prices will be reduced by 20% on any painting in the Gallery at time of purchase (and include free shipping).  Residents, get 30% off during this Prelude Special.  5% of all sales will be donated to Development Child for special needs kids.

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM December 5, 6, and 7, and December 12, 13, and 14.  Winter Warmers Open House.  Cape Porpoise Kitchen will be serving samples of all your winter favorites – mulled cider, cookies, and hot chocolate.  Cape Porpoise Center.  For more information:  967-1150.

10:00 A.M. - 9:00 P.M. (Prelude Weekends), 6:00 P.M. daily - Nov. 22 - Dec. 22.  "Small Works for the Holidays".  New small works by 16 of our artists will be displayed in our new Home Space on the first floor of Maine Art Gallery, curated by Amy Boucher.  Perfect timing for your holiday shopping!!  Maine Art Gallery, Lower Village.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Prelude Champagne Reception at The Nott House, 8 Maine Street.  Includes champagne and hors d’oeuvres donated by local inns, restaurants, and businesses.  Presented by the Kennebunkport Historical Society.  Admission: $20 pp.  Space is limited – reservations are highly recommended.  Please call 207-967-2751.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5

10:00 AM – 9:00 PM – Holiday Shopping.  Sponsoring shops & galleries offer festive holiday refreshments throughout the weekend.

10:00 AM – 9:00 PM – Prelude Show of Fine Arts and Crafts.  Featuring original works of art, fine crafts, and prints. The Masonic Hall on corner of Temple Street and North St., sponsored by Maine Women in the Arts.

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM – Pastel Painters of Maine Members Show.  An exhibition and sale featuring original pastel paintings.  River Tree Center for the Arts, 35 Western Ave. Lower Village.

1:00 PM – 4:00 PM – Tour of the 1853 Nott House.  Tour of the Greek Revival home, The Nott House, 8 Maine Street.  Admission: $7.  Members and under 18, free.  Presented by The Kennebunkport Historical Society.

2:00 PM – Historic Village Walking Tour.  This wonderful and very popular walking tour takes you on a journey through the streets of the village where you will see spectacular, unique and inspiring holiday decorations of historic homes.  Tour begins at The Nott House, 8 Maine St.  Admission $7. Members and under 18, free.  Presented by the Kennebunkport Historical Society.

 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM – Fish Chowder Supper.  Homemade fish chowder with all the “fixins” at the Wildwood Fire House, Wildes District Road.  Sponsored by Wildwood Ladies Auxiliary.

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM – Maine Women in the Arts Reception.  Meet the artists participating in the Prelude Show of Fine Arts and Crafts Show.  The Masonic Lodge on Temple Street.

5:00 – Close – Hands by the fire!  Come warm your hands by the fire at Port Bakery and Café. Enjoy hot cocoa, mulled cider, and holiday treats by the fire on our patio. Rt. 35, Lower Village.

5:30 PM – Tree Lighting Ceremony in Dock Square officially begins the season. Join in Christmas Caroling with the Kennebunk High School Chamber Singers.   Sponsored by KBA member:  Kennebunk Savings Bank.

6:00 PM – 6:30 PM – Live Nativity.  Right after the tree lighting, join the South Church Youth as they present a Nativity Tableau complete with live animals.  Front steps of South Congregational Church, Temple Street.

6:30 PM – 7:30 PM – “Light Up the Tree”.  Before, during, and after the Lobster Trap Tree lighting, enjoy hot chocolate and mulled cider at Cape Porpoise Kitchen, Cape Porpoise Center, 967-1150.

7:00 PM – Cape Porpoise Lobster Trap Tree.  Kennebunkport’s most original holiday decoration will be officially lit in Cape Porpoise Square with Christmas Caroling.  Refreshments served at Cape Porpoise Fire Station compliments of Bradbury Bros. Market.  Sponsored by the KBA.

7:00 PM – Bonfire and singing of Christmas Carols behind Washington Hose Fire Company Station, Route 35 Lower Village.  Sponsored by the Washington Hose Fire Co.

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM – River Tree Holiday Jam.  Bring your friends, your family, and your instrument and join River Tree’s music faculty, students, staff, and friends for a jam session celebrating the holidays!  River Tree Center for the Arts, 35 Western Ave., Lower Village.

7:30 PM – Don Campbell Christmas Concert & Buffet Dinner.  Concert Tickets with dinner, dessert, and Coffee - $40.  Buffet dinner will include carving station, pastas, soups, and salads. Nonantum Resort, Ocean Ave.

10:00 PM – Close – Live Music at Federal Jack’s Brew Pub, 8 Western Ave., Lower Village.

Festive Holiday Fare & Entertainment Throughout the
Evening at Sponsoring Inns and Restaurants


SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6

7:00 AM – 10:00 AM – Blueberry Pancake Breakfast.  Start the day with a full breakfast of blueberry pancakes at the Washington Hose Fire Company, Route 35, Lower Village.

7:00 AM – 3:00 PM – Mothers Club Prelude Fair.  Christmas decorations, hand made crafts, animal gifts, and more.  Quilt for sale. Washington Hose Fire Station (upstairs), Route 35, Lower Village.  Sponsored by the Kennebunk Lower Village Mothers Club.

8:00 AM – 2:00 PM – American Legion Christmas Crafts Fair at the Legion Hall, 102 Main St., across from the K’port Police Station.  Featuring a wide variety of crafts by Maine artisans, gift baskets, baked goods, raffles, silent auction, and more.  Sponsored by the American Legion Kennebunkport Memorial Post #159.

8:30 AM – 2:00 PM – Atlantic Hall Prelude Fair with crafts, art, collectibles, and antiques.  Atlantic Hall, Cape Porpoise Square.

9:00 AM –9:00 PM – Holiday Shopping.  Sponsoring shops and galleries offer festive refreshments throughout the day.

9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – Holiday Crafts Fair at the Consolidated School, a tradition for over 20 years.  It is a wonderful fair featuring a wide variety of crafts from local artisans.  School Street, Route 9 East.  Sponsored by the Consolidated PTA.  $1 donation to benefit the children.

9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – 18th Annual Christmas Fair at the Senior Center, Lower Village, 175 Port Road.  Featuring wreaths, boxwood trees, decorative candle centerpieces, and many other Christmas items.

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM – “Mainely Unique” Annual Craft Fair at the South Congregational Church and Community House, Temple Street.  Sponsored by the Women’s Association of South Congregational Church.

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM – Hurlbutt’s “Antiques Road Show”  Hurlbutt Designs will feature it’s own version of “Antiques Road Show” hosting one of New England’s most reputable appraisers.  Bring any one item to 53 Western Ave. (Rte. 9) Lower Village.  For just $10 you’ll discover the value of your own treasure.  Mulled cider and cookies, of course.

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM – Hand Printed Holiday Cards.  Stop by River Tree for a hands-on screen print workshop.  Arrive ready to immerse in the printmaking process, (expect to get a little dirty on the way) and leave with your own hand printed holiday cards.  River Tree Center for the Arts, 35 Western Ave., Lower Village.
 
10:00 AM – 1:30 PM – Christmas Fair and Chowder Luncheon featuring chowder, lobster rolls, homemade desserts, etc.  Luncheon begins at 11 AM.  First Congregational Church, Corner of Arundel Road, North Street, and Log Cabin Road.  Sponsored by the Ladies Society.

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM – Holiday Crafts Fair.  A variety of offerings for yourselves or for gift giving.  Village Baptist Church, 6 Maine St.

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM – Tour of the 1853 Nott House.  Tour of the Greek Revival home, The Nott House, 8 Maine Street.  Admission: $7.  Presented by The Kennebunkport Historical Society.

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM – Pastel Painters of Maine Members Show.  An exhibition and sale featuring original pastel paintings by its members.  River Tree Center for the Arts, 35 Western Ave. Lower Village.
                                                                                                 
10:00 AM – 6:00 PM – Prelude Show of Fine Arts and Crafts.  Features original works of art, fine crafts and prints. The Masonic Hall on corner of Temple Street and North St., sponsored by Maine Women in the Arts.

10:30 AM – 3:30PM – Historic Trolley Ride.  Ride an historic electric, toasty warm, streetcar on 3 ½ miles of trolley tracks through the Maine woods.  Early 20th Century K’port residents used these trolleys to do their Christmas shopping.  Complimentary hot drinks and snacks available.  Unique gifts found only in our Museum Store, open 10 - 4.    $4 pp for trolley rides.  Seashore Trolley Museum, 195 Log Cabin Road (3 miles north of Dock Square). For more information: 967-2712, www.trolleymuseum.org.

11:00 AM – 2nd Annual “Christmas Rush” 5K Road Race.  Bring a wrapped present for a young boy or girl, run “The Rush”, and enjoy hot chocolate and Christmas cookies afterward.  Kennebunk Beach.  Sponsored by the West Kennebunk Fire Department.

11:00 – 1:00 PM – The Wandering Christmas Minstrel.  Dave Peloquin, with top hat, guitar, and clear tenor voice will stroll through Dock Square and Lower Village shopping areas for your holiday entertainment.  Sponsored by KBA members: American Sailor Clothing, Flaherty Imports, and Alisson's Restaurant.

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM - Chili Luncheon and light fare served downstairs at Community Center, across from South Congregational Church, Temple St.  Sponsored by the Women’s Association of South Congregational Church.
 

11:00 AM & 2:00 PM – Historic Village Walking Tour.   This wonderful and very popular walking tour takes you on a journey through the streets of the village where you will see spectacular, unique and inspiring holiday decorations of other historic homes.  Tour begins at The Nott House, 8 Maine Street.  Admission: $7.00 (members and under 18 free).  Presented by the Kennebunkport Historical Society.

11:00 AM – 4:00 PM – Meet the Artist.  Nationally known calendar artist, Dana Heacock, will sign your 2009 Abacus Calendar.  A selection of his artwork will be displayed in the gallery.  Abacus Gallery, 2 Ocean Avenue.

11:30 A.M - 2:30 P.M.  Prelude Luncheon Buffet -  Take a complimentary ride on the Intown Trolley to the Nonantum Resort for lunch.  (Or drive, plenty of free parking.)  Bring your Christmas purchases and we will gift wrap them!  Donations will be accepted, to benefit Caring Unlimited.  Ocean Ave.

12:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Face Painting by Sara Weston for the young and not so young, plus complimentary hot drinks and desserts.  The Masiello Real Estate Information Center, Coopers Corner, Lower Village.

1:00 PM – 5:00 PM – 15th Annual Christmas Prelude Open House at the P. DeSantis Gallery & Studio featuring fine art and folk art.  77 North St., Kennebunkport.

1:30 PM – 2:30 –Choral Presentation by the Curtis Lake Christian Church Choir magnifying the birth of Christ at the steps of Union Square.  Sponsored by KBA Member: The Captain Lord Mansion.

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM – Copper Pot Hot Cider served during the Choral Presentation as well as product samples compliments of Roly’s English Fudge, Union Square.

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM – Cookie Decorating Party for Kids.  Our Bakery Elves will help the kids decorate holiday cookies that will be as fun to make, as they will be to eat!  Port Bakery & Café, Rt. 35, Lower Village.

3:00 PM – Third ANNUAL HAT PARADE.  A parade of revelers in their holiday hats led by the Patriot Fife and Drum Duo.  Show off your handmade or store bought creations.  Hat wearers of all ages are welcome.  Gather at the town parking lot behind Dock Square by 2:45.  Parade will march over the bridge to The Best of Everything.  Prizes will be awarded for various categories.     Sponsored by KBA member: Best of Everything.

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM – The Patriot Fife and Drum Duo will stroll through the Dock Square and Lower Village shopping areas for your holiday entertainment.  Sponsored by KBA Members: The Kennebunk Savings Bank.

4:30 PM – 8:00 PM – Down East Lobster Bake.  Featuring lobsters, steamers, hamburgers and hotdogs.  Washington Hose Fire Company, Route 35, Lower Village.

5:00 PM – Close - Hands by the fire!  Come warm your hands by the fire at Port Bakery and Café. Enjoy hot cocoa, mulled cider, and holiday treats by the fire on our patio. Port Bakery & Café, Rt. 35, Lower Village.

5:30 PM – Tree Lighting & Christmas Stroll at Lower Village.  Join us at the corner of Christensen Lane and Route 35 for the lighting of the Lower Village Tree with carols by the Kennebunk High School Chamber Singers.  Following the lighting, enjoy the traditional stroll to the Franciscan Monastery.  Sponsored by KBA Members: Ocean Bank and Kennebunkport Business Association

6:30 PM – Candlelight Caroling hosted by the Franciscan Monastery, Beach Street, Lower Village.  Enjoy chestnuts roasted on an open fire at the gate of the Monastery.  Sponsored by KBA Members: The White Barn Inn and Grissini.

10:00 PM – Close – Live Music at Federal Jack’s Brew Pub, 8 Western Ave., Lower Village.

Festive Holiday Fare & Entertainment Throughout the
Evening at Sponsoring Inns and Restaurants